Debates

Question 1

what is the Individual side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 1

our behaviour is as a result of individual factors (our personality, upbringing etc.)

Question 2

what is the Situational side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 2

our behaviour is as a result of the situation (environment or circumstances) that we are in at that moment in time.

Question 3

what are the strengths of the Individual side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 3

+ it is supported by evidence of individual differences between people (Baron-Cohen, Autism)

+ could be useful (placing people in jobs or even romantic relationships)

+ it means people can be held to account for how they behave

Question 4

what are the weaknesses of the Individual side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 4

• it makes it difficult to predict or control how people will behave in a given situation.
• it makes generalisations difficult

Question 5

what are the strengths of the Situational side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 5

+ it is supported by evidence of people being influenced by situations

+ useful, it suggests we can change behaviour by altering the situations that create it.

Question 6

what are the weaknesses of the Situational side of the Individual-Situational debate ?

Answer 6

• could be used an excuse to explain bad behaviour, blaming your behaviour on the situation.
• it undermines the idea that behaviour can be influenced by individual differences

Question 7

what is the Nature side of the Nature-Nurture debate ?

Answer 7

our behaviour is explained as a result of our genetic inheritance.

Question 8

what is the Nurture side of the Nature-Nurture debate ?

Answer 8

our behaviour is explained by how we have been brought up/ upbringing.

Question 9

what is one way you could research the effect of Nature vs Nurture ?

Answer 9

Twin studies

(This often involves comparing monozygotic (MZ/identical) twins to dizygotic (DZ/fraternal) twins to see how much they show similar characteristics.
It could also involve studying those who have been raised in different family homes.)

Question 10

how does Bandura’s study link to the Nurture side and the Nature side of the Nature vs Nurture debate ?

Answer 10

Nurture:
showing that behaviour such as aggression can be learned by simply observing and imitating the behaviour of adult role models.

Nature
boys were more aggressive overall than girls could point towards a nature
(but Bandura said it is likely to be because boys and girls are brought up differently – aggression is seen as a male behaviour and unusual in girls.)

Question 11

what are the strengths of the Nature side of the Nature vs Nurture debate ?

Answer 11

+ supported by evidence that some behaviours are difficult to change.

+ could be useful
(e.g. genetic modification)

+ not ethnocentric, as biological factors should effect everyone the same way anywhere.

Question 12

what are the weaknesses of the Nature side of the Nature vs Nurture debate ?

Answer 12

• of limited usefulness, as we cant do much to change someones personality
• socially sensitive
  (when identifying a problem, someone cant change about themselves).

Question 13

what are the strengths of the Nurture side of the Nature vs Nurture debate ?

Answer 13

+ supported by evidence of behaviour being open to change.
(operant conditioning, social learning)

+ can be useful, suggesting ways to change behaviour by changing how a child is brought up.

Question 14

what are the weaknesses of the Nurture side of the Nature vs Nurture debate ?

Answer 14

• might be ethnocentric as cultures will vary in how people are brought up/raised,
• could be socially sensitive, leading to parents blaming themselves for the way their children behave.