NATURE AND NURTURE DEBATE Flashcards
Nature or nurture debate
an assessment of the extent to which behaviour is a result of innate biological factors ( nature) or environmental learning experiences ( nurture).
nativism
representative of the nature viewpoint, where behaviour and mental capacities are seen as innate rather than acquired by learning.
empiricism
representative of the nurture viewpoint, where behaviour and mental capacities are seen to be acquired by learning rather than innate processes.
interactionist approach
view point that behaviour results from combination of nature and nurture.
nature
- ability determined by genes like the secondary sexual characteristics, which appear at puberty or condition like huntingtons disease which is only apparent in adulthood.
nurture
- environmental influences are acquired through the interaction with the environment.
example of nature influence
genetic explanation and evolutionary explanation
environment
lerner identified different levels of environment ranging from pre natal experiences ( physical and psychological stage during pregnancy) to post natal experiences (the context in which the child grew in).
tabula rasa
locke - the view that mind is a blank state upon which experience is written up which is more of an empiricist approach.
genetic explanations
family, twin and adoption studies shows that the more closely related two individuals are, the more likely they will share the same behaviours. example the concordance rate for a mental disorder like schizophrenia is found to be 40% in monozygotic twins and 7% in dizygotic twins which suggests that nature contributes a role in disorders whereas the concordance rate is not 100% which suggests that nurture also plays a significant role
examples of influence of nature
genetic explanations and evolutionary explanations
evolutionary explanations
as explained by the theory of natural selection, it is based on the principle that behaviours which promotes survival and increased reproductive rate of success like running away from fire and deep water are more likely to be naturally selected. these behaviours are adaptive so individuals are more likely to adapt and survive.
- bowlby proposed that attatchment was adaptive because infants are more likely to be protected because they display social releasers ( innate cute behaviours activating adult mammalian system) and infant care giver interactions. as a result infant are more likely to survive and reproduce
ao3 evaluation strength
twin studies and concordance rate,
- link in para = by having research to support nature side, it could lead to useful practical applications like drug treatments etc which specifically targets the biological issue.
other explanations
example : the double bind theory of schizophrenia by bateson et al, 1956 suggests that schizophrenia develops more commonly in children who receive contradictory messages from their parents and these conflicting message prevents childrens from developing an internal consistent construction of reality.when they behave incorrectly they are punished by the withdrawal of love from parents which result them in thinking that the world is dangerous, reflected in paranoid delusions and confusing, reflected in disorganised thinking.
examples of nurture influence
behaviourism and social learning theory
behaviourism
behaviourism assumes that all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone. pavlov and skinner used the concept of classical and operant conditioning to explain learning and explained attatchment through classical conditioning where food is conditioned with the removal of discomfort of hunger ( positive reinforcement) - hence increasing the likelihood of the behaviour.
social learning theory
- bandura proposed that behaviour is acquired indirectly through classical and operant conditioning but directly through vicarious reinforcement. he also acknowledged the idea of biological factors where the urge to act aggressive could be biological but the way in which one learns to express anger is through environmental influence such as observing and imitating behaviours shown by a role model.
limitation a03
- one limitation of the nature series is that it underestimates the impact nurture can have over nature.
evidence comes from maguire et al who showed that london taxi drivers had larger posterior hippocampus than the control group due to their inc use of spatial navigation. - this supports the role of plastcity and brain and suggests that experiences causes changes in the brain systems.
- therefore genetic, neural and evolutionary explanations are incomplete without role of nurture.
interactionist approach
- most researchers tend to take an interactionist approach which encompasses both nature and nurture side of debate.
e- this can be explained through the diathesis stress model which is often used to explain mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
e- evidence comes from tienari who found that individuals may have a genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia but it is only triggered by a disturbed family environmet.
l - this is an interactionist approach because it suggests that there is genetic vulnerabilty ( nature) but its only expressed in certain conditions ( nurture). therefore nature and nurture and nurture are linked and neither is a complete explanation without another.
