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Nature Vs Nurture Debate

Can our genes explain our interests, personality, intelligence, and the choices we make in life? Should we care about how children are raised or are their outcomes in life already written in their genes? The nature vs. nurture debate has been around since Ancient Greece when Plato and Aristotle disputed the origins of human behaviour. However, the development of genetics has…

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Nature Vs Nurture Debate

Nature Vs Nurture Debate
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Can our genes explain our interests, personality, intelligence, and the choices we make in life? Should we care about how children are raised or are their outcomes in life already written in their genes?

The nature vs. nurture debate has been around since Ancient Greece when Plato and Aristotle disputed the origins of human behaviour. However, the development of genetics has gained a renewed interest in the scientific community and the eugenics community. Historically, the nature side of the debate has been weaponised to oppress minorities and justify systemic inequalities. We have come a long way since then, but where exactly are we now?

  • We'll begin by outlining the nature vs nurture debate definition.
  • Next, we'll discuss nature vs nurture debate examples in psychology.
  • We'll follow with some key nature vs nurture debate psychology research.
  • Moving along, we'll provide a nature vs nurture debate summary.
  • Finally, we'll discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the nature-nurture debate.

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Nature Vs Nurture Debate, white chalk outline of a brain hovering above a hand, StudySmarterFig. 1: The nature and nurture debate has pushed for investigations of the influences that shape who we are.

Nature vs Nurture Debate Definition

The nature vs nurture debate in psychology is concerned with the formation of a person's characteristics and behaviour. Historically, the debate has taken an either-or approach; who we are is either shaped by our genes or our upbringing, it is either natural or it is nurture that shapes who we are.

Let's consider the two extreme viewpoints. The views that stand towards the nature side of this spectrum are called nativists.

The nativist view attributes our behaviour and characteristics to genes and sees them as innate and shaped through evolution.

On the other side of the debate, we have the empiricist view. According to empiricism, we are born a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate), and our minds are shaped by experiences and knowledge as we grow up.

The empiricist view attributes our characteristics to experiences and learning.

Another more balanced position, the interactionist view, places itself in the middle of the two extremes.

The interactionist approach in the nature-nurture debate states that behaviour is shaped by the interaction between nature and nurture.

The two influences work together, mutually influencing each other. The approach also argues that there are different 'levels' of explanation (e.g. biological, cognitive or social) that must be considered when examining a particular behaviour.

Nature vs nurture debate, Venn diagram with one circle representing the nativist view and another the empiricist view, contained within a larger circle labelled the interactionist view, StudySmarter Fig. 2: The interactionist view takes both biological and environmental factors into account, as well as their interactions.

Nature vs Nurture Debate Examples

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The biological approach in psychology is often based on the nativist perspective. This approach proposes that our characteristics and patterns of behaviour are innate, they are caused by our genes, which have been passed onto us from our ancestors through the process of evolution. Behaviour and mental characteristics are viewed as hereditary.

One example of a nativist theory in psychology is Chomsky's Universal Grammar theory.

Chomsky claimed that children have an innate ability to understand different language categories, e.g., nouns or adjectives. He claimed that these categorisation abilities allow children to make sense of the grammar of any language. Supporters of this theory claim that language is too complex of an ability to acquire without built-in 'tools' to help us process it.

In psychology, the empiricist perspective is taken by the learning approach to understanding behaviour. The learning approach argues that behaviour actively evolves throughout our lives, either through direct interactions with the environment or by observing others that modelled certain behaviours for us. This view also rejects the possibility of behaviours being innate.

An example of an empiricist theory is behaviourism.

Behaviourism focuses on the impact of the environment on behaviour. It proposes that all behaviour develops through conditioning. Conditioning can occur either through association or reinforcements (rewards and punishment). In a nutshell, the environmental consequences of our behaviour will either weaken or strengthen our behaviours in the future.

