Issue And Debates : Nature - Nuture Debate

Question 1

Environment

Answer 1

“The environment is seen as everything outside the body, which can include people,
events and the physical world.”

Question 2

Heredity

Answer 2

“Heredity is the process by which traits are passed down genetically from one generation
to the next.”

Question 3

Interactionist Approach

Answer 3

“An interactionist approach argues that several levels of explanation are necessary to explain a particular behaviour, ranging from lower (biological) to higher levels (social
and cultural).”

Question 4

“Nature-Nurture Debate”

Answer 4

“The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest debates in psychology. It centres
on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development and behaviour.”

Question 5

What does nature mean?

Answer 5

Nature is the view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors. For a long time, psychologists have known that certain physical characteristics, such as eye colour and skin pigmentation, and certain diseases (e.g. Huntingdon’s) are biologically determined and the result of heredity (or genetic inheritance).

Question 6

What does hereditary?

Answer 6

Heredity is the process in which traits are passed down from one generation to the next.
Furthermore, characteristics like height, weight, hair loss, life expectancy and vulnerability to specific illnesses are positively correlated with genetic relatedness. This has led psychologists to investigate whether psychological characteristics are also “wired in” before we are born.

Question 7

What does nurture mean?

Answer 7

Nurture is the view that behaviour is the product of environmental influences. The environment is seen as everything outside the body which can include people, events and the physical world.

Question 8

What is behaviour caused by?

Answer 8

• Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics : -The physiological/biological characteristics we are
born with.
• Behaviour is therefore determined by biology.
• Determinist view- suggests all behaviour is
determined by hereditary factors:
-Inherited characteristics, or genetic make-up we are born with.

Question 9

What are genes

Answer 9

Genes provide the blueprint for all behaviours; some present from birth, others pre-programmed to emerge with age.

Question 10

What is a developmental approach

Answer 10

E.g. Freud: children’s stages of development and psychosexual stages change at predetermined age-related stages

E.g. Schaffer’s stages of Attachment
changes in age are related to changes in behaviour.

Question 11

What are support for nature?

Answer 11

• Bowlby’s theory of Attachment suggests that children attach because they have a drive to do so.
• Therefore it is innate and Bowlby used evidence of ethologist, Konrad Lorenz, to support his theory. Lorenz showed that baby geese imprinted on the first thing that they see, Bowlby suggested that infants do the same to ensure to survival.

Question 12

What are behaviourist theories?

Answer 12

• Behaviourist theories are nurture theories:
- Behaviour is shaped by interactions with the environment.
• Born an empty vessel- waiting to be filled up by experiences gained from environmental interaction.
• No limit to what they can achieve:
-Depends on quality of external influences and NOT genes.
• The quality of the environment is KEY:
-You can become anything provided the environment is right.

Question 13

How are individual’s behaviour determined by nurture?

Answer 13

• An individuals behaviour is determined by the environment- the things people teach them, the things they observe, and because of the different situations they are in.
• Also a determinist view- proposes all human behaviour is the result of interactions with the environment.

Question 14

What is the support for nurture?

Answer 14

• little Albert

Support for Nurture
• Conclusion
- By session 2, after 5 paired presentations the conditioning of fear was evident: is possible to condition fear through classical conditioning.
- By sessions 3 & 4, transference of the fear had been made to similar objects.
- By session 5, time had not removed the fear response.
• Provides evidence that the environment can be manipulated to create a phobic response & behavioural change.

Question 15

Support for Nurture-SLT

Answer 15

• According to Bandura (1965) although the aggressive behaviour of animals can be explained by instinctual drives, aggression in humans is the product of LEARNING.
• We can learn by observing others, paying attention to their behaviour, then imitating it when in a similar situation.
• Many principles that underpin the SLT

Question 16

Strengths of nature?

Answer 16

• Can be seen in many studies that Nature has a large part.
• Experiments have influenced useful applications for treatments.
• Scientifically tested.

Question 17

Nature – Methods of Investigating

Answer 17

• Twin Studies – Using MZ twins; if they have a high concordance nature must play a part.
• Adoption studies – If the offspring act the same as their biological parents rather than adoptive parents nature must play a part.
• Largely scientific.

Question 18

Nature limitations?

Answer 18

• Neglects the role of the environment.
• Often hard to find twins or adoption studies to relate to the topic of interest.

Question 19

Nurture – Methods of Investigation

Answer 19

• Twin studies – Using MZ twins reared apart; if there is low concordance nurture may play a large part.
• Adoption studies – If there is a high concordance between adoptive parents and low concordance between biological parents nurture may play a large part.

Question 20

Nurture – Strengths

Answer 20

• Takes the environment into consideration.
• Has created useful treatments such as behaviour therapy.

Question 21

Nurture - Limitations

Answer 21

• Neglects the biological impact on behaviour.
• Often hard to find twins or adoption studies that satisfy the needs of a relevant topic of interest.

Question 22

Nature Nurture interaction?

Answer 22

• Behaviour is often a result of the interaction between
nature AND nurture.
• An individuals characteristics may elicit particular
responses in other people e.g.
Temperament: how active, responsive or emotional an infant is influences in part determines their caregivers responses.
Forensics: Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality

Question 23

An example of Nature , Nurture interaction

Answer 23

• Maguire et al. (2000)- Taxi driver study
- Structural MRI scans of the brains of licensed London taxi drivers were compared with controls who did not drive taxis.
- Hippocampal volume correlated with the amount of time spent as a taxi driver
- The posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects.
- The posterior hippocampus stores a spatial representation of the environment and can expand regionally in people with a high dependence on navigational skills.

• Maguire et al. Conclusion
- It appears the brain has the capacity for plasticity (the ability to change)- the structure of the brain can alter in response to environmental demands.