Nature-Nurture debate

Question 1

What is the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 1

Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.

Question 2

What is heredity?

Answer 2

Genetic transmission of both mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another

Question 3

What is the diathesis-stress model?

Answer 3

Model suggesting behaviour is caused by biological and environmental vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a ‘trigger’.

Question 4

What does epigenetics mean?

Answer 4

A change in our genetic activity without changing the genes.

Question 5

What do certain factors in our lifestyle do to our DNA?

Answer 5

Leaves ‘markers’ on it

Question 6

What can epigenetic changes do for your future generations?

Answer 6

Can influence genetic codes of their children.

Question 7

What does the nature side of the debate refer to?

Answer 7

The inherited influences or heredity.

Question 8

What do early nativists argue about human characteristics?

Answer 8

That these characteristics, and some aspects of knowledge, are innate.

Question 9

What does the nurture side of the debate refer to?

Answer 9

The influence of experience and the environment.

Question 10

What does John Locke argue? (nurture)

Answer 10

That our mind is a blank slate at birt, which is then shaped by our environment.

Question 11

What are the different levels of the environment?

Answer 11

Prenatal factors, such as how physical influences or psychological influences affect a foetus.

Question 12

How can the degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait be represented?

Answer 12

Using a correlation co-efficient

Question 13

What is heritability?

Answer 13

The extent to which a trait is inherited.

Question 14

What is the general figure for heritability in IQ?

Answer 14

0.5

Question 15

One strength of research into the nature-nurture debate. - Adoption studies

Answer 15

• Seperate competing influences of nature and nurture.
• If adopted children are more like their adopted parents, then nurture is more influential and vice versa.
• Rhee and Waldman: Meta-analysed adoption studies. Found genetic influences accounted for 41% of variance in aggression.
• Research can seperate influences.

Question 16

One strength of the debate. - Support for epigenetics

Answer 16

• Eample of how environmental effects can span generations: WW2.
• Nazis blocked distribution of food to the Dutch people resulting in famine related deaths.
• Susser and Lin reported: women who got pregnant in the famine went on to have low birth weight babies.
• Supports view that life experiences of previous generations can leave epigenetic ‘markers’ on their offspring.

Question 17

Limitation - counterpoint of adoption studies

Answer 17

• This approach may be misguided: nature and nurture aren’t 2 different entities that can be pulled apart.
• Plomin: people create own ‘nurture’ by seeking appropriate environments for their ‘nature’.
• This is called niche-picking.
• Suggests it doesn’t make sense to look at evidence of either nature or nurture.