Nancy Segal
Encyclopedia
Nancy L. Segal is a prominent American evolutionary psychologist and behavioral geneticist, specializing in the study of twins
.
, Fullerton
. She was recognized as CSU Fullerton's 2004-5 Outstanding Professor of the Year, as well as the 2004-5 Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Segal also received the 2005 James Shields Award for Lifetime Contributions to Twin Research from the Behavior Genetics Association
and International Society for Twin Studies
.
Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society and Western Psychological Association. She has been inducted into the Collegium of Distinguished Alumni at Boston University. Dr. Segal is an Associate Editor for the journal Twin Research and Human Genetics and was Contributing Research Editor for Twins Magazine from 1984–1998 and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Loss in Multiple Birth. She served as Assistant Director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, 1985-1991. She has appeared on Good Morning America
, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC
and the Today Show, in addition to other nationally and locally televised programs. Her research interests include genetic and environmental influences on human behavior, especially social relationships and bereavement. Her research program includes twin and adoption studies that are specially designed to address problems and issues concerning human development in general, and twin development in particular.
Segal's main research forcuses on human behavior and includes cooperation and competition, altruism, personal bonds, and bereavement. She studies twins to understand social relationshiops in the general population, hoping to derive implications for what makes people get along. She find that identical twins generally work together more cooperatively than others.
In addition to studying identical twins (who result from the splitting of one egg fertilized by one sperm and who share all of their genes) and fraternal twins (who come from two eggs fertilized by different sperm and who share on average half their genes, just as non-twin siblings do), Segal is the only researcher known to study "virtual" or "pseudo" twins. These are two people less than nine months apart in age but with different biological parents, who are raised together from infancy. Her studies in progress show a modest degree of similarity in virtual twins for general intelligence and special mental abilities.
Segal sees great promise in a related new area of research, epigenomics
, which refers to natural chemical modifications that take place in individual genomes, marking them for increased or decreased activity.
Over the years Dr. Segal has served as an expert witness on legal cases involving twins, in particular wrongful death, injury, medical negligence, and custody. A paper reporting this work was published in a special issue of the journal Law and Human Behavior. Additional details about this unique area of study appear in her book, Entwined Lives.
Each year Dr. Segal offers a seminar on behavior genetics and evolutionary psychology to graduate students in the Department of Psychology at CSU Fulleron. She has sponsored both undergraduate and graduate research projects involving original twin research designs and methods.http://psych.fullerton.edu/nsegal/biography.html
, the American Psychological Association
and the Olfactory Research Fund, Ltd. She was named a Dean's Faculty Scholar for the Spring, 1999 semester. She has addressed the National Organization of Mothers of Twin in St. Louis, in July, 1999, the New Zealand Organization of Mothers of Twins in the Fall, 2000, and will be returning to New Zealand
in the Fall 2007.
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
.
Education
Dr. Segal was awarded a Ph.D., Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago, Chicago (1982); M.A., Division of Social Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (1974); and a B.A., Psychology (with Honors) and English Literature, Double Major, Boston University, Boston, MA (1973).Career
Dr. Segal is currently Professor of Developmental Psychology and Director of the Twin Studies Center, at California State UniversityCalifornia State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
, Fullerton
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
. She was recognized as CSU Fullerton's 2004-5 Outstanding Professor of the Year, as well as the 2004-5 Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Segal also received the 2005 James Shields Award for Lifetime Contributions to Twin Research from the Behavior Genetics Association
Behavior Genetics Association
The Behavior Genetics Association is a learned society that was established in 1970 and promotes research into the connection between heredity and behavior.- Aims :...
and International Society for Twin Studies
International Society for Twin Studies
The International Society for Twin Studies was founded in 1974, in Rome. It is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary scientific organization...
.
Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society and Western Psychological Association. She has been inducted into the Collegium of Distinguished Alumni at Boston University. Dr. Segal is an Associate Editor for the journal Twin Research and Human Genetics and was Contributing Research Editor for Twins Magazine from 1984–1998 and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Loss in Multiple Birth. She served as Assistant Director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, 1985-1991. She has appeared on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
and the Today Show, in addition to other nationally and locally televised programs. Her research interests include genetic and environmental influences on human behavior, especially social relationships and bereavement. Her research program includes twin and adoption studies that are specially designed to address problems and issues concerning human development in general, and twin development in particular.
Segal's main research forcuses on human behavior and includes cooperation and competition, altruism, personal bonds, and bereavement. She studies twins to understand social relationshiops in the general population, hoping to derive implications for what makes people get along. She find that identical twins generally work together more cooperatively than others.
In addition to studying identical twins (who result from the splitting of one egg fertilized by one sperm and who share all of their genes) and fraternal twins (who come from two eggs fertilized by different sperm and who share on average half their genes, just as non-twin siblings do), Segal is the only researcher known to study "virtual" or "pseudo" twins. These are two people less than nine months apart in age but with different biological parents, who are raised together from infancy. Her studies in progress show a modest degree of similarity in virtual twins for general intelligence and special mental abilities.
Segal sees great promise in a related new area of research, epigenomics
Epigenomics
-Epigenomics:Epigenomics is the study of the complete set of epigenetic modifications on the genetic material of a cell, known as the epigenome. The field is analogous to genomics and proteomics, which are the study of the genome and proteome of a cell...
, which refers to natural chemical modifications that take place in individual genomes, marking them for increased or decreased activity.
Over the years Dr. Segal has served as an expert witness on legal cases involving twins, in particular wrongful death, injury, medical negligence, and custody. A paper reporting this work was published in a special issue of the journal Law and Human Behavior. Additional details about this unique area of study appear in her book, Entwined Lives.
Each year Dr. Segal offers a seminar on behavior genetics and evolutionary psychology to graduate students in the Department of Psychology at CSU Fulleron. She has sponsored both undergraduate and graduate research projects involving original twin research designs and methods.http://psych.fullerton.edu/nsegal/biography.html
Personal
Dr. Segal has a fraternal twin sister, Anne, a lawyer.http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2005/fall/pdfs/double.pdfBooks
Dr. Segal is the author of Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins (Cambridge, NA: Harvard University Press). This collection of essays on twelve twin, triplet and quadruplet sets brings together humanity and science in a unique way. She is also the author of Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior (NY: Dutton, 1999). This comprehensive survey of twins and twin research includes chapters on the biology of twinning, twin research methodology, findings on intelligence, personality, mental disorders and athletic prowess, studies of twin relationships, information on twins raised apart, findings on "pseudo-twins" or same-age unrelated children raised together, non-human twinning, new fertility treatments, life histories of noteworthy twins, legal issues involving twins, conjoined twins and a timely survey of nature-nurture issues. Dr. Segal is also editor (with G. E. Weisfeld and C. C. Weisfeld) of Uniting Psychology and Biology: Integrative Perspectives on Human Development (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press, 1997). This book, which resulted from a festschrift in honor of her mentor Professor Daniel G. Freedman at the University of Chicago, brings together a series of current papers on behavioral-genetic, ethological, cultural and evolutionary approaches to human behavior.Articles and essays
Dr. Segal's papers have appeared in prestigious journals, such as American Psychologist, Child Development and Science. She has received research grants from the National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
and the Olfactory Research Fund, Ltd. She was named a Dean's Faculty Scholar for the Spring, 1999 semester. She has addressed the National Organization of Mothers of Twin in St. Louis, in July, 1999, the New Zealand Organization of Mothers of Twins in the Fall, 2000, and will be returning to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in the Fall 2007.