AP Psychology - Unit 1.1 Interaction of Heredity and the Environment

Heredity (nature)

• the predisposed characteristics that influence an individual’s physical traits, behavior, and mental processes

• these genetic traits are passed from parents to offspring

Environment (nurture)

• the external factors that an individual experiences

• includes family interactions, friend groups, and school environment

Evolution

• the gradual process of biological change that occurs in a species as it a adapts to its environment

• the link between genetics and behavior

Evolutionary Perspective

• focuses on natural selection, the passing down of genes, and how many of our behaviors and mental processes actually come from our ancestors

Nature vs. Nurture

• the long debate throughout the development of psychology that questioned if a person’s behavior is influenced by their genetics or environment

• answer: heredity and the environment work together to influence an individual’s mental processes

Natural Selection

• the driving force behind evolution

• the environment “selects” the fittest organisms

• traits/responses that give an organism an advantage or leads them out of harm’s way get passed down to future generations

Charles Darwin

• heavily influenced the evolutionary perspective

• worked as a naturalist aboard the HMS beagle

• wrote On the Origin of Species — discussed the idea of evolution through natural selection

Evolutionary Perspective Controversy

• many believe that evolutionary psychologists put too much weight in the nature side of the nature versus nurture debate

Genotype

• an organism’s genetic makeup

Phenotype

• an organism’s observable physical characteristics 

• eye color, hair color, skin color, etc.

Nucleus

• an organelle that carries a complete set of biological instructions (DNA)

• for human, these instructions are contained in 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 chromosomes in all)

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

• a long, complex molecule that encodes genetic characteristics

Gene

• a segment of DNA that encodes the directions for a specific physical or mental characteristic

• functional units of a chromosome

• composed of smaller units called nucleotides

Chromosome 

• tightly coiled threadlike structure that carries genetic information in the form of genes

Sex Chromosomes 

• Inherit a X chromosome from our biological mother and either a X or Y chromosome from our biological father

• XX - female

• XY - male

Biopsychology

• studies the interaction of biology, behavior, and mental processes 

Neuroscience

• focuses on the brain and its role in psychological processes

Psychological Perspectives on the Nature Side

1. Biological Perspective

2. Evolutionary Perspective

3. Cognitive Perspective

Psychological Perspectives on the Nurture Side

1. Sociocultural Perspective

2. Behavioral Perspective

3. Psychodynamic Perspective 

Eugenics

• improving the genetic quality of the human population by promoting the reproduction of individuals with desirable traits and discouraging or preventing reproduction among those with traits deemed undesirable 

Heritability

• a mathematical measure to estimate how much variation there is in a population related to its genes

• demonstrates how heredity and the environment both shape an individual’s behavior and mental processes 

Epigenetics

• examines how the environment and a person’s behavior affect the function of a person’s genes

• the DNA itself is NOT changing

• genes are essentially being turned on or off due to sustained environmental pressures