The interactionist view in psychology recognises the importance of both biological and environmental correlates of behaviour, personality, and well-being. It is also interested in investigating how our genes can interact with our environment.

In psychology, this view is taken by the psychodynamic approach to understanding behaviour.

The psychodynamic approach, for example, posits that our behaviour is driven by innate instincts but also influenced by our development as well as experiences.

Many biological models of understanding mental health have changed to account for environmental factors as well, giving rise to interactionist models of mental illness.

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 ('stressor') is required to develop the condition. The model is used to understand the development of schizophrenia.

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Nature vs Nurture Debate Psychology Research

How can we assess the degree to which nature and nurture influence a particular characteristic or behaviour? To understand how much genes contribute to a specific characteristic, we calculate heritability coefficients based on the data collected from family studies.

The heritability coefficient is a statistic which tells us how much variation in a trait can be attributed to genes on a population level. If a trait has high heritability, it means that individuals with similar genes will be more similar to this trait.

So, let's say that creativity is highly heritable, in this case, we would see people with similar genes (e.g. twins or family members) share similar creativity levels. If creativity had low heritability, we would see a broad variation in creativity among twins or family members.

Let's say that 60% of the variation in extraversion in society is accounted for by genes. This does not mean that 60% of your extraversion was accounted for by your genes. Individually, we differ greatly on these estimates.

How is Heritability Assessed?

Heritability estimates can be calculated using data from adoption studies or twin studies, which examine the similarity between individuals with different degrees of genetic relatedness.

  • Adoption studies investigate how similar children adopted at birth are to their biological vs. adopted families.
  • Twin studies investigate similarities between identical twin pairs that share 100% of their genes and fraternal twin pairs that only share 50% of their genes.

A hypothetical study found that the musical talent of children adopted at birth was predicted by their biological parents' musical abilities, but did not correlate with the musicality of their adopted families. This suggests that musical talent is highly heritable, at least in the population studied.

A hypothetical twin study found that both identical and fraternal twin pairs share similar levels of tolerance for spicy foods. This suggests that tolerance for spicy foods is not highly heritable.

Can Nature Affect Nurture?

It can be difficult to separate nature and nurture influences in research, as genes can influence our behaviour indirectly by affecting our nurture.

Nature can influence nurture through reactive gene-environment interaction, or niche picking.

The behaviour we are genetically predisposed to can influence how others react to us, this way influencing our environment.

If a child has a genetic predisposition to be smart and comes from a wealthy background, they might be given more opportunities to develop from early on in their development. These opportunities can further develop their intellect.

These interactions were described by Plomin et al. (1977), who investigated nature-nurture interaction in family studies. They found this interaction could potentially bias gene-behaviour correlations obtained from family studies.

Further work done by Scarr and McCartney (1983) identified three ways that genes influence our behaviour indirectly, through our environment.

  • Passive way – we are provided with an environment by our biological parents.
  • Reactive way – the way others react to us can be influenced by our temperament.
  • Active way – niche picking, which involves the active selection of our environment.

Niche picking refers to the tendency to seek environments in our life that complement our genetic traits.

People with good musical ears might seek environments where they can learn more about music.

Introverts can be drawn to quiet settings or activities that don't require too many social interactions, while people that have an innate tendency to be aggressive might look for environments where conflict is likely to occur.

Can Nurture Affect Nature?

The genome-environment interaction can also occur in the opposite direction.

Nurture can affect nature through the process of neural plasticity. The environment can also mediate the relationship between genes and behaviour.

One way that our experiences affect our biology is through neuroplasticity. The functioning of our nervous system and the structure of our brain can be affected by our experiences.

Maguire et al. (2003) found that the hippocampi of London taxi drivers were greater than the ones of controls. Hippocampus is a brain structure associated with spatial memory. The authors theorised that learning to navigate the London streets changed the drivers' brain structure.

