Genetic Influences on Behavior

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Genetic Influences on Behavior
Nature
v.
Nurture
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The Nature Argument(is sometimes compelling)
This guy will never be.
This guy!!!
Why does Brad Pitt look the way he does?
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Genes Our Biological Blueprint
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Genes Their Location and Composition
In the nucleus of every cell we have 46
chromosomes
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Except
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Chromosome Breakdown
DNA
Chromosomes
Genes
Nucleotides
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Genetic Similarities
Mr. Bohn is
98
99.9
99.9
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Evolutionary Psychology Explaining Universal
Behaviors

• Evolutionary psychology is the science that seeks
  to explain why humans act the way they do.
• Evolutionary psychology seeks to reconstruct
  problems that our ancestors faced in their
  primitive environments, and the problem-solving
  mechanisms they created to meet those particular
  challenges.
• From these reconstructed problem-solving
  adaptations, the science then attempts to
  establish the common roots of our ancestral
  behavior, and how those common behavioral roots
  are manifested today in the widely scattered
  cultures of the planet.
• The goal is to understand human behavior that is
  universally aimed at the passing of one's genes
  into the next generation.

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Natural Selection at Work

• 1959 Russian Fox story
• 40 Males, 100 Females- mated- then kept only
  tamest of bunch.
• Mated the tames.
• 40 years later
• New Breed of Fox

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Look at our Behaviors
Can you answer these questions using evolutionary
psychology?

• Why do infants fear strangers when they become
  mobile?
• Why are most parents devoted to their children?
• Why do we divide people into categories?
• Why do we have more phobias about spiders and
  snakes than electricity and nuclear weapons?

Now, the big one?
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How and why do men and women differ sexually?
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Of course, there are other differences.
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Sexuality and the Evolutionary Psychologist

• Casual sex is more accepted by men.
• When average men and women randomly ask strangers
  for sex tonight, 75 of men agreed, almost no
  women agreed.

WHY?
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Sperm is Cheap

• Eggs are not

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What do men and women want?(According to
Evolutionary Psychology)

• Men want
• Healthy
• Young
• Waist 1/3 narrower than hips.

• Women want
• Wealth
• Power
• Security

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Can this change?
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Behavior Genetics

• The study of the power and limitations of genes
  on who we are.

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Twin Studies
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What are the different types of twins?
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Twin Studies The results

• To summarize the countless amount of studies
  twins (especially identical), whether or not they
  are raised in the same environment are very much
  alike in many ways.

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Temperament Studies

• A persons characteristic emotional reactivity
  and intensity.
• They remain relatively stable over time.

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Heritability

• The proportion of variation among individuals
  that we can attribute to genes.
• It is a mathematical formula.
• Mark Twain explains it best using the barrel
  example.

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Nature v. Nurture

• What do you think so far?

Does Nature and Nurture interact and grow off of
each other?
Lets find out soon by examining Nurture in
detail.