Nature, Nurture, and

Human Diversiy
unit 03
Behavior Genetics and
Evolutionary Psych
module 6

2
How genetics work
Identical Fraternal
twins twins
Twin studies Adoption studies
Temperament
 Heritability is the extent to
which variation among
individuals can be attributed to
genetic factors.
Epigenetics is the is the study of
how the expression of genes
change without corresponding
changes to the genome itself.
Evolutionary Psychology

11
 1. The brain is a physical system
Principles of Evolutionary Psych

2. Neural circuits were designed by

natural selection

3. Most processing evolved to be

subconscious

4. Neural circuits are specialized by task

5. Modern skulls house a Stone Age mind

 Sugar?
• Our ancestors needed to eat ripe fruit to meet their nutritional
needs.
• When fruit is ripe, it is loaded with sugars.
• If our ancestor had a taste for sugar, he or she would be a little
more likely to eat ripe fruit.
• His or her resulting good health would make him or her stronger
and more attractive to potential mates.
• He or she might leave more offspring who, inheriting this taste
for ripe fruit, would be more likely to survive to reproductive
age.
Environmental Influences
on Behavior
module 7

14
Parental influence

Peer influence

Cultural influence

including norms & memes

Collectivist vs Individualistic cultures

Gender

18
The Nature of Gender
Think of your parents ...
When you went out, who drove?
Who writes the family “Thank You” cards?
Who is more likely to ask, “Where is my grey sweater?”
When he car needs repairs, who takes it to the garage?
Who does the laundry?
Who dusts & vacuums?
When you have guests for dinner, who makes the
drinks? the coffee?
Who waters the house plants?
When you go on a trip, who packs the suitcases? Who
loads the car?
Gender formation

22
 Social
Learning
Theory
 Social
Gender-Schema
Learning
Theory
Theory