PSYCH 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Jim Carrey, Heredity, Behaviorism

• School: UW
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH 101
• Professor: Mc Laughlin Judith

Document Summary

Nature vs. nurture: examines how heredity and environment shapes who we are, are behavior differences due to biology (nature) or are they due to environmental factors (nurture), ex: Boys tend to play more aggressively and play with cars, guns and lasers. Girls tend to play with dolls and have more nurturing behavior. Is the difference due to genetic differences between sexes or how society brought them up: consensus: all behavior depends on both heredity and environment. But differences in behavior can depend on one more than the other. Ex: video game skills across people depend on practice (nurture) than genetics. But on the other hand one"s ability to distinguish red and green is likely to depend on genetics. Genetics provides with raw potential and whether or not you reach the potential may depend on the environment. Ex: you"re born in a tall family, and have the potential to be tall due to genetics.