Evaluation

• Twin studies

  There is evidence to suggest that both nature and nurture are important in the development of mental illnesses

  For example, Monzani et al (2014) found the concordance rate for OCD was 0.52 for monozygotic twins and 0.21 for dizygotic twins (heritability = 48%)
• Epigenetics - Nature and nurture shaping one another
• Epigenetics - Nurture shaping nature - Epigenetic changes

  Changes in our genetic activity or expression without changing the underlying genetic code

  This happens due to environmental influence, eg stress, nutrition, smoking, can leave marks on our DNA which tells our bodies which genes to use or ignore

  These changes can be passed onto offspring

  Dias and Ressler (2014) - conditioned a fear response to a chemical in rats, despite no exposure to conditioning, the rats offspring displayed fear of the smell
• Epigenetics - Nature shaping Nurture - Constructivism

  Refers to the idea that a person creates their own understanding of the world, based on their own prior knowledge and experience and innate tendencies

  Niche-picking - selecting our own environment that fits our predisposition

  For example, a person with criminal and/or aggressive tendencies may select similar peers, go on to have criminal experiences and end up in prison
• Passive interaction

  Parents' genes influence how they treat their children
• Evocative interaction

  The Childs genes influence the experiences they have or can access
• Active interaction

  The child creates its own environment by actively choosing experiences and people
• Reciprocal determinism

  The environment and a person's behaviour influences each other

  They both suggest that both nature and nurture are more important influences on behaviour

  This further supports the notion that nature and nurture are complex and inseparably intertwined, and interact with each other in a manner that is multi-layered and dynamic