nature vs nurture continued
TRANSCRIPT
Stress: Nature or Nurture?Some people respond well to
stress. When there is too much work to get done, these people
remain calm, organize time well, finish the work with focus
and without feeling overwhelmed. Other people do not respond
well to stress. When they have too much work to do, they feel like the world is crushing them. They feel panic. Sometimes, they
feel so much panic that they can’t focus on the work that
needs to be done.
Stress: Nature or Nurture?
Group 1: Baby rats are nurtured
by a mother rat
Group 2: Baby rats are neglected
by a mother rat
?
Stress: Nature or Nurture?
Group 1:
DNA is tested and epigenetic tags are visible on the stress response
gene. These rats respond very well in stressful
situations.
Group 2: DNA is tested and
epigenetic tags are not present on the stress
response gene. These rats do NOT respond well in
stressful situations.
Stress: Nature or Nurture?
Group 1:
The offspring of these rats ALSO has epigenetic tags on the stress response
gene: the stress response gene is “turned on.”
Group 2: The offspring of these rats ALSO have no epigenetic
tags on the stress response gene. (They inherited an imprinted gene, and also do not
resound well to stress).
Stress: Nature or Nurture?
The rats that were not nurtured as babies had the stress response gene
“turned off.” In this case, the rats could not handle stressful situations
well for the rest of their lives.
This study shows that attentive, loving parents set their children up for future success by creating an epigenetic
modification that allows the children to better cope with stress. The environment can change our genes, and our
genes impact certain aspects of our behavior.
Genes & Test ScoresIn a recent study at University college London, researchers
compared test scores of high school students to their genes. The study found that 58% of the variation on student test
scores was due to genetic factors.
The research drew on the exam scores of more than 11,000 16-year-olds. Researchers also compared the scores of identical and non-identical twins in a supplementary study.
Genes & Success Does having amazing genes lead to future
career success and wealth?
If this boy in poverty has great genes - for example, high intelligence - will he be successful in a future career?
Genes & SuccessFor children living in poverty, it did not matter whether they had good genes or not. The negative impact of
the environment almost always played a greater role in their future
success than their genes.
For children in middle class and wealthy homes, having good genes
became very important to determining their future success.
Genes played a much greater role in the future success of each child.
Genes & Success
Researchers concluded that for children in harsh living conditions, it is harder for exceptional genes to “shine through.”
PsychopathyA personality disorder in which a person shows a lack of
remorse and empathy. Also known as anti-social personality disorder, psychopathy is characterized by lack of a conscience: a psychopath may understand society’s definition of right and wrong, but they either don’t care,
or don’t understand why they need to conform to it.
PsychopathySigns someone might be a psychopath: !- They are charming, and good at
wearing the “mask” of a sane and likable person
- They think they are better than others and have an inflated image of their own greatness
- They are good at manipulating others
- They frequently lie - They do not show any emotions or
sympathy for others - They are reckless and impulsive
SociopathyThe terms psychopath and sociopath mean roughly the
same thing. The word “sociopath” was coined to refer to someone whose immoral behavior is learned (a product
of the environment) rather than someone whose immoral behavior is due to their nature (biology). The
term has fallen out of use by psychologists.
Sorry Sherlock, A psychopath and a sociopath are the same thing…And you just made up the term “high-
functioning sociopath.”
Psychopathy Facts:1% of the human population has the personality disorder known as psychopathy. That means out
of every 100 people you’ve met in your life, one of them was a psychopath!
!
Men are three times more likely to be psychopaths than women.
!
15-25% of all prisoners in jail are psychopaths. !
The profession with the highest number of psychopaths is company CEO/top executive. Psychopaths also make
good lawyers.