An example of how the environment can mediate the influence of genes on psychological outcomes is provided by

Turkheimer et al. (2003), studied influences on intelligence in a sample of 7-year-old twins.

They found that the contribution of genes to intelligence in children varied depending on their socioeconomic status.

  • IQ of children growing up in impoverished families was mostly attributed to their environment, while genes had a contribution close to zero,
  • IQ of children growing up in wealthier families was mostly attributed to their genes, while their environment played a negligible role.

Turkheimer et al. (2003) found that the heritability of IQ in impoverished children was almost zero (0.01), while the in a sample of wealthy children heritability of IQ was very high (0.72).

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Nature vs nurture debate, a young  man pointing upwards to lightbulbs drawn with chalk on a blackboard, StudySmarterFig. 3: The contribution of genes to intelligence has been found to depend on one's socio-economic status.

Nature vs nurture debate summary

Currently, it is recognised that both nature and nurture contribute to behaviour and that they can influence each other.


The family studies demonstrate that there are aspects of personality and behaviour that are heritable, as shown by heritability coefficients. We also have evidence of the role of nurture in some behaviours and individual traits, as the heritability of psychological traits in family studies is never 100%, indicating the presence of environmental influences.

We recognise that the contribution of each will also differ depending on the trait or behaviour. Moreover, as demonstrated in the above examples, the two influences can interact through reactive gene-environment interactions, niche picking or neuroplasticity.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Nature Nurture Debate

Arguments for either of the three positions in the nature-nurture debate can be made based on empirical evidence supporting each of the positions.

However, taking on either one of the extreme approaches can be reductionistic, as they discard other potentially relevant levels of explanation and the interactions between nature and nurture.

Extreme positions can also be used to support harmful social policies or attitudes.

  • Attributing social inequality to nature has been used to justify injustice, discrimination or even genocide, it can also lead to extreme positions in parenting that disregard providing children with adequate nurture and care.
  • Not considering the importance of nature and biological differences is also potentially harmful. For example, Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy has been used to forcefully teach autistic children how to behave in a neurotypical way, disregarding the biological differences that make them behave the way they do.

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Nature Vs Nurture Debate - Key takeaways

  • The nature vs nurture debate in psychology is concerned with the formation of a person's characteristics and behaviour.
  • The nativist view attributes our behaviour and characteristics to genes and sees them as innate and shaped through evolution. The empiricist view attributes our characteristics to experiences and learning.
  • To understand how much genes contribute to a specific characteristic, we calculate heritability coefficients based on the data collected from family studies.
  • Psychological research demonstrates that nature and nurture can interact and influence each other.
  • The limitations of taking on an extreme view in this debate are that they can be considered reductionistic and support harmful social policies or attitudes.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Nature Vs Nurture Debate

The nature vs nurture debate in psychology is concerned with the formation of a person's characteristics and behaviour, specifically whether they are shaped by genes or the environment.

The nature-nurture debate has evolved to recognise that nature and nurture can both shape behaviour. This approach is called the interactionist approach.

The nature-nurture debate proposes that we are shaped either by our genes (nature) or environmental factors (nurture).

The different approaches of understanding behaviour can be considered as an example of nature vs nurture. The biological approach tends to favour nature, while learning approaches favour nurture.

Understanding what shapes behaviour is important for designing effective behaviour change interventions, formation of psychological theories or even social policies.

The relationship between trauma and aggression in men is mediated by the MAOA gene. This suggests that aggression in men is influenced by both nature and nurture.

Currently, it is recognised that both nature and nurture contribute to behaviour and that they can influence each other. The contribution of each will also differ depending on the trait or behaviour.

Final Nature Vs Nurture Debate Quiz

Nature Vs Nurture Debate Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

Is Chomsky's Universal Grammar Theory (1965) nativist or empiricist?

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Answer

Nativist.

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Question

How does empiricism contrast with nativism?


