The Nature-Nurture debate

Question 1

what is Nature

Answer 1

refers to the assumption that behaviour is the product of innate (biological or genetic) factors – the result of heredity.
It assumes that we are born with predispositions and pre-programmed behaviours.
For example: Nature is your genes. The physical and personality traits determined by your genes stay the same irrespective of how you are raised.

Question 2

what is nativism

Answer 2

Nativism is the term used to describe a stance that agrees with the nature side of the debate. It asserts that certain concepts are “native” or in the brain at birth.

Question 3

nature
Genetic explanations

Answer 3

Genetic explanations: Family, twin and adoption studies show that the closer two individuals are genetically (i.e. the more closely related they are), the more likely it is that both of them will develop the same behaviours.
This closer similarity for individuals with the same genes shows that nature has a major contribution to the disorder e.g. Gottesman (1991) – Schizophrenia.

Question 4

Nature
Evolutionary explanations

Answer 4

Evolutionary explanations: Assume that a behaviour or characteristic that promotes survival and reproduction will be naturally selected.
This is because such behaviours/ characteristics are adaptive and thus the genes for that behaviour/characteristic will be passed on to subsequent generations.

Question 5

what is Nurture

Answer 5

refers to the assumption that behaviour is the product of (i.e. shaped by) environmental influences.
The ‘environment’ can refer to pre-natal influences (i.e. the mother’s physical and psychological state during pregnancy), or post-natal experiences such as the social conditions the child grows up in and the cultural and historical context they are part of.

Question 6

what is empiricism

Answer 6

Empiricism is the term used to describe a stance that agrees with the nurture side of the debate. It asserts that we are born without any innate mechanisms and that all we become is due to our experiences.

The philosopher John Locke argued that we are born a ‘tabula rasa’, a blank slate on which experience is written, leading to the formation of the self.

Question 7

Nurture
What do certain approaches think

Answer 7

Behaviourism (Learning Approach): Behaviourists assume that all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone.

Classical (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Skinner) are the two key behaviourist explanations that explain how behaviour is learned.

Social Learning Theory (Learning Approach): Bandura’s view was less extreme than traditional behaviourism. He proposed that behaviour is acquired through observational learning, adding in the concept of indirect (vicarious) reinforcement. However, Bandura also acknowledged the role of biology.

Question 8

In what way did Bandura acknowledge biology?

Answer 8

He acknowledged that the urge to behave aggressively might be biological, but the way a person learns to express anger is acquired through environmental influences (direct and indirect reinforcement).

Question 9

Attachment topic nature argument

Answer 9

Bowlby (1969) argued that forming attachments is an innate drive (biologically programmed). He proposed that attachment was adaptive because it meant an infant was more likely to be protected and therefore more likely to survive. Attachment also promotes close relationships, which foster successful reproduction. Therefore, attachment behaviours are naturally selected, which can only be done through genetic mechanisms (heredity).

Question 10

Attachment topic nurture argument

Answer 10

Behaviourists suggested that attachment could be explained in terms of classical conditioning (the mother becomes associated with the food - UCS - she is feeding the baby, until she becomes a source of pleasure in and of herself – conditioned stimulus) or operant conditioning (food reduces the discomfort of hunger and is therefore rewarding – food is the primary reinforcer and the mother becomes the secondary reinforcer).

Question 11

Psychopathology topic nature argument

Answer 11

Evolutionary psychologists propose that animals (including humans), are genetically programmed to rapidly learn an association between potentially life-threatening stimuli and fear – biological preparedness.
These stimuli are known as ancient fears - things that would have been dangerous in our evolutionary past i.e. snakes, heights. It would have been adaptive to rapidly learn to avoid such stimuli that posed a threat to survival.
This explains why people are less likely to develop fears of modern objects i.e. cars.

Question 12

Psychopathology topic nurture argument

Answer 12

Behaviourists argue that phobias are acquired through a classically conditioned association between an anxiety provoking unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and a previously neutral stimulus. For example, a child with no previous fear of dogs gets bitten by a dog and from this moment onwards associates the dog with fear and pain.
Operant conditioning explains how the phobia is maintained. The conditioned (i.e. learned) stimulus evokes fears, and avoidance of the feared object or situation lessens this feeling, which is rewarding (negative reinforcement).

Question 13

Heredity refers to

Answer 13

the genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.
A key way that heredity is established is through the use of twin studies.
The HERITABILITY COEFFICIENT is also used to assess heredity. It is a numerical figure ranging from 0 to 1 which indicates the extent that the characteristic has a genetic basis (a value of 1 means it is entirely genetically determined).

Question 14

Environment is any influence on human behaviour that is

Answer 14

NON-GENETIC (this may range from pre-natal influences in the womb, to post-natal experiences, such as the social conditions the child grows up in and the cultural and historical context they are a part of).

Question 15

No sole genetic cause of behaviour has been identified so far.

