Issues And Debates - Nature Vs Nurture Flashcards
What is the nature vs nurture debate?
The nature vs nurture debate - the degree which human behaviour is determined by genetics/biology (nature) or learned through interacting with the environment (nurture)
Who are the 2 examples of famous people in the nature vs nurture debates?
Descartes
Locke
What was descartes?
Nativist - nature side
What was Locke?
Empiricist - nurture side
What did the nativists believe?
• human characteristics are innate
• This includes some knowledge
• Behaviour is the result of heredity
What do empiricists believe?
• the mind is a blank slate at birth upon which learning and experiences writes
• Behaviour is the result of the environment
What is the nature explanation of behaviour?
Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics: psychological and biological characteristics we are born with so all possible behaviours are said to be present from conception
Behaviour is therefore determined by biology
What is the determinist view of nature and behaviour?
Deterministic view - all behaviour is determined by hereditary factors, the inherited characteristics or genetic make up that we are born with
How can you asses nature?
The heritability coefficient is used to asses heredity
Numerical value from 0-1
1 is entirely genetical
0 is entirely environmental factors effecting it
What did Plomin find?
Plomin (1994) heritability for IQ is around 0.5 (meaning that there is an environmental effect)
Who found that the heritability rate for IQ is around 0.5?
Plomin
Who suggested that there are different types of environments?
Lerner
What did Lerner suggest?
He suggested that there are different types of psychological/physiological/social environments
Give some examples of different types of environments?
• the mothers physical state during pregnancy
• Social conditions
• Cultural and historical context
How can nature effect nurture?
The environment can influence the expression of genes (phenotypes)
What can be used to support the interactionist approach?
Diathesis stress model
What is the Diathesis stress model?
This model suggests that Psychopathology is caused by a biological/genetic vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with an environmental trigger
What evidence is there for the Diathesis stress model?
Evidence of this: Tienari (2004) - Finnish adoptee study
• found that finish adoptees are more likely to develop schizophrenia if they had a biological relative with a history of schizophrenia and had a relationship with their adoptive families which were defined as dysfunctional
What is epigenetic?
What could this include?
What does this do?
This is the impact that our environment has on our genes
This could include smoking or breathing in more air pollution, life style
These environmental interactions leave marks on our DNA, and tell our bodies which genes to ignore and which genes to use which can cause genetic mutations
What are the applications of the nature side of the nature vs nurture debate?
Drug therapies can be developed to treat behavioural or psychological problems that have a physiological origin
Eg. SSRI’s can be used to treat depression - Chlorpromazine, Clozapine and Risperidone, Ritalin - ADHD
What are the applications of the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate?
If behaviour does change to environmental influences we need to consider how we adapt our environment
Eg we can reduce criminal behaviour by: reducing aggression around children
What is the main disadvantage from the nature vs nurture debate?
Explain these fully on the next FC labled Nature - Nurture
Extremist views
Nature
Nativists suggest that “anatomy is destiny” - has led to horrific discrimination and fails to challenge negative stereotypes - eg sexism
Nurture
Behaviour shaping … you could try to control and manipulate citizen by reinforcing desirable behaviours and punishing undesirable behaviours
How does the Nature side hedge its bets?
It recognises epigenetic (especially in aging people)
What other theory can be used as an interactionist theory?
The Temperament Hypothesis
What is the temperament hypothesis?
temperament hypothesis: the theory that we have innate characteristic that influence behaviour
What are the supporting studies for nature?
Piaget
Chomsky
Explain how Piaget’s theory supports nature
• Piaget- children’s thought processes change at predetermined age-related stages.
• Changes in age are related to changes in behaviour:
- Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years)
- Pre-operational (approx 2 – 7)
- Operational (approx 7 – 11)
- Formal operational (approx 11+ years)
Explain how Chomsky’s research supports nature
- Chomsky maintained language is the result of innate cognitive structures in the mind.
- Biologically based inborn brain mechanism
-Children are predisposed to make sounds and understand grammar. - This does not happen from birth but language skills develop rapidly after a certain period of time which is evidence for this theory.
Since language acquisition follows the same pattern in all children it is more likely to be genetic
What 2 studies can be used for evidence of Nurture
Little Albert (fear acquisition)
Zimbardo (social roles)
Explain the study of Little Albert
A child (around 18 months) had a metal bar struck behind his head whenever he reached for white fluffy animal (hamster?). This lead to him developing a phobia of white fluffy things whenever he saw them. This extended to Santa Claus and rabbits.
Explain Zimbardo’s experiment?
He investigated social roles within the constraints of the SPE. He showed that both wardens and prisoners would conform to their expected social roles showing that nurture effects behaviour (because nurture can be defined as effects on behaviour)
