Nature and nurture Flashcards
(10 cards)
what is meant by nature?
The nature approach is the idea that our behaviour is the result of biological forces such as genes and evolution. It argues that we inherit genes which are formed over the process of evolution and these determine our behaviour.
what is meant by nurture?
The nurture approach is the idea that our behaviour is the result of the environment and that we learn through our experiences and interaction with stimuli.
What is meant by heredity?
Heredity refers to inheritance and the chances of you attaining a behaviour genetically. When looking at monozigotic twins (MZ twins), they share 100% of genetics therefore, if one has a genetic disorder, the other should if the cause is genetic. Also, with MZ twins, you would expect to see that their concordance rates for disorders should be higher than dizigotic twins (DZ twins) or siblings who share 50% genetics.
what is the role of the environment in determining behaviour?
The environment refers to anything without our surroundings that acts as a stimuli to behaviour. This idea would suggest that rather than an innate drive causing our behaviour, we respond and learn all our behaviours from our environment.
what is the interactionist approach?
Interactionists believe that behaviour is not caused by one side of the nature/ nurture debate and think of them working together to cause behaviours.
What is the passive gene environment correlation?
This idea suggests that the product of the parental genes causes a change in environment for the child. For example, intelligent parents may create an intelligent environment that fosters intelligence for the child thus enhancing their intelligence
What is the reactive gene environment correlation?
We produce an environment that reacts to our genes. For example, we are genetically more likely to be aggressive therefore we create a hostile environment with people who are otherwise peaceful.
What is the active gene environment correlation?
We look out for an environment that suits out genes to join and be part of. For example, a shy person who does not like conversation may choose to spend most of their time in a library.
What is the diathesis stress model?
The diathesis stress model is also interactionist as it suggests that a combination of nature and nurture cause the disorder. It suggests that an individual may have a genetic predisposition (chance) of inheriting a disorder however, an environmental stressor or trigger will cause the onset of the disorder.
Nature vs Nurture AO3
Implications of the nature side of the debate mean that if we believe that genes can cause and predict behaviour, policies based around eugenics may develop having extreme impacts on people’s lives.
· In psychological contexts, neither nature nor nurture can offer a full explanation of behaviour therefore the interactionist approach must have some validity to its claims.
· It is difficult to tease out environmental impacts and genetic impacts on behaviour from research studies due to monozygotic twins sharing the same environment the majority of the time. Therefore, we cannot draw effective conclusions from research studies due to the combination of nature and nurture affecting people’s lives.
· There are distinct links with other debates with extreme views of either nature or nurture being linked to hard determinism meaning we should question the role of free will in behaviour as well.
