Nature-Nurture

• define environment 


  The environment is seen as everything outside the body, which can include people, events and the physical world.
• define heredity 


  Heredity is the process by which traits are passed down genetically from one generation to the next.
• define interactionist approach 


  An interactionist approach argues that several levels of explanation are necessary to explain a particular behaviour, ranging from lower (biological) to higher levels (social and cultural).
• define nature-nurture debate 


  The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest debates in psychology. It centres on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development and behaviour.
• what is the nature side of the debate?

  Nature is the view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors.
• what is the nurture side of the debate?

  Nurture is the view that behaviour is the product of environmental influences.
• evaluation of nature-nurture debate (1)

  • Recently psychologists have begun to question whether human behaviour is due to heredity factors (nature) or the environment (nurture). It is now widely accepted that heredity and the environment do not act independently and both nature and nurture are essential for almost all behaviour. Most researchers are now interested in investigating the ways in which nature and nurture interact. The interactionist approach is the view that both nature and nurture work together to shape human behaviour.
• evaluation of nature-nurture debate (2)

  • Neural plasticity is another example of how nature and nurture interact. The brain can reorganise itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. For example, Maguire et al. (2000) investigated the hippocampi volume of London taxi drivers’ brains. She found that the hippocampus on each side of the brain (and especially the right hippocampus) was larger in taxi drivers in comparison to non-taxi drivers. Consequently, Maguire concluded that driving a taxi (nurture) actually had an effect on the size of the hippocampi (nature).
• evaluation of nature-nurture debate (3)

  • diathesis-stress model. The diathesis is the biological vulnerability such as being born with a gene that predisposes you to develop a disorder. However, the disorder will only develop if there is an environmental ‘stressor’ to trigger it.