PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Phenylthiocarbamide, Behavioural Genetics, Cytosine
Document Summary
Debates about nature vs. nurture have been going on for decades, and psych provides some insight. Humans have a strong tendency to think in either/or categories (yes/no, true/false, black/white) Evidence suggests that nature and nurture lie along a continuum with some traits subject to greater influence from genes, while others are more environmentally based. Genes and experience are never independent, instead they interact to make us who we are. Nature-nurture question doesn"t split into two exclusive possibilities. Behaviour is equally influenced by genes, just as physical characteristics are. Research involves comparing people of differing levels of relatedness or studying specific genes at that molecular level. Genes: basic units of heredity; they are responsible for guiding the process of creating the proteins that make up our physical structures and regulate development and physiological processes throughout the life span. Chromosomes: structures in the cellular nucleus that are lined with all of the genes an individual inherits.
