The Nature-Nurture Debate

Question 1

What are the definitions of nature and nurture?

Answer 1

1. Nature (genotype) - innate characteristics determined by physiological and genetic factors,
2. Nurture - the influence of the environment and learning experiences.

Question 2

What is held by the interactionist approach?

Answer 2

1. That nature and nurture interact,
2. Personality and behaviour seem to be influenced by both.

Question 3

What is an example of the interactionist approach?

Answer 3

1. Rats raised in bare, dark cages have been compared to rats that grew up in stimulating environments,
2. It is found that the rats raised in the unstimulating environments do less well in problem-solving tasks and learn much more slowly than the other rats,
3. This suggests that environment can affect innate genetic potential.

Question 4

What does the nature-nurture debate focus on in modernity?

Answer 4

The debate now focusses on the relative contribution of inherited traits and the role of the environment in accounting for behaviour.

Question 5

Gottesman (1963), findings?

Answer 5

1. Suggested that people have a reaction range. This means everyone has a certain genetic potential for things like intelligence and height - the genotype.
2. The environment determines how much this potential is fulfilled - the phenotype,
3. For example, someone with a high genetic potential for intelligence, who didn’t go to school, may have the same IQ as someone with low genetic potential for intelligence, who received a good education.

Question 6

What is suggested by the diathesis-stress model?

Answer 6

1. Suggests that people have genetic predispositions for disorders like schizophrenia,
2. A person with a higher diathesis (vulnerability) is more likely to develop the trait, but whether they do depends on the amount of stress they experience.

Question 7

What is an example of environment overriding a genetic disposition?

Answer 7

1. One influence can sometimes override another. For example, phenyliketonuria is a genetic metabolic disorder that can cause brain damage,
2. But if the person doesn’t eat particular proteins, then the disorder won’t get worse. This shows how environment can override a genetic disposition.

Question 8

What three types of genotype-environment correlation did Plomin et al (1977) identify?

Answer 8

1. Passive,
2. Reactive,
3. Active.

Question 9

What is the passive genotype-environment correlation?

Answer 9

People with similar genes are likely to experience similar environments. For example, two siblings may be aggressive because they have both inherited aggressive tendencies from their parents, or because their parents’ predisposition towards aggression means that they provide a hostile home environment.

Question 10

What is the reactive genotype-environment correlation?

Answer 10

Genetically determined characteristics may shape a person’s experiences. For example, people react more positively towards attractive people, so the kind of environment a person experiences depends partly on their inherited characteristics.

Question 11

What is the active genotype-environment correlation?

Answer 11

People with particular inherited tendencies might seek out certain environments, which will then shape their behaviour just as their genetic background does. Bandura (1986) called this reciprocal determinism - environment determines behaviour and behaviour determines environment.

Question 12

What are family studies?

Answer 12

1. If family members share a trait more frequently than unrelated people do, then this could imply a genetic influence for that behaviour,
2. For example, Solyom et al. (1974) showed that phobias can run in families,
3. However, similarities between family members may actually be the result of their shared environment - relatives might learn the behaviour from each other through observational learning,

Question 13

What are adoption studies?

Answer 13

1. These compare an adopted child with its biological and adoptive parents. If the child has more similarity with its adoptive parents then this would imply that nurture is important, because they share the same environment,
2. SImilarity with the biological parents suggests that nature is more important. Plomin et al. (1988) showed a stronger correlation of IQ with biological families than adopted families.

Question 14

What are twin studies?

Answer 14

1. Identical (MZ) twins share 100% of their genes. Non-identical (DZ) twins share about 50% of their genes. So, if MZ twins are more likely to share a characteristic than DZ twins, it implies a genetic influence,
2. This is shown in concordance rates - concordance means how likely it is that both people in a pair will have a certain characteristic, given that one of them does,
3. For example, Holland et al. (1988) found a 56% MZ concordance for anorexia compared to 5% DZ concordance. Suggesting that genes influence the development of anorexia,
4. However, if a trait was completely genetic then MZ concordance would be 100%, so their behaviour must also be influenced by environment. For example, people might treat MZ twins more similarly than DZ twins. As such, it is more useful to do research on twins who haven’t been brought up together.

Question 15

Psychodynamic approach on nurture vs. nature?

Answer 15

1. Freud argues that personalities are the result of an interaction of nature and nurture,
2. He emphasised the importance of inborn instincts and drives. However, he also said that experiences can result in fixations in the stages of development.

Question 16

Biological approach on nurture vs. nature?

Answer 16

1, Emphasises genetically determined brain structures and processes,
2. Evolutionary psychology states that many behaviours, e.g. aggression, are genetically influenced because they have survival value,
3. However, the environment influences brain development, so learning can override genetic predispositions.

Question 17

Cognitive approach on nurture vs. nature?

Answer 17

1. Studies genetically determined mental processes, but accepts that the environmental influences the their development and functioning,
2. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development argues that environmental stimulation is needed for the genetically determined process of development to unfold.

Question 18

Behaviourist approach on nurture vs. nature?

Answer 18

1. All behaviourists are learnt through conditioning, apart from inborn reflexes and instincts. This approach falls most heavily on the nurture side of the debate.

Question 19

Humanistic approach on nurture vs. nature?

Answer 19

1. Behaviour is part of a natural need to reach your full potential,
2. However, whether you reach it depends on your experiences in the world, and so the humanistic approach falls more towards the nurture side of the debate.