The nature nurture debate Flashcards
Define the nature nurture debate.
concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.
what did Bowlby claim in regards to the nature nurture debate.
babies attachment type is determined by the warmth and continuity of parental love.
what did Jerome Sagan claim in regards to the nature nurture debate.
babies innate personality also effects there attachment relationships. Therefore nature (Childs temperament) creates nurture (parental response) so enviroment and heredity interact.
what approach is the nature - nurture debate
an interactionist approach
define hereditary
the eugenic transmission of both mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.
what did the diathesis stress model suggest
that behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability (diathesis) which is only expressed when paired with a biological or environmental trigger (stressor).
give an example of diathesis stress model
OCD- person may have inherited vulnerability but only when combines with enviromental trigger may they develop the disorder.
what are epigenetic.
refers to a change in our genetic activity with ought changing the genes themselves.
what aspects of our lifestyle can leave marks on our DNA
Smoking, diet and trauma.
what effects can lifestyle choices have on our DNA
may influence the genetic codes of our children.
how do epigenetic effect the nature-nurture debate
they add a third element- the life experience of previous generations.
what did Rene Descartes argue.
that all human characteristics are innate.
example of psychological characteristics determined by biological factors
intelligence and personality.
who said the mind was a ‘blank slate shaped by the enviroment’
John locke.
what did Richard Lerner identify
different levels of the environment.
including pre natal factors such as how physical influences like smoking effect a foetus.
what dose a correlation coefficient (concordance) represent.
the degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait.
what dose a concordance do
provides a estimation about the extent to which a trait is inherited. (heritability)
what did plomin study.
IQ research.
what did plomin find.
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.
One strength of research into the nature-nurture (AO3)
adoption studies.
how dose adoption studies effect nature - nurture debate. (AO3)
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.
strength of the nature-nurture debate 2.
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.
real-world application (AO3) explain.
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.
One limitation of nature-nurture
negative implications.
how dose the nature nurture debate have negative implications (AO3).
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