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Answer

Empiricism claims that our minds are a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate) at birth and that they are gradually filled with knowledge and experiences. These shape our behavior. On the other hand, nativism claims that our behaviour is innate and arises from our genes.

Show question

Question

What is the interactionist approach in psychology? 

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Answer

The interactionist approach explains the development of psychological traits, disorders, and behaviour as a product of both biological and environmental influences.

Show question

Question

Can nature and nurture influence each other?

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Answer

Nature can influence nurture but nurture can't influence nature.

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Question

Which of these are examples of the interactionist approach in psychology?

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Answer

The diathesis-stress model of schizophrenia.

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Question

Outline the Meehl's model of schizophrenia

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Answer

In 1962 Meehl proposed a model, which explained schizophrenia as a result of the combination of having the schizophrenia gene (schizogene) and exposure to chronic stress in childhood (eg. being raised by a controlling and distant mother). 

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Question

Is schizophrenia a genetic disease?

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Answer

Yes. Adoption studies suggest that schizophrenia is heritable (eg. Heston, 1966). Ripke 2014 found that schizophrenia is a polygenic disease, meaning it is influenced by variations of many genes. 

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Question

Are all people with some genetic vulnerabilities associated with schizophrenia at the same risk of developing the disorder?

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Answer

No, the more genetic variations characteristic of the disorder a person has the more vulnerable they are to the disease, meaning they need fewer environmental stressors for the disorder to develop.

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Question

What factors other than genes can create vulnerability to schizophrenia?

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Answer

Environmental factors, for example family dysfunction.

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Question

What are the three ways in which nature influences nurture, according to Scarr and McCartney (1983)?

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Answer

  • Passive – we are provided the environment by our biological parents.
  • Reactive – our temperament can influence how others react to us, which shapes our experiences.
  • Active – our temperament and biological tendencies will influence what kind of environments we seek out.

Show question

Question

How can cannabis use affect people vulnerable to developing schizophrenia?

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Answer

Cannabis use can trigger a psychotic episode, specially in people with high vulnerability.

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Question

What are the strengths of the interactionist approach?

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Answer

The interactionist approach has greater explanatory power than theories based only on nature or nurture influences. Combining various influences allows us to better predict individuals' traits. 

Moreover, it has important implications for treatment of psychiatric disorders.

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Question

What are the implications of the diathesis-stress model on clinical practice?

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Answer

  • By identifying individuals at risk of schizophrenia we can inform them about potential triggers like cannabis use and minimise their future risk of psychosis. 
  • The interactionist approach also stresses the role of trauma and therefore the importance of incorporating therapy into treatment in addition to medication.   

Show question

Question

Niche peaking is an example of ____ .

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Answer

Nature influencing nurture.

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Question

What is the nature-nurture debate in psychology?

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Answer

The nature-nurture debate concerns the origins of psychological traits. The nature approach argues that biological factors determine psychological traits, while the nurture approach points to the environmental factors that shape who we are. 

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Question

What is behavioural genetics?

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Answer

Behavioural genetics is the science of nature vs nurture influences. It investigates how much genes and the environment account for the variation in psychological traits.

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Question

What do family studies investigate?

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Answer

Family studies investigate what is the correlation of the trait between individuals with different degrees of relatedness. 

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Question

What is the main method of studying environmental vs biological influences?

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Answer

Family studies

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Question

What are the types of family studies?

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Answer

Family studies include twin studies and adoption studies.

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Question

What do adoption studies investigate?

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Answer

Adoption Studies investigate if adopted children, raised by the adopted family tend to share traits more with their biological family or the family that raised them. 


Therefore, adoption studies examine the impact of the environment on psychological characteristics. 

Show question

Question

What does it mean if the behaviour of adopted children correlates more with their adopted family than their biological family?

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Answer

It means the behaviour developed likely due to the influences of nurture rather than nature.

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Question

What does it mean if the behaviour in adopted children correlates more with the behaviour of their biological relatives but not adopted relatives?

