Abstract Exposure to early changes of parental care during development can create a vulnerability to stressful events in the future. Studies have researched how an altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis can derive from tainted parental conditions before maturity. The study examined the effects of parental rearing on Glucocorticoid Receptor (GCR) expression of zebra finch offspring. Twelve offspring were stress-induced during their development to study the effects of parental rearing on their stress levels. It was predicted that the GCR level in paternally deprived zebra finches would be higher than the maternally deprived birds. The zebra finches were raised in maternal deprivation, paternal deprivation, or in a biparental rearing …show more content…
A change in the parental care of the offspring can create vulnerability toward future stressful events. In the reverse, developmental stress can affect the mate choice behaviour in mature species (Woodgate, Bennett, Leitner, Catchpole, & Buchanan, 2010). Manning and Lamb (2003) examined the importance of formal marital status in humans. Zebra finches and humans are both biparental animals that depend on reliable and consistent parental care for the development of offspring (Manning & Lamb, 2003). Amirkhanyan and Wolf (2006) found that males and females with parents who needed care had higher rates of depression versus parents who could take care of themselves. These studies show how early changes in a child’s life can create a vulnerability to unhappiness and stress in future events. This information is also transferable to other animals that are biparentally raised. A species that is biparentally raised and reacts to changes in parental care are zebra …show more content…
This study combines the effect of parental care and stressful events to examine the different GCR levels in zebra finches. Banerjee et al. (2012) focused on maternal deprivation and biparental rearing and found that deprivation of maternal care changes the stress sensitivity of the zebra finches. From the removal of female parents, the HPA axes of the offspring presented hyper-responsiveness in stress levels during their development (Banerjee et al., 2012). As Banerjee et al. (2012) showed how parental care might affect the GCR expression in zebra finches; we created an experiment to investigate the differences in GCR expression and Corticosterone levels amongst the three rearing conditions. For this report, the GCR expression is the main focus and the Corticosterone levels in the zebra finches are not included. We hypothesize that the GCR level in paternally deprived zebra finches would be higher than the maternally deprived
During the twentieth century, Harry Harlow performed one of the most controversial experiments that led to a scientific breakthrough concerning the parent-child relationship. It paved the way for understanding terms such as secure, insecure, ambivalent, and disorganized relationships (Bernstein, 2014, 364). During the course of this study, Harlow separated baby monkeys from their birth mothers and isolated them in frightening environments. According to the video “H.H. Overview”, this proved the monkey’s preference for a comforting mother versus a nutritional one. However, this raises the question: can his experiments be deemed ethical, or did his scientific inquiry overstep boundaries?
Broad, K.D, J.P Curley, and E.B Keverne. "Mother–infant Bonding and the Evolution of Mammalian Social Relationships." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society, 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Lange, A. (2011). Prenatal maternal stress and the developing fetus and infant: A review of animal models as related to human research. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10, 326-340.
The three bases of Darwinian evolutionary thought state: all animals struggle for existence, inherited traits from parent organisms are passed to offspring, and natural selection provides an advantageous environment for adaptive genes to thrive and usurp the presence of less adaptive genes within the gene pool, in terms of expression (Shoemake). Evolutionary psychologists propose that this theory holds significant influence within the realm of mate selection in humans. Based on these Darwinian principles, successful mate behaviors led to the continued existence of humanity; historically, humans mate preference reflected the best suited pairings that would further the species evolutionarily. Another key component of the evolutionary model comes from the contribution of Robert L. Trivers, an American evolutionary biologist and sociobiologist: the parental investment theory. In short, Trivers’s theory states that individuals facing higher levels of involvement during child-rearing become highly selective when choosing a potential mate. Following Trivers’s research, females are choosier when it comes to mate selection because their minimum risk regarding parental investment is higher than that of male counterparts. Agreement with the model is revealed in Harvard biologist Edward Wilson’s work, On Human Nature. On the topic of sex and mate selection, Wilson affirms that it is to the advantage of
In the early 1950s, Harry Harlow’s famous study of rhesus monkeys to determine attachment relationships demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys raised in isolation, preferred the comfort of a cloth-covered surrogate mother to that of a wire-mesh surrogate with an attached feeding bottle. Harlow wished to dispute the traditional view that affection and mother–infant attachment was based on food, and his experiments had clearly demonstrated that the foundations of attachment were not associated solely with the need for nourishment. A more important facet of human nature was that the profoundly meaningful act of physical intimacy plays a greater role in the health of an infant than nourishment alone. (Vicedo 2009)
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch starts off as an innocent young girl who never thought twice about what she was going to say. However, this changes as Scout goes through many different events which lead her to maturation. Scout has an older brother named Jeremy Finch, who goes by Jem, and a father which she calls Atticus. Her mother died when she was at a young age so she never had any influence to act like a young lady therefore acts like a little boy, always excited for new adventures. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch learns many valuable lessons such as courage, justice, and social expectations which lead to her loss of innocence and growth of maturity; Lee demonstrates that throughout
The importance of parenting rearing behaviour (overprotection and rejection) is emphasized through the extensive amount of empirical researches and studies. However, there are many counter-argument that effectively establish an interaction between both genetic and environmental factor.
