Nature vs. Nurture

Nature

• Inborn, biological givens

• Genetic Inheritance

Nurture

• Experience in the physical and social world

Historical & Theoretical Beginnings: Nature Side (Innate)

• John Rousseau (1712-1778)

  • Believed children born “noble savages”

  • Naturally endowed with right/wrong

  • Innate plan for orderly development

• Arnold Gesell (1880-1961)

  • Maturation drives development

Historical & Theoretical Beginnings: Nurture Side (experience)

• John Locke (1632-1704)

  • Tabula rasa “blank slate”

• John Watson “Little Albert” Experiment

  • (1878-1958)

    • Social learning theory & behaviorism

Genie: Case Study of “Wild Child”

• Sever environmental deprivation

• “natural experiment”

• During most critical period in development 

  1. critical period = Birth - 3 years old 

Environmental Influences

• Children live and grow within a complex, multifaceted context of family, society, and culture

• Ecological Systems Theory:

  • Focuses on the complex interplay of factors that influence development

Ecological Systems Theory Bioecological Model

• Child at center of the systems and the things that influence their development stretch outward

• Environment isn’t all affecting child but sometimes child brings out certain things in the environment and how they are responded to effects them

  1. Dynamic 

  2. Multilevel 

  3. Bidirectional  

• Types of Systems 

  1. Microsystem (Most important and most influential)

     1. The child’s day-to-day setting 

     2. Immediate surroundings 

        1. Ex: Immediate Family, Neighborhood play area, Child-care center or school 

     3. Mesosystem 

        1. Refers to the interaction between the different things inside the micro system 

  2. Exosystem

     1. Aspects of the environment outside the child that indirectly influence the child 

     2. Child is not in the exosystem  context

        1. Ex: places or people the parents interact with on the day-to-day that the child does not, which indirectly affect the child

           1. Workplace

           2. Community health services 

           3. Extended family 

           4. Friends and neighbors 

  3.  Macrosystem: 

     1. laws, customs, culture or subculture in which child lives 

        1. Ex: Laws, Values, Customs 

• Know the definition for each of these contacts for the exam and an example of each

Relationship between Heredity & Environment

1. Child development cannot be explained by any single variable such as genes, parenting, peer pressure, television or culture 

2. Genes and the environment interact in ecplpex ways to influence development 

   1. Gene-environment correlations 

   2. Epigenetics 

Gene-Environment Interactions & Reaction Range

• Reaction range

  • Refers to how Genes can determine the range for developmental outcomes

• How it relates to gene environment interaction

  • How we interact with the Environment around us influences development within that range

Gene environment correlation: Passive correlation

1. Children inherit genes correlated with experiences in their family environment 

   1. Ex: Athletic parents (Michael Phelps) pass down athletic genes AND emphasize athletics in their children, provide more opportunities for swimming

Gene-environment correlation: Evocative correlation 

1. Responses children evoke from others influenced by the child’s own heredity, reinforce the child’s genetic style

   1. Ex: Temperament 

      1. Child is super shy and doesn’t wanna leave mothers side so mother squeezes child 

      2. This reinforces child to continue to be shy instead of forcing them to go out and play with other kids 

Genetic-environment correlation: Active correlation

1. At older ages, individuals actively seek out environments that fit with genetic tendencies (niche-picking)

   1. Ex: 

      1. Well coordinated, physically fit child chooses athletics 

      2. Musically talented joins orchestra 

      3. Intellectually curious chooses books

The Epigenetic Framework

• Slide explanation: Modification of gene expression (genes “turned on” or “turned off” through experiences in the environment (rather than genetic code itself)

• Phenotype can change or what genes are expressed can change based on what environment the child is in

  • Ex: childs genes may put them at risk for having adhd and being in hghstress environment or etc can cause gene to be expressed more then it would have been or just made it expressed when it could have been avoided