The nature nurture debate

Question 1

Define the nature nurture debate.

Answer 1

concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.

Question 2

what did Bowlby claim in regards to the nature nurture debate.

Answer 2

babies attachment type is determined by the warmth and continuity of parental love.

Question 3

what did Jerome Sagan claim in regards to the nature nurture debate.

Answer 3

babies innate personality also effects there attachment relationships. Therefore nature (Childs temperament) creates nurture (parental response) so enviroment and heredity interact.

Question 4

what approach is the nature - nurture debate

Answer 4

an interactionist approach

Question 5

define hereditary

Answer 5

the eugenic transmission of both mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.

Question 6

what did the diathesis stress model suggest

Answer 6

that behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability (diathesis) which is only expressed when paired with a biological or environmental trigger (stressor).

Question 7

give an example of diathesis stress model

Answer 7

OCD- person may have inherited vulnerability but only when combines with enviromental trigger may they develop the disorder.

Question 8

what are epigenetic.

Answer 8

refers to a change in our genetic activity with ought changing the genes themselves.

Question 9

what aspects of our lifestyle can leave marks on our DNA

Answer 9

Smoking, diet and trauma.

Question 10

what effects can lifestyle choices have on our DNA

Answer 10

may influence the genetic codes of our children.

Question 11

how do epigenetic effect the nature-nurture debate

Answer 11

they add a third element- the life experience of previous generations.

Question 12

what did Rene Descartes argue.

Answer 12

that all human characteristics are innate.

Question 13

example of psychological characteristics determined by biological factors

Answer 13

intelligence and personality.

Question 14

who said the mind was a ‘blank slate shaped by the enviroment’

Answer 14

John locke.

Question 15

what did Richard Lerner identify

Answer 15

different levels of the environment.
including pre natal factors such as how physical influences like smoking effect a foetus.

Question 16

what dose a correlation coefficient (concordance) represent.

Answer 16

the degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait.

Question 17

what dose a concordance do

Answer 17

provides a estimation about the extent to which a trait is inherited. (heritability)

Question 18

what did plomin study.

Answer 18

IQ research.

Question 19

what did plomin find.

Answer 19

that iq is about 0.5% across studies in varying populations. meaning half a persons intelligence is determined by genetics and the other must be environmental.

Question 20

One strength of research into the nature-nurture (AO3)

Answer 20

adoption studies.

Question 21

how dose adoption studies effect nature - nurture debate. (AO3)

Answer 21

If adopted children are more similar to their adoptive parents, this suggests environmental influence is greater. Whereas, if adopted children are more similar to their biological parents, this suggests genetic influence is greater.

Rhee and Waldman (2002) found in a meta-analysis of adoption studies that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression.
This is a strength because it shows how research can separate nature and nurture influences.

Question 22

strength of the nature-nurture debate 2.

Answer 22

support for epigenetics.

in 1944 the Nazis blocked food to the Dutch people and 22,000 died of starvation in what became known as the Dutch Hunger Winter.

Importantly, Susser and Lin (1992) found that women who became pregnant during the famine had low birth weight babies who were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia when they grew up compared to more typical population rates.

Question 23

real-world application (AO3) explain.

Answer 23

Nestadt et al. (2010) put the heritability rate at .76 for OCD.

Understanding can inform genetic counselling because it is important to understand that high heritability does not mean it is inevitable that the individual will go on to develop the disorder.

People who have a high genetic risk because of their family background can receive education about inheritance, management and prevention of the disorder.

Question 24

One limitation of nature-nurture

Answer 24

negative implications.

Question 25

how dose the nature nurture debate have negative implications (AO3).

Answer 25

extreme nativist stance is determinist and has led to controversy, e.g. linking ethnicity, genetics and intelligence.

In contrast – but also controversially – empiricists suggest that any behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions

shows that both positions, taken to extremes, may have dangerous consequences for society