Nature/nurture

• Nature


  Our behaviour is explained as a result of our genetic inheritance (we are born that way)
• Nurture

  Our behaviour is explained by how we have been bought up (all behaviour is leant after birth)
• Strengths of nature debate

  • Reductionism in terms of biology is easier to understand as it helps us determine causality and helps identify the importance of individual factors
  • Its deterministic nature means that it uses scientific measures. This means that extraneous variables are highly controlled and cause and effect can be establish, increasing validity
• Strengths of the nature Debate pt 2

  • Practical/useful applications: understanding and identifying certain behaviours that are inherited or specific to the individual can help us to intervene accordingly
  • The high use of laboratory and scientific equipment makes the research more valid as it is less objective and less chance of researcher bias
• Weaknesses of nature debate

  • Reductionist as it tries to explain complex behaviour with one influence. It doesn't consider how other factors
  • Ignores free-will, this can have issues as it would be difficult to implement consequences to negative behaviours , if an individual did not chooses to do it
• Weaknesses of nature debate pt 2

  • Discovering that certain behaviours are inherited (e.g. personality, intelligence) may not be helpful. It can lead to the assumption that these types of behaviour are difficult to change through the environment. This restricts the useful applications.
  • Although objective, the way the objective data is interpreted is still subjective. E.g. finding that you are more likely to develop schizophrenia if both your parents have it could lead to a conclusion that schizophrenia is genetic, or alternatively, it could lead to the explanation schizophrenia is learned.
• Strengths of the Nurture Debate

  • Practical/useful applications: has real-life relevance as it focuses on real-life social issues. It has key relevance to the majority and helps our understanding on how human behaviour can be changed in a positive way
  • Changing the situation is often possible compared to changing biology. This approach therefore encourages rehabilitation rather than punishment for negative behaviours
• Strengths of the nature debate pt 2

  • The use of deception is social studies means that they tend to have high ecological validity
  • Studies with this theory need to be longitudinal in order to have a valid understanding of how the situation and social groups affect behaviour over time
• Weaknesses of nature

  • It is very difficult to separate the effect of social influences from the individual
  • Ignores biological causes, this reduces the validity of the approach. There is never a 100% rate of certain behaviour, therefore other factors must play a role
  • Ethical issues can arise due to deceiving participants in order to achieve valid results of environmental/social/situational influences
  • Social studies often have restricted samples and therefore it can be difficult to make generalisations about social behaviour to the wider population