Nature vs. Nurture Flashcards
Tabula Rassa
means ‘blank slate’ in latin
- idea that when child is born they are a blank slate which gets added to by learning
Locke (1632 - 1704)
empiricist (based work on evidence and observation)
-viewed child as blank slate
-stated through social interaction children learn:
speech, emotion, moral, exist within society
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778)
French philosopher interested in work by Locke
- agreed with locke that society was a strong part in a childs development
- saw society as a factor that corrupted a child
- children are born ‘angelic’
- coined the phrase ‘the noble savage’ = a good child who becomes corrupted by society and all that is wrong within it
How do the philosophy perspecitives contribute to modern perspectives of early childhood?
Early experiences are important (pointed out by philosophers)
– examples of modern research that shows this?
Ainsworths strange situation (links to adult relationships)
- Piaget/ Vygotsky compared to Erikson (believes development continues throughout adulthood)
- learning to walk/ play
- learning emotion
Nature/ nurture is viewed as a behaviour continuum
so, not everything is driven by genetics and not everything is driven by experience
Nativism
the view that many skills or abilities are ‘native’ or hard wired into the brain at birth, the result of genetic inheritance (genetics)
Empiricism
the view that humans are not born with built in core knowledge or mental content and that all knowledge or mental content results from learning and experience (nurture)
IQ in relation to nature/ nurture
Binet (1905) - 1st intelligence test, MA
Stern - IQ
Binet - identified mental age (MA)
-an individuals level of ability relative to others
-if a child of 5 solves a problem a 7yr old should be able to do, they have a MA of 7, but chronological age (CA) of 5
-if MA is lower than CA they are likely to have learning difficulties at school
Stern - introduced term IQ = intelligence quotient
Mental Age/ Chronological age x 100
(therefore average IQ for ones age is 100)
eg. 10/10 = 1, 1x100 = 100
What is intelligence?
general intelligence def?
single ability or collection of abilities
-verbal abilities, problem solving, memory etc
if it was lots of individual things, we’d need lots of tests
–so, came up with describing it as ‘g’ (general intelligence)
g = your score/ ability on all different kinds of intelligence tests eg.lang/maths/shape rotation
heritability?
Jensen(1969) paper ‘how much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement’ found?
found:white children were more intelligent than black and low SES children (controversial)
-> led to accusations of scientific racism
(changing results of experiments to make it look different for diff subgroups)
-more recent evidence shows similar 15-18 point IQ gap between black and white children (in USA)
-group differences are 50-80% heritable (Rushton + Jensen)
-we don’t know much more about why differences occur
Twin studies (heritability?)
monozygotic (identical) twins share all genes - correlation:
IQ and MZ =0.87 (same genes and developmental environment)
IQ and MZ = 0.75 (reared apart)
Dizygotic (Fraternal) share 1/2 genes
IQ+DZ = 0.55
IQ +DZ = 0.35 (reared apart)
Innate or acquired?
haven’t currently found a specific gene which is strongly associated with cognitive ability = ‘missing heritability’ = failure to find any genes associated with cognitive ability
- BUT we do know IQ has a strong heritability component
- 50% of variation in a populations (western world) IQ is accounted for by genetic differences
Gene x Environment interaction
-breastfeeding and gene
breastfed children are healthier and develop higher IQs (likely due to fatty acids in breast milk)
-there is a gene which is involved in the genetic control of fatty acid pathways and has been linked to brain development
- a variant of this gene allows breastfed kids to score around 7 points higher on IQ tests
-another variant shows no difference in breastfeeding and IQ
(so need this beneficial variant/ predisposition to benefit from breastfeeding)
Adoption studies
- Minnesota study
- Flynn effect
- Ravens progressive matrices
Minnesota Transcranial Adoption study (1976) - longitudinal
tested IQ scores of black or interracial kids adopted by white advantaged families
-7yrs old = black and interracial kids scored above white population average
-Black children adopted by these families by 1 yrs old scored 20 points above black children raised in black communities in US
-17 yrs = IQ scores for all groups lower but differences remain
=environment is important for ability at school level
THE FLYNN EFFECT = environmental effects on cognitive development
-IQ rates increase by 3 points each decade in western societies (so IQ tests have to be re-standardised every few years to account for this)
RAVENS PROGRESSIVE MATRICES
- non-verbal test with items arranged in order of difficulty
-scores have increased by 20 points over 50 yrs
Reasons for this:
-smaller family size - more time spent with individual child
-improvements in education
-development of technology to support learning
-changes in diet eg. helps concentration
–Flynn effect is currently reducing in the UK, but increasing in china and india (UKless affected by environment)
Poverty, Malnutrition and education
-poverty and malnutrition have a negative effect on childrens development
-children who have an inadequate diet have reduced brain development
-children living in poverty have structural brain differences to those from higher SES families (found using SMRI)
-In UK a training programme called ‘sure start’ -training for parents including:
guidance on health and nutrition
improve child behaviour through parent-child interaction
setting expectations, limits and consistent strategies for behaviours management and non-compliance in children
–benefits seen in similar schemes worldwide
–some see limited benefits, but overall this is seen as a positive interaction
