Download Psychology 101 What do you know? Definition time!!! The extremes

What do you know?
Psychology 101
Nature vs Nurture
The Great Debate
Definition time!!!
The extremes
Nature: think
biological influences
Nurture: think
environmental
influences
John B. Watson, a famous
behavioral scientist said
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-
formed, and my own specified world to
bring them up in and I'll guarantee to
take any one at random and train him
to become any type of specialist I
might select...regardless of his talents,
penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations and race of his ancestors.”
Biological extreme: Everything is because of
your genes
What do we inherit from our parents?
Appearance?
Personality?
Intelligence?
Behaviorists
What is nature?
What is nurture?
Which is most important in who you
are?
So… how do we study this?
Behavioral Genetics
Examine the effects
of genetics
compared to the
effects of the
environment
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Genetics 101
Nucleus
Chromosome
What is in a chromosome?
Gene
Chromosomes
DNA
How alike are we?
How different are we?
Our Physical Characteristics?
Is that due to genetics or the
environment?
Our Personality Characteristics?
Because of genetics or the
environment?
Humans share 99.9% of
DNA with each other
99.4% alike with
chimpanzees
“We share half our genes
with the banana”
Is it all biology?
How do genes contribute to who we are?
DNA
Focus on the differences…
Made of genes
Genes
Cell
Made of DNA
Are identical twins
the same?
What about fraternal Twins
Genetically: YES!
With their behavior?
Robert May, Evolutionary
biologist
Who is more alike? Identical or
Fraternal twins?
Genetically?
Behaviorally?
NO!
Identical!
Identical!
Well, are Fraternal Twins more alike
than siblings?
Genetically?
Behaviorally?
NO!
YES!
Why? Prenatal Environments are
similar
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Identical vs Fraternal
More similar in whether they were
Outgoing
Emotional instability
Disease risk
What can we learn from
twins?
Two identical twin boys become
professional football players
How much of this is due to genetics?
How much is due to their environment?
Twins Separated
If they are separated at
birth:
So how can we separate the two?
The Jim’s
Same genetics
Different environments
Some scientists argue that their similarities
are a coincidence
Patricia Ann Campbell, born March 13, 1941
Colorado vs. Oregon
Father: Robert, bookkeeper
Children: 19, 21
Cosmetology, oil painting
Married military men within 11 days of each other
NOT GENETICALLY RELATED
They’re the same too!
Creepy Similarities
Freaked Out Yet?
They’re the same
Identical twins separated 37 days after birth
Both enjoyed woodworking
Drove Chevys
Watched stock car racing
Drank Miller-Lite
Named their dog: Toy
Named their son: James Alan (actually one of
them spelled it with 2 l’s)
Heritability
How much can our differences be
attributed to genes?
Intelligence: Heritability index of 50%
People have different levels of
intelligence
50% of that difference is because of
genetics
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Expanding from the individual
Evolutionary Psychology
What about society?
How do genetics
and the environment
play a role in
society?
We choose mates and effectively breed
with the traits we like
Traits that lead to increased
reproduction and survival will most
likely be passed on to succeeding
generations
How do nature and nurture
interact?
Can experiences affect our biology?
Can our biology affect our experiences?
Natural Selection
We choose similar traits in
our mates
Made tame foxes in Russia
This occurs naturally as well
Natural Selection
We can breed for certain features in
animals
Universally, men preferred attractive physical
features suggesting youth and health
Women preferred resources and social status
Environmental Influence
Experience affects brain development
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Environmental Influence
Do parents matter?
A trained brain is different than an
untrained brain
Pre-training
Post-training
Of course
However:
Lookout parents…
Peer influence:
Preschoolers will eat food at a
table that a group of their
friends are eating, even if they
don’t like it at home
Children will pick up accents of
their friends before the accents
of their parents
Immigrant children will adopt a
new culture and lose their
parents’ culture
Genetics
“norms”
North Americans, British, and
Scandinavians vs Latin
Americans, Arabs, and French
Attraction
Full bodied women vs “skinny
models”
More Definitions!!!
XX = female
XY = male
Males have more testosterone both during
prenatal and postnatal periods
Eye contact: American vs
Japanese
Personal space
Gender role
Biologically
Beliefs and values are usually passed
down
What about culture?
Gender Differences
“Children reared in the same home can be
as different in personality as 2 children
picked at random”
Expectations for how
each gender should
behave
Gender Identity
Our sense of being
male or female
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What differences exist
between genders?
Language
Spatial memory
Males have more
Multi-tasking abilities
What makes men more
aggressive?
Males are better
Aggression
Females are better
Why do these things exist?
The testosterone?
Steroid use leads to increased
aggression
Societal influences?
Macho men want to display
their power
Females have more
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