PSY1004 WEEK 4 Flashcards
define a precocial species
young are physically mobile from birth or hatching
define a altricial species
young are more helpless and are not mobile from birth or hatching, dependent on parents for food and safety
define nature
genetic determination for behaviour, inherited physical traits, personality traits, intelligence, preferences
define nurture
environment, life experience, upbringing determining our behaviours
dichotomy
proposes there are 2 opposing sides, either nature or nurture - however realistically is a continuum
define empiricism
view that humans are not born with built-in core knowledge or mental content. instead, all knowledge is a result of learning and experience, a tabula rasa
define nativism
view that many skills and abilities are native from birth and infants are born with hard-wired knowledge because such knowledge confers an advantage to survival
give some early demonstrations of developmental perceptual and cognitive skills (nativism)
imitation, looking longer at surprising events, show early communication behaviours
what is face preference research (Fantz) showing it could be innate
showed masks with different shapes (some arranged as faces, others were random). infants looked longer at face, suggesting a preference and looked around edge or periphery suggesting more info is there. could be innate or due to looking at multiple faces
what is in-utero research evidence for face preference
lights moved in 28-40th weeks of pregnancy along uterus wall either in face-like configuration/not and found foetuses turn toward face stimulus
define heritability
how much variation of specific trait in particular population is a result of genetic variation among individuals in population, and can lead to social, racial, economic division issue
define environmentality
how much variations in specific trait in particular population is result of environmental factors
define phenotype
interaction of genetic and environmental factors that result in person’s physical appearance
give 4 methods of studying nature/nurture
genetic studies, heritability, family studies, adoption study
define genes
segments of DNA on a chromosome that is arranged in pairs and interaction between 2 copies determines individual characteristic, is useful in genetic studies
give weaknesses of using heritabiltiy
refers to populations, not specific individuals. doesn’t identify trait specific genes
predicts average group value more certainly than individual value
what factor can heritability estimates depend on
if an environment is similar then heritability estimates will be higher since individual differences in trait cannot be explained by a environmental difference alone
if more environmental difference then a lower heritability estimate
what are % similarities in genes for MZ and DZ twin, and siblings
MZ = 100%
DZ = 50%
siblings = 50%
explain family studies relating with intelligence
Stanford-Binet Test & WISC-V IQ tests for children measure verbal ability, problem solving and reasoning
found MZ twins not raised together have a high correlation suggesting a high IQ heritability
explain adoption studies on IQ
Schiff studied children adopted before 6 months in higher socio-economic households, found IQ of adopted child higher than that of biological sibling remaining in family home
what impact does educational attainment
moderately heritable and is important correlate of many social, economic and health outcomes
define the concept of mental age
individual’s level of mental ability relative to other (IQ)
what is a chronological age also known as
real age
how is an IQ score calculated?
(mental age/chronological age) x 100
explain Flynn Effect (IQ)
IQ scores in western society rises average of 3 IQ points per decade, meaning IQ test requires restandardisation to ensure average is always 100
due to reduction in average family sizes so more parental input, educational improvement, diet improvement, increasing technological advances
give one potential genetic component recently found to influence an IQ
single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPS), however can only account for 11% of variation in an educational achievement, suggesting it is nature and nurture
why can poverty be difficult to measure
culture-bound. poorer countries poverty is limited access to food and water but developed countries states poverty being <60% average income
what impact can poverty have on educational attainment
perpetuating cycles of inequality and deprivation, resulting in malnutrition, poorer physical cognitive and neural development
what is sure start
UK 1998 - play session, parenting advice, family support, nutritional advice and speech and language therapy to focus on increasing positive behaviours via reinforcement, setting a clear expectation and asking accountability for poor behaviour
what is the genotype-environment interaction theory?
proposes genotype and parent genotype influences which environments you encounter and type of experience you have
“different genotype respond to similar environmental factors differently creating individuals phenotype”
give 3 types of gene-environment effects
passive: biological parents provide both genes and environment for child (decreasing with age)
evocative: temperamental characteristics of child evoke responses from other (remain constant with age)
active: children seek out environments consistent with genotypes (increases with age)
give reading ability as an example of genotype-environment interaction
number of books in home is an environmental causal effect of children’s reading ability, and parents both share reading ability gene and environmental control
give strengths of genotype-environmental theory
model is comprehensive and plausible as examines how both genes and environment interact producing traits and behaviour
model considers developmental effects and genetic/environmental effect is seen dynamic, not constant
