Thinking About Psychology
The Science of Mind and Behavior 3e
Charles T. Blair-Broeker & Randal M. Ernst
PowerPoint Presentation Slides
by Kent Korek
Germantown High School
Worth Publishers, © 2012
Social Context Domain
Nature, Nurture, Culture and Gender
Module 20
Nature and Nurture in
Psychology
Module Overview
• Genetics in Brief
• Nature and Individual Differences
• Environmental Matters
Click on the any of the above hyperlinks to go to that section in the presentation.
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Genetics in Brief
Behavior Genetics
• The school of thought that focuses on
how much our genes and our
environmental influences our
individual differences.
Genes
• The biochemical units of heredity that
make up chromosomes.
• Many genes together make up
chromosomes
Environment
• Every nongenetic influence, from
prenatal nutrition to the people and
things around us.
• Any influence, other than genetic, on an
individual’s behavior
• Include:
– The culture someone is raised in
– One’s family
– Socioeconomic group
Nature and Nurture Issue
• Nature side entails the
genetic code passed
from parent to child.
• Nurture side involves
all environmental
influences from
prenatal development
on.
Nature and Nurture Issue
• Which parts of human
behavior can we
attribute to nature and
which can be attributed
to nurture?
Chromosomes
• Threadlike structures made up of
DNA that contain genes.
• 46 chromosomes in each cell
• 23 received from each parent
Chromosomes
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
• A complex molecule
containing the genetic
information that makes up
chromosomes.
Nucleotides
• The four letter code to distinguish genes
• Letters A,T,C, or G are used
Mutation
• Random errors in gene replication
that lead to a change in the
individual’s genetic code and are
• the source of all genetic diversity.
• Can be desirable or undesirable changes
Predisposition
• The possibility of something happening
through the genetic code
• Genetics creates the potential for
something
• The environment may or may not trigger
the predisposition
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Nature and Individual
Differences
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Nature and Individual
Differences:
Twin Studies
Identical Twins
• Twins who developed from
a single fertilized egg that
splits in two, creating two
genetically identical
organisms.
• Called monozygotic twins
• Must be of the same sex
Fraternal Twins
• Twins who developed from two
different fertilized eggs; they are
genetically no more similar than any
other two siblings, but they share a
fetal environment.
• Called dizygotic twins.
• Can be different sexes
Heritability
• The degree to which
traits are inherited.
• The proportion of an
individual’s
characteristics that can
be attributed to
genetics (heredity)
Twin Studies
• Used to determine the heritability of a
given trait
• Data is collected from both identical and
fraternal twins on the trait
• Compare the data between the two
groups
• Important not to conclude that a specific
behavior is inherited
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Nature and Individual
Differences:
Adoption Studies
Adoption Studies
• Compare adopted children’s traits with
those of their biological parents and their
adopted parents
• Trait similarities with biological parents:
attribute the trait to heredity
• Trait similarities with the
adopted parents: attribute
the trait to the environment
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Environmental Matters
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Environmental Matters:
Early Learning and Brain
Development
Early Brain Development
• Early experience is critical in brain
development.
• In later life continued use is necessary to
maintain neural connections in the brain.
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Environmental Matters:
Peer and Parent Influence
Peer Influences
• Peer influence in
adolescence is very
powerful.
• Many studies suggest a
peer group is correlated
with school
performance, smoking,
and other behaviors.
Parent Influences
• Parental influence is important in areas of:
– Education
– Discipline
– Responsibility
– Orderliness
– Charitableness
– Ways of interacting with authority
figures.
Module 20: Nature and Nurture in Psychology
Environmental Matters:
Cultural Influences
Culture
• The shared attitudes, beliefs, norms
and behaviors of a group
communicated from one generation to
the next.
Norms
• Understood rules for accepted and
expected behavior.
• Consist of the “proper behavior” within
a group
The End
Teacher Information
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teaching style. To help keep a sense of continuity, blank slides which
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Teacher Information
• Domain Coding
– Just as the textbook is organized around the APA National Standards,
these Powerpoints are coded to those same standards. Included at the
top of almost every slide is a small stripe, color coded to the APA
National Standards.
• Scientific Inquiry Domain
• Biopsychology Domain
• Development and Learning Domain
• Social Context Domain
• Cognition Domain
• Individual Variation Domain
• Applications of Psychological Science Domain
• Key Terms and Definitions in Red
– To emphasize their importance, all key terms from the text and their
definitions are printed in red. To maintain consistency, the definitions on
the Powerpoint slides are identical to those in the textbook.
Teacher Information
• Hyperlink Slides - Immediately after the unit title slide, a page (usually
slide #4 or #5) can be found listing all of the module’s subsections. While in
slide show mode, clicking on any of these hyperlinks will take the user
directly to the beginning of that subsection. This allows teachers quick
access to each subsection.
• Continuity slides - Throughout this presentations there are slides,
usually of graphics or tables, that build on one another. These are included
for three purposes.
• By presenting information in small chunks, students will find it easier to process and
remember the concepts.
• By continually changing slides, students will stay interested in the presentation.
• To facilitate class discussion and critical thinking. Students should be encouraged to
think about “what might come next” in the series of slides.
• Please feel free to contact me at korek@germantown.k12.wi.us with any
questions, concerns, suggestions, etc. regarding these presentations.
Kent Korek
Germantown High School
Germantown, WI 53022
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