PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Quantitative Trait Locus, Parental Investment, Epigenetics

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jill L Atkinson

Document Summary

Describe how traits are inherited: discuss whether it is possible to separate the influences of nature and nurture on development. Nativism the belief that your characteristics are those you were born with and were present at birth (if not at their potential yet). Empiricism the belief that we are shaped by our experience. This dichotomy sits at the crux of the nature vs nurture debate. However, it is now believed that these two factors are interrelated. Genes affect the environment and the environment affect genes (ie. epigenetics and empiricism). Behavioural genetics focuses on the relationship between genetics and behaviour. It was founded by john scott, john fuller and william r. thomson who studied the genetic underpinnings of dog breeds in the 1950s: define dna, genes, and chromosomes. Dna is the heritable material that determines genes. Genes are the cellular proteins that determine our genetic makeup, organized onto chromosomes. Chromosomes contain genetic information and are involved in mitosis and meioisis.