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Answer

It means the behaviour is likely determined by the influence of nature rather than nurture.

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Question

What are the limitations of adoption studies?

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Answer

  • Adoptions are relatively rare and hard to study.
  • Involving the biological family in adoption studies can be unethical if they don't wish to reunite.
  • Adoption studies assume that adoptees are placed in a different environment, while children are often adopted into families that resemble their own.
  • Adoption studies rely on correlational data, causality can't be inferred.

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Question

What do twin studies investigate?

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Answer

Twin studies examine similarities between monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

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Question

What proportion of their DNA do Monozygotic and Dizygotic twins share?

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Answer

Monozygotic and dizygotic twins both share 50% of their DNA.

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Question

If a certain behaviour is on average more commonly shared between MZ twins but less likely to be shared by DZ twins, what does it tell us about the heritability of the behaviour?


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Answer

It suggests that the behaviour is more heritable.

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Question

What are the limitations of twin studies?

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Answer

  • Twins are not representative of the non-twin population, growing up a twin is unusual and can attract different experiences and expectations than compared to most people.
  • Twin studies assume MZ twins are more similar than DZ twins only because they share more genetic material. Factors other than genetics can explain greater similarities between MZ twins.  
  • Twin studies assume both MZ and DZ twins share 100% of their "nurture" so their environment growing up. Yet, siblings within the same family may have quite different experiences growing up for example due to peer influences.
  • Twin studies rely on correlational data, causality can't be inferred.

Show question

Question

How do twin studies assess heritability?

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Answer

Twin studies use concordance rates to assess heritability. 

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Question

What were the findings of the Minnesota twin study?

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Answer

Overall twins reared apart were just as similar in terms of personality, attitudes occupational and leisure interests as twins reared together indicating a high degree of heritability of those traits.


 It was concluded that genes strongly impact behaviour and account for 70% of the variance in intelligence.

Show question

Question

What are the limitations of the Minnesota Twin Study?

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Answer

The Minnesota twin study was criticised for not using a control group, adopting false assumptions about the sample as well as using invalid methods of calculating heritability.

Show question

Question

The effects of trauma on antisocial behaviour in men are modulated by the activity of a specific gene. What view in relation to the nature nurture debate does this statement take?

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Answer

Nativist.

Show question

Question

What's the difference between nature and nurture? 

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Answer

Nature refers to biological factors like genes and physiology, while nurture refers to environmental factors like upbringing or culture.

Show question

Question

Define the nativist view of behaviour.

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Answer

The nativist view attributes our behaviour and characteristics to genes and sees them as innate and shaped through evolution. 

Show question

Question

True or False: The interactionist view of behaviour proposes that we are born a blank slate.

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Answer

False.

Show question

Question

What are the limitations of taking an extreme approach to understanding behaviour in the nature-nurture debate?

Show answer

Answer

Taking an extreme position can be considered reductionistic and support harmful social policies or attitudes.


Show question

Question

How can nature affect nurture?

Show answer

Answer

Nature can influence nurture through reactive gene-environment interaction, or niche picking.

Show question

Question

How can nurture affect nature?

Show answer

Answer

Nurture can affect nature through the process of neural plasticity. Environment can also mediate the relationship between genes and behaviour. 

Show question

Question

What are the three ways that genes influence our behaviour indirectly, according to Scarr and McCartney (1983)?

Show answer

Answer

  • Passive way – we are provided with an environment by our biological parents.
  • Reactive way – the way others react to us can be influenced by our temperament.
  • Active way – niche picking, which involves the active selection of our environment.

Show question

Question

What is the heritability of IQ in children, according to the study of Turkheimer et al. (2003)?

Show answer

Answer

Turkheimer et al. (2003) found that heritability estimates in children differ depending on their socio-economic status. The heritability of IQ in impoverished children was almost zero (0.01), while the in a sample of wealthy