AP Psycology Chapter 3
Smore J N K
Natural Selection
Natural Selection is a principal that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increase reproduction and survival and will most likley be passed onto succeding generations. For example, the giraffes with longer necks tend to survive longer than the giraffes with shorter necks because they are able to reach higher trees. Along with natural selection comes mutations. Mutations are random errors in gene replication.
Giraffes
The giraffe with the long neck is able to reach the food, while the giraffe with the short neck is not able to reach the food.
Dogs
The smaller dog is the runt of the liter. He is smaller and weaker then the other dogs, therefore he will most likley live the shortest amount of time.
Horses
The taller horse will be able to survive longer in the future because he can run away from prey faster.
Parent Influences on Development
Parental influences on development
Parental influences on their children are what shape a child's religious, and political beliefs, and most importantly their morals. Parents tend to believe it is up to them whether their child is successful or failing. They feel responsible for their child's success and failures. Parents that allow their children to grow up in a highly visual and language filled environment in their early childhood will notice that their children are more successful and easily understanding their language and visual perceptions, as a kid who is sheltered as a young child will struggle with language and visual perceptions.
Cultural infleunces
Culture consists of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions, which are shared by a group and passed from generation to generation. Most animals exhibit culture at a rudimentary level but humans are able to develop more quickly due to our ability to communicate verbally, our preservation of innovation, and our division of labor. Human variations across cultures and over time show how differing norms, or expectations, guide behavior. Cultures differ in their norms for personal space, expressiveness, and pace of life. Cultures change over time as well. However, this rapid change is not attributed to changes in the gene pool, which occur more slowly, but to culture itself.
gender issues / gender roles
Males and females are similar in many ways. People of each gender may, for example, share the same level of intelligence. However, there are distinct gender differences with regard to social behavior. Research studies show gender differences in aggression, social power, and social connectedness. These similarities and differences are created by both nature and nurture. Although males and females share similarly adaptive bodily procedures, differing sex chromosomes and differing concentrations of sex hormones lead to significant physiological sex differences. Yet gender differences vary widely depending upon cultural socialization through social learning and gender schemas.
Peer Influences on development
All humans are influences by groups that they are in while in their early childhood. For example, if a child is at school and does not like a specific food that their parents have them, they are likely to like the food if they notice children at their lunch table eating the same food. Another example is : if a child hears a language spoken in a different accent from peers than from their parents, they are likely to develop the peers accent over time. This is because of the peer influence.