UNIT 2: NATURE VS. NURTURE

Entry Task We need to finish our Gattaca Questions, please get those out. o You have until noon to work on those PS: Vocab Quiz #3 on Monday

Part 3 TWIN & ADOPTION STUDIES

Activity Pair up with someone you DON’T ALREADY KNOW Figure out if your feelings on each topic are alike or different and check the appropriate column Then write down how many similarities you found

Twins Identical twins – twins who develop from 1 fertilized egg that splits in 2, creating 2 genetically identical organisms Fraternal twins – twins who developed from 2 separate fertilized eggs & are genetically no closer than brothers & sisters, but shared a fetal environment

Twins

Separated Twins Studies have found numerous similarities btwn identical twins raised separately. o Critics: Similarities can be found between strangers. Researchers point out that differences between fraternal twins are greater than identical twins.

UNIT 2: NATURE VS. NURTURE

Video The Mind o Episode #16: The Effect of Aging on Cognitive Function, Nature/Nurture

Adoption Studies Adoptees tend to be different from their adoptive parents & siblings.

Adoption Studies Adoptive studies reinforce the fact that biologically related children turn out to be different from each other. So investigators ask: Do siblings have differing experiences? Do siblings have different combinations of genes? Ultimate question: Does parenting have an effect?

12 Parenting Parenting does have an effect on biologically related and unrelated children. Parenting influence children’s: –Attitudes & values –Manners –Faith & beliefs –Politics

13 Parenting From an early age, children monitor & react to their parents’ interactions with their siblings –Children who receive less affection & attention are more likely to be depressed, worried, & anxious –More conflict & hostility btwn siblings treated differently

Temperament & Heritability Temperament – a person’s emotional reactivity & intensity EAS Temperament Survey o Measures 3 temperaments:  Activity  Emotionality  Sociability

Scoring Reverse the number you put on item #s 6, 18, & 19 Now add up your numbers in these groups: Items 2, 7, 10, 17 for your Activity score Items 1, 6, 15, 20 for your Sociability score Emotionality: 4, 9, 11, 16 = distress score 3, 12, 14, 19 = fearfulness score 5, 8, 13, 18 = anger score

Averages WomenMen Activity Sociability Emotionality Distress Fearfulness Anger

Patterns Activity: Children who are high in this disposition do not sit still long and prefer games of action Adults keep busy most of the time & prefer active to quiet activities

Patterns Emotionality: Children who are high in this disposition become frightened and angry quickly Adults easily become upset and display a “quick temper” Sociability: Both children & adults who score high seek out others and generally enjoy their company

Temperament Study Buss & Plomin argue that temperaments are largely inherited Identical twins in their studies showed significantly more similar temperaments than fraternal twins However, they do believe how those temperaments development into personality traits is influenced by environment

Temperament & Heritability Heritability –proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. o heritability of a trait may vary, depending on range of populations and environments studies

Gene – Environment Interaction Interaction – the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity)

Molecular Genetics subfield of biology that studies molecular structure & function of genes o They ask the question, “do genes influence behavior?”

Molecular Genetics Discussion: Designer Babies? We can already choose the sex of a baby & find any abnormal gene patterns We might soon be able to choose other aspects