nature + nurture

Question 1

nature

Answer 1

behaviour is seen to be a product of innate (biological or genetic) factors = heredity, genes, hormones

Question 2

nurture

Answer 2

behaviour is a product of environmental influences

Question 3

nature-nurture debate

Answer 3

about the relative contribution of genetic inheritance + environmental factors to human development and behaviour
= which one affects behaviour more (important)?

Question 4

disads of nature-nurture debate

Answer 4

• interactionist approach, IQ
• diathesis stress models, Finnish adoptees
• nature affect nurture
• nurture affects nurse
• epigenetics

Question 5

-ve = interactionist approach, IQ

Answer 5

according to the interactionist approach, nature + nurture are so closely intertwined that there’s no point in separating them

IQ = the general heritability figure in IQ tests is roughly 0.5 = both genetics + enviro are important factors in determining an individual’s intelligence

Question 6

-ve = diathesis stress models, finnish adoptees

Answer 6

• models of mental illness = emphasise the interaction of nature + nurture in causing mental illness
• e.g. means that depression or schizophrenia caused by genetic vulnerability (diathesis), which is only expressed when there is an environmental trigger (stress)
• in a study, group of Finnish adoptees = most likely to get schizophrenia w/ biological relatives (has disorder = genes), adopted dysfunctional family (environment)

Question 7

-ve = nature affects nurture

Answer 7

psychologists found that as children get older, they seek out experiences that suit their genes
= influence of genetics actually increases as a child gets older

Question 8

-ve = nurture affects nature

Answer 8

• maguire found that London Taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus than a control grooup
  = cus the hippocampus deals with spatial memory
  = they weren’t born this way = has responded to increased use

Question 9

-ve = epigenetics

Answer 9

= change in our genetic activity w/ out changing your genetic code
- process throughout out life = caused by interaction with the environment e.g. smoking, diet etc..
- these leave epigenetic marks on our DNA, these tell our bodies which genes to ignore + which one’s to use = go onto influence children’s genetics
- epigenetics introduces a third element to the nature or nurture debate = life experiences of previous gen