Discussion Post: Genes and Personality
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, listen to the WNYC Studios (2012) podcast Inheritance, and read the Hurley (2013) Trait vs. Fate, the Weaver et al. (2004) Epigenetic Programming by Maternal Behavior, and the Webster (2013) blog post. (BOTH ARTICLES ARE PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENTS)
The Great Rat Mother Switcheroo. The recommended sources for this week provide additional information on these topics that may be helpful.
In this required sources, you learned that while genes have a lot to say about who we are, environmental factors, particularly parental behavior, can shape the behavior of offspring on a biochemical level. In your initial post of a minimum of 350 words,
a) Briefly describe the research that has been done with rat mothers to illustrate this phenomenon. Be specific about the maternal behaviors and correlated biochemical changes to their offspring. This section demonstrates that you understand what research has been conducted and what the results mean, so be sure to go beyond quoting and paraphrasing to explain and interpret the research as you understand it.
b) Explain the implications of the research on parental behavior and environmental factors as they relate to human personality development.
c) Based on your understanding of the research cited in the required sources, assess the emerging field of epigenetics, explaining how it is impacting the longstanding nature versus nurture paradigm and evaluating the possible promise and risks with respect to the human experiments.
The response must include a reference list. Using one-inch margins, double-space, Times New Roman 12 pnt font and APA style of writing and citations.
Reference
• Hurley, D. (2013). Trait vs. fate. Discover 34(4), 48-55.
• Weaver, I. C. G., Cervoni, N., Champagne, F. A., D'Alessio, A. C, Sharma, S., Seckl, J. R., ... Meaney, M. J. (2004). Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 7(8), 847-854.
• Webster, M. (2013, January 10). The great rat mother switcheroo (Links to an external site.) [Blog post].
• WNYC Studios. (2012, November 18). Inheritance.