AP Psychology Myers Chapter 4 (Nature/Nurture) Extra Study Material

life task in individualism

discover and express one's uniqueness

psychological influences on individual development

gene-environment interaction; neurological effect of early experiences; responses evoked by our own temperament, gender, etc.; beliefs, feelings, and expectations.

self-concept in individualism

independent, identify from individual traits

self-concept in collectivism

interdependent, identity from belonging

when gender difference peak

late adolescence

Peers are influential on

learning cooperation, finding road to popularity, inventing styles of interaction with same-aged peers.

life task in collectivism

maintain connections, fit in, perform role

gender that tends to be more physically aggressive

male

relationships in individualism

many, often temporary or casual; confrontation acceptable

male answer syndrome

men are more likely to hazard answers than admit they don't know something

As environments become more similar, heredity as a source of differences becomes

more important

cost of the benefits of individualism

more loneliness, higher divorce rates and homicide rates, more stress related disease

In human ancestral history, men sent their genes into the future by

pairing widely

In human ancestral history, women sent their genes into the future by

pairing wisely

Social-cultural influences on individual development

parental influences; peer influences; cultural individualism or collectivism; cultural gender norms

Important finding regarding family environment and personality

The environment shared by a family's children has virtually no discernible impact on their personalities.

environmental relatives

adoptive parents and siblings

Parents' environmental influence on their children comes in these areas:

attitudes, values, manners, faith, and politics

morality in individualism

defined by individuals (self-based)

morality in collectivism

defined by social networks (duty-based)

Genes and experiences, according to Joseph LeDoux, are just two ways of

wiring synapses

biological influences on individual development

shared human genome; individual genetic variations; prenatal environment; sex-related genes, hormones, and physiology

Genetic evolutionary legacy

similarities may be attributable to selection for traits that allow for reproduction and survival

what matters in individualism

Me - personal achievement and fulfillment; rights and liberties; self-esteem

How much credit/blame do parents deserve in how their children turn out?

Parenting matters in the extremes (e.g., abusive situations or close-knit immigrant/refugee families). Shared environmental influences from the womb onward typically account for less than 10% of children's differences. Parents are important in selecting environment (e.g., schools, neighborhood...), and in education, discipline, responsibility, orderliness, charitableness, attitudes toward authority figures.

Use of twin and adoption studies

Researchers (1) compare traits and behaviors of identical twins and fraternal twins; (2) compare adopted children with their adoptive and biological parents; (3) can compare twins raised together or separately; (4) can help determine how much variation among individuals is due to genetic makeup and how much to environmental factors

Evolutionary psychologists explain gender difference in sexuality by

Theorizing that women have inherited their ancestors' tendencies to be more cautious, sexually, because of the challenges associated with incubating and nurturing offspring. Men have inherited an inclination to be more casual about sex, because their act of fathering requires a smaller investment.

what matters in collectivism

Us - group goals and solidarity; social responsibilities and relationships; family duty

Experiment: Belyaev and Trut

Worked with foxes and mated the tamest 5% of males and 20% of females for 30 generations to develop a new "breed" of domesticated, docile foxes

coping method in collectivism

accommodate to reality

selection effect

adolescents and teens selecting out similar others and and sort themselves into like-minded groups

attributing behavior in individualism

behavior reflects one's personality and attitudes

attributing behavior in collectivism

behavior reflects social norms and roles

genetic relatives

biological parents and siblings

coping method in individualism

change reality

gender that is more interdependent

female

relationships in collectivism

few, close and enduring; harmony valued

men in competitive individualist cultures tend to

have more personal freedom, be less geographically bound to their families, enjoy more privacy, take more pride in personal achievement

Biologically rooted temperament helps form our enduring

personality

in collectivist cultures, group identification provides

sense of belonging, set of values, network of caring individuals, assurance of security (which leads to deeper, more stable attachments to their groups)

cultural neuroscience

studies how neurobiology and cultural traits influence each other

behavior genetics

study of the relative effects of our genes and our environment on our behavior

molecular genetics

study of the structure and function of specific genes