PSYC 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Epigenetics, Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking
Document Summary
Person/nature - person includes individual difference or personality characteristics. Situation/nurture - very similar (environmental and contextual factors). Qualities we"re born with (descartes & plato) vs. experiences and learning that shape us (john locke) Often attempt to blame parents for inappropriate behavior, but we know in reality that that is only one side of the issue. More difficult to make assumption about nature/nurture if you gain more knowledge about someone. Nature/nurture is never a debate at the individual level. We assume that it"s a complex interaction of both. This is a question at the group or population level. Not every trait has the same degree of genetic variance or environmental variance. Only 2 candidate genes with real evidence. 1) drd4 linked to novelty-seeking, avoiding boredom (among many psychiatric conditions) 2) 5-httlpr linked to neuroticism and other depressive & anxiety-related traits. This is the conclusion after 10 years of research. For most traits, there are a very large number of genes involved.
