Read Wade & Tavris  on the following
Chapter 3:
Culture on a short Lease (pp. 77-79)
Our Human Diversity: The case of Intelligence (pp. 89-93)  
In Praise of Human Variation (pp. 93-94)
 

In following up earlier portions of the course we come back to the nature-nuture issue.  We had examined the influence of genetics where at best it appears to be contributing 50% of the variance on some trait such as temperament.

Historically, within our judeo-christian culture we hold the notion that a person has free will and some ability to change or move towards living a better life.

Our legal and judicial system is also built on this notion where we see reform and mending one's ways as a possibility.  We also often recognise that upbringing may have an impact on one's behaviour, turning to parenting as the most likely source.

Can we blame our parents?
Following from Freud and others there has been an emphasis on the parents and their styles of nurturance (or abuse) that are a main cause of their children's behavioural and moral goodness.

Sandra Scarr (1993) suggests that we should place less blame and credit on parents with respect to their children's behaviour.

Environmental shaping of the psyche may begin right after conception.  Some identical twins have separate placenta, where others have shared ones.  Those who share the placental environment appaer to be more similar that thos who have separate ones.

Studies on enriched and impoverished environments for rats has shown that those in the enriched environments had a increase in brain weight of 7-10% after 60 days.  They also showed an average of a 20% increase in number of synapses.

Those in impoverished environments appear to have had connections "die off", the old addage of "use it or lose it"

Early childhood development is important when large numbers of neurons are present and easily make new connections.  With age the "critical periods" often pass where learning is hampered by the aging brain.

Experience appears to be important in developing many abilities, including language, perception (limited restored vision) motor abilities...

As we age we come uder the influence of a widening circle of influence, moving from parents and siblings through extended families, schools, communities, and beyond.  During the school years, in western cultures, peer influence becomes the strongest.  Children will generally adopt the accent of their peers over their parents along with many other values and aspirations.

When attemping to perform an intervention on someone's behaviour it is often important to consider the larger cohort and social relations for a more permanent change (through a blues lens).

Culture can be considered to include behaviours, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions that are shared by communities of people.  They are centred around language, art, myth and ritualised social behaviour.

Many psychological characteristics vary across cultures, even to the degree that the basic properties of what it means to be a self or person vary. (personal space).

Meme is a term used to describe ideas or activities of cultures that are passed on across generations.

Models of childrearing vary across cultural groups often on the basis of familial or individual centric.  This can has an impact on thoughts, feels and behaviours where they tend to be allo- or auto-centric.  Other memes for childrearing include attitudes about day care, nurses, exposure to violence, sleeping arrangements,...

In spite of these variations, there are also simlarities in terms of language onset and development, usage of "motherese", understanding of concrete and formal operations, ....

At the core of culture is Language