Formal Blog 5

I learned many new things after reading chapter 5. I learned that separated twins often have similar interests. I thought it was interesting how both Jim Lewis and Jim Springer had the same names for their son and dog. What makes this so strange was the fact that Jim and Jim had never met each other before the name taking had taken place. Both Jims named their son James Alan/Allan and their dog, Toy. In another case of twins, twins Lorraine and Levinia were driving to deliver Christmas presents to each other and ended up colliding.

I also learned that fraternal twins are different from identical twins, regarding DNA. Fraternal twins actually do not share the same DNA making them nonidentical, while identical twin do share the same DNA. Identical twins develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two. They are genetically identical. Fraternal twins develop from separate fertilized eggs. They share the same fetal environment, but they are no more identical than normal brothers and sisters, genetically speaking. I found out that the Olsen twins are not identical, but actually fraternal. Until reading this chapter I believed that the twins were identical. I believe that they look identical because they share the same hair cut, make up, and similar styles.

The final topic I found interesting was the topic of parents and early experiences. This section explained how experiences fill in the details in our brain's architecture. Mark Rosenzweig and David Krech raised rats alone, with-out playthings and with other rats, that live in an enriched environment. Rats that lived in the enriched environment had more cerebral cortex than those in the impoverished environment. In my opinion this experiment explains how children that are raised properly and socially active, will most likely be smarter and more active than those who were raised in an impoverished environment.