The Basics
“Nature” refers to the influence of these biological factors on behavior.
What are genes or heredity?
These are the basic units of heredity that code for proteins.
What are genes?
Parenting, culture, and education are all examples of this.
What is the environment?
Twin studies help psychologists estimate the influence of these two factors.
What are genes and environment?
This modern view holds that genes and environment work together to shape behavior.
What is the interactionist perspective?
“Nurture” refers to the influence of this on behavior.
What is the environment or life experiences?
The complete set of genetic material in an organism is known as this.
What is the genome?
DAILY DOUBLE: This theory suggests that our environment shapes behavior through reinforcement and punishment.
What is behaviorism (or learning theory)?
Identical twins raised apart provide strong evidence for this side of the debate.
What is nature?
A child may inherit musical talent but needs lessons and encouragement to develop it — this illustrates what?
What is nature and nurture interaction?
The nature vs. nurture debate asks which has a greater influence on this.
What is human behavior or personality?
Traits that improve survival and reproduction are passed on, according to this theory by Darwin.
What is natural selection?
When early experiences strengthen or weaken brain connections, it shows this concept.
What is neuroplasticity?
Adoption studies show that adopted children often resemble their biological parents in this area.
What are personality traits?
The diathesis-stress model suggests that mental illness results from a genetic predisposition plus this.
What is environmental stress?
Most psychologists today believe that behavior is a result of what kind of interaction?
What is the interaction of nature and nurture?
This term describes how much variation in a trait is due to genetic factors.
What is heritability?
Children raised in isolation or neglect demonstrate the impact of nurture on this aspect of development.
What is language or social development?
Adopted children are more similar to their adoptive parents in these areas.
What are values, beliefs, or manners?
DOUBLE OR NOTHING: The idea that genetic tendencies can influence the environments people seek out.
What is niche-picking (or gene–environment correlation)?
This field studies how environment can affect gene expression without altering DNA itself.
What is epigenetics?
Identical twins are also known as these because they share 100% of their genes.
What are monozygotic twins?
This process occurs when environmental factors turn genes “on” or “off.”
What is gene expression (or epigenetic modification)?
If identical twins have higher concordance rates for a trait than fraternal twins, it suggests what?
What is a genetic influence?
This concept suggests that early nurturing experiences can change how genes linked to stress are expressed.
What is epigenetic adaptation?