Nature vs.

Nurture: What Studies Tell Us

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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.”

Pair-Share

Is it possible for a child to be born evil?

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!

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Men are three times more likely to be psychopaths than women.

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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.