Transcript Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology
Class 6: Nature and Nurture
Myers: Pages 75-85, 90-93
June 20th, 2006
Definition
 Nature: Genetic and various inborn
biological factors
 Nurture: Any non-genetic/ environmental
factor
-
Prenatal environment
Early experience
Peer influence
Culture
 Behavior Genetics: The study of the relative
power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior
Classification
 Predominantly
genetic
- Eye color, blood type
 Predominantly
environmental
- Language, religion
 Interactional
- Height, weight, skin color, IQ test results
Phenotype, Genotype
 The phenotype of an organism is its
total physical appearance and
constitution or a trait or a behavior
 The genotype of an organism is the
specific genetic makeup in the form of
DNA
Heritability
 Genotype + Environment  Phenotype
HERITABILITY
 Twin Studies: Identical twins (MZ) have
the same genotype and fetal
environment and so differences are
solely due to environmental factors
Schizophrenia
 So it is highly heritable
 But the environment is important
- Stress
- Urbanization
 Hutchinson & Haasen (2004) study of W.
European immigrants
 “Nurture” may be a trigger to express
“nature”
IQ
Gender
John or Joan?