USC Twins Study
The USC Twin Project coordinates a series of research studies of twins. The primary goal of this research is to understand the roles of heredity (genes) and environment (culture) in producing individual differences in human behavior. Topics of investigation include personality, cognitive abilities, mate selection, antisocial behavior and delinquency.
One ongoing project is a longitudinal study of twins during childhood and adolescence. The study involves over 750 sets of twins and triplets who have participated in the study on one or more occasions since the age of 9 years old. We investigate the genetic and environmental roots of social behavior by comparing twin similarity for monozygotic and dyzygotic twins.
USC Twin Register
Twins and families of twins who would like to be informed of this research, or who might wish to participate in one or more studies may sign up with the Southern California Twin Register at USC. Twins of all ages are eligible for inclusion in this twin register.
The Southern California Twin Project is directed by Dr. Laura A. Baker , who is a faculty member in the Psychology Department at the University of Southern California . The Twin Project staff includes research faculty, graduate students, undergraduate research assistants, lab technicians and administrators.
Over 120 research assistants have also worked as part of the Twin Project research team since 2000, and many more since we began the registry in 1985.
