NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE Flashcards
(27 cards)
two early philosophers on the nature-nurture debate
descartes and locke
what did descartes argue
human characteristics are innate and the result of heredity
what did locke argue
the mind is a blank slate at birth which learning and experience writes upon
what does the heritability coefficient assess
heredity
how is the heritability coefficient represented
as a numerical figure ranging from 0 - 1.0
what does the heritability coefficient indicate
the extent to which a characteristic has a genetic basis
what does a value of 1 mean in a heritability coefficient
entirely genetically determined
ex of heritability coefficient
iq - 0.5
researcher for iq heritability coefficient
plomin
what is a problem with the concept of nurture
it requires further clarification as the environment is so broad
researcher that solves broadness problem of nurture debate
lerner
what did lerner propose
levels of environment
ex of levels of environment
pre-natal terms eg the mothers physical and psychological state during pregnancy
post-natal experiences eg social conditions the child grows up in and cultural context that they are apart of
why is the nature-nurture question impossible to answer
environmental influence in a child’s life begins as soon as it is born and perhaps even earlier according to lerner - the two are so closely intertwined that it makes little sense to try to separate the two
eg why nature-nurture difficult
twin studies and concordance rate - is a high concordance rate a result of shared genetics or shared upbringing
what is the nature nurture debate in modern years
what is the relative contribution of each influence - the interactionist approach
what is the interactionist approach
the idea that 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
what does the diathesis stress model suggest
psychopathology is caused by a biological/genetic vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a trigger
ex diathesis
tienari sz finnish patients
what is epigenetics
refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code
when and how does epigenetics happen
when - happens throughout life
how - caused by interaction with the environment
ex of events we encounter to trigger epigenetics
diet, smoking, pollution, war
describe process of epigenetics
- events we encounter such as diet, smoking etc
- these leave epigenetic marks on our DNA
- these marks tell our bodies which genes to ignore and which to use
- this in turn may influence the genetic code of our children
why is epigenetics a problem for nature-nurture debate
it creates a third factor into the debate which is the influence of the life experience of previous generations
