Lesson 5 - Nature-Nurture Debate

Question 1

What is the debate?

Answer 1

The relative importance of nature (genetics and your biology that is out of your control) over nurture (your environment)

Question 2

The influence of nature

Answer 2

The view that behaviour is a product of innate biological or genetic factors. For example, we have known that certain characteristics like pigmentation and eye colour are hereditary.

The nativist approach studies whether psychological characteristics are also inherited. Rene Descartes argued that all human characteristics and some aspects of knowledge are innate. For example, Gottesman and Shields (1991) studies found that the closer that two relatives are, the more likely they are to both have SZ if one of them already has it.

Question 3

The influence of nurture

Answer 3

This is the view that we are a product of our environment. Environmentalists (aka empiricists) hold the assumption that the mind is a tabula rasa (a blank slate). This is filled with life experience.

According to environmentalists, behaviours are learned from childhood, as shown through classical conditioning, where an UCS and NS are repeatedly paired to produce a CS and CR. Social learning theory by Bandura argues that learning occurs through observation, imitation and vicarious reinforcement. This is explained by nurture.

It can also be used to explain SZ symptoms like the schizophrenogenic mother and double bind theory.

Question 4

Strengths of the nature-nurture debate

Answer 4

• One strength is that it has given rise to the interactionist approach. It is now widely accepted that nature and nurture both work together to produce behaviours and are not independent. Therefore this is a more suitable approach than extreme empiricism or nativism.
• The interactionist approach is shown in phenylketonuria, a genetic disorder. It is caused by two recessive genes (nature) but if it is found early in childhood, this lifelong disorder can be prevented with a low-protein diet. Therefore it can be averted by nurture despite being a genetic disorder
• Another strength of this debate is epigenetics. This refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code. This is a process that happens throughout life and is caused by interactions with the environment from smoking to diet to war. Dias and Ressler (2014) gave lab mice electric shocks every time they were exposed to the smell of acetophenone. As a behaviourist would predict, they developed a fear response to the smell, however it was also passed down to their offspring and grandchildren.

Question 5

Weaknesses of the nature-nurture debate

Answer 5

• Nativists argue that ‘anatomy is destiny’ whilst the environment has little input. This has led to controversy in linking race, genetics and intelligence and could have applications in a eugenics policy. This has clear discriminatory undertones and could disadvantage certain groups in society
• Empiricists would argue that any behaviour can be shaped through behaviour modification. However this may not be the case for some characteristics like homosexuality, which has been attempted to be ‘treated’ with shock therapy