ID - Nature Nurture Debate

Question 1

Interactionism approach in the nature-nurture debate and what are the pre-existing approaches?

Answer 1

Nature and nurture work together, not in opposition
- Nature = biological approach
- Nurture = behaviourist approach

Question 2

Diathesis stress model in the nature-nurture debate

Answer 2

• An interactionist approach
• Genes create a vulnerability and influences in the environment act as a trigger for said vulnerability
• For example, regular marijuana use increases your risks of having schizophrenia, especially for individuals with genetic vulnerabilities

Question 3

What is the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 3

• The argument over whether development in behaviour is mainly due to hereditary or environmental factors

Question 4

Negative evaluation of nativism

Answer 4

• Extreme deterministic stance which has led to the application of eugenics
• Has led to attempts to link race, genetics and intelligence which could lead to discrimination

Question 5

What is eugenics?

Answer 5

The belief and practice of selectively breeding humans to improve the genetic quality of the population

Question 6

Postive evaluation of empiricists

Answer 6

• Suggest that behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions
• Behaviour shaping, a behaviourist concept, has practical application to therapy. Desirable behaviour are selectively reinforced, and undesirable behaviours are punished or ignored

Question 7

What are the difficulties of research into the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 7

• The idea of shared and unshared environment suggests that due to individual differences siblings may experience life events differently. This would explain why identical twins do not show perfect concordance rates which supports the view that heredity and the environment cannot be meaningfully separated

Question 8

Positive evaluation of the interactionist approach in the nature-nurture debate

Answer 8

• Constructivism proposes that a naturally aggressive child is more likely to befriend other natural aggressive children therefore, increasing the aggressiveness of that child. This shows how nature and nurture can intertwine