Topic 2: Nature vs Nurture

Question 1

What is behavioural genetics?

Answer 1

Tries to explain the difference between people. A field of study that aims to discover causal links between genetics and behaviour.

Question 2

What is heritability?

Answer 2

The proportion of variation in a trait explained by genetic factors.

Question 3

What are two possible causes of a variation in behaviour?

Answer 3

Nature (genetics) and/or nurture (environment)

Question 4

What is environmentality?

Answer 4

The proportion of variation in a trait explained by environmental factors.

Question 5

When will heritability estimates increase?

Answer 5

When environmental variation decreases.

Question 6

What are the gene-environment interdependencies?

Answer 6

Gene environment interaction
Gene environment correlation

Question 7

What is gene environment interaction?

Answer 7

The impact of a gene might depend on the environment
e.g. predisposed to have depression and if grown up in super stressful environment, their depression gene will be activated.
e.g. gene’s sensitivity to an environmental pathogen

Question 8

What are gene-environment correlations?

Answer 8

Gene influences individual variations in exposure to adverse and/or protective environments
e.g. predisposed to aggression so you choose to join a street-gang where aggression flourishes.
e.g. genetically musically inclined, grow up in musical household where it is flourished.

Question 9

If everyone received the same education would heritability increase or decrease?

Answer 9

Because heritability is about variation in a trait that is due to genetic differences between individuals in a population, it would increase. This is because there would be less environmental differences between people - less non-genetic contributions to intelligence.