Download General Psychology (PSY2200 MBAC)

General Psychology
(PSY2200 MBAC)
CHAPTER 03:
NATURE, NURTURE,
AND HUMAN DIVERSITY
Similarities Questionnaire
Video
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE:
GROWING UP APART
Genetics
 If it were possible, would you want to take a genetic test
telling you which diseases you are likely to suffer from
later in life?
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Free genetics test for treatable disease (56%)
Free genetics test for untreatable disease (26%)
 If you or your spouse were pregnant, would you want the
unborn child tested for genetic defects?
 Do you think it should be legal for employers to use
genetic tests in deciding whom to hire?
 Should altering a newly-conceived person to improve
normal qualities (innate intelligence, appearance,
strength) be allowed? (Courtesy Nova)
Evolutionary Psychology
THE ROLE OF GENETICS
Fact or Falsehood?
People everywhere reciprocate favors.
1.

True
Even complex human traits are determined by a single gene.
2.

False
Adoptees’ traits bear more similarities to their adoptive parents than
to their biological parents.
3.

False
Two children in the same family are on average as different from one
another as pairs of children selected randomly from the population.
4.

True
If after another worldwide catastrophe only Icelanders or Kenyans
survived, the human species would suffer a huge reduction in its
genetic diversity.
5.

False
Fact or Falsehood?
[Continued]
In many places around the world, females are more likely than males to
initiate sexual activity.
6.

False
A child who hears English spoke with one accent at home and another in
the neighborhood and at school invariably adopts the accent of his or her
peers, not the parents.
7.

True
Compared with Westerners, people in Japanese culture exhibit greater
concern for social harmony and loyalty.
8.

True
Seven weeks after conception, males and females remain anatomically
indistinguishable.
9.

True
Even when families discourage traditional gender-typing, children still
organize themselves into “boy worlds” and “girl worlds,” each guided by
rules for what boys and girls do.
10.

True
The Influence of Genetics
on Psychological Characteristics
 Heritability: the extent to which variation among individuals can be
attributed to their differing genes
 Personality: studied using the Big Five (extraversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) or Big Three (positive
emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint)

40 – 50% (no gender differences)
 Mental Ability: changes with age – early on (age 5), heritability of 22%;
by old age (75+ years), heritability is 54 – 62%
 Psychiatric Illnesses:
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Schizophrenia – 80%
Major Depression – 40%
Anxiety Disorders – 20 to 40 %
Alcoholism – 50 to 60%
Antisocial Personality Disorder – 41 to 46%
Common Misconceptions
Regarding Evolutionary Theory
 Genetic Determinism: the idea that genes control all behavior –
variability is implicit in evolution (gives something to be selected)
 Behavior cannot be changed: behavior can be resistant to change, but
behavioral flexibility is a survivable characteristic (how long would I survive
if my behavior was pre-determined at birth)
 Organisms can compute complex mathematical formulas: calculating
reproductive likelihood at all times (a spider’s web is incredibly complex, but it
doesn’t need to know geometry to build it)
 Humans are optimally designed: adaptation is constant and ongoing
(conditions change)
 Organisms have a conscious or unconscious goal to maximize gene
reproduction: it is not gene-referent (more behavior referrent – survive, avoid
predators, stay warm, help kin, have sex)
Video
OPENNESS TO CASUAL SEX
Heterosexual Gender Attraction
Cross-Cultural Research
 Male preferences (childbearing and fertility)
 Youthfulness
 Healthy, fertile-appeared women
 Proportions: waist 1/3 narrower than hips
 Female preferences (support and protection)
 Healthy
 Mature
 Dominant
 Bold
 Affluent
Video
THE ART OF LISTENING:
MALES VERSUS FEMALES
Values Clarification
 A 16-year-old girl of questionable IQ, a high school dropout,


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



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pregnant.
A policeman with a gun (which cannot be taken from him, –he
was recently thrown off the force recently for brutality).
A clergyman, 75.
A woman physician, 36, known to be a confirmed racist.
A male violinist, 46, who served seven years for pushing
narcotics.
A 20-year-old Black militant, no special skills.
A former prostitute, female, 39.
An architect, a male homosexual.
A 26-year-old law student.
The law student's 25-year-old wife who spent the last nine
months in a mental hospital, still heavily sedated. They refuse
to be separated.