topic 3 - issues and debates Nature and Nurture Flashcards
what is the debate about?
the debate is about whether our behaviour is a result of our biological makeup which is nature or our environment which is nurture. The debate relates to all behaviour and everything from how intelligent you are or whether you become a criminal.
what is meant by the term ‘nature’?
nature refers to the biological factors which can influence our behaviour and we are born with them. an example can be genes we get from our parents. these genes influence how our body will develop and how we will be different from others because of the genes we have.
what is meant by the term ‘nurture’?
nurture refers to the environmental factors which can influence our behaviour so these are things we learn and generally happen after we are born. An example is learning behaviours from the people around us such as our friends or people we look up to.
what is the nature debate in psychological problems? use studies which supports nature.
there are different mental health problems which explain that genes have an influence on mental health problems which supports the nature side of the debate. Caspi et al found the specific type of 5-HTT which could influence people becoming more likely to be depressed. The specific type of the 5-HTT affected the amount of serotonin in the brain and serotonin is heavily connected to depression. If we assume that psychological problems are due to genetics then this can explain why some people don’t develop psychological problems because we each have our own genes. If genes influence psychological problems then we have to consider the patients finding it difficult to change their behaviour as it is genetic. it makes the patient more likely to experience a relapse even after treatment because they still have the version of the gene.
what is the nurture debate in psychological problems? use studies which supports nurture.
The cognitive explanation of depression and both learning theory as an explanation of addiction both explain that psychological problems are due to nurture and they are learned as a result of events that occurred in the patients environment. If we assume that mental health problems such as depression and addiction have been learned then other ways of behaving can replace them and their behaviour can be structured, this could form the basis of the treatment. this explains how CBT can be used to treat both addiction and depression. Patients can be trained to change the way they behave. The CBT therapy is effective in treating both depression and addiction and this would support the claim that they are caused by nurture not nature.
what is the nurture and nature debate in psychological problems? use studies which supports both nurture and nature.
in caspi et als study, he explained that the genes and environment had to act together to cause mental health problems such as depression. The combination of both the short version of the 5-HTT gene and the stressful life event influenced the patient and increased their risk of developing depression. This gene makes people more prone to developing a health problem while the stressful event acts as a catalysts which triggers the symptoms.
