AO1 – DESCRIPTION
• Claims genetic inheritance plays a major role Advantages Disadvantages
• A gene must be the cause of schizophrenia and is passed onto offspring’s MZ twins are more likely
• Having a biological relative with schizophrenia increased your chance of to be treated as ‘one’ and
developing schizophrenia The studies show there DZ twins are treated ad
must be a gene involved two individual beings –
so the environment can
affect concordance.
Deterministic – just
because we are
Lot of evidence ot
‘predisposed’ with our
support the explanation
genes does not mean we
e.g. twin studies
are to develop
schizophrenia.
No single gene has been
discovered yet. The
Have found 12
studies are old, therefore
chromosomes with a
unreliable because
certain correlation in
diagnosis has changed a
people with schizophrenia
lot over the years.
MZ twins share 100%
same genes but
concordance rate is just
48%.
, A03 – EVIDENCE – Twin and Family Studies A03 – ADOPTION STUDIES
Gottesman, 2001 TienarI, 1991
• Shows there is a 48% concordance • Assessed if schizophrenia had a
for MZ twins suffering from biological basis or environmental
Schizophrenia. basis.
• Percentage decreases as relations • Results showed 1% of adopted
become further schizophrenic children had no
• MZ twins share 100% same genes schizophrenic biological mother.
and have the highest concordance • 10% of schizophrenic children had
rate = so there must be a gene biological schizophrenic mother.
involved. - Culture bias – study was
- Gottesman and Shields’ study is based on a conducted in Finland = cannot
sample size of only 12, which is hardly big generalise to the world
enough for any firm conclusions to be - Old studies – hard to use
drawn these findings as diagnosis
has changes over the years.
• Claims genetic inheritance plays a major role Advantages Disadvantages
• A gene must be the cause of schizophrenia and is passed onto offspring’s MZ twins are more likely
• Having a biological relative with schizophrenia increased your chance of to be treated as ‘one’ and
developing schizophrenia The studies show there DZ twins are treated ad
must be a gene involved two individual beings –
so the environment can
affect concordance.
Deterministic – just
because we are
Lot of evidence ot
‘predisposed’ with our
support the explanation
genes does not mean we
e.g. twin studies
are to develop
schizophrenia.
No single gene has been
discovered yet. The
Have found 12
studies are old, therefore
chromosomes with a
unreliable because
certain correlation in
diagnosis has changed a
people with schizophrenia
lot over the years.
MZ twins share 100%
same genes but
concordance rate is just
48%.
, A03 – EVIDENCE – Twin and Family Studies A03 – ADOPTION STUDIES
Gottesman, 2001 TienarI, 1991
• Shows there is a 48% concordance • Assessed if schizophrenia had a
for MZ twins suffering from biological basis or environmental
Schizophrenia. basis.
• Percentage decreases as relations • Results showed 1% of adopted
become further schizophrenic children had no
• MZ twins share 100% same genes schizophrenic biological mother.
and have the highest concordance • 10% of schizophrenic children had
rate = so there must be a gene biological schizophrenic mother.
involved. - Culture bias – study was
- Gottesman and Shields’ study is based on a conducted in Finland = cannot
sample size of only 12, which is hardly big generalise to the world
enough for any firm conclusions to be - Old studies – hard to use
drawn these findings as diagnosis
has changes over the years.
