Nature-Nurture Debate

Question 1

what is the nature nurture debate?

3

Answer 1

the argument as to whether a person’s development is mainly due to their genes or environmental influences

it is now accepted that the two processes of nature and nurture do not just interact but are inextricably intertwined

it is no longer really a nature nurture debate at all, but an interactionist approach

Question 2

define nature

3

Answer 2

behaviour is the product of innate factors and influences that are either biological or genetic

heredity is the process by which genes are passed from parents to their offspring, usually referring to genetic inheritance

refers to abilities present at birth but also to any ability determined by genes such as secondary sexual characteristics which appear during puberty or conditions like Huntington’s disease which are usually only apparent in adulthood

Question 3

examples of the influence of nature

2

Answer 3

genetic explanations

evolutionary explanations

Question 4

genetic explanations

5

Answer 4

family, twin and adoption studies show that the closer two individuals are in terms of their genetics, the more likely it is that both of them will develop the same behaviours

this has been applied to schizophrenia, addiction and criminal behaviour

for example, the concordance rate for mental disorders such as schizophrenia is about 40% for MZ twins (who have identical genes) and 7% for DZ twins (who on average share 50% of their genes)

this demonstrates that individuals with more similar genes tend to be more similar in their behaviours

this suggests that nature has a major contribution to disorders such as schizophrenia

Question 5

evolutionary explanations

5

Answer 5

evolutionary explanations are based on the principle that behaviours and characteristics that promote survival and reproduction will be naturally selected

this is because such behaviours and characteristics are adaptive and therefore the genes for that behaviour will be passed on to subsequent generations

for example, Bowlby (1969) proposed that attachment is adaptive and innate because it means that an infant is more likely to be protected and thus more likely to survive

attachment also promotes close relationships which could foster successful reproduction

therefore, attachment behaviours are naturally selected which can only be done through genetic mechanisms, suggesting that this behaviour is genetically determined

Question 6

define nurture

3

Answer 6

behaviour is a product of environmental influences

the environment is everything that is outside the body, which includes people, events and the physical world

includes the physical and social world, may be more widely referred to as ‘experience’ — which may include effects of an infant before birth such as a mother who smokes

Question 7

examples of the influence of nurture

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Answer 7

behaviourism

social learning theory

other explanations

Question 8

behaviourism

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Answer 8

in the 17th century, philosopher John Locke described the newborn infant as a blank slate on which experience is written

this was the view adopted by behaviourists who assume that all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone

Skinner used the concepts of classical and operant conditioning to explain learning — for example, attachment could be explained in terms of classical conditioning (food is associated with the mother who feeds the baby) or operant conditioning (food reduces the discomfort of hunger and is therefore rewarding)

Question 9

social learning theory

3

Answer 9

Bandura’s view is a little less extreme than traditional behaviourism

he also proposed that behaviour is acquired through learning but added the new dimension of vicarious reinforcement

he also allowed the idea that biology had a role to play in behaviour — for example, he acknowledged that the urge the behave aggressively might be biological but the important point is that the way a person learns to express anger is acquired through environmental influences (direct and indirect reinforcement)

Question 10

other explanations

4

Answer 10

there are a number of other psychological explanations that fall onto the nurture side of the debate

for example, the double bind theory of schizophrenia suggests that schizophrenia develops in children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents

a mother may tell her son that she loves him yet at the same time turns her head away in disgust

such conflicting messages about her feelings prevent the child developing an internally consistent construction of reality, which may lead to symptoms of schizophrenia

Question 11

explain the interactionist approach to nature nurture

4

Answer 11

with reference to the nature-nurture debate, the interactionist approach is the view that the processes of nature and nurture work together rather than in opposition

they are no longer independent, they’re actually interdependent and entwined

this makes adaptive sense because we inherit certain behaviours through heredity but we are also influenced by the environment which ensures that each of us makes maximum use of our innate qualities

nature affects nurture and nurture affects nature

Question 12

how does nature affect nurture?

