NATURE VS NURTURE

Question 1

define the nature vs nurture debate

Answer 1

concerned with extent of which aspects of behaviour is a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

Question 2

what things do we need to remember for nature vs nurture debate?

Answer 2

nature
nurture
relative importance of hereditary and env (importance of nature vs nurture, interactionist, diathesis stress, epigenetics)

Question 3

who is an early nativist and what does he argue?

Answer 3

Descartes, argues all human characteristics are innate and hereditary

Question 4

define hereditary

Answer 4

genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics through generations

Question 5

who contrasts Descartes?

Answer 5

Locke who is an empiricist

Question 6

Locke says all behaviour is…

Answer 6

learnt through learning and experience as mind is blank slate (behaviourism)

Question 7

what is used to assess heredity?

Answer 7

heritability coefficient

number 0-1.0, where 1 means entirely genetically determined

Question 8

what did Plomin find?

Answer 8

general figure for heritability is 0.5 across multiple studies in varying pop

Question 9

who found the heritability figure of 0.5 for IQ?

Answer 9

Plomin

Question 10

what does Plomin’s findings suggest?

Answer 10

genetics and env are important factors in IQ

Question 11

the concept of what needs clarification in nature vs nurture?

Answer 11

nurture and env inf as env is too broad of a concept

Question 12

define environment

Answer 12

any inf on human behaviour that isn’t genetic e.g. pre-natal, cult and hist inf

Question 13

who found 3 levels of environment defined in pre-natal terms?

Answer 13

Lerner

Question 14

Lerner found…

Answer 14

found 3 levels of environment defined in pre-natal terms

Question 15

what 3 levels of environment did Lerner find in pre-natal terms?

Answer 15

1. mother physical and psychological state during preg
2. post-natal experiences e.g. social condition during childhood
3. cultural and historical context that they are a part of

Question 16

what is relative importance of heredity and env?

Answer 16

no sense to answer nature vs nurture as they are too closely intertwined

Question 17

what is an example of relative importance of heredity and environment?

Answer 17

high conc rate in twin studies difficult to tell if result of shared genetics or shared upbringing

Question 18

what are psychologists more likely to look at instead of nature vs nurture?

Answer 18

look at relative contrib of each influence in what we think and do

Question 19

what does the interactionist approach allow us to do?

Answer 19

idea nature and nurture and link so researchers study how they interact and influence each other

Question 20

what is an example of interactionist approach?

Answer 20

attachment patterns

Question 21

who studied attachment patterns from an interactionist approach?

Answer 21

Belsky and Rovine

Question 22

what did Belsky and Rovine find?

Answer 22

attachment patterns between infant and parent result of child’s innate temperament and how parents respond to it affecting their behaviour

Question 23

we need to remember the _________-_____ model in relative importance of heredity and attachment

Answer 23

diathesis-stress model

Question 24

what does the diathesis-stress model suggest?

Answer 24

psychopathology caused by biological/genetic vulnerability and is only expressed when there is a env/bio trigger

Question 25

who studied diathesis-stress model?

Answer 25

Tienari et al

Question 26

what did Tienari et al find?

Answer 26

Finnish adoptees, most likely to develop schizophrenia is when had biological relatives with disorder (vulnerability) and relationship with adoptive families were ‘dysfunctional’ (trigger)

Question 27

define epigenetics

Answer 27

a change to genetic activity w/o changing genetic code

Question 28

when can epigenetics occur?

Answer 28

happens throughout life and caused by interaction w/ environment

Question 29

give examples of what leaves epigenetic marks on our DNA?

Answer 29

smoking, diet, and war

Question 30

epigenetic introduces third element into nature vs nurture….

Answer 30

the life experience of previous generations that can tell our body what genes to ignore and use influencing our children’s codes

Question 31

who did animal studies for epigenetics?

Answer 31

Dias and Ressler

Question 32

what did Dias and Ressler do?

Answer 32

male lab mice electric shock when exposed to smell of acetophenone (chem used in perfume)

Question 33

what were the findings of Dias and Ressler’s exp?

Answer 33

mice had fear reaction when smell presented and rats children and grandchildren

Question 34

four evaluation points for nature vs nurture

Answer 34

+ practical application of behaviour shaping
+ genotype-env interaction [ dunn and plomin ]
- individual diff in environment [ plomin ]
- contrustivism [ scarr and mccartney ]

Question 35

the nature-nurture debate has good…

Answer 35

practical appplication

Question 36

nature-nurture debste has good practical application as..

Answer 36

empiricists suggests any behaviour can be changed through altering env conditions

Question 37

explain behaviour shaping

Answer 37

a behaviourist concept that has PA in therapy

desirable behaviours are selectively reinforced and undesired is punished/ignored

Question 38

what is behaviour shaping in extreme terms?

Answer 38

model of society that controls and manipulates citizens using techniques

Question 39

therefore the _________ _______ of nature-nurture debate is _________ due to benefits behaviour shaping can provide to society

Answer 39

external validity is increased

Question 40

another strength of the nature-nurture debate is that there is the theory of….

Answer 40

gene-environment interaction found by Scarr and McCartney

Question 41

what is gene-env interaction found by Scarr and McCartney?

Answer 41

passive int - parents genes inf way they treat children
evocative int - child’s genes influence and shape env they grow up in
active int - child creates own env through ppl

Question 42

what does the gene-env int show?

Answer 42

complex and multilayered relationship between nature and nurture

Question 43

the gene-env int _______ the __________ _________ of interactionist approach

Answer 43

increases the internal validity and application pf the approach

Question 44

one weakness of nature vs nurture is that…

Answer 44

there are individual differences in environment

Question 45

research that attempts to identify inf of env is complicated by…..

Answer 45

fact that siblings raised in same family may not have experience the exact same upbringing

Question 46

what research did Dunn and Plomin find to support individual diff in env?

Answer 46

idea of shared and unshared env suggests individ differences means siblings can experience life events diff

Question 47

how can children be effected by life events differently?

Answer 47

age/temperament means life event e.g. divorce has diff meaning to each siblings