Transcript Chapter 4: Nature, Nurture, Human Diversity (Part 2)

Chapter 4: Nature, Nurture,
Human Diversity (Part 2)
Eliza Kronenberger, Kayla Russell, Abby Lagunov
3 Critiques of Evolutionary
Psychology:

Starts with effect and works backward to propose explanation

Unethical and immoral men could use such explanations to rationalize
behavior toward women

Explanation overlooks effects of cultural expectations and socialization.
Douglass Kenrick

When referring to nature and nurture, he compares humans to a
coloring book the outline is given to us at birth.
Rat Studies for Brain
Development

Rats were either raised alone in an impoverished environment, or they
were raised with others in an enriched environment.

In enriched environment, rats developed significantly more cerebral
cortex (relative to rest of brain’s tissue).
Kolb and Whishaw

Because brain weights increased 7-10%, documented that # of
synapses had mushroomed by 20%.
Fields Study on Premature
Babies:

If a baby is born underweight (around 3-4 ibs), it will receive massage
therapy for 15 minutes. Within weeks, the baby develops neurologically
and will gain weight.

 Power of touch
Pruning Process

Connections that are not used eventually whither away and die.
Language

According to psychology, a child should begin learning a language at a
young age– at around 2/3 years old.
Brain Role in Maturation

“Use it or lose it”– If certain parts of brain are never used, then they
will not be able to be used in the future.
Plasticity

Term used to describe how the brain is always changing.
Chimpanzees

“Even among chimpanzees, when one infant is hurt by another, the
victim’s mother will often attack the offender’s mother” (Goodall,
1968).

Parents’ job to help their child
Power of Family
Environment
Shows in…

Political Attitudes

Religious Beliefs

Personal Matters
Selection Effect

Kids seek friends who relate to him/her, similar tastes/interests
Peer Influence

“Men resemble the times more than they resemble their fathers.”

Shows power of peer influence over genes
Parental/Teen Influences

Parents more influential: education, discipline, orderliness,
charitableness, ways of interacting with authority figures

Teens more influential: leadership, road to popularity, inventing styles of
interactions
“It takes a village to raise a
child.”

Both parents and peers play very important roles in the growing up
years of a child.
Nature’s greatest gift:

Our ability to learn and adapt
Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a
group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Designed for Culture

We are very social animals- we live in “packs”, we are designed for culture.
Cultural Diversity

More relevant in Los Angeles than Japan.
Norm

Definition: An understood rule for accepted and expected behavior.

Example: Girls with Uggs
Personal Space

The zone we like to maintain around our bodies.

Ex. Mexicans often go too close to body, Canadians prefer more
personal space.
Culture Shocks
Two greatest culture shocks for peace corps volunteers:

The differing pace of life

The people’s differing sense of punctuality
Modern Times

3 conveniences: email, airconditioning, flying (planes)

3 negatives: divorce,
delinquency, depression
Individualist/Collectivist
Culture

Individualist culture: gives priority to one’s own goals over the group
goals.

Collectivist culture: priority to one’s group over one’s self.
Individualistic Cultures

Common in North America, Western Europe

Strive for personal control and individual achievement
Collectivist Culture

Sense of belonging

Network of caring individuals

Set of values
Korea

Korea is an example of a collectivist culture
Individualist Culture

Personal Freedom

Less geographically bound to families

More privacy

Take more pride in personal achievements
Table 4.1
Gender

Biological sex in turn helps define our gender; the biological and social
characteristics by which people define as male or female.
Chromosomes

Out of our 46 chromosomes, 45 are unisex which proves that men
and women are very similar.
4 Differences between
Men/Women during
Puberty

Average woman enters puberty 2 years
sooner

Average woman lives 5 years longer

Women have 40% less muscle

The average woman is 5 inches shorter
than the average man
Gender Differences

Women: Smell fainter odors, express emotions more freely, offered help
more often

Men: more often diagnosed with autism, color-blindness, attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial personality disorder
Relational Vs. Physical
Aggression
Aggression is defined as any physical/verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Relational- excluding somebody

Physical- acts such as hitting/harming in some way
Male Activities

2 traditional examples: hunting, fighting

Men are more likely to support war
Perceptions of men vs.
women

Men: dominant, forceful, independent

Women: deferential, nurturing, caring
Men vs. Women

Men place more importance on power/achievement than women
throughout the world
Who plays in larger groups?

Boys play in larger groups

Girls play in smaller groups
Male answer syndrome

Men are more likely than women to make up answers to questions
that they do not know the answer for.
Women vs. Men

Women are more interdependent
than males, spend more time with
friends, less time alone, more time
on social networking sites, take
more pleasure talking face to face,
and use conversations to explore
relationships.
Talking

Women and men talk about equally. This tends to be very surprising
due to the stereotype
Mother/Daughter
Connection

96% of women feel closer to their mothers than their fathers
Facing Problems

3 reasons that both men and
women turn to women when
they face problems:

Women seem more
nurturing/caring, more enjoyable
to talk to, seem more
understanding
Tend and Befriend

Concept where women turn to other women for support
Spirituality

Women are more likely than men to be spiritual
Different Sex
Characteristics

Over time, each sex develops
traditional characteristics of
the opposite sex.
X Chromosome

Definition: sex chromosome found in both men and women

Females have 2, men have 1
Y Chromosome

Sex chromosome found in males.

X + Y = Male
Testosterone

Most important male sex hormone
Genetic Brain Advantages

Women: May cause increase in verbal fluency

Men: Higher ability to recognize objects
Excess Testosterone

When a female infant gets
excess testosterone in the
womb, the infant is born with
more masculine-appearing
genitals, more aggressive tomboyish behavior, and often
dress like boys

Excessive testosterone can
cause identity confusion
Role

Set of expectations
Gender Roles

Set of expected behaviors for males and females
Gender Identity

Our sense of labeling as a male or a female
Social Learning Theory

We learn by
observing/imitating
behaviors

Example: We keep in mind
what is being rewarded and
what is being punished
Schema

Concepts that help you make sense of your world
Gender Schema

How we view male and female experiences
Figure 4.8