Nature nurture

• nature


  Descartes argued human characteristics and some aspects of knowledge are innate, the result of heredity. this is measured by the hereditary coefficient which is a numerical value from 0-1 that indicates to what extent the characteristic is genetic, 1=genetic eg: iq is 0.5
• nurture


  concept that characteristics are determined by the environment not genetics. but this needs further clarification as the environment is very broad. Lerner made it easier by identifying different levels of the environment which are narrow pre-natal terms. eg: through post natal experiences on how the child grows up ( social conditions)
• importance of heredity


  Lerner suggested that environmental influences occur from the second the child is born so is impossible to measure, also nature and nurture are very intertwined with each other it makes little sense to try separate them.

  eg twin studies share same environment but also same genetics, so cant determine nature or nurture is the cause of a high concordance rate.
• interactionist app


  nature creates nurture as seen in attachment of infants and their parents. can be seen as a two-way street as the babies temperament id determined by nature but that determines how the parents respond and then this determines the future behaviour of the child.
• diathesis- stress model


  suggests that schizophrenia is caused by genetic vulnerability which is the diathesis but is triggered by a environmental force which is the stressor. eg Pikka showed how Finnish adoptees were most likely to experience schizo if they had biological relatives and had a dysfunctional relationship with their adoptive family.
• epigenetics


  change in genetic activity without changing the genetic code, caused through the interaction on the environment eg: smoking,war and diet, leave epigenetic marks on our DNA which then go onto effect our children's genetic code and their children. Ressler and Dias experiment with mice and gave them electric shocks every time they sprayed a perfume. this conditioned the mice to be scared of the smell of the perfume. this was carried for 2 extra mice generations even if they hadn't been exposed to the electric shocks with the smell.
• A03: Implications of nativism + empiricism

  nativists say anatomy is destiny and our genetic inherited make up that determines our characteristics this is a extreme determinist stance where people have tried to link race with genetics and intelligence but empiricists say behaviour can be changed by altering environmental. this is called behaviourist shaping, which has practical application in therapy by enforcing desired behaviours and punishing undesired ones. however this could lead to society doing this with citizens in the future
• A03: shared and unshared environments

  it is complicated to try separate the influence of the environment and the influence of genetics. even siblings share the same environment and some genetics, but they may have experienced different upbringing. creating the idea of a shared and unshared environment by DUN, suggested siblings who have individual differences may cause them to experience events differently eg: age and temperament, would mean a life event like a divorce would have different effects.

  this explains why mz twins don't have a 100% concordance rate despite being raised together. supporting the idea hereditary and environment cannot be meaningfully separated
• A03: constructivism


  genes and environment interact with each other . people create their own nurture by actively selecting environments that are appropriate for their nature. eg: a aggressive child will feel more comfortable with other children that show similar behaviours and therefore choose their environment, nurture

  Plomin refers this as niche-picking and niche-building. this is further evidence that it makes no logical sense to separate nature and nurture