"Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?"

Argument for Nature Not only are things like hair and eye colour inherited, but also things like attitude, personality, intelligence Sexual orientation is determined naturally Potential for a behaviour gene that determines these more abstract traits Support Identical and fraternal twins show similarities even when raised apart Other studies

Argument for Nurture Genetics do exist, but don’t matter Environment has everything to do with who we are John Watson’s experiments acquisition of phobia Boy associates furry animals with fear BF. Skinner’s experiments on pigeons human behaviour can be conditioned like animals Pigeon experiment Creates superstitions Humour is a learned trait – Study Counterclaim to twins argument twins should be the same in every aspect if nature theory is true, this is not the case

Why Study Nature? As much as we agree that there is a considerable amount of evidence in favour of the nurture theory, we must also accept that nature needs to play some role in who we are It is safe to say that who we are can be influenced by our heredity

Why Study Nurture? Most sociologists disagree that biology can be used to explain all areas of behaviour Study is based around how some behaviour can be explained when it would seem as though all evidence would suggest that it should be different

How Do We Study Nature vs Nurture? One Example Twins offer sociologists a unique opportunity to study the importance of genetics in shaping an individual Identical Twins Genetically identical Fraternal Twins Genetically different

What are the Problems Associated with these Experiments? Summarize in your own words what this article is talking about What are some of the major issues discussed? Do you believe that these type of experiments can be justified in today's society? Why/why not?

Possible Problems: Ethics Right or wrong Funding Finding Participants Motivation Variables Information

You’re the Scientist (s) In a small group (4-5) Come up with a way of experimenting with twins (or other groups of human beings) which would allow you to gain insight into which traits are nature determined, and which are determined by nurture Keep in mind the potential problems and be prepared to explain how your experiment won’t be problematic Remember, you must find a way to address each of the problems raised on the previous slide.