Chapter SummaryBehavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences
Behavior geneticists explore our individual differences and how they are affected by heredity and environment. Using methods such as twin, adoption, and temperament studies, they identify the heritability of various traits and disorders. Studies of the inheritance of temperament, and of twins and adopted children, provide scientific support for the idea that nature and nurture influence one’s developing personality. Genes and environment—biological and social factors—direct our life courses as their effects intertwine. Molecular geneticists are on a fast-moving frontier in their work to identify the specific genes that influence behaviors. Evolutionary Psychology: Understanding Human Nature Genes (DNA segments that form the chromosomes) are the biochemical units of heredity. They provide the blueprint for protein molecules, the building blocks of our physical and behavioral development. Evolutionary psychologists study how natural selection has shaped our universal behavior tendencies. They reason that if organisms vary, if only some mature to produce surviving offspring, and if certain inherited behavior tendencies assist that survival, then nature must select those tendencies. They believe this helps explain gender differences in sexuality. Critics maintain that evolutionary psychologists make too many hindsight explanations. Parents and Peers Genetic influences are pervasive, but so are prenatal environments, early experiences and peer influences. Sculpted by experience, neural interconnections multiply rapidly after birth. Both parents and peers influence development. Parents model education, discipline, and responsibility to name a few while peers influence learning to cooperate with others, and finding appropriate ways to interact with people of a similar age. Cultural Influences Culture consists of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions, which are shared by a group and passed from generation to generation. Most animals exhibit culture at a rudimentary level but humans are able to develop more quickly due to our ability to communicate verbally, our preservation of innovation, and our division of labor. Human variations across cultures and over time show how differing norms, or expectations, guide behavior. Cultures differ in their norms for personal space, expressiveness, and pace of life. Cultures change over time as well. However, this rapid change is not attributed to changes in the gene pool, which occur more slowly, but to culture itself. A culture can vary depending on how its people view themselves—as individuals and as part of a group. There are cultures that value individualism over collectivism and vice versa. Whether the culture focuses more on the “I” or the “We” often determines the values of the culture. These variations in cultural values influence child-rearing practices in particular. One cultural group may feel that their method of rearing children is better than another’s when, in fact, every culture can raise children successfully. Despite cultural differences, we are all humans and undergo the same cycle of life. Gender Development Males and females are similar in many ways. People of each gender may, for example, share the same level of intelligence. However, there are distinct gender differences with regard to social behavior. Research studies show gender differences in aggression, social power, and social connectedness. These similarities and differences are created by both nature and nurture. Although males and females share similarly adaptive bodily procedures, differing sex chromosomes and differing concentrations of sex hormones lead to significant physiological sex differences. Yet gender differences vary widely depending upon cultural socialization through social learning and gender schemas. Key TermsChromosomes - threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.
DNA - a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes. Genes - the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein. Genome - the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes. Natural Selection - the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. Mutation - a random error in gene replication that leads to a change. Evolutionary Psychology - the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. Gender - in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female. Behavior Genetics - the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. Environment - every non-genetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us. Identical Twins - twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms. Fraternal Twins - twins who develop from separate eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment. Temperament - a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity. Heritability - the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. Interaction - the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity). Molecular Genetics - the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes. Culture - the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. Norm - an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Personal Space - the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. Memes - self-replicating ideas, fashions, and innovations passed from person to person. X Chromosome - the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Y Chromosome - the sex chromosome found only in males. Testosterone - the most important of the male sex hormones. Role - a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave. Gender Role - a set of expected behaviors for males and for females. Gender Identity - one's sense of being male or female. Gender Typing - the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. Social Learning Theory - the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished. Gender Schema Theory - the theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly. |
Tricky SpotsGender Role
What is your role in the world as a woman or man? Is it to be in the kitchen if your a woman or on the battlefield as a male? Gender Identity What do you identify yourself as? A male or female? Your choice. Gender Typing For his book, the author often types the stereotypes of males and females that people have acquired. Stereotypes: Jock = Mean, Nerd = Dressing/Acting Dorky, Goth = Dress in black/Loner, ect.
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