Adoption studies

• Nature vs nurture
• cadoret and steward

  Aim - investigate the relationship among genetic background environment factors and ADHD and ASP
• Cadoret and stewart

  283 male adopted

  Biological parents are judged to be delinquents or convicted = ADHD + aggression = increase ASP

  If adoptive family have psychiatric problems = various outcomes of aggression ADHD + ASP
• Cadoret and stewart

  behaviour linked to aggression might be both biological + social explanations
• Strengths adoption studies

  • Extraneous variables of the environment - only relation of child and biological parent must be genetic - any similarities between child and biological parent is due to genetics
• Weaknesses of adoption studies

  • Impossible to separate nature entirely from nurture - adopt at have live with biological family before adopted - research method do not fully separate social component - cannot establish true cause and effect relationship
  • Children may be adopted into similar families - Similarities between the child and their biological parents may be due to environmental factors