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Flashcards in Nature Vs. Nurture Deck (16)
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1
Q

What is the Tabula Rasa?

A

When a child is born they are a blank slate to be filled with information

2
Q

Who was John Locke?

A

An empiricist - based his work on evidence and observation
Claimed that through social interaction children learn:
- Speech
- Emotions
- Morals
- Exist within society

3
Q

Who was Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

A

Agreed with Locke that society was a strong part of a child’s development
Saw society as a factor that corrupted a child, children are ‘angelic’
Coined the phrase ‘noble savage’ - a good child who becomes corrupted by society and all that is wrong with it

4
Q

What is nativism?

A

the view that many skills or abilities are ‘native’ or hard wired into the brain at birth, the result of genetic inheritance

5
Q

What is empiricism?

A

the view that humans are not born with built in ‘core knowledge’ or mental content and that all knowledge or mental context results from learning and experience

6
Q

Who was Binet?

A

Invented the first intelligence test - Identified Mental Age (MA)
An individual’s level of ability relative to others
If their MA is lower than their CA they are likely to have learning difficulties at schol

7
Q

What did Stern introduce?

A
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
IQ = MA/CA x 100
Therefore, the average IQ for one's age is 100
8
Q

What is intelligence?

A

Verbal abilities
Problem solving
Memory
Usually ends up described as g (general intelligence)

9
Q

What did Jensen find?

A

Evidence that white children were more intelligent than black or low SES children
Led to accusations of scientific racism
But more recent evidence shows similar 15-18 point IQ gap between black and white children
Group differences are 50-80% inheritable

10
Q

What are the correlations of IQ between pairs of MZ twins (reared together and reared apart)?

A

reared together = 0.87

reared apart = 0.75

11
Q

What are the correlations of IQ between pairs of DZ twins reared together and reared apart?

A

reared together = 0.55

reared apart = 0.35

12
Q

Is IQ innate or acquired?

A

We currently have not found a specific gene which is strongly associated with cognitive ability
- missing heritability, the failure to find any genes associated with a cognitive ability
We know that IQ has a strong heritability component
But we also know that 50% of the variation in a population’s IQ is accounted for by genetic differences

13
Q

Provide an example of IQ Gene X Environment interaction

A

Breastfeeding
Children who are breastfed are healthier and develop higher IQ - likely due to fatty acids present in breast milk
There is a gene which is involved in the genetic control of fatty acid pathways and has been linked to brain development
A variant of this gene allows breastfed children to score around 7 points higher on IQ tests

14
Q

Outline the Minnesota Transracial Adoption study

A

Tested IQ scores of black or interracial children adopted by white advantaged families
At age 7:
- They scored above the white population average
- Those adopted by age 1 scored 20 points above black children raised in black communities
- Scores linked to genetic racial differences
At age 17:
- IQ scores for all groups lower but differences remain
Environment in important for ability at school level

15
Q

What is the Flynn Effect

A

IQ rates increase by 3 points per decade in western societies so tests have to be re-standardised every few years to account for this
Reasons for this increase could be:
- Smaller family size, more time spent with individual children
- Improvements in education
- Development in technology to support learning
- Changes in diet
The Flynn Effect is currently reducing in the UK but increasing in China and India

16
Q

How do poverty and malnutrition have a negative effect on children’s development?

A

Children who have an inadequate diet have reduced brain development
Children living in poverty have structural brain differences to those from higher SES families