A03

• Strength = practical applications

  • Nature side = drug therapies developed to treat behavioural or psychological problems that have a physiological origin e.g. SSRIs used to treat depression
  • Nurture side = if behaviour susceptible to environmental influences we can adapt our environment
  • E.g. behaviour shaping = practical application in therapy
  • Desirable behaviours are selectively reinforced and undesirable behaviours are punished or ignored
• Strength = interactionist approach has economical implications

  • Allowed research to focus on how much importance nature and nurture have in relation to each other
  • This is beneficial as it can have major implications for the economy
  • E.g. research into psychopathology will take into account both heredity and environment when treating mental disorders
  • This will lead to more effective treatment and so patients’ conditions will improve quicker
  • This will benefit the economy as people will return to work quicker and so won’t require as much sick pay and be less of a strain on the NHS
• Strength = adoption studies

  • Adoption studies separate the competing influences of nature and nurture
  • If adopted children found to be more similar to their adoptive parents = environmental influence
  • If adopted children are more similar to biological parents = genetic influence
  • E.g. Rhee and Waldman (2002) meta-analysis of adoption studies found genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression
• Limitation = reductionist and deterministic

  • Both perspectives believe our behaviour is controlled by either the environment or innate inherited traits and ignores free will = deterministic
  • Both perspectives also believe behaviour can be explained by reducing it down to genetics or the environment and doesn't account for how multiple factors interact = reductionist
• Limitation = niche picking

  • Nature and nurture are two entities that cannot be pulled apart
  • Plomin (1994) - people create their own 'nurture' by actively selecting environments appropriate for their 'nature'
  • E.g. aggressive child more likely to feel more comfortable with children who are similar
  • Their companions then further influence their behaviour = niche-picking
  • Doesn't make sense to seperate them
• What are the strengths of the nature-nurture debate?

  1. Practical applications for nature and nurture side of debate
  2. Interactionist approach has economic implications
  3. Adoption studies separate competing influences of nature and nurture
• What are the limitations of the nature-nurture debate?

  1. Debate is reductionist and deterministic
  2. Niche picking