| Dr. Goldsmith's
labs are working hard to increase participation
of families with twins on the autism spectrum and
families with ethnic-minority heritage and other
diverse backgrounds. If your family or a family
you know is interested in learning more, please
contact
us. |
 Headed
by Dr. Hill Goldsmith, Wisconsin Twin Research is a
group of three research laboratories that investigate
temperament and emotional development, challenges and adaptations in social situations, and the autism spectrum.
Findings from these longitudinal studies will improve
understanding of individual differences across genetic
and environmental influences as well as how children's
behaviors develop through the lifetime.
How similar or different are identical twins' and
fraternal twins' behaviors and emotions? Do similarities
and differences change as the twins grow older?
Do shy toddlers develop into shy adolescents?
What are the nature, sources, and social consequences
of emotional individuality?
Is autism heritable?
Families participate in a variety of ways, including
phone interviews, mailed questionnaires, and visits
to families homes. Current studies include twins under
the age of 21. For more information, check out each
of our research projects:
Studying twins allows researchers to
identify both genetic and environmental influences
on child development. Identical twins share 100% of
their genes and fraternal twins share, on average,
50% of their genes. Researchers can look at behavior
relationships between twin pairs and estimate the
heritability of a certain trait or behavior. For example,
if identical twins are more similar than fraternal
twins on a given behavior, researchers estimate that
there is a stronger genetic influence on that behavior.
If your family would like to participate in our study
please contact
us. |
