A03

• STRENGTH-epigentics

  • Epigenetics —chemical tags which activate or deactivate genes

  e.g DNA acetylation causes DNA to wrap less tightly around histones and thus can be transcribed

  • Life experiences control these switches, and these switches are passed on when the DNA is replicated semi- conservatively. Therefore, MZ twins may differ in weight even though they were given the same diets, due to differences in upbringing/experiences causing differences in the individual expression of genes.
• strength- DSM

  • A diathesis is a biological vulnerability. However not everyone with these ‘candidate’ genes will develop a disorder. The expression of the gene depends on experience in the form of a stressor which triggers the condition
  • This has been illustrated by Tienari et al who studied 145 Finnish adoptees whose mothers had schizophrenia and were then matched with a sample of 158 adoptees without this genetic risk.
  • comprehensive explanation with research support- however culturally bias
• strength- nurture affects nature

  • Nurture affects nature Maguire et al. studied the brains of London taxi drivers and found a larger grey matter volume in the mid-posterior hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with spatial awareness with those driving longest
  • This demonstrates the interactionist nature of empiricism and nativism and gives further reason as to why the influences of the two cannot be separated
  • evaluate: brain scans, small sample size, only men(beta bias)