✓ Nature-Nurture Debate (AO1) Flashcards
Nature/Nativism:
What did early nativists believe?
e.g. Descartes
argued human characteristics are innate - the result of heredity
Nature/Nativism:
What is heredity?
the genetic transmission of mental & physical characteristics from one generation to another
Nature/Nativism:
What is the heritability coefficient?
used to determine if smth is influenced by genetics (scale = 0-1)
1 = completely genetic
Nature/Nativism:
Does it only encompass things present at birth?
NO = anything determined by genes
also references evolutionary factors that we have inherited
e.g. fight-or-flight
Nurture/Empiricism:
What do empiricists believe?
e.g. John Locke
argued the mind is a blank slate at birth & that environmental influences determine behaviour (linked to the behaviourist approach)
Nurture/Empiricism:
What are the ‘environmental influences’?
referred to as ‘experiences’ which range from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural & historical influences at a societal level
What are 2 examples of the interactionist approach?
the diathesis-stress model
+
epigenetics
What is the diathesis-stress model?
vulnerability (nature)
+ environmental stressors (nurture)
= psychological disorder (behaviour)
What is epigenetics?
change in genetic activity WITHOUT changing genetic code
- it’s a process that happens throughout life & is caused by an interaction w the environment
What are ‘epigenetic marks’?
lifestyle (smoking, diet, pollution) can leave ‘epigenetic marks’ on our DNA
they tell our bodies which genes to ignore & which to use - can influence the genetic code of our children
What does epigenetics bring to the nature-nurture debate?
introduces a third element to the nature-nurture debate:
life experiences of previous generations (nurture affecting nature)
