nature vs nurture

Question 1

what is nature?

Answer 1

-nativism
-behaviour and mental capacities are seen as innate
-predispositions and pre-programmed behaviours

Question 2

what is nurture?

Answer 2

-empiricism
-we are born without any innate mechanisms
-what we become is due to our experiences
-john Locke - tabula rasa

Question 3

what is the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour?

Answer 3

-no behaviour is caused purely by a gene
-so the extent genetics affect behaviour is the key question

Question 4

how do twin studies relate to the debate?

Answer 4

-key way of establishing heredity
-if behaviour was purely genetic, MZ twins would have a 100% concordance rate
-the general thought is the only difference between MZ twins and DZ twins is their genetic similarity, but Furnham argues MZ twins are more likely to be treated the same

Question 5

what is the QTL method?

Answer 5

-Plomin 1994
-argues we’re too reductionist when looking for genetic explanations
-OGOD (one gene one disorder) approach means the level of genetic influence is underestimated (interacting genes are missed)
-quantitative trait loci
-searching for multiple genes

Question 6

what is the heritability equation?

Answer 6

V = G + E + (G x E)
-V = variance
-G = genetic influence
-E = environmental influence
-G x E is the interaction between genetics and environment

Question 7

what is the interactionist approach?

Answer 7

-takes a stance between nature and nurture arguing both genetics and the environment influence behaviour
-genetics provide a predisposition, but phenotype means it may not appear

Question 8

how does the debate relate to schizophrenia?

Answer 8

-genetic influences are nativist
-family dysfunction theory is nurture

Question 9

how does the debate relate to aggression?

Answer 9

-genetic influences (MAOA gene) = nature
-social psychological theories (SLT, de-individuation etc) argue nurture

Question 10

how does the debate relate to cognition and development?

Answer 10

-piaget argues nature, but acknowledged the role of the environment in child’s interactions (so interactionist)
-vygotsky = empiricist

Question 11

how does attachment relate to the debate?

Answer 11

-an ideal example, bowlby argues attachment formation is an innate drive for survival, but the learning theory is empiricist

Question 12

evaluate the nature nurture debate

Answer 12

-recent times the argument has moved to acknowledge the interactionist stance as appropriate, its now based on the relative influence of nature and nurture
-assessing the relative influence of nature ad nurture has difficulties, even using twin studies is problematic because of the assumption that the only difference between MZ and DZ is genetic similarity
-research varies greatly on relative heritability of characteristics, could be due to methodology or because people are more susceptible to environmental influences than others