Nature and Nurture Flashcards
What is nature v. nurture?
Nature - Biological factors (e.g. inherited genetic information) are responsible for someone’s development across their lifespan.
Nurture - Environmental or external factors (e.g. social influences) are responsible for the course of development.
Explain the maturation theory created by Gesell.
Biological factors play a primary role in development.
Using a ‘normative approach’, Gesell found that children typically reached particular milestones by a certain age.
Although each child develops at their own pace, all children go through a predictable sequence of development.
The pace of a child’s development depends on the rate at which their nervous system develops.
What are criticisms of maturation theory?
Insufficient consideration of environmental influences on development, such as cultural and societal differences.
Gesell’s maturational theory does not explain individual differences between children well, or children with learning disabilities.
What are the stages of Bandura’s social learning theory?
Children learn through modelling – a process of observation and imitation of others, particularly adults.
Attention - The child notices the behavior of another e.g. an older sibling.
Remember - The child ‘internalises’ the action by remembering what they have seen.
Reproduce - They may not copy the behavior straight away but will reproduce it when the opportunity occurs.
Reinforce - Depending on the outcome the children will either repeat the behavior or stop.
How can behaviour be reinforced?
Reinforcement influences how likely the behaviour is to be repeated.
Positive reinforcement - the behaviour is repeated because of personal satisfaction (intrinsic reinforcement) or rewards (extrinsic reinforcement).
Negative reinforcement - good/correct behaviour is repeated to avoid an adverse experience, such as lack of satisfaction, or to avoid being told off.
How does the stress-diathesis model take into account both nature and nurture?
Stress - This refers to the role of life events in triggering the development of mental health conditions (nurture).
Diathesis - This part concerns the degree to which someone has a predisposition (higher likelihood due to genetics) towards developing a mental illness (nature).
Therefore, mental health problems are much more likely to develop in someone who has a genetic predisposition and has also experienced stressful life events.
