Issues and debates

What is the nature vs nurture debate

Which is ore important in determining behaviour: our genes or our environment

What is nature

• At its most extreme form, it’s called the nativist view

• The nature side of the debate claims that human behaviours and capabilities are innate, and are the product of evolution

• Our individual differences are the result of our unique genotype

What is nurture

• At its most extreme, this is called the empiricist view

  • Empiricist = observable evidence

• The nurture side of the debate claims that humans are born as blank slates (tabula rasa)

• Human behaviours and capabilities are learned and are the product of our environment (+culture)

• Our individual differences are the result of our upbringing and our environment throughout life

• Led to the development of a more egalitarian, western society

What is the interactionist approach

• In the middle

• The idea that our genes and environment interact with one another to produce our individual differences (epigenetics)

  • Transgenerational epigenetics:

    • Dias & Kessler - 2014:

    • Mice were given an electric shock and exposed to a chemical found in perfumes

    • As expected, the mice displayed fear in response to the smell of perfume even with no electric shocks

    • Even the mice’s offspring the fear response to perfume - and their offspring as well - despite the fact that they had never been shocked or exposed to the perfume

What is niche picking

• Nature and nurture interact which makes it difficult to establish which aspects of an observed trait are decided by nature or nurture

• Niche picking - the idea that our inner traits will lead us to choose certain environments

• Part of the interactionist approach

What does the behaviourist approach belive about nature vs nurture

Nature:

• Rejects

Nurture:

• Behaviourists believe that:

  • Humans are born tabula rasa

  • All behaviour is the product of learning

    • Learned via associations formed between stimuli (classical conditioning) and through the. Consequences of our actions (operant conditioning)

What does the SLT approach believe about nature vs nurture

Nature:

• Rejects

Nurture:

• Believe that:

  • Behaviour is learnt via observations

    • Mediated by mental observations

    • Reinforced by vicarious reinforcement

What does the cognitive approach believe about nature vs nurture

• Nature:

  • Parts of our mental architecture are innate e.g. the way memory functions

    • The working memory model proposes that working memory is built from fixed, universal cognitive components - the CE, PL, VSS etc.

      • We dont learn these processes

    • The capacity of the stores are limited by our brains biological limitations

• Nurture:

  • Schemas: built on environment and prior experiences such as trauma

  • Internal Working Model - built on mono-tropic bond

What does the biological approach believe about nature vs nurture

• Nature:

  • Genetic basis - codes for proteins which affects human behaviour such as moods using hormones

• Nurture:

  • Environmental factors such as nutrition or neuroanatomy impacts the likelyhood of the expression of a gene - diathesis stress model

What does the psychodynamic approach believe about nature vs nurture

• Nature:

  • The Id is innate via primal desires

  • Psychosexual stages are innate

• Nurture:

  • Super-ego - developed by parents belief system

  • Oedipus/electra complex argues that you are more likely to absorb the beliefs of your parent

What does the humanistic approach believe about nature vs nurture

• Nature:

  • Self-actualisation - we have an innate desire to achieve our full potential

• Nurture:

  • Incongruence is caused by conditions of worth - put upon them by others (loved ones) during childhood

What is gender bias

• Refers to research which does not justifiably represent the experience of either men or women

• Gender bias takes two forms:

  • Alpha bias: exaggerating the differences between men and women

    • E.g. Bowlby’s monotropic theory - places more emphasis on the role of the mother

  • Beta bias: minimising the differences between men and women

    • 
      

What is androcentrism

• Male centred

• Beta bias can lead to androcentrism

• A form of of bias in which men are seen as more important than women/men are seen as the default

What is cultural bias

The tendency to ignore/minimise cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture

What is ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures y the standards of one’s own culture - often considering one’s own culture to be normal or superior

What is cultural relativism

• The view that behaviour can only be understood in the context of the culture from which it originates; all cultural values/perspective are valid and equal

What is universality

• The ability to apply research to everyone, regardless of ethnicity, sex, gender, culture etc.

• Implies innateness