Nature/Nurture Debate

Question 1

What is the nature/nurture debate?

Answer 1

what aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

Question 2

The interactionist approach

Answer 2

how nature and nurture interact (not a debate about one or other)

Bowlby - attachment type determined by warmth and continuity of parental love (environmental influence)

Kagan - proposed baby’s innate personality also affects attachment type.
Therefore nature (child’s personality) creates nurture (parent’s response)

Question 3

Diathesis-Stress Model

Answer 3

Suggests behaviour is caused by biological or environmental vulnerability (diathesis) which is only expressed when coupled with biological or environmental trigger (stress)

EG - person with genetic vulnerability for OCD may only develop disorder combined with psychological trigger

Question 4

Epigenetics

Answer 4

Changes in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves.
- Process that happens throughout life, caused by interaction with environment
- Aspects of our lifestyle (smoking, diet, trauma) leave marks on our DNA which switch genes on & off

Explains why factors like smoking have lifelong effects even after stopping - changed way genes expressed

Epigenetic changes may influence genetic codes of children
adding 3rd element to nature-nurture debate: life of previous generations

Question 5

Nature vs Nature

Answer 5

Nature - inherited influences

Nurture - influence of experience & environment
Empiricists argue the mind is a blank slate shaped by environment (behaviourist approach)

Question 6

Concordance

Answer 6

Degree to which 2 people similar on particular trait represented by correlation coefficient

Such concordance provides estimate of extent to which a trait is inherited - inheritability

Heritability in IQ - 0.5 across multiple studies in varying populations
This means half person’s intelligence is determined by genetic factors and other half bust be environmental

Question 7

EVALUATION

Answer 7

Adoption studies - they separate the competing influences of nature and nurture
If adopted children found to be more similar to adoptive parents, suggests the environment is bigger influence
But if adopted children more similar to their biological parents, genetic factors presumed to dominate
Rhee & Waldman - meta-analysis found genetic influences accounted for 41% of variance in aggression
Shows how research can separate influences of nature and nurture

Support for Epigenetics
WWII - Nazis blocked distribution of food to Dutch people and 22,000 died of starvation - Dutch Hunger Winter
Pregnant during this had low birth weight babies, and 2x as likely to develop schizophrenia
This supports epigenetics