nature

• Nature


  Psychological characteristics & behaviours due to genetic/hereditary
• A person who supports the nature side of the debate

  Nativist
• What type of determinism is the impact of nature on behaviour referred to as?

  Biological determinism
• Support for nature - Groothest meta analysis research

  OCD concordance rates higher in MZ twins (80%) than DZ twins (20-30%). OCD is heavily biological supporting nature & biological determinism.
• Challenge of nature explanation - Groothest meta analysis research

  Concordance rate is not 100% - identical twins often share the same environment shows evidence for nature/nurture interplay. Alternative: family dysfunction explanations & double bind theory challenging the nativist position these conditions are solely genetic.
• Support for nature - Diamond


  Diamond injected pregnant rats with testosterone. The female rats exhibited typical 'male rat' behaviours such as being territorial & sexually dominant. Gender behaviours are biological.
• Ways in which gender differences may be due to nurture

  SLT would argue that gender behaviours are learnt: Bandura study to support. SLT, gender is learnt through mediating cognitive factors such as attention, retention & motor reproduction
• Major strengths of the nature side of the debate

  MAOA gene responsible for regulation of neurotransmitter serotonin mutated version of this gene leads to low levels of serotonin & lack of control. Nicknamed the 'warrior gene' - supports nature & hard genetic determinism. Aggression learnt - video games leading to desensitisation, challenging the genetic claim that the MAOA gene is responsible.
• Weaknesses of nature side of the debate

  Could lead to eugenics, which would support the idea that people with positive genetic traits can reproduce whilst those with undesirable traits cannot. Eg. Jenson: the average IQ scores of black American were significantly lower than white than whites, he argued that genetic factors were mainly responsible - argued intelligence is 80% inherited.
• Behaviour


  Due to genetics, hormones & physiology
• Biological theory


  • Supports behaviour due to genetics, hormones & physiology
• Support for biological theory

  • Groothest OCD (MZ/DZ)
  • Diamond rat study
• Advantages of biological theory

  • Cause & effect can be established
  • Practical applications can be developed which can benefit the economy
• Disadvantages of biological theory

  • MZ concordance rate is never 100% so suggests the environment also plays a part
  • Epi-genetics shows the environment can alter DNA, which then can impact on future generations
  • A strong belief in nature could lead to eugenics in order to eliminate undesirable traits