Ep 118: Dr. Nancy Segal on Researching Twins

On this episode, Katie is joined by Dr. Nancy Segal, Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and Director of the Twin Studies Center which she founded in 1991. Dr. Segal received a B.A. in psychology and literature from Boston University (1973), and an M.A. (1974) and Ph.D. (1982) in the Social Sciences and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Chicago. From 1982-1991 she was a post-doctoral fellow and research associate at the University of Minnesota, affiliated with the well-known Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. Dr. Segal has authored over 200 scientific articles and book chapters, plus several books on twins. Her latest book is Accidental Brothers: The Story of Twins Switched at birth and the Power of Nature and Nurture and follows the life histories of two sets of identical Colombian twins who were inadvertently exchanged at birth, and provides a number of interesting research findings. Her 2012 book, Born Together-Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study (2012, Harvard University Press) won the 2013 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association. Her other books include Someone Else’s Twin, Indivisible by Two, Entwined Lives. and Twin Mythconceptions, which describes false beliefs about twins and provides much needed correction.

 

Segment 1: Twins Research [00:00-12:30]

In this first segment, Nancy describes how she got started researching twins.

Segment 2: Writing Science for the General Public [12:31-23:55]

In segment two, Nancy discusses how she frames her research for a more general audience.

Segment 3: Nancy's Current Research on Twins [23:56-35:19]

In segment three, Nancy shares about some of her most recent studies on twins.

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