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What if a pair of identical twins were separated at birth and raised in different cultures, one in Western and the other in Eastern culture? Researchers could look at cross-cultural differences to assess their impact on the twins. The twin raised in the West could be much more individualistic than their twin raised in the East, who is more family-oriented and collectivist.
The nature vs nurture debate in psychology is concerned with the source of the formation of a person's characteristics and behaviour. Are we a result of our nature (genetics)? Or are we shaped by our nurture (environment)? Traditionally, the debate has taken an either-or approach; it is either nature or it is nurture that shapes who we are. We will see how this debate has changed over time.
To consider whether it is nature or nurture, we must consider some important examples and psychological studies that have helped psychologists' understanding. We will consider some of the explanations for the influence of nature in the nature-nurture debate. These explanations include the Theory of Evolution, Nativism and the Universal Grammar Theory.
Darwin's theory of evolution suggests that traits are passed from generation to generation through natural selection. The theory states that those who best adapt to their environment are able to pass on their genes. This is called heredity. The theory of evolution has strongly supported the influence of nature in the nature-nurture debate, as it suggests that our traits are passed on, and therefore genetically determined.
Similar to how some factors are entirely due to genetics such as eye and hair color or a particular condition, some nativists have suggested that other characteristics may also be determined by our genes. Our behavioral tendencies, abilities and qualities may already be 'written' by our biology. Nativism is an extreme biological approach. Below is an example of a theory to show how human abilities are innate.
Nativism is an approach to the debate that claims we are the product of our genetics and biological coding.
Chomsky's Universal Grammar theory claimed that children innately possess the ability to understand different language categories, eg nouns or adjectives. He claimed that without these categorization abilities, language would not make sense to children. All children possessed these, regardless of the language (s) they spoke. Supporters of this theory claim that language is too complex of an ability to acquire without built-in 'tools' to help us process it.
We will consider some of the explanations for the influence of nurture in the nature-nurture debate. These explanations are empiricism and behaviour.
Empiricists claim that our environment, bringing up, and life experiences have given us our characteristics and behaviour.
Empiricism is an approach to the debate that claims we are the product of our environment.
They claim that at birth our minds are a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate), which are filled with experiences and knowledge as we grow up. Therefore, the explanation as to why we have differing characteristics, personalities and behavioural tendencies is due to our unique environments and upbringing during the early stages of life. Specifically, the way we are brought up (nurture) affects our learning, which governs our psychological characteristics. Below are some examples of studies that show how our environment can affect our behaviour.
Behaviourism focuses on the impact of the environment on behaviour. It is another way in which psychologists believe nurture shapes who we are, as we are trained, or conditioned, to behave in a certain way. If the observable behaviour is within that person's physical capabilities, it is only necessary to have the correct conditioning to train that person to carry out a new task.
Behaviourism is the school of thought that believes observable behaviour, such as tidying up a mess or walking a dog, can be taught to any person regardless of their heredity, personality and thoughts.
Bandura's Bobo doll study (1961) supported Bandura's social learning theory which stated that aggression is learned through our environment and surroundings. The study showed that when young children were shown videos of adults being aggressive towards an inflatable doll and receiving positive reinforcement for doing so, the children imitated this behaviour when given their own inflatable doll. The study saw that the children were motivated to reproduce this behaviour as if they were receiving the reinforcement themselves. This is called vicarious reinforcement.
This study showed that children use observation, imitation and vicarious reinforcement to shape their own behaviour. The study also supports the influence of nurture in the nature-nurture debate.
![Nature vs Nurture [+] nature and nurture [+] StudySmarter](https://studysmarter-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com/media/1865576/summary_images/935b38_cded4465901a490891f8e039ecc82133_mv2_d_2000_2000_s_2.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4OLDUDE42UZHAIET%2F20220702%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220702T160409Z&X-Amz-Expires=90000&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=b94d21de7a57de13f9544ecd4559c2551d817ba5ad9dbea829fe479d28a930d0)
Psychologists have commonly believed that either nature or nurture is responsible for our behaviors. static.wixstatic.com
We can study the nature-nurture debate in psychology further by using different types of studies to measure the various impacts of nature and nurture. These are described below.
Adoption studies can be very useful for explaining the influence of genetics and environment on behaviour or characteristics. This is because the adoptive parents and child have biological differences, which allows researchers to determine whether the child's biology or environment is responsible for the child's traits.
For example, if an adopted child is very musically gifted but their adoptive parents are not, the child likely has a biological disposition for music inherited from their biological parents. Similarly, if an adopted child of athletically inclined parents shows a great talent for football, environmental factors are likely at play.
![Nature vs Nurture [+] adoption [+] StudySmarter](https://studysmarter-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com/media/1865576/summary_images/Adoption_studies_in_the_nature-nurture_debate_tnN8fFa.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4OLDUDE42UZHAIET%2F20220702%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220702T160409Z&X-Amz-Expires=90000&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=dbfd41e7b8c6f16c4c464459f245d32a16c301749b4180f45bc7eb3c112b7b8e)
Adopted children can be very useful to study the impact of genetics and environment on behavior. StudySmarter Originals, Shikha Shah
Twin studies have been used to find out to what extent genes can influence behaviour. Identical twins have exactly the same genes so it is useful to study them to find out whether nature or nurture has a larger impact.
For example, if monozygotic (MZ), or identical twins separated at birth were raised in completely different environments, any similarities between their behaviours could be down to their shared genetics and any differences could be accounted for by environmental factors. If one twin has higher levels of intelligence than the other, the environment (nurture) likely has a greater impact than the shared genes. However, if both twins possess the same levels of intelligence, it is likely down to their genes (nature).
Dizygotic (DZ), or non-identical twins, on the other hand, share half of their genes and are similar to regular siblings. However, they are still useful to study as they can indicate to what extent their shared genetics play a role.
For example, for non-identical twins in the same environment, any similarities could be explained by environmental factors and any differences could be down to genetics. If the non-identical twins are shown the same video and one of them laughs whilst the other cries, the difference is likely to be genetic as they shared the same environment.
![Nature vs Nurture [+] twin studies [+] StudySmarter](https://studysmarter-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com/media/1865576/summary_images/main.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4OLDUDE42UZHAIET%2F20220702%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220702T160409Z&X-Amz-Expires=90000&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=aa415eafd5792b4c5cf89445b9386abb3039da98d8f97a9c3abdef29ad0d3da4)
Identical twins in the same environment but with different preferences could determine genetic influences on behavior. frontiersin.org
Cross-cultural studies can be used to draw more general conclusions about nature and nurture. Conducting cross-cultural studies can help us understand the influence of nurture as the environments across different cultures can vary greatly. Remember the twin study example at the beginning of this explanation? Such differences can be attributed to cultural differences and explain what is innate and what is learned.
The interactionist approach in the nature-nurture debate states that nature and nurture work together rather than compete. It is a more modern approach to the debate and psychologists continue to study how they interact with each other. The approach also argues that there are different 'levels' of explanation that must be considered when examining a particular behaviour.
Interactionists believe that one behavior may be more genetically influenced than another. However, both behaviors can be explained by genetics to an extent. The difficulty is understanding what those 'levels' are.
The diathesis-stress model is an example of the interactionist approach. The model suggests that simply a genetic predisposition ('diathesis') is not enough; an external trigger ('stress' or 'stressor') is required to develop the condition. The model was used to study schizophrenia (SZ).
It was suggested that a person may possess a vulnerability to develop SZ; However, if there is no external environment that triggers the vulnerability, the person may not develop the condition. In adoptive families, children whose biological families had SZ were more likely to develop it than in children whose biological families did not have a history of SZ. This does support the influence of genetics. However, research has shown that if adopted children are placed in a secure environment with strong relationships and empathy, they have a lower chance of developing SZ. This also supports the influence of the environment.
A study was conducted to show differences in brain structure between London taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. Researchers found that a particular region of the brain was larger in London taxi drivers than an 'average' non-taxi driver's brain. It was concluded that the nature of the work done by taxi drivers directly impacted biology; namely, that nurture can affect nature. This is also an example that shows how an interactionist approach between nature and nurture can further our understanding of our characteristics and behaviour.
The nature-nurture debate aims to explain whether genetics (nature) or the environment (nurture) is responsible for who we are and how we act.
The nature-nurture debate has evolved over time to consider the approach that nature and nurture do not compete but instead work together to shape behavior. This approach is called the interactionist approach.
The nature-nurture debate proposes that we are shaped either by our genetic factors (nature) or environmental factors (nurture).
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