Nature vs. Nurture & Motivation Flashcards
What is biological motivataion? How does it motivate our Human Behavior?
Biological motivation
-Inborn or innate needs such as HUNGER
-These needs are physical
-They are derived by NATURE or genetics possibly through pre-programmed or predisposition such as personality
What is social motivation? How does it motivate our Human Behavior?
Learned psychological needs
Needs for social approval such as praise and rewards encourages learned behaviors that are desired
These behaviors are driven by Nurture or our social environment
Heredity
Heredity refers to physical characteristics and aspects of your personality and behavior that are part of your genetic structure
We inherit these from our biological relatives
If both your parents are left handed you are more likely to be as well.
What factors in our environment can influence our development
Many factors in our environment can influence our development as well
Family, peers, socioeconomic background, culture, birth order, level of education, type of education and so on
Explain The Genie Wiley Story
Genie was found at the age of 13
She was an isolate: a child raised in isolation within a human household
She had been raised since birth locked in a room, no one talked to her, she was neglected and abused
She appeared developmentally delayed, and psychologists wondered if she was born this way or turned out this way due to neglect
Twins and Siblings
Psychologists study both identical and fraternal twins to understand the influences of environment and heredity
The theory for identical twins was that any difference could be explained to environmental factors (since identical twins have same genes - one embryo literally splits into two)
However, new research shows that’s not the case in female twins, each twin has 2 x chromosomes, and in females one chromosome is more dominant than the other (chances are, twin females have different dominant chromosomes, meaning they are not genetically similar)
Definition of twins
Twins are two people who are born in the same pregnancy - they can be identical or fraternal
Twins raised apart (not in the same environment)
Twins that were raised apart are used to determine what aspects of personality are inherited (because they were raised in different environments, similarities could only be from genetics)
In one example, the “jim” twins had much in common- they both drove the same car, had the same interests, named their dog the same, married women with the same names, vacationed in the same places.
Restrictions of twin studies
There are restrictions to twin studies-behavior involves many genes, and its difficult for researchers to determine which behaviors have genetically inherited
Research shows that some characteristics are more likely to be inherited-height, weight, shyness~
IQ & Genetics of twins
- Twins tend to have the same IQ’s- but its hard to tell if their intelligence level is due to environment or genetics because twins have the same genetics and are raised in the same environment, typically the same home
- However twins who were raised apart still have similar IQs (higher when raised together though)
- environmental influences can affect IQ scores
- also, twins raised together have much more similarities than twins raised apart (meaning environment is a big influence)
IQ & Genetics of adoptive kids
Do adoptive kids have similar IQ with their birth parents?
- Adoptive children have more similar IQ’s with their biological parents than with adoptive parents
- This tells us that genetics may play a big role
How did USA have impacted IQ scores positively?
improved schooling housing & nutrition in the USA, have impacted IQ scores positively, and since the genetics haven’t changed, it must mean that the environment Americans are being raised in are better high quality homes, smaller family sizes, nutrition)
Siblings similar but different
If you have the same parents and grow up in the same house, how can you be so different?
Using twin and adoption studies we see that genetics accounts for approx 50% of differences in traits such as extraversion and emotional instability
However, psychologists believe that the other 50% can be explained by the fact that even though they are potentially genetically similar and grow up in the same home, they have unique experiences outside the home and even with their parents, each impacted by interactions and personalities\
What was the Edith Experiment?
The edith experiment was created by Aaron Stern, and he tried to prove that the right environment could create a genius, his daughter edith was the subject of the experiment
Stern played classical music and showed flashcards to edith since birth
By 5, edith could read the encyclopedia britannica and had a phd by 18