(i.e. how do genes influence our environment and experiences)

2

Answer 12

Plomin et al (1977) identified 3 main ways in which genes may exert an indirect influence on our environment…

• reactive interaction
• passive influence
• active influence

Question 13

reactive interaction

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Answer 13

genetic factors create an infant’s microenvironment

for example, a child who is genetically more aggressive might provoke an aggressive response in others and this response becomes part of the child’s environment and affects their development

the child is reacting to genetically influenced behaviour

Question 14

passive influence

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Answer 14

parents’ genes determine aspects of their behaviour

for example, a parent with a genetically determined mental illness creates an unsettled home environment

in this case, a child’s mental disorder could be due to indirect passive effects

Question 15

active influence

3

Answer 15

Scarr et al (1983) called this niche picking

as children grow older they seek out experiences and environments that suit their genes

research shows that the influence of genes increases as children get older, which is due to niche picking

Question 16

how does nurture affect nature?

(i.e. how do our environment and experiences influence our biology)

MAGUIRE ET AL (2000)

4

Answer 16

studies on plasticity demonstrate that life experiences can shape our biology

for example, Maguire et al (2000) studied London taxi drivers and found that the brain regions associated with spatial memory were bigger in the drivers compared to the control group

this is because the hippocampi had responded to increased use during their time as taxi drivers

our environment affects how our genes are expressed

Question 17

how does nurture affect nature?

(i.e. how do our environment and experiences influence our biology)

BLAKEMORE ET AL (1970)

5

Answer 17

Blakemore et al (1970) worked with kittens to show how experience affects innate systems

the kittens were given large collars that restricted their sight and they were raised in a circular drum with either only vertical or horizontal stripes

when they were introduced to the real world at age 5 months, they no longer had the ability to see lines of the opposite orientation

their innate visual system had been altered through experience

our environment affects how our genes are expressed

Question 18

how is the nature nurture debate political?

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Answer 18

underlying the nature nurture debate is a political subtext

the contrasting concepts of human nature have tended to correlate with contrasting political ideals

such political agendas mean that arguments for or against nature or nurture may be as much founded on political beliefs as on scientific evidence

Question 19

what is ‘nature’ politically linked to?

3

Answer 19

nature has been linked with 20th century eugenics who advocated and enforced selective breeding, such as the Nazis

if nature determines behaviour then the human stock can be improved by selective breeding

many countries, particularly the US, have practiced selective breeding by sterilising thousands of people deemed ‘feeble minded’

Question 20

what is ‘nurture’ politically linked to?

3

Answer 20

nurture is popular with people who believe that any human trait can be altered with appropriate changes in social institutions

this has led to equally brutal regimes under leaders such as Stalin in the Soviet union and Pol Pot in Cambodia

these regimes believed that you could engineer the behaviour of others through conditioning so that they behaved as you wished them to behave

Question 21

x3 evaluation points

Answer 21

nature and nurture cannot be separated

diathesis stress

epigenetics

(can also use examples of how nature affects nurture and how nurture affects nature OR can mention the negative political implications of adhering to either extreme side of the debate)

Question 22

EVALUATION
nature and nurture cannot be separated

5

Answer 22

the psychologist Donald Hebb said that asking whether nature or nurture was more important is the same as asking whether the length or width of a rectangle is more important when working out the area

in other words, it is a meaningless question as they both contribute equally

a classic example of this is the disorder phenylketonuria which is an inherited disorder that prevents the amino acid phenylalanine being metabolised, resulting in brain damage

however, the condition can be detected at birth and the infant can be given a diet devoid of phenylalanine so that brain damage can be averted

therefore, as prevention can be achieved through environmental manipulation, this condition is neither simply determined by nature or nurture, it is determined by both

Question 23

EVALUATION
diathesis stress

7

Answer 23

the diathesis stress model is a conceptualisation of the interaction between nature and nurture

this is often used to explain mental disorders such as phobia of schizophrenia

a diathesis is a biological vulnerability, such being born with certain genes that predispose a person to developing a disorder

however, research has shown that not everyone with those genes does develop the disorder

expression of the gene depends on experience in the form of a stressor which triggers the condition

therefore, a person’s nature is only expressed under certain conditions of nurture

demonstrates that the two processes are so closely intertwined and cannot be separated into a debate

Question 24

EVALUATION
epigenetics

6

Answer 24

epigenetics refers to the material in each cell of your body that is like a set of switches to turn genes on or off

epigenetic material is altered by life experiences such as nutrition or stress, these experiences control the switches and most importantly the switches are passed on to subsequent generations

this explains why cloning does not produce identical copies

cloning involves placing the genetic material from one individual into an egg that has no nucleus, the egg should then grow into an identical copy of the cloned individual

but this does not happen because epigenetic material is affected by the environment and experiences of an individual in their lifetime

this demonstrates that genetics and the environment are much less separate than was previously thought