© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Psychology: An Introduction Benjamin Lahey11th Edition Slides by Kimberly Foreman

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Four: Interplay of Nature and Nurture

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior Do genes influence our behavior and mental processes? - genetic studies of nonhuman animal behavior

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior (cont.) Do genes influence our behavior and mental processes (cont.)? -genetic studies of human behavior: - studies of twins: - monozygotic - dizygotic - studies of adopted children

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior (cont.) Molecular genetic mechanisms of inheritance: - genes - chromosomes - DNA: - nucleotides - genes

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior (cont.) Molecular genetic mechanisms of inheritance (cont.): - polymorphic genes - dominant gene - recessive gene

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior (cont.) Molecular genetic mechanisms of inheritance (cont.): - polygenic traits - X and Y chromosomes and sex - chromosome abnormalities - Down’s Syndrome

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nature: Genetic Influences on Behavior (cont.) Genes and behavior: - influence psychological lives through the structure of neurons and endocrine glands -influence physical characteristics that influence how one views him/herself and others respond to him/her

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nurture: Environmental Influences Physical environments: - prenatal exposures: - alcohol - exposures during childhood and beyond: - water pollution - air pollution

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nurture: Environmental Influences (cont.) Social environments: - culture, ethnicity and identity - culture and parenting: - collectivistic culture - individualistic culture

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Interplay of Nature and Nurture Gene-environment correlation: - passive gene-environment correlation: - action not needed to cause genes and environments to become correlated - active gene-environment correlation: - correlated through the actions of the individual

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Interplay of Nature and Nurture (cont.) Gene-environment interaction: -phenomenon in which genes influence how environments work and environments influence how genes work - gene expression is variable

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sex, Gender and Human Diversity Gender identity and gender roles: - gender identity: -subjective experience of being female or male - gender roles: - behaviors that a culture expects of males and females based on biological sex - feminine - masculine - androgynous

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sex, Gender and Human Diversity (cont.) Gender similarities and differences: - in physical characteristics - in cognitive ability and achievement - in emotion and social behavior - in mating and sexual behavior

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sex, Gender and Human Diversity (cont.) Origins of gender differences: - structural differences in the brain -biological differences that have evolved over thousands of years -social learning experiences associated with gender roles

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Genetics and Psychological Theory Evolutionary psychology and gender differences: - pressures associated with hunting - selection of dominance and aggression - pressures created by child care - pressures created by gender differences in parental investment - pressures in mate selection

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Genetics and Psychological Theory (cont.) Social-role theory of gender differences: -each society’s division of labor and the different social roles that it creates are the forces that create psychological gender differences