Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity
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64 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Chromosome | composed of a coiled chain of the molecule DNA |
| Genes | small segments of the giant DNA molecules |
| genome | instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes |
| identical twins | develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two-identical organisms |
| fraternal twins | develop from separate fertilized eggs-share fetal environment, but are no similar than brothers and sisters |
| temperaments | a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity |
| heritability | the extent to which variation among individuals can be attributed to their differing genes |
| interaction | the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (environment) depends on another factor (heredity |
| molecular genetics | the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes |
| goal of molecular behavior | find some of the many genes that influence normal human traits (weight, sexual orientation, extraversion) |
| evolutionary psychologists | focus mostly on what makes u so much alike as humans-evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection |
| mutations | random errors in gene replication |
| gender | the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female |
| largest gender difference | males are more likely than females to initiate sexual activity |
| gender approach to sex | male: recreational - female: relational |
| increase in mother and children's survival | because women incubate and nurse babies, they increase their chances of survival by searching for mates with the resources and the potential for long-term investment in their joint offspring |
| culture | the behaviors, ideas, values, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
| norm | rules for accepted and expected behavior |
| personal space | the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies |
| individualism | giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications |
| collectivism | giving priority to goals of one's group and defining one's identity accordingly |
| Individualism values | self: independent life task: discover and express one's uniqueness what matters: me coping method: change reality morality: defined by individuals relationships: many-temp or casual attributing behavior: reflects one's personality and attitudes |
| collectivism values | self: interdependent life task: maintain connections/fit in what matters: us coping method: accommodate to reality morality: defined by social networks relationships: few/close/enduring attributing behavior: reflects social norms and roles |
| aggression | physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone |
| x chromosome | received from mother/sex chromosome found in both men and women/women have 2/men have 1--> one from each creates female child |
| y chromosome | sex chromosome found only in males/ paired with x chromosome from mother--> male child |
| testosterone | both males and females have it/additional in males stimulates growth in the male's sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty |
| role | a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave |
| gender identity | sense of being male or female |
| gender typing | the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role |
| social learning theory | assumes that children learn gender-linked behaviors by observing and imitation and by being rewarded or punished |
| biological influences of individual development | shared human genome-individual genetic variations-prenatal environment-sex-related genes, hormones, and physiology |
| psychological influences on individual development | gene-environment interaction-neurological effect of early experiences-responses evoked by our own temperament, gender-beliefes, feelings, and expectations |
| socia-cultural influences | parental-peer-cultural individualism or collectivism-cultural gender norms |
| behavior genetics | study our differences and weigh the relative effects of heredity and environment |
| nucleus | inner area of cell that houses chromosomes and genes |
| genes | make proteins to determine our development |
| similarities of separated twins | personality, intelligence-abilities, attitudes- interests, fears-brain waves, heart rate |
| adoptive studies | strongly point to the simple fact that biologically related children turn out to be different in a family |
| parenting influences children | attitudes, values-manners, beliefs-faith, politics |
| temperament | a person's stable emotional reactivity and intensity |
| nature vs. nurture | Some human traits are fixed, such as having two eyes. However, most psychological traits are liable to change with environmental experience |
| evolutionary psychology | studies why we as humans are alike. In particular, it studies the evolution of behavior and mind using principles of natural selection |
| natural selection | an evolutionary process through which adaptive traits are passed on to ongoing generations because these traits help animals survive and reproduce. |
| Belyaev and Trut | artificially rear and domesticate wild foxes, selecting them for friendly traits |
| fox study | Any trait that is favored naturally or artificially spreads to future generations |
| differences in sexes | casual sex-> male want more than female-sex for affection-->female more than male-think about sex everyday-->male over female |
| male mating preferences | look for youthful appearing females in order to pass their genes into the future |
| female mating preferences | look for maturity, dominance, affluence and boldness in males |
| Rosenzweig | showed that rats raised in enriched environments developed thicker cortices than those in impoverished environment-early postnatal experiences affect brain development |
| culture | composed of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group. |
| norms | rules for accepted and expected behavior |
| individualist | a culture nurtures an individual's personal identity |
| collectivist | a group identity is favored |
| culture and child rearing | individualist (european): children raised as independent individuals collectivist (asian): children raised as interdependent |
| westernized culture child rearing | responsible for your self-follow your conscious-discover your gifts-be true to yourself-be independent |
| asian-african culture child rearing | responsible to group-priority to obedience-be true to family-self-be loyal to your group-be interdependent |
| gender differences in aggression | Men express themselves and behave in more aggressive ways than do women |
| gender and social power | men are socially dominant and are perceived as such |
| biological sex | determined by the twenty-third pair of chromosomes |
| gender roles | expectations of how men and women are supposed to behave |
| gender identity | means how a person views himself or herself in terms of gender |
| social learning theory | proposes that we learn gender behavior like any other behavior—reinforcement, punishment, and observation |
| gender schema theory | suggests that we learn a cultural "recipe" of how to be a male or a female, which influences our gender- based perceptions and behaviors |
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