Nature & Nurture

Question 1

What is the nature argument? (nativism)

Answer 1

• Behaviour is the product of
  innatebiologicalorgeneticfactors
• Behaviours are biologically determinedand the result ofheredity
• Characteristics of human species are product of evolution & individual differences are result of each person’s unique genetic code

Question 2

What are some examples of the nature argument?

Answer 2

• Genetic explanations - twin studies for concordance rates in schizophrenia
• Evolutionary explanations - Bowlby’s theory that attachment is adaptive as infant is more likely to survive

Question 3

What is the nurture argument? (empiricism/environmentalism)

Answer 3

• We are born a blank slate
• Behaviour is the product of
  environmental influences
• Psychological characteristics & behavioural differences that emerge through infancy & childhood are result of learning

Question 4

What are some examples of the nurture argument?

Answer 4

• Behaviourists assume all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone - classical/operant conditioning
• Social learning theory - less extreme than behaviourism - behaviour’s acquired through learning & vicarious reinforcement but biology also plays a role (aggression)

Question 5

What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 5

• Both genetics & the environment play a part in behaviour
• Genetics give us a predisposition to certain behaviours which are moderated by the environment
• There’s an interaction of genetics and the
  environment