Do identical twins have identical handwriting?
My understanding is that the chemical wiring which exists within our brains evolves during our formative years in direct response to the stimulii which we are exposed to. I’m told that even 100% identical twins (if there even is such a thing) soon start to develop different “wiring patterns” after 3 or 4 years of age, so that even if the inherent motor neuron circuitry is pretty well identical before handwriting is learnt, it’s safe to assume that the evolutionary chemical wiring which takes place will result in “slight to major” differences in handwriting during the teenage years.
No. And they don’t have identical fingerprints, either.
If identical twins had identical handwriting, then it could be proven that handwriting was 100% genetically determined. In which case there would be any number of children with identical handwriting to one of their parents.
Huh, John Mace? Would not a genetically identical twin HAVE to have the same fingerprints as their sibling? They are, after all, physically identical.
And how would a child have identical handwriting (assuming handwriting is genetic) to a parent of which it has only 50% common DNA? Or is it 25%? In any event, it’s not 100, like a twin.
I’d also be willing to guess that their handwriting would be at least very similiar. Excellent question the OP raises.
Wow. They do have different fingerprints. I should have googled before replying. You learn something new everyday.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/wonderquest/2002-04-10-twins.htm
Here’s the Master’s take on the subject: Do identical twins have different fingerprints?. I can remember reading a good explanation of it in New Scientist a few years ago. If I can find it I’ll link it.
I am married to an identical twin, so my anecdotal response is:
No, but verrrrrry simular.
My unscientific anecdotal WAG is “maybe”- on the handwriting.
I grew up very close to two of my cousins who were identical twins. After about age 13 they started behaving abnormally similar to each other. Though some twins can exhibit this kind of behavior, it is rare to see it to this degree. Now at 40, they both are married to women with the same name, nationality, build and personality. They both have two boys and two girls, they own their own business and their wives work with them. They both wear a mustache, and wear their hair the same. Basically the only thing they don’t do the same is wear the same clothes, though they have the same taste in clothes.
To this day I can not tell them appart. the only one who can is their sister. Oh and to the OP, their handwriting is indistinguishable.
Gail at my office is an identical twin, and she says, “Nope, my sister and I have very different handwriting—and, she’s a leftie and I’m a rightie.”
My dad’s 2 oldest sisters had virtually identical handwriting, but they were not twins. They were, however, taught penmanship by the same teacher, tho several years apart. Seems to me it’s a skill rather than a naturally-occurring trait. I think I could write just like them if I took the time to do it.
I went to school w/ a couple of guys in jr.high that were id.twins. They were oppostite handed as well. I noticed the backwards slope of Tom’s (Tom and Jerry, unbelievable) handwriting and asked about it. Other than that they were very identical. I could tell them apart but most people couldn’t.
For what it’s worth, my sisters are identical twins, and they have hugely different handwriting…
Isn’t handwriting learned? Don’t we have better writing if we practice? My guess at to why twins can become so identical when they get older is not genetic but rather a learned response. As a twin you would naturally think you are supposed to be like your sibling. Therefore you would subconsciously mimic them to stay “identical”. You would begin to watch the same type TV shows, listen to the same type of music, develop similar writing habits, and so on and begin to develop similar likes and dislikes.
That’s my 2 cents.
Hey John Mace,
Care to elaborate on this?
Hint: it’s not true.
-Apoptosis
FWIW, another anecdotal data point. Myself and my identical twin brother - both righthanders - have very different handwriting styles. To the extent that his normal script is extremely neat by most standards, while mine’s normally scrappy as all hell (though I can be neatish if required). It’s possibly relevant that, due to the prevailing educational thinking of the time, we were deliberately split into different classes between the ages of about 7 and 10. We were thus taught by different teachers during what is, I presume, a particularly crucial period in the development of such skills.
Phlosphr’s cousins sound, well, untypical.
There are a number of developmental processes that have randomness as a built-in part of the growth process. While the basic pattern of whorls, loops, etc has a genetic programming portion, the details will differ each time the growth process occurs.
Look at the patterns on your own fingers. Each finger will have a basically similar pattern, but no two fingers are the same, even though you have the same gene for each finger.
An analogy would be the pattern of waves breaking on the shore, running up the beach, and then back down. Even though the same basic factors are present, each wave cycle presents a slightly different expression and variation of the same factors.
Regarding the fingerprints, no two people have the same fingerprints. Not even identical twins. Not even clones. IIRC, this is because the pattern of the fingerprint is partially dependent on the environment in which the baby grew (before birth).
My father and uncle were twin brothers and their handwriting was identical in one respect. Both were nearly unreadable, even by themselves after some time had elapsed since the writing.
My handwriting is a blend of my parents’ handwriting. This may indeed be socially conditioned.
On a related subject: I had a neuropsychology professor who really enjoyed telling us that no matter what part of your body you held the pen with–left hand, right hand, left foot, right elbow–the resulting script would look more like your own handwriting, than like anybody else’s. Not well stated, but interesting.
Fascinating thread ! The lefty,righty thing is new to me as well. Which leads me to this question. Anyone out there know of identical twins where one is gay and the other straight? Seems to me that two speculated causes for gayness, genetic and gestation stresses would presumably preclude this dichotomy.