Application Activity

PAGE 1

Consider a prominent or defining PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAIT that you possess (e.g., intelligence, empathy, etc.). Describe how the current expression of this trait (your current phenotype) might have been shaped by Scarr’s 3 types of Gene x Environment interactions ( Active, Passive, and Evocative). Be sure to give a concrete example of the role that each Gene x Environment interaction may have impacted your phenotype.
Formatting : Please format & label your assignment as follows:
Part A: Name the trait you are discussing, and describe your phenotype on this trait (how it’s expressed)
Part B: Here you should describe how this trait might have been shaped by Gene X Environment (G X E) interactions…
1) Describe how a passive G X E interaction influenced this trait
2) Describe how an active G X E interaction influenced this trait
3) Describe how an evocative G X E interaction influenced this trait

PAGE 2- Use attached file Ch5 Baby Project
For this Application Activity, I’d like you to pretend that you are getting ready to have a baby (those of you who already have children won’t need to do much pretending). One aspect of preparing to have children is making sure you are financially prepared – babies cost a lot of money!!! To demonstrate this, I’d like you to calculate what is costs to support a baby through it’s first year of life.
To help you do this, I’ve attached a chart listing typical expenses parents face when preparing to have a baby, and when taking care of a baby through his/her first year of life. It’ll be your job to estimate how many of each item you might need (this shouldn’t be too difficult with the magic of the Internet), and then how much each of those items will cost you (Amazon.com should be a big help, but you can go to your local baby store or use other websites instead. Then, using the directions on the attached chart (click the like that says “Chapter 5 Baby Project”), I’d like you to calculate the total cost of having a baby for the first year.
Also, at the end of that chart is a place for you to write a short reflection on your experience completing the project. In this reflection, answer the following questions:
What surprised you the most over the course of this project? Was it how much a particular item cost (if so, which item)? Was it how much of an item a baby needed? Was it just how many overall expenses there were. Why did this come as a surprise?
What didn’t surprise you at all? In other words, what aspect of this project met the expectations you had before you began the project?
For those of you who don’t already have children: Did this project influence your decision to have children in any way (e.g., whether you will have them or not; if you want to wait longer now to have then)? Why/Why not?… For those of you who DO already have children: If you had known this information before you had children, would you have done things differently? Waited longer to have kids? Not had kids at all? (be honest, your secret is safe with me!)
Do you think it is important or valuable for potential parents to know the cost of a baby before having kids? Should this be a project they do in school (perhaps high school)? Why/why not?

TEXTBOOK: Child Development: An Active Learning Approach (4th edition). By Laura Levine & Joyce Munsch – Sage Publications

Last Completed Projects