Lawanna Livsey: At the simplest level what you are asking about is allelic differences for specific genes or traits and how they influence the culture that develops from that population. Humor may be part of the expression of traits that allow socialization. We are a social animal with traits for mutual or reciprocal altruistic acts. We have some genetic abilities at the base of how we socialize and humor plays a strong part but is based in knowledge of the culture so is mostly learned behavior. The ability to find humor or respond to humor is shared but the actual subject and its expression is cultural."Study Says Environment, Not Genetics, Defines Sense of Humor'http://genealogy.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?...There are traits that are less polygenic than humor being looked at for their natural variations that influence populations.Both olfaction (smell) and gustation (taste) are chemosensory systems that evolved as a means to asses the quality of the surrounding en! vironment. Chemoreception means a molecule from the environment binds to a receptor on a cell. The receptor is shaped to receive and then respond when a specific type of molecule binds. Receptors vary by what allele for that gene you inherit so the ability to taste and smell varies by the set of alleles you inherit for the genes for tasting and smelling.http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstr...Gustation - Food, once found, is tested it for quality. This goes back to the taste being sweet for good, high-energy nutrition, and sour or bitter for questionable to toxic quality. So taste was a survival factor for those who spit out unpleasant tasting food that was poisonous. Sweet is from the food value so we seek it.Taste or gustation is very idiosyncratic with culture. We think of a culture and can easily correlate its food. What we are now finding are the genetic influences that allow for different abilities in tasting or judging the qualities of food.The people ! adapted to the plants in an environment. Plants defend themse! lves with bitter tasting toxins so the people in an area were quickly selected for those who correctly identified the poisonous plants by taste, those who had alleles for taste receptors that responded to those toxins. Similarly the population were selected for those individual with alleles who correctly tasted the safe and most nutritious plants.If these people migrated to another very dissimilar ecoregion with new plants their alleles would not recognize the tastes produced by the local plants. These people would be under strong selective pressure once more for variant alleles for tasting bitter and sweet in the local plants.This all comes down to the cultural influences that result from shared traits in tasting in relationship to the local plants available to develop a cuisine from. Over time the population passes on information about the best ways to prepare the food safely and for the best taste and creates a culture.You ask if you would be predisposed to seek out othe! r groups based on shared abilities. Well yes if you know other groups exist with other options in behavior. This is clearly based on learned information. Do we automatically seek the new? To some extent we do. There is a reward to those who take calculated risks. Our ancestors risked predators, accidents, and disease but had to go out in search of food, shelter and mates. The hunter who climbed the tree for fruit ate just as the hunter who tracked and killed the wild pig did but they took different risks needing different skills. Making a decision based on calculated risks was part of our problem solving skills that increased with our increased brain function. Those that could evaluate the degree of risk, act and gain benefits pass on the trait. There is a range of this behavioral tendency. Some risk takers will press farther physically than others because they also inherited traits that allow them to perform very well. However like all behaviors it is not set in stone and! is highly influenced by culture as well as the specific array of genet! ic factors we inherit. http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi672.htm...Show more
Ruby Martis: Try this - hope it helps.Criminal behavior has always been a focus for psychologists due to the age old debate between nature and nurture. Is it the responsibility of an individual's genetic makeup that makes them a criminal or is it the environment in which they are raised that determines their outcome? Research has been conducted regarding this debate which has resulted in a conclusion that both genes and environment do play a role in the criminality of an individual. This evidence has been generated from a number of twin, family, and adoption studies as well as laboratory experiments. Furthermore, the research has stated that it is more often an interaction between genes and the environment that predicts criminal behavior. Having a genetic predisposition for criminal behavior does not determine the actions of an individual, but if they are exposed to the right environment, then the! ir chances are greater for engaging in criminal or anti-social behavior. Therefore, this paper will examine the different functions that genetics and the environment play in the criminal behavior of individuals....Show more
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