The Nature-Nurture Debate Flashcards
What are nature elements in the nature-nurture debate
Innate influeces, basically genes
What are environmental elements in the nature-nurture debate
Influences acquired through interactions with the environment
What is a genetic explinations of nature in the nature-nurture debate
Family and twin studies show that the closer two people are genetically the more likely it is that both of them will develop the same behaviours, for example the concordance rate for Sz is 40% for monozygotic twins and 7% for dizygotic twins
What is an evlutionary explination of nature in the nature-nurture debate
Any behaviour or characteristic that promots survival or reproduction will be naturally selected. For example, Bowlby’s theory of attachment is adaptive as it meant that an infant was more likely to be protected, and more likely to foster successfully reproductive
What approach to psychology is big on the nurture side in the nature-nurture debate
The behaviourists, including the social learning lot, who believed that infants were born as ‘blank slates’
What is the behaviourist explination of nurture in the nature-nurture debate
Behaviourists assume all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone, for example they believe that attachment is a result of classical and operant conditioning
What were infants described to be by John Locke
A Tabula Rasa (blank slate) (Weyyy John Lock the really cool empiricist and witchcraft course character)
What is the social learning theory explination of nurture in the nature-nurture debate
Bandura was slightly less extreme than traditional behaviourism. He proposed behaviour is acquired through learning and vicarious reinforcement, but he allowed that biology had a role to play, for example the urge to act aggressively may be biological, but the way they express anger is learned through environmental influences
What is an example of other psychological explinations that are not behavioural or social learning but still nurture
The double blind theory of Sz suggests that Sz develops in children who frequently recieve contradictoy messages from their parents
What may be an issue with seperating nature and nurture
Seperating nature and nurture may not be possible. Donald Hebb argued that this was akin to asking if the length or width of a rectangle was most important when calculating it’s area. For example, in the inherited condition phenylketonuria, if the condition is detected at birth a special diet can be assigned and brain damage can be avoided. If prevention can be achieved though environmental manipulation then is the condition due to nature or nurture. This emphasises the interactionist approach
How does epigenetics feed into the nature-nurture debate
Epigenetics is the material in each cell which determines if a gene is expressed or not, acting as a ‘switch’, with these ‘switches’ passed down to subsequent generations. This means that identical chldren can differ in weight even if fed the same meals because of the epigentic material they inherited. This also explains how cloning doesn’t produce identical copies, as in the donor egg cell there is epigenetic material even after the nucleus has been removed, which was produced by env effects in the donors lifetime. For example, Rainbow was cloned to produce a kitten but the kitten CC wasn’t identical. This suggests that genes and the environment are far from seperate
What may be a better way to understand nature and nurture
The diathesis stress model, which combines a genetic vulnerability to a condition, such as a phobia, and the experience of a stressor which triggers the condition. Thus a person’s nature is only expressed under certain conditions of nurture
How does nature effect nurture
Genes exert an inderect effect in many ways, for example a child who is more genetically aggressive may provoke and aggressive response in others. This becomes part of their environment and effects the childs development. Plomin et al called this a reactive gene. Plomin also identified passive gene influence,for example where someone with a genetically predetermined mental illness creates an unsettled home environment. A third kind of influence is active infleuence, called Niche picking, where children seek experiences that suit their genes. Research shows that the influence of genes increases as children get older, due to niche picking. This highlights how nature can affect nurture.
Who suggested that seperating nature and nurture was bad
Donald Hebb
What cloned kitten produced what offspring
Rainbow produced CC (Carbon Copy) who wasn’t a carbon copy
Who identified ways in which genetics influence environment
Plomin