Answer 15

This means that the nature viewpoint is widely seen as being too extremist.
However, there are genes that are related to behaviours (e.g. Addiction – A1 variant of the DRD2 gene; OCD - SERT and COMT gene), so the key question in this debate is the extent to which genetics affect behaviour, and also how much experience and learning account for what we do.
It is very difficult to place a numerical value on the contribution of nature and nurture as environmental influence in a child’s life begins as soon as it is born (and perhaps even earlier)

Question 16

The Interactionist Approach

Answer 16

The interactionist approach takes a stance somewhere between the extreme nature and extreme nurture positions.
It assumes that both genetics (heredity) and the environment play a part in behaviour.
Arguably, nature and nurture are linked to such an extent that it does not make sense to separate the two, so researchers instead study how they interact and influence each other.

Question 17

The Diathesis-Stress Model is an

Answer 17

example of an interactionist approach. This is often used to explain mental disorders, such as phobias, OCD and addiction.
A diathesis is a biological vulnerability, such as being born with certain genes that predispose a person to developing a disorder.
Expression of the gene or genes depends on experience in the form of a ‘stressor’, which triggers the condition.
Thus a person’s nature is only expressed under certain conditions of nurture.

Question 18

Is the debate still so polarised? How have attitudes towards this debate changed in recent times?

Answer 18

The nature-nurture debate in recent times has moved from the argument between the extreme nature and nurture perspectives, to the general acknowledgement that an interactionist stance is more appropriate.
The debate is now more concerned with the relative influence of nature and nurture i.e. the extent to which genes and the environment influence behaviour.

Question 19

Issues in assessing the relative importance of nature and nurture - what is the problem with relying on twin studies to inform this debate in psychology?

Answer 19

Twin studies are problematic due to the assumption that the only difference between MZ and DZ twins is their genetic similarity.
Parenting styles differ in that MZ twins are often treated more similarly than DZ twins because they look the same.
This means the difference in concordance rates could be due to nurture rather than nature.

Question 20

Research on the relative heritability of a characteristic varies greatly

Answer 20

This could be due to many things such as sample size and composition or the methodology used. It may even be the case that some people are more susceptible to environmental influences than others.
What does this mean for the debate?
This means that consensus is going to be hard to reach i.e. it is going to be difficult for psychologists to agree on the relative influence of genes when research findings are so mixed.

Question 21

NATURE – several twin studies have found higher concordance rates for certain behaviours between MZ twins compared to DZ twins.

Answer 21

This closer similarity for individuals with the same genes shows that nature has a major contribution to the disorder i.e. there is a strong genetic component.

Question 22

HOWEVER, no piece of research has ever found a 100% concordance rate between MZ twins (a  for the NURTURE side of the debate).

Answer 22

This suggests that the environment must have an influence, because MZ twins are 100% genetically identical.

Question 23

Genes may exert an indirect effect in a number of ways:

Answer 23

First, genetic factors create an infant’s microenvironment. For example, a child who is genetically more aggressive might provoke an aggressive response in others. This response becomes part of the child’s environment and affects the child’s development.
Plomin et al. (1977) called this ‘reactive gene-environment interaction’ because the child is reacting to genetically influenced behaviour.

Question 24

Another kind of interaction is active influence or ‘niche picking’

Answer 24

As children grow older they seek out experiences and environments that suit their genes. For example, a naturally aggressive child is likely to feel more comfortable around children who show similar behaviours and will ‘choose’ their environment accordingly.
Research has shown that the influence of genes increases as children get older, which is due to niche picking.

Question 25

Epigenetics can explain

Answer 25

why cloning does not produce identical copies.
Cloning involves placing the genetic material from one individual into an egg that has no nucleus. The egg should then grow into an identical copy of the cloned individual. However, that doesn’t happen.

Genes from the parent cat, Rainbow, were cloned to produce the kitten CC (Carbon Copy), except the clone isn’t identical.
The reason is that there is epigenetic material in the donors egg cell. This epigenetic material was produced by environmental effects in the donors lifetime.

Question 26

Nativists suggest that ‘anatomy is destiny’. This is an extreme deterministic viewpoint, and could controversially be used to link things like race, genetics and intelligence.

Answer 26

It could also be used as an argument for EUGENICS (social philosophy advocating the improvement of human genetic traits) through the promotion of higher rates of sexual reproduction for people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilisation of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics) or both.

Question 27

In contrast (but equally controversially) empiricists argue that any behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions.

Answer 27

This BEHAVIOUR SHAPING has a practical application in things like psychological therapy (e.g. in Token Economy where desirable behaviours are reinforced and undesirable behaviours are punished, or in AVERSION THERAPY where undesirable behaviours are associated with undesirable consequences).
It could also be applied in controversial ways, e.g. in things like HOTHOUSING. It could also mean that people’s behaviour can be manipulated by the few individuals who control societal influences.

Question 28

The Nature-Nurture Debate: Conclusions

Answer 28

In a practical sense, it is very difficult to completely disentangle nature from nurture influences, meaning that conclusions about the basis of behaviour possibly lack validity.
Nature and nurture are so closely intertwined that, practically and theoretically, it make little sense to try to separate the two.
Research into the interaction between nature and nurture (e.g. reactive gene-environment interaction, niche picking, epigenetics) points to a complex and multi-layered relationship between nature and nurture.