Study Edexcel Psychology nature-and-nurture questions by comparing inherited factors, biological mechanisms and environmental learning explanations.
Assess the argument that nature plays a greater role in human behaviour than nurture.
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AO1
- Nature refers to the internal, inherent aspects of a person that they are
born with.
- Nurture refers to the environment and interactions that a person
experiences over their lifetime.
- Biological explanations of human behaviour include the role of hormones,
genetics and brain structure.
- Learning explanations of human behaviour consider individuals to be born a
blank slate and develop from their experiences.
- Some psychological explanations include both nature and nurture in
explaining human behaviour, for example language development.
- Hormones such as testosterone have been claimed to be the cause of
emotional reactions such as aggression.
- Evolutionary explanations of attachment suggest that nature underpins
emotional reactions such as bonding.
- Nature and nurture are difficult to separate when studying human
behaviour and often both are evident in research
AO3
- Evidence produced by Raine et al (1997) of differences in the brains of
murderers suggests that violence is a result of brain functioning, therefore
as a biological basis.
- Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) observed children playing after seeing an
aggressive role model, they found that children imitated the behaviour they
observed, suggesting violence is actually a learned behaviour.
- The role of the hormone testosterone has been linked by Lindman et al
(1987) with aggression in males and so highlights that hormones play a
significant role in violent behaviour.
- Watson and Rayner (1920) were able to condition Little Albert to fear a
white rat, therefore evidence that the environment plays a role in the
emotional reactions of people to situations, not biology.
- A reaction of aggression is biologically based due to the hormonal release of
adrenaline, regardless of the environmental stimulus that creates it.
- The case of HM shows that human memory is a function of the brain, when
HM had the hippocampus removed it created amnesia, therefore
highlighting that brain structure is a key feature of human behaviour.
- Bartlett's (1932) theory of reconstructive memory is evidence that human
memory is more complex than brain structure, highlighting how
interpretation based on prior experience affects memory recall, therefore
nurture plays a significant role in memory functioning.
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