Heredity and Hormones
Erica Angold
September 22, 2010
BEH/225
Tina Green
Heredity and Hormones
Nature versus nurture has always been one of the many puzzles psychologists have done studies on. Which is better, nature or nurture? During these studies no one has been able to make a distinct decision. Some say nurture is better than nature and vise versa.
Heredity
Heredity is the transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring. It is dependent upon the segregation and recombination of genes during meiosis and fertilization. This results in the genesis of a new individual similar to others of its kind but exhibiting certain variations resulting from the particular mix of genes and their interactions with the environment (dictionary.com, 2010).
Hormones
Hormones are the chemical substances released by the endocrine glands. They are carried throughout the body by the bloodstream and help regulate the bodily activities. Hormones can have an imbalance that can cause a disruption in the growth process. If the imbalance is not fixed it may affect the person physically and possibly even psychologically.
The Endocrine System
The endocrine system has seven glands. Those glands are the endocrine, thyroid, parathyroid, pineal, pituitary, gonads, and adrenal. The endocrine gland release hormones into the bloodstream. The thyroid gland produces the thyroxin hormone. The parathyroid secretes parathormone. The pineal gland regulates levels of activity over the course of a day. The pituitary gland produces the largest amount of the body’s hormones. The gonads are the ovaries in a female and the testes in the male. The adrenal glands affect the body’s reaction to stress.
Genetics, Behavior Genetics, and Evolutionary Psychology
Genetics is the study of how traits are transmitted from one generation to the next. Behavior genetics is the study of the relationship between heredity and behavior. Evolutionary psychology is a...