James Jay Joseph (born April 13, 1959)[1] is an American clinical psychologist and author. He practices psychology in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2][3] He is known for his criticisms of behavior genetics and twin studies in psychology and psychiatry.[2] His view, as he articulated in his 2003 book The Gene Illusion, is that such research is so flawed as to render all of its results completely meaningless.[4][5]

Jay Joseph
Born
James Jay Joseph

(1959-04-13) April 13, 1959 (age 65)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley
New College of California
California School of Professional Psychology
Known forCriticism of human behavior genetics
Scientific career
FieldsClinical psychology
Thesis A critical analysis of the genetic theory of schizophrenia  (2000)
Doctoral advisorSamuel Gerson

Biography

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Joseph received his undergraduate education from the University of California, Berkeley. He went on to receive his master's degree from the New College of California in 1994 and his Psy.D from the California School of Professional Psychology in 2000. He received his license to practice psychology in California in 2003.[3] In 2014 he published The Trouble with Twin Studies, which argued that research based on twin studies was highly flawed and could not be used to prove heritability of traits, as they fail to adequately control for environmental factors, as well as accusations of ethics violations in research practices.[6] The book was negatively reviewed by psychologist Eric Turkheimer, who argued twin study research was valid.[7]

Books

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  • The Gene Illusion (Algora, 2004)
  • The Missing Gene (Algora, 2006)
  • The Trouble with Twin Studies (Routledge, 2015)
  • Schizophrenia and Genetics (Routledge, 2023)

References

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  1. ^ "Joseph, Jay". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  2. ^ a b Holdsworth, Richard (2003). "Richard Holdsworth reviews The Gene Illusion: Genetic Research in Psychiatry and Psychology Under the Microscope by Jay Joseph". Human Nature Review. 3: 416–421.
  3. ^ a b "Homepage". Jay Joseph's website. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  4. ^ Newnes, Craig (January 2004). "Not at all in the genes". The Psychologist. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
  5. ^ Thomas, Kas (17 July 2013). "Mental Illness: It's Not in Your Genes". Big Think. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
  6. ^ Joseph, Jay. The trouble with twin studies: A reassessment of twin research in the social and behavioural sciences. Routledge, 2014.
  7. ^ Turkheimer, Eric. "Arsonists at the Cathedral." PsycCRITIQUES 60, no. 40.

Further reading

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