Nature and nurture Flashcards
Nature
Nature is those aspects that are based on our genes and inherited from our parents whereas nurture is those things which emerge as a result of learning.
Nature relates to innate characteristics such as genes, hormones, and the brain.
Psychologists are interested in the nature-nurture debate to find the source of behavioural traits in individuals.
If we know if behaviour is caused by nature or nurture, we can establish suitable strategies for modifying behaviours
Nurtute
Nurture relates to environmental factors such as drugs, disease, and diet. Nurture can include literature, children’s stories, nursery rhymes
Nurture means that the primary influences on the individual are from external sources
It means we are who we are as a result of our experiences
Such influences are likely to include the way we are brought up by our parents
Learning itself is a nurture influence (Plus an appropriate example)
Social 1
Obedience to authority might be in human nature as agency theory might predict.
As prejudice links to both right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation in most studies, no matter which country they are carried out in, this suggests that prejudice is more in the situation and universal rather than being something we learn from our environment. Personality, which is different in individuals, might be nature.
Blass (2012) found little difference between obedience crossculturally which suggests that a nature explanation underpins obedience to a certain extent.
Social Impact Theory suggests the number of sources and targets can influence obedience in group situations, therefore the environment can play a significant role.
Social 2
Prejudice is thought to be learned from peers/family and thus due to nurture
Studies show humans are obedient. There is disagreement whether obedience is nature as levels are similar or nurture as we can learn to be different.
Studies into obedience/prejudice show that education and awareness reduce the tendency for people to obey/show prejudice e.g. Aronson jigsaw technique
Personal explanations of prejudice focus on the type of character that is likely to be prejudiced and therefore account for the nature side of the debate. Social identity theory and realistic conflict theory focus on situational conditions that cause conflict which reflect the nurture side of the debate.
This may be an oversimplified distinction however nurture is not completely ignored as for example; Adorno explains that authoritarian character develops from harsh parenting which leads to hostility that is directed at weaker targets.
Cognitive
The cognitive approach emphasis the role of both nature and nurture within its explanations of cognitive functioning. The computer metaphor assumes that we are born with the hardware to have the capacity to form basic functions, such as remembering.
Reconstructive memory describes how we all represent knowledge as schema; these are universal mental reconstructs hardwired into our memory, but the contents of which are affected by how we are raised and what we experience as we develop.
The case of HM supports the existence of nature affecting the memory as he was unable to remember new information after surgery. There are conflicting views as Henry Molaison and his brain function can be explained by the nature, but the theory of reconstructive memory emphasises experiences which sides with the nurture debate.
Peterson & Peterson (1959) showed the influence of rehearsal on short term memory which is a nurture factor that can be applied to some extent to improving student learning.
Biological 1
Evolutionary explanation of human behaviour proposes that aspects of human behaviour are biologically determined. This is because genes programme for such behaviour convey an adaptive advantage for the individuals who possess them, which leads to those genes surviving and being passed on through generations.
Because the genome changes very slowly compared to the environment, these genes are still present, as they do not convey any disadvantage to who carries them. However, this is criticised because they cannot be subjected to direct scientific testing as conditions in which the genome developed no longer exist.
Biological 2
There is mainly argument for the nature side of the debate, but we must accept that the environment could be a factor too, for example, there is an argument for brain localisation (nature) but there is also an argument for environmental influences in aggression (nurture).
The brain continues to develop through life and its structure is affected by experience, showing how nature and nurture and interactive. Research on rats, in which they are allocated to an enriched or impoverished environment for an extended period of time and then measures are taken of their brain density, has repeatedly shown that those given the enriched environment have greater cortical density than those in the poor environment, thus showing that nurture effects our biology.
Learning1
Bandura proposed that behaviour is acquired indirectly through operant and classical conditioning but also by directly through vicarious reinforcement. He acknowledged that biology had a role to play e.g. the urge to act aggressively could be biological but the way a person learns to express anger is through environmental influences (such as through observing and imitating the methods of expression of anger displayed by the identified role models).
The research tends to sit on the nurture side of the debate particularly if studies are conducting observations looking at gender, age or other external characteristics as these can all be learned. For example, Watson and Rayner argued that Little Albert learnt the fear of the white objects; he was not born with this fear.
Learning 2
Many gender appropriate behaviours can be attributed to learning, many are determined by our biology, in terms of the sex we are born with and the evolution of gender-specific traits such as male aggression and female nurturing.
Cross-cultural research of gender roles demonstrate variation. For example, the Aka people of central Africa have interchangeable gender roles; females hunt, and males look after the children. This suggests gender roles are learned rather than biologically determined.
Classical and operant conditioning lie firmly on the nurture side, largely because they consider it unscientific to investigate cognitive processes or innate influences on behaviour.
However it can be argued that humans have a genetic predisposition to learn, uniting nature and nurture in the same person.
Clinical
Diathesis stress model proposes that a genetic vulnerability towards a mental health problem interacts with social and psychological factors to create a maladaptive reaction when an environmental trigger is experienced.
Child
The potential to attach is seen as genetic in origin by Bowlby as it is necessary for human infants to develop normally.
Privated children e.g. Genie do not develop a full repertoire of human skills, suggesting that some crucial aspects of human behaviour need to be learned.
There is evidence from e.g. Kulochova twins that privated individuals can recover showing that learning does play a role in normal development.
The fact that the learning is less successful as the individual gets older suggests nature imposes a time limit on the period during which learning and thus plasticity can take place.
Cross-cultural differences in percentages of attachment types suggest that some aspects of attachment are learned.
