Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Children

Pinker Ch. 19Heather Steffani, Lindsey Stevenson, and

Fatima Coley

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Nature-Nurture

The Nature-Nurture Debate: Do genes (nature) or the environment - particularly the influence of parents in childhood (nurture) - mold a human being? What accounts for the variation in a population? Is it strict biology, environmental forces, or a combination?The Social Constructionists – nurture has the greatest impact on human development (blank slate)

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

3 Laws of Behavior Genetics

Behavior geneticists, however, developed a different theoryThree Laws of Behavior Genetics– The First Law: All human behavioral traits are

heritable.– The Second Law: The effect of being raised in the

same family is smaller than the effect of the genes.– The Third Law: A substantial portion of the variation

in complex human behavioral traits is not accounted for by the effects of genes or families.

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

The First Law

All human behavioral traits are heritableHeritable = proportion of variance in a trait that correlates with genetic differences– About half of the variance in intelligence, personality, and life

outcomes is heritable – a correlate or indirect product of the genes

**implies that half of the variation among people is inherited**– General intelligence, as well as the five major variations in

personality (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion-introversion, antagonism-agreeableness, and neuroticism) are heritable

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

The First Law

Behavioral traits that reflect the underlying talents and temperaments of a child are heritable.Studies that draw conclusions about the effects of parenting are worthless.– The correlations might be due to genetics, NOT to

parenting styles.

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

The First Law

Twin studies as supporting evidence for the First Law:– The Mallifert brothers– The homes (environments) of identical twins

who were separated at birth are no more similar than the homes of fraternal twins separated at birth, yet the identical twins are far more similar.

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

The Second LawThe effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of the genesShared environment: affects siblings equally– Effects are small makes little or no difference in who we turn out

to be as adults1. Adult siblings are equally similar whether they grew up together or

apart2. Adoptive siblings are no more similar than two random people off

the street3. Identical twins are no more similar than one would expect from the

effects of their shared genesNonshared or Unique environment: individual experience

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

The Third Law:The Unique Environment

What is the unique environment ?Interaction between parents and childGroup SocializationUnknown chance experiences

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Interaction of Parent / Child

Individualizing parent – alters parenting style to the needs of the childIf the child elicits a certain type of parenting, this would still be a genetic effect If the same parenting style yielded different effects, this would be due to a unique environment If the same parenting style yielded same effects, this would be due to a shared environment However, there is no perfect interaction

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Group Socialization Theory

Children model their peers, not their parents (Harris)Obeying parents is not the same as emulating themKids must struggle for status among peers Ex: Linguists show that children learn language from their friends

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Group Socialization Theory

Pinker’ Evaluation

How do kids get sorted into peer groups?

- If by inborn traits, then still a genetic influence - If by neighborhood, then a shared influence - Perhaps an interaction between genes and peers? ( a

violent group may activate violence-prone child)Twins with same genes, parents and peers still vary

- Perhaps the role the child takes within the peer group?

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Unknown Chance Experiences

Chance events and experiences (accidents, missed flights) may shape our personalityTwin mice and cloned worms may still differ We have far more cells, and thus more chance to varyIf chance affects our neural development, it would not be a genetic or environmental influence,but a biological oneIf these involuntary chance occurrences make us who we are, then are our personalities are due to fate rather than free will?

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Conclusion

There is no exact procedure for raising a happy healthy child This doesn’t mean that parents are absolved of responsibility for raising the child (as many critics argue)It is simply not the parent’s fault of the child isn’t perfect Parents should spend time with their child because they want to, not to increase neural activity

“We may not hold tomorrow in our hands, but we surely hold today, and we have the power to make today very miserable.” (Harris)

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Positives / Negatives

Pinker stresses that parents should try to spend time with their children because they want toThe myth that there is a universal parenting strategy is debunked

Pinker doesn’t give any clear answer to what the unique environment is Studies of twins, siblings, and adoptees can help explain what makes people different, but they cannot explain what people have in common (universal human nature)

Pinker, S.R. (2002). The Blank Slate. New York: Viking.

Positives / Negatives

Parents are no longer to blame for negative outcomes in the development of their child that are beyond their control (e.g. schizophrenia and the “cold mother”)

Limitations of behavioral genetic methods:1. Does not examine variation between groups of people2. Show only traits that correlate with genes, not directly caused by them