Nature v nurture Flashcards
Define ‘nature’. (2 points)
Innate characteristics such as evolution, genes, hormones, and brain neurochemistry that affect the development of the individual
Define ‘nurture’. (2 points)
Environmental factors that a person experiences over their lifetime e.g. drugs, disease, and diet
What is an interactionist approach?
A psychological explanation that includes the role of both nature and nurture in explaining human behaviour
What is the purpose of the nature-nurture debate?
Psychologists are interested in the role of nature and nurture in psychology to discover the source of behaviours to:
+ Establish suitable treatment strategies
+ Modify behaviour
+ Improve society and the lives of individuals
What is the essay plan for the nature-nurture essay?
Biological
Nature: Dabbs and Raine et al
Epigenetic: Mazur and Booth
Learning Theories
Nurture: CC and Flooding
Nature: CC and SLT
Cognitive
Nature: MSM
Interactionist: Reconstructive memory
Clinical
Nature: Twin studies
Nurture: SLT causing AN
Interactionist: Diathesis-stress model
How does Dabbs et al support nature causing human behaviour? (4 points)
The role of nature in psychology is most rooted in biological explanations of human behaviour e.g:
+ Hormones
+ Genetics
+ Evolution
+ Brain structure
Dabbs et al:
+ Examined testosterone in male prison inmates
+ Found that those who had committed violent and sexual crimes had higher testosterone levels than those who had committed less violent crimes
Suggests that aggression is caused by hormones (nature)
How does Raine et al support nature causing human behaviour? (2 points)
They identified that a lower prefrontal cortex volume, which controls impulsive aggression, was more prevalent in NGRI murders than in non-murdering controls
This further reinforces that violent aggression has an innate, biological basis caused by differences in brain function
How does Mazur and Booth support nature and nurture causing human behaviour? (4 points)
However, behaviour such as aggression is more complex than either nature or nurture alone
It relies on an epigenetic process in which environmental circumstances (nurture) change biological functioning (nature)
Mazur and Booth:
+ Identified a reciprocal model where a male’s testosterone levels fluctuate throughout their lives
+ Increases when they are single compared to being married
Human psychology can best be understood by appreciating the role of both nature and nurture in behaviours - a person can never be separated from one or the other
How does classical conditioning support nurture causing human behaviour? (4 points)
Learning Theories exemplify the role of nurture the most as behaviour is due to learnt experiences
Classical conditioning involves learning a new behaviour through association
Pavlov formulated classical conditioning when investigating salivary reflexes in dogs by repeatedly pairing a metronome
(NS with no response) with food (UCS)
The metronome eventually becomes associated with the arrival of food
CS = Metronome
CR = Salivation
How does flooding support nurture causing human behaviour? (3 points)
The role of nurture and CC has pertained to useful treatments such as flooding therapy
Uses reciprocal inhibition and counterconditioning to create a new association, whereby the phobic object/situation (CS) is now associated with relaxation instead of fear (CR)
Wolpe (1969):
+ Forced an adolescent girl with a fear of cars to be driven around continuously for four hours
+ Her anxiety resulted in hospitalisation but her fear was extinguished
How can learning theories be linked to nature causing human behaviour? (4 points)
An acknowledgement of nature within Pavlov’s theory: the UCS-UCR is innate and instinctive
The same can be said for Social Learning Theory which states people learn via observation and imitation of role models
Bandura (1961) found that males were more imitative of aggression than females, regardless of whether the role
model was the same sex or not
This highlights that isolating nurture alone can create successful treatments but even the most polarising nurture explanations fail to separate themselves from nature
How does the MSM support nature causing human behaviour? (3 points)
States that memories can be retrieved from Long-Term memory (LTM) into Short-Term Memory (STM)
Nomothetic studies have revealed the capacity, duration and encoding of these stores are similar (Baddeley, Peterson & Peterson, Bahrick)
Suggests nature as memory models are universal - inherited internal processes that are present from birth
How does Barlett’s reconstructive memory theory support nature and nurture causing human behaviour? (3 points)
Bartlett’s schema theory exemplifies nurture - memories are not accurate and are actively reconstructed from schemas, mental models built from past experiences
However, the fact all people have schemas suggests that there is some universal, inherited brain feature within this nurture theory
This again highlights the roles of nature and nurture in psychology are fundamentally inseparable and interactionist
How do twin studies support nature causing human behaviour? (4 points)
Gottesman and Shields:
Concordance for Sz:
MZ = 75%
DZ = 24%
Kipman et al:
Concordance for AN:
MZ = 44%
Suggests that both Schizophrenia (SZ) and Anorexia Nervosa (AN) have a strong genetic ‘nature’ component
On the other hand, none of these concordance rates are 100%, suggesting that there must be environmental factors affecting the development of the condition
How does SLT causing AN support nurture causing human behaviour? (2 points)
Non-bio explanation for AN: SLT
The presence of thin role models in the media and society could act as the motivational trigger for a genetic predisposition to it
Becker et al:
Found the introduction of Western TV to Fijian adolescents increased their self-induced vomiting from 0% to 11.3%
