Nature-nurture debate Flashcards
What is the nature side of the argument?
Human characteristics are innate and a result of heredity.
What is the nurture side of the debate?
The mind is a blank slate at birth and our learning and experiences shape or characteristics.
What is the heritability coefficient?
It is used to assess heritability and is a numerical figure ranging from 0, which means there is no genetic basis, to 1 which means it is entirely genetically determined.
What is the diathesis-stress model?
It suggests that psychopathology is caused by a genetic vulnerability and that it is expressed when coupled with an environmental trigger.
What is epigenetics?
It is a change in out genetic code and is a process that happens throughout out lives. Aspects of our lifestyle and the events we encounter leave marks on our DNA and they may influence the genetic codes of children.
What are the evaluations of the nature-nurture debate?
Implications of nativism and empiricism-Nativist suggest that our genetic make up determines our characteristics whereas empiricists believe that behaviour can be changed by our environment.
Shared and unshared environment-Research cannot separate the environment and genes, for example in twin studies where MZ twins do not have 100% concordance rates.
Constructivism-People create their own nature to reflect their nurture
Genotype-environment interaction-There is a complex and multi-layer relationship between nature and nurture with passive interaction, evocative interaction and active interaction.
Relationships to other debates-A commitment to nature or nurture sides of the debate is very determinist and they are using biological and environmental determinism.