Parental care can be defined as parents’ investment in the offspring post egg laying or birth of the young ones. Hence, it does not count the initial investment involved in gamete production (Ridley, 1978; Wells, 2008). In many animals belonging to diverse taxa, neither male nor female offer parental care in which the offspring are left at the mercy of nature whereas, in others only one parent, either male or female, cares for the offspring. In still others both the parents jointly take the responsibility of caring their progeny (Reynolds et al., 2012). Evolution of this diversity in parental care can be explained with the help of cost/benefit ratio of providing the parental care. Lack (1954) proposed a principle to explain the evolution of parental care and the relative investment by the
Although a pregnant adolescent faces many stressors, which can translate into sundry psychological quandaries such as melancholy, the most consequential effects may pertain to the child. According to Steinberg (2011) children of adolescent mothers “are at a more preponderant risk of developing a variety of psychological and gregarious problems”; largely, due to being raised in a poor environment and/or a single parent household (p. 363). Psychological issues can additionally arise due to puerile parents interacting with their infant less often, which have a consequential effect on the child’s development (Steinberg, 2011).
study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood. New York: The Guilford Press; 2005.
The large ground finches have a higher curve while the medium ground finches have a smaller head and a tiny beak. The place in which the finches live is what changes their appearances and also the weather helps decide the appearance of these finches.
The next type of adaptation is also genetic, but does not involve the changing of the genes themselves, but rather how they are expressed. Because humans possess a remarkable amount of ‘genetic plasticity’, developmental adjustments can occur by turning particular genes on or off to adapt to the current environmental conditions at birth and through adolescence.
Izzo, Genevieve N., Meredith J. Bashaw, and John B. Campbell. "Enrichment and Individual Differences Affect Welfare Indicators in Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri Sciureus)." Journal of Comparative Psychology 125.3 (2011): 347-352. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Web. 5 Oct. 2011.
In conclusion, genetics play an important role in the development of a child in light of the transfer of genes from parents to offspring. Even though a child inherits several genes from the two parents, his/her ability to express these factors is dependent on gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Therefore, a child’s growth and development is not only influenced by hereditary factors but also determined by environmental influences.
According to Marıa et al., (2004) reduced locomotion activity increases stress due to the frustration of not being able to express some behaviors, for example, lack of access to nests (Duncan, 1998). Benefits of environmental enrichment to poultry is even distribution of birds in the available space, which permits more activity and locomotion that reduces disturbances and aggression as well as fear and stress (Leone and Estévez, 2008). Certain poultry behaviour has a strong incentive and poultry welfare is negatively affected if the birds are not allowed to express these behaviours (Linares and Martin, 2010). These authors stated that frustration, fear, and pain are the negative mental states of poultry and include increased aggression, displacement preening, and stereotyped pacing. Study from Linares and Martin (2010), confirms that extreme nervousness and hysteria are signs of poor welfare and they are associated with high population densities in large group, exposure to clamor, unexpected movement, or inexperienced circumstances, which result in skin trauma from scratches, spontaneous fractures, lessened feed consumption, decreased egg production, and reproductive disorders such as internal laying and peritonitis secondary to abdominal