Nature Nurture Flashcards
Key terms
Nature- environment, upbringing and life experiences determine behaviour
Nurture- genes determine behaviour, inheritance
Nativism- skills native at birth- genetic inheritance —> survival advantage
Empiricism- not built in knowledge —> result from learning and experience
Heritability- variation of trait in population from genetic variation among individuals
Environmentality- variation in the trait results from environmental factors
Phenotype- interaction of genetic and environmental influences—> create persons physical appearance and behaviour
Precocial species
Young are physically mobile from birth or hatching
Maleo bird:
- pairs rarely found separate from one another
- when breed, cover egg in sand on beach and leave
- egg hatches, digs out, heads to forest, flies from birth
- no parental rearing or environmental input
Altricial species
Young are helpless, dependent on parents
Human infants:
- elicit nurture from caregivers
- looking and smiling motives others to feel warmly, emotional expressions
- attention to sounds and sights encourages others to provide learning experiences
Nativism: face preference
Young infants prefer to look at faces- more info around periphery
Reid et al (2017):
- 39 expectant Mums 28-40th week
- lights moved along uterus
- 4D scans to assess head turn
- foetuses turn head towards face-like stimuli
- innate or perceptual bias triggered by exposure to patterned light in womb during prenatal visual experience
Gene
Segment of DNA found on chromosomes arranged in pairs
Interaction determines organisms characteristics
Heritability
Proportion of variation in population that is accounted for by genes
Refers to a population
If environment similar, heritability of a trait higher
Family resemblance
Genetic relatedness or family resemblances
Compare individuals who are closely related or unrelated
-closely related= more similar if a trait is influenced by genes
Identical twins have same genes—> which behaviours are underpinned by genetics
IQ
Identical twins not raised together has high correlation (.75) = heritability is high
Schiff et al (1982):
- 32 children adopted before 6mths, siblings remaining at biological parents home of lower socioeconomic status
- adopted IQ= 110, siblings IQ= 95
Educational achievement
Nature:
-Moderately heritable
Lee et al (2018):
-11% of variation in educational achievement
Nurture:
- environment shapes educational achievement
- learning experience through home activities, resources, school quality, concepts children are exposed to
Poverty and development
Mani et al (2013):
-Indian sugarcane farmers= diminished cognitive performance before harvest
Johnson et al (2016):
-material resources, nutrition, cognitive stimulation, stress, environmental toxins, opportunities available
Sure start:
- play sessions for children, family support, parenting advice, speech and language therapy, nutrition advice
- successful in improving child outcomes
Antisocial behaviour
Experience abuse and maltreatment= risk of developing conduct disorder, antisocial personality problems, becoming violent offenders
MAOA:
- breaks down excess neurotransmitters which lead to increased aggression
- activity causes more MAOA: serotonin
Genotype-environment interaction theory
Genotype and parents genotype influences environments you encounter and types of experiences
Passive- biological parents provide both genes and environment to child, decrease with age
Evocative- temperamental characteristics of the child evoke responses from others, constant with age
Active- children seek environments consistent with their genotypes, increase with age
Parents environmental influence should be greatest earlier in development and decrease with age as active influences increase with age
