Nature V Nurture

• AO1 - Nature

  Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics - the physiological/biological characteristics we are born with. 

  Behaviour is therefore determined by biology.

  Deterministic view - suggests all behaviour is determined by hereditary factors: Inherited characteristics, or genetic make-up we are born with.
• AO1 - Nature

  All possible behaviours are said to be present from conception.

  Genes provide the blueprint for all behaviours; some present from birth, others pre-programmed to emerge with age.

  Is a developmental approach:

  E.g.  Piaget: children’s thought processes change at predetermined age-related stages. Changes in age are related to natural changes in behaviour.
• Nature - Influence / support

  Genetic explanations

  Family, twin and adoption studies show that 

  the closer 2 ind. are genetically the more 

  likely that both of them will dvp the same behaviours.

  Example: Concordance rate for mental disorders such as schizophrenia is about 40% for MZ twins and 7% for DZ twins (who on average share 50% of their genes)
• Nature - Influence / support

  Evolutionary explanations

  Based on the principle that a behaviour or characteristic that promotes survival and reproduction will be naturally selected.

  Example? 

  Bowlby (1969) - Attachment is adaptive because it means that infants are more likely to be protected and therefore more likely to survive. In addition, attachment promotes close relationships which would foster successful reproduction.
• AO1 - Nurture

  An individual’s behaviour is determined by the environment - the things people teach them, the things they observe, and because of the different situations they are in.

  Also a deterministic view -  proposes all human behaviour is the result of interactions with the environment.
• AO1 - Nurture

  Behaviourist theories are nurture theories:

  Behaviour is shaped by interactions with the environment. We are all born as blank slates, waiting to be filled up by experiences gained from environmental interaction.

  Humans have no limit to what they can achieve, it all depends on quality of external influences and NOT genes. The quality of the environment is KEY. You can become anything provided the environment is right.
• Nurture - Influence / support 

  Zimbardo (1973) Stanford Prison Experiment

     - 24 participants, described as “normal, healthy male college students, predominantly middle class and white”.

     - Randomly assigned to the role of ‘prisoner’ or ‘guard’ .

     - A simulated prison was built in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University. It comprised of 3 small cells each housing 3 men ,and 1 small unlit room for solitary confinement.
• AO1 - Interactionism

  The focus of the debate is now on the contribution of both influences (nature and nurture)

  Example: Attachment

  An interactionist approach to attachment sees the bond between infant and parent as a “two-way street”

  The child’s innate temperament influences how the parents behave towards them (nature).

  The parents’ responses in turn affect the child’s behaviour (nurture).
• AO3 - Evaluation

  (-) Nature and nurture cannot be separated

  They are both important and both contribute to human behaviour.

  Example: Phenylketonuria PKU = inherited disorder that prevents the amino acid phenylalanine being metabolised resulting in brain damage. However, if condition detected at birth, an infant can be given a diet without phenylalanine, and thus damage is averted.

  This highlights the importance of an interactionist approach in considering both nature and nurture
• AO3 - Evaluation

  (+) the dvpt of the diathesis stress model

  = Suggests you can be born with a biological vulnerability, for example a gene for depression. HOWEVER, the depression will only dvp if it is triggered from a stressor in the environment.

  Research has shown that not everyone with the gene for depression goes on to dvp the condition. Thus a person’s nature is only expressed under certain conditions of nurture.

  = this highlights the importance of taking an interactionist approach, such as the diathesis-stress model