Nature Vs. Nurture Debate

Nature

Nature - Genes

Nature - Evolutionary

Nurture

Nurture Examples

Interactionist

• Nature and Nurture combined. Caspi - MAOA-L and maltreatment = aggression
• Tienari - schizophrenia

Nature & Nurture is hard to separate

• Phenylketonuria leads to brain damage. Can be detected at birth, preventing damage. The right environment can cure the illness - caused by nature, cured by nurture
• MZ twins - concordance rates. MZ twins have unique environment which can affect concordance rates

Therefore best to take an interactionist app.

• best to have an interactionist approach rather than trying to seperate behaviours attributed to nature and nurture
• Diathesis-stress model (comination of biologigy and environment) takes nature and nurture into account
• E.g. Schizophrenia - patients may have genetic vulnerability which is later triggered by an environmental stressor.

Nature can affect nurture

• Polmin - microenvironment within their genetically influenced behaviour
• E.g. genetically aggressive child may provoke aggression in others - creates an aggressive enevironment - leads to firther aggressive behaviour
• Indirect passive effects - parent's mental illness creates poor environments - increases chances of developing that disorder
• Niche picking (active influence) - child chooses experiences that suit their genes

Nurture can also affect nature

• Maguire - London Taxi drivers - larger brain regions with spatial memory and hippocampus.
• Therefore, nature was affected by nurture

Nature & Nurture not as distinct as thought

• Epigenetics - material in each cell which acts as an "off switch".
• They turn genes on and off in response to life experiences (nurture) such as nurtition or stress