Nature or Nurture

Question 1

Nature

Answer 1

• Genetic inheritance and other biological factors
• Controlled by our genes which are the biological building blocks inherited from our parents
• The nature side suggests that all aspects of our behaviour can be attributed to genes

Question 2

Nurture

Answer 2

• External factors
• Suggest our behaviour is caused by our interactions with the environment around us
• The nurture sides suggests that environmental influences starts from the moment of conception

Question 3

Social Psychology (Nature or Nurture)

Answer 3

Nature:
- Blass suggested that men are more likely to be obedient as they have a ‘ethic of justice’ while women may be disobedient due to their ‘ethic of care’
- This shows how behaviour is determined by sex
Nurture:
- Milgram sampled of white male (sex is controlled) obeyed a legitmate authority figure to administer an electric shock to a learner
- 100% administer 300V while 65% administer 450V
- Showing behaviour is determined by the influence of the authority figure

Question 4

Cognitive Psychology (Nature or Nurture)

Answer 4

Nature:
- Baddeley suggested in his Working Memory Model that everyone has the same STM consisting of the 4 components; Central executive, Phonological loop, Visuospatial Sketchpad, Episodic buffer
- Supports the idea of nature has everyone have the same working memory to process STM information
Nurture:
- Bartlett’s idea of Reconstructive Memory Model suggests that memory is affected by schemas which are packets of information about the world that develop through our personal experiences
- This supports the idea of nurture as everyone schemas will be slightly different due to different experiences of the world

Question 5

Biological Psychology (Nature or Nurture)

Answer 5

Nature:
- Evolutionary theory suggests that mutations in genes can be useful to survive better in environment therefore the best fit creatures with the advantageous gene will be able to mate and reproduce, passing on their gene to the offspring
- This supports the idea of nature due to parents passing on their genes allowing us to inherent their genes
Nurture
- Freud’s explanation of aggression suggests that the superego which operates under the morality principle is the socialised part of your personality and it developed through the way you were raised and taught
- This supports the idea of nurture due to different people being taught different ways therefore everyone’s superego will be slightly different depending on the way you were raised

Question 6

Learning Theories (Nature or Nurture)

Answer 6

Nature:
- Classical conditioning is mostly nurture oriented however, some behaviours such as fear are easier to associate with certain stimuli compared to others such as conditioning the fear of wild animals compared to conditioning the fear of cars
- This may because there are predisposed biological factors acting on our survival instinct to be scared of things such as animals before
- This supports the idea of nature due to predisposed fear towards certain things
Nurture:
- Operant conditioning shows how behaviours can be repeated or stopped using reinforcements to maintain behaviour while punishments are used to decrease behaviour
- This supports the idea of nurture due to influences affecting our behaviour