nature vs nuture

Nurture (Environment) Points & Evidence

1. Socialisation – Behaviour is learned from family, peers, education.

• Evidence: Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment (children imitate aggressive behaviour they observe).

• Evidence: Feral children like Genie show how lack of socialisation limits development.

2. Cultural differences – Norms vary across societies, showing environment shapes behaviour.

• Evidence: Mead’s study of Samoan vs. American adolescents shows different adolescence experiences and behaviour norms.

3. Life experiences / trauma – Experiences shape personality and behaviour.

• Evidence: Studies linking childhood abuse or neglect to adult aggression or mental health issues (e.g., Widom’s longitudinal study).

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Nature (Biology/Genetics) Points & Evidence

1. Genetic influences – Heredity affects traits like intelligence, aggression, mental health.

• Evidence: Gottesman twin studies on schizophrenia; identical twins more likely to both have the disorder than fraternal twins.

2. Biological predispositions – Some behaviours are innate.

• Evidence: Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar (language acquisition is innate).

• Evidence: Lorenz’s imprinting in goslings – shows innate behaviour patterns.

3. Physiological factors – Hormones, brain structures influence behaviour.

• Evidence: Testosterone linked to aggressive behaviour in males (Dabbs et al., prison studies).

• Evidence: Amygdala activity linked to aggression (Raine et al., brain scans of violent offenders).

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✅ Evaluation / Interactionist Approach

• Evidence: Diathesis-stress model – genetic vulnerability plus environmental stress triggers depression.

• Twin studies show both genes and environment matter (identical twins not 100% concordant for traits).