Nature vs. Nurture Study Questions

Nature vs. Nurture

1. Nature

   1. By nature, we mean the hereditary information we receive from our parents at the moment of conception.

2. Nurture

   1. By nurture, we mean the complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth.

What are the philosophical views of Rousseau, Gesell, John Locke, & John Watson?

1. John Locke 

   1. Viewed child as tabula rasa - latin for blank slate

      1. According to this idea, children begin as nothing at all; their characters are shaped entirely by experience.

2. John Watson

   1. Believed in Social Learning Theory & Behaviorism 

      1. Behaviorism

         1. directly observable events—stimuli and responses—are the appropriate focus of study.

            1. North American behaviorism began in the early twentieth century with the work of psychologist John Watson (1878–1958), who wanted to create an objective science of psychology.

            2. John Watson

               1. Watson wanted to find out if classical conditioning could be applied to children’s behavior.

               2. Little albert study 

      2. Social Learning Theory 

         1. Emphasizes modeling, also known as imitation or observational learning as a powerful source of development

            1. Bobo doll study

3. Arnold Gesell

   1. G Stanley Hall

      1. regarded as the founder of the child-study movement

      2. Hall and his well-known student Arnold Gesell (1880–1961) devised theories based on evolutionary ideas.

      3. They regarded development as a maturational process—a genetically determined series of events that unfold automatically, much like a flower

      4. They launched the normative approach

         1. in which measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development.

4. Jean Rousseau  

   1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

      1. Viewed children as noble savages, naturally endowed with a sense of right and wrong and an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth.

      2. Rousseau believed that children’s built-in moral sense and unique ways of thinking and feeling would only be harmed by adult training.

      3. His was a child-centered philosophy in which the adult should be receptive to the child’s needs at each of four stages: infancy, childhood, late childhood, and adolescence.

      4. Rousseau’s philosophy includes two in&uential concepts

         1. Stage 

         2. Maturation - refers to a genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth.

      5. Rousseau saw children as determining their own destinies. And he viewed development as a discontinuous, stagewise process that follows a single, unified course mapped out by nature.

1. Describe each of the four ecological system influences in the bioecological system model. Give examples of each as they influence a child’s development.

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

1. What is the reaction range and how does this relate to gene-environment interactions?

1. Reaction range

   • Genes can determine range for developmental outcomes

2. How it relates to gene environment interaction

   • Environment influences development within that range

3. Example of Relation to Gene-environment interactions

   1. Reaction range relates to Gene-environment correlation because for example let’s say Michael Phelps child has a trait for athleticism. This child’s reaction range would mean that their upper limit of developmental outcomes in terms of that trait is much higher than a child who has the athleticism genes of an average person. However, an average person could end up being more athletic then Michael Phelps child if Michael Phelps child decides instead of using his athletic genes he wants to read books. The interaction Michael Phelps' child had with his environment to read books instead of playing sports will be the way his genes are expressed.  Now although Michael Phelps gene for athleticism is better than the average person. If his child does not play sports but instead read books then the child will develop to not be as athletic as the child with average athletic genes but who decided to play sports.

1. What is the epigenetic framework? Give an example of how the environment influences gene expression.

• 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