Issues And Debates - Nature and Nature

Question 1

What is the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 1

A debate concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

Question 2

What is heredity?

Answer 2

The genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another

Question 3

What is the environment?

Answer 3

Any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic which can range from pre-natal influences to cultural & historical influences in society

Question 4

What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 4

The idea that nature & nurture are linked so it doesn’t make sense to separate the two

Question 5

How do researchers study nature-nurture using the interactionalist approach?

Answer 5

They study how they both interact & influence each other

Question 6

What do early nativists e.g. Descartes say about behaviour?

Answer 6

Human characteristics & some aspects of knowledge are innate & the result of heredity (nature)

Question 7

What do empiricists e.g. John Locke say about behaviour?

Answer 7

The mind is a blank slate on birth which learning and experience write on (nurture) -> important feature of behaviourist approach

Question 8

What is the heritability coefficient?

Answer 8

A numerical figure ranging from 0-1.0 indicating the extent to which a characteristic has a genetic basis (1 meaning the characteristic is 100% genetically determined)

Question 9

What is the general figure of heritability for IQ according to Plomin?

Answer 9

0.5 across varying populations -> suggests genetics and the environment are important factors

Question 10

What are the different levels of the environment according to Lerner?

Answer 10

Prenatal terms -> mother’s physical/psychological state during pregnancy
Postnatal experiences -> social situations child grows up in & the cultural/historical context they are apart of

Question 11

Why is it difficult to tell what causes high concordance rates in twins?

Answer 11

The shared genetics & upbringing

Question 12

RECAP - ATTACHMENT: Why is the attachment between infants and parents considered a ‘two way street’?

Answer 12

The child’s innate temperament influences the parent’s responses -> affects child’s behaviour (Belsky & Rovine)

Question 13

RECAP - PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: What is the diathesis-stress model?

Answer 13

Some mental health disorders are caused by biological/genetic vulnerability (diathesis) which is only expresed by a biological/environmental trigger (stress)

Question 14

What were the findings of Tienari et al’s study on Finnish adoptees?

Answer 14

Those who were most likley to develop schizophrenia had relatives with a history of it and dysfunctional relationships with their adoptive families

Question 15

What is Epigenetics?

Answer 15

A change in our genetic activity that doesnt change our genetic code that happens throughout life and is caused by interaction with the environment

Question 16

How do simple activities in our lifestyle cause epigenetic changes?

Answer 16

Activities e.g. smoking leave epigenetic ‘marks’ on our DNA which tell our bodies which genes to ignore and use -> can influence genetic codes of our children

Question 17

What 3 element does epigenetics introduce?

Answer 17

The life experience of previous generations

Question 18

How does Dias & Ressler’s study on mice show epigenetics?

Answer 18

They gave lab mice electric shocks when they were exposed to the smell of acetophenone. They showed fear towards the smell when the fear was presented (typical behaviourist prediction), but their children & grandchildren also feared the smell, even though they hadn’t been exposed to the smell

Question 19

EVALUATION: What are the implications of nativism & empiricism

Answer 19

Nativists suggests our inherited genetic-make up determines our characteristics with little influence from the environment. Due to it’s extreme determinist stance, it has led to controversies that link race, genetics & intelligence and the application of eugenics policies

Empiricists suggests any behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions which has led to behaviour shaping (behaviourist concept). This has practical application in therapy where desirable behaviours are reinforced & undesirable behaviours are punished -> can lead to models of society using these techniques to control citizens (in extreme form)

Question 20

EVALUATION? What is a criticism of the interactionist approach, regarding shared & unshared environments?

Answer 20

Research that attempts to ignore the influence of the environment is complicated by the fact that siblings raised in the same family might have not shared the same upbringing. Dunn and Plomin’s idea of shared & unshared environments suggest that individual differences e.g. age or life events e.g. divorce have different meanings to each sibling. This explains the finding that even monozygotic twins that are reared together don’t show perfect concordance rates which supports the view that heredity and the environment cannot be separated.

Question 21

EVALUATION: What is another criticism of the interactionist approach, regarding constructivism?

Answer 21

Constructivism is where people create their own nurture by actively seeking environments that are appropriate for their nature e.g. aggressive kids seeking out other aggressive kids which affects their development. This further provides evidence as to why nature and nature influences on behaviour cannot be separated

Question 22

What does Plomin refer to by niche picking & niche building?

Answer 22

Constructivism

Question 23

EVALUATION: What is the implications of genotype-environment interaction?

Answer 23

Scarr and McCartney suggests there are three types of gene-environment interaction:
Passive -> the parents’ genes influence the way they treat their children
Evocative -> the child’s genes influence & shape the environment which they grow up in
Active -> the child creates its own environment through people and experiences it selects which points to a complex and multi-layered relationship between nature and nurture