Learning Targets

• LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural

selection to explain behavior tendencies.
• LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual
differences.
• LT 1.1-3 Explain how twin and adoption studies help us
understand the effects and interactions of nature and
nurture.
• LT 1.1-4 Explain how heredity and environment work together.

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LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural
selection to explain behavior tendencies. selection to explain behavior tendencies.

• Psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes. • Nature-nurture issue: the long-standing controversy over the relative
contributions that genes and experience make to the development of
psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science views traits and
behaviors arising from an interaction of nature and nurture.

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LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural

selection to explain behavior tendencies.

• All things psychological are simultaneously biological.

• The nature-nurture debate is one of the biggest and most persistent issues in
psychology.
• Historical philosophers argued over whether humans’ psychological profiles
and consequential actions were a product of biology (nature) or their
environments (nurture).
• Modern psychological science believes behavior and thought are influenced by
both nature and nurture.

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LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural
selection to explain behavior tendencies. selection to explain behavior tendencies.
• Natural selection: the principle that the inherited traits enabling an • The evolutionary perspective of psychology uses Charles Darwin’s
organism to best survive and reproduce in a particular environment theory of natural selection to help us understand human behavior
will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on and mental processes.
to succeeding generations. • Genetic combinations and variations help to explain some behavior,
• Mutation: a random error in gene replication that leads to change. but are not as restrictive in humans as other species. Rather, they
• Evolutionary psychology: the study of the evolution of behavior and allow us to adapt and learn.
the mind, using principles of natural selection. • Genes and environment interact in a special way for humans and
• Behavior Genetics: the study of the relative power and the limits of contribute to our fitness ̶ our ability to survive and reproduce.
genetic and environmental influences on behavior

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LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural LT 1.1-1 Describe evolutionary psychologists’ use of natural
selection to explain behavior tendencies. selection to explain behavior tendencies.
• Humans differ from one another but are more similar than you might • Evolutionary psychology often boils down the cause of our adapting
think. behavior through generations to our need to survive and reproduce.
• No more than 5% of human genetic differences arise from population group • Darwin proposes that nature selects the genetic variations which help us to
differences. pass on our genes and survive in a given environment.
• Variability between individuals within population groups is much greater. For • Unfortunately, many of our predisposed behavior patterns (such as a
example, the differences between two South Africans or two Singaporeans is preference for sweet and fatty foods) which may have aided in survival and
fitness in the past no longer align with survivability and fitness in the context
much greater than the differences between the two groups. of our modern world.
• This shared human genome is a result of generations of adaptation which • Applications of Darwin’s theory to psychology have inspired new research and
have allowed our species to survive and reproduce. continuing debate over nature vs nurture influences on behavior and mental
processes.

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LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual

differences.

• Environment: every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to

our experiences of the people and things around us.
• Heredity: the genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to
offspring.

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LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual
differences. differences.
• In contrast, behavior geneticists focus on how genes and the • Genes: the biochemical units of heredity.
environment contribute to differences in behavior and mental
processes. • Genome: the complete instructions for making an organism.
• The main question in behavior genetics concerns how much of who we are is a
product of heredity or of our environment.
• Environmental influences are external, such as parenting styles, socioeconomic
class, community cultural practices, and education.
• Heredity is connected to traits from your biological parents such as height,
predisposition to illnesses, and intelligence.
• Behavior geneticists study the interaction of these two factors.

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LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual LT 1.1-2 Describe how behavior geneticists explain our individual
differences. differences.
• In normal development, humans • The human genome contains the instructions for making a human
organism and explains our differences from other species.
receive 23 chromosomes from the
mother and 23 from the father, for a • The differences between us and some species like chimpanzees are
total of 46. not as great as you might imagine. Humans and chimps are about
96% genetically similar.
• Chromosomes are comprised of the • The differences do matter though; what makes humans unique
molecule DNA. compared to other living creatures is contained in a small portion of
• Each chain of DNA is made of genes. our DNA.
• Genes are influenced by the • The small variations within a species are also important and
environment much like a tea bag being demonstrate how we are unique in things like height, hair color, and
susceptibility to illnesses.
activated by the water in which it sits.

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LT 1.1-3 Explain how twin and adoption studies help us understand

the effects and interactions of nature and nurture.

• Identical (monozygotic) twins: individuals who

developed from a single fertilized egg that split
into two, creating two genetically identical
organisms.
• Fraternal (dizygotic) twins: individuals who
developed from separate fertilized eggs. They are
genetically no closer than ordinary siblings,
despite sharing a prenatal environment.

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LT 1.1-3 Explain how twin and adoption studies help us understand LT 1.1-3 Explain how twin and adoption studies help us understand
the effects and interactions of nature and nurture. the effects and interactions of nature and nurture.
• Behavior geneticists cannot ethically do the experiments they want to • Adoption also provides behavior geneticists with a natural laboratory.
examine the influences of nature and nurture, but mother nature has • With adoption, a child now has two sets of parents ̶ biological
provided the perfect population: twins. ones and adoptive ones.
• Identical twins result from a zygote splitting in two creating two genetic • Results from hundreds of studies show that adopted people’s
copies with some small variations. personalities are more like their biological parents rather than
• Fraternal twins are no more genetically related than other siblings but share a their adoptive ones.
prenatal environment and often a common upbringing. • Even though it seems that biology plays a greater role in shaping
• The differences in these sets of twins is clear; identical twins are much more who we are, environment cannot be discounted. Adoptive parents
similar in looks, personality, and predispositions to illness. do help shape the personalities of their children, provide guidance
• Separated twin studies are used by researchers to point out the similarities in and support, and can influence their mental development through
identical twins raised in different environments, but this research is heavily exposure to activities and experiences.
critiqued.

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LT 1.1-4 Explain how heredity and environment work together.

• Interaction: the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor
(such as the environment) depends on another factor (such as
heredity).

• Interaction between genes and environment is a main topic of

modern psychological research.
• The differences we see in some behaviors can result from differences in the
environment but connected to adaptation, a biological mechanism.
• Research topics concerning gene-environment interaction investigate a
variety of topics including mental and physical health issues.

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LT 1.1-4 Explain how heredity and environment work together. LT 1.1-4 Explain how heredity and environment work together.

• Epigenetics: “above” or “in addition to” (epi) genetics; the study of the • Environments can trigger or block genetic
expression. For example, the same genes allow a
molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic butterfly to turn different colors depending on
expression (without a DNA change). the season.
• Genetic markers direct genes to be ‘turned off
or on’; these markers are influenced by
environmental factors such as diet, stress, and
drug use.
• Childhood trauma, poverty, and stress from war
may have long lasting effects on a person’s
genes.
• Bottom line: Nature via nurture.

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Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e © BFW Publishers