Nature & nurture

• What is nature ?

  Behaviour is a product of of innate+ inherited biological or genetic factors

  • We are predisposed to certain outcomes and some behaviour is pre programmed
• What is nurture ?

  Behaviour is the product of the environment

  • born as a blank slate which our learning and environment write
  • accepts that humans have biological reflexes and need to mature into certain stages (puberty)
• What is heredity ?

  Process whereby traits are passed on from parents to their offspring usually referring to genetic inheritance

  • assessed through concordance
• Nature and nurture ?

  both approaches are scientific and cannot be tested independently as they are always interacting.

  • interactionist approach
  • diathesis - stress model
• Interactionist approach ?


  Nature created nurture and allows them to interact

  • belsky and Rovin - found a child temperment is innate, this combines with reciprocity will influence the way a parent responds to them, further shaping their behaviour
• Diathesis stress model ?

  • model suggest we have a biological vulnerability to an illness which is expressed when an environment stressor is triggered
  • genes in one person don’t always result in the outcome it depends on their experience
• epigenetic inheritance ?

  • a change in our genetic activity and phenotype without a change in our genetic code
  • our lifestyle can influence these changes e.g smoking, nutrition
• What did Dias + ressler find ?

  Mice can inherit fears

  • conditioned to fear the smell of cherry blossom through given electric shocks
  • offspring who never experienced this smell showed increases sensitivity when introduced to the smell
• examples of nature ?

  • evolution
  • genetic explanation
• Examples of nurture ?

  • social learning. Theory
  • behaviourism
• Example of diathesis stress model 


  Schzophrenia adoption studies.
• Evaluation ?


  Deterministic

  reductionist

  practical application
• deterministic. ?

  • both views assume we are predetermined to develop behaviours from birth and ignore free will
• Reductionist ?


  assumes all behaviour is a result of biology or environment

  - but can be holistic if adopts the interactions it approach
• Real life application ?

  Reduce crime