Homework Assignment 2

1. Define Heritability, Shared environment & non shared environment

influences over behavior?
Heritability is the genetic similarities that are passed on from our parents,
heritability influences our behavior by producing similar structure within
individuals (siblings of a particular family) for example weight, height & race.
Shared environment in terms of behavior includes household, family
structure & economic class that individuals share.
Non shared environment is indicative of age, with age variances the needs of
a child in a household maybe different so how a teenage child is treated
maybe different from a toddler based on perceived need.

2. Are you and your siblings more alike or more different? Explain. Which
of the three explanations presented in the articles as to why research
shows growing up in the same family does not make siblings alike do
you like the best and why?
My siblings and I are different but we share common interests. Were
different because our age separates our experiences. My brother 9 years my
elder grew up practically a decade before me and also came from the
Caribbean. His experience may have made him more timid in socialeducational environments but active in sports as a way to connect to

Homework Assignment 2

American culture. My sister is only 15 months older than me but her

personality is bit more outgoing. People gravitate towards her warm
personality. Im the youngest & I think I pull my personality from both my
brother & sister. I can be reserved in academic settings but seek social
gatherings as an outlet; however, I am usually more concerned in finding a
new book or seeking refuge in shopping. I like the non-shared environment
theory. As the NPR article, Siblings Share Genes, But Rarely Personalities
states, within the non shared environment theory though we grow up in the
same environment we do not experience the same environment. As the
oldest my brother may have felt more responsible for his younger sister, as
the middle child my sister may have felt neglected because I was the born
not shortly after her. Though we grew up in a shared environment the roles
we played in that environment greatly differed because of age and sex.