Issue 2- The role of both nature and nurture in psychology

Question 1

Explain the difference between the nature and nurture explanations.

Answer 1

Nature- people behave the way they do because they are animals who act in accordance with their animal instincts

Nurture- people behave the way they do because they are determined by the things other people teach them, the things they observe around them and because of the different situations they are put in.

Question 2

Why is this an issue in society?

Answer 2

It changes the way that we view human behaviour and the potential to change it. If a behaviour is seen to be deterministic by nature, it suggests that genetics and brain structure are fixed and can’t be changed.

Question 3

Why is this a debate in psychology?

Answer 3

It is a debate because different theorists in psychology emphasise different elements when trying to explain behaviour.

Question 4

How do we use twin studies to investigate nature-nurture?

Answer 4

One way of investigating the nature-nurture debate is to study twins. There are two types of twins, monozigotic and dizigotic. MZ twins share 100% of their DNA whilst DZ twins share only 50%. Twin studies measure concordance rates that tell us the percentage of cases where a behaviour occurs in both twins. If the behaviour is genetic, we’d expect the concordance rate to be higher amoungst MZ twins becuase they are more genetically similar.

Question 5

How do we use adoption studies to investigate nature-nurture?

Answer 5

Adoption studies are carried out because the environment of adopted children is not the same as that of their biological families, yet they have genetics in common. The problem is that children ususally have both genes and the environment in common. Reseachers can therefore use adoption studies to eliminate this problem. If adopted children are more similar to their adoptive parents on a characteristic, we can assume this characteristic results from nurture.

Question 6

How do we use cross cultural studies to investigate nature-nurture?

Answer 6

By studying populations in different cultures we can determine if a characteristic is due to the environment or if it has a genetic base. If the charcateristic is found in every culture we can say that it is likely to be a result of nature whereas if it is not found in every culture it can be said to be due to nurture.

Question 7

Describe the nature and nurture elements of cognitive psychology.

Answer 7

Nature

• The computer processing model- we are born with the basic brain parts that have a basic function that cannot be changed
• Lots of ideas are universal e.g. memory span, confabulation.

Nurture

• The way that we decide which information to process is due to our experiences and individual differences
• Schemas are unique to each individual

Question 8

Describe the nature and nurture elements of social psychology.

Answer 8

Nature

• Personality is something we’re born with
• From an evolutionary bias we have evolved to form groups to survive

Nurture

• Authoritarian personality theory says we learn our personality as a result of our parents opinions when we are children
• socialisation
• Obedience- agency theory which states that we follow orders of authority figures
• Social impact theory

Question 9

Describe the nature and nurture elements of biological psychology.

Answer 9

Nature

• Genes, brin structure, hormones, evolution all link to aggression, criminality and mental illness

Nurture

• Drug abuse is a choice and this life decision affects neurotransmitters and hormones
• brain plasticity- London taxi drivers who have to know lots of routes have a denser hippocampus according to McGuire

Question 10

Describe the nature and nurture elements of learning psychology.

Answer 10

Nature

• Reflexes are inate as is the tendency to learn by association and reward

Nurture

• Gender appropriate behaviours are learnt through role models
• Social learning theory and operant conditioning
• We learn through association
• Phobias are learnt not innate

Question 11

Describe the nature and nurture elements of criminal psychology.

Answer 11

Nature

• XYY as an explanation for aggression however this only links to males
• Damage to brain structure and amygdala
• Raine et al

Nurture

• Labelling and self fulfilling prophecy
• Role models and social learning theory

Question 12

Describe the nature and nurture elements of criminal psychology.

Answer 12

Nature

• Dopamine hypothesis
• Glutamate hypothesis

Nurture

• Social causation
• Social drift
• concordance rates are never 100%

Question 13

Describe the nature and nurture elements of clinical psychology.

Answer 13

Nature

• Glutamate hypothesis
• Dopamine hypothesis

Nurture

• social causation