Issues and Debates: Nature-Nurture Flashcards
What is nature?
The idea that human cahracterisitcs/behaviours are innate and passed on from one generation to the next via genes
What is a topic nature cna be linked to?
E.g., Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory states babies come into the world biologically pre-programmes to form attachments through behaviours such as as social releasers beacuse it helps them to survive. Attachment is innate
What is nurture?
The mind is a ‘blank-state’ at birth and out behaviour is shaped by our environment, learning and experiences
What is a topic nurture can be linked to?
E.g., Classical conditioning where food is associated with feeder through repeated pairings, feeder becomes a CS which produces a CR of pleasure
Therefore, attachment is a learned behaviour
What is the interactionist approach?
It argues that both genetics and the environment play a part in human behaviour
Diathesis Stress Model
What topic can the interactionst approach be linked to?
OCD
An individual may be born with a mutated SERT gene which makes them vulnerable to OCD but may not develop the disorder unless they experience a stressful life event which triggers the OCD
What is some AO3 for nature?
Can’t be seen as a full explanation
If geners were 100% the sole cause of a behaviour, MZ twins who share 100% of genes should have a 100% concordance rate
In biological explanations of Sz, concordance rates for MZ twins was only 48%
Must be other factors that affect human behaviours such as the environment and our experiences
What is some AO3 for the interactions approach?
Genetics give us a predisposition to certain behaviours and that our genetics are then influenced by our environment
E.g., Tiernari found in a group of Finnish adoptees, those most likely to develop Sz had biological relative with Sz and dysfunctional relationships with their adoptive families
Shows both sides of the debate, nature and nurture impacted on the likelihood on individual developing Sz. Supports idea of interactionism
