Nature And Nuture Flashcards
(11 cards)
Is this is a debate or issue
Debate
What is this debate
It seeks the answer to the question of the extent to which aspects of our behaviour are a product of our biology and environment workong together.
What does nature mean
Refers to the view that behaviours are the product of inherited influences or heredity (the process of which both physical an psychological traits are passed down from one generation to the next
Whats an example of nature
Brian structure and function - for example, those with structural brain abnormalities (such as thr amygalda) can lead to risk taking, and change in emotional behaviour.
Whats nurture
Refers to the view that behaviour is the product of environmental influences (this can include cultural differences)
Give an example of nurture
The cupboard love theory (explain)
Which approaches are nature or nurture
Nature = biological
Interactionist = psychodymic, cognitive, humnanistic
Nurture = behavioural
What does the interactionist approach suggests
That our behaviour is purely the result of both nature and nurture.
For example, the concordance rate for MZ twins for developing Sz is 48%, which shows that there are environmental factors that pla an approximate equal role on development. (This is demonstrated through the diathesis-stress model)
What are epigenetics (third element to this debate)
The change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves, and it’s caused through interaction with our environment. Aspects on our lifestyle (such as a trama) can leave ‘marks’ on our dna which can switch genes on or off. For example this is why smoking can have lifestyle effects even if you actually stop, this is because it change the way your genes are expressed. Therefore epigenetics can be a third factor in the nature and nurture debate
What are strengths of this debate
P- evidence of heredity-environment interaction
E- a psychologist outlined 3 types of heredity-environment interaction
1. Passive heredity-environment (genes from the paretns influence how they treat their children)
2. Reactive heredity-environment (genes of the child influence how others in their environment treat them)
3. Active heredity-environment (hte characteristics of a child determines their environment and their interactions with their environment further shapes the environment.
E- helps further understand the complex and multi-layered relationship between nature and nurture.
P- real life applications
E- research shows that OCD is a highly inheritable disorder and a study has shown this inheritability rate was 0.76. This understanding can lead to genetic counselling, however its important to understand that this doesn’t mean to individual is garunteed to go on and develop OCD. But it means that the people who are at a high likely hood of developing this and then can be prevented, such as being taught relaxation techniques.
E-this debate is important becvause it has practical applications that can help people
What are the limiations for this debate
P- the use of Mz twins tying to to help us understand the contributions of nature and nurture, as Mz twins arnt 100% identical
E- while they might start out as identical cells, these cells divide and then multiply there is come faulty replication and this can lead to mini or but possibly significant differences. Secondly they wont have identical upbrings, as they have shared and unshared environments.
E- these differences are confounding variables and they can threaten the conclusions drawn from these studies.
P- the implications of those that embrace fully nature or nurture side of the debate and don have an interactionist view.
E- this can lead to people suggesting that biology is destiny, removing any idea of personal responsibility (we shouldn’t blame criminals because it’s in their genes). In contrast, others suggest that any behaviour can be shaped by ones environment, it this can lead to prenatal blame as they wont blame the criminals but their upbringing will be blamed
E- being in one distinct side of this beat can lead to many negative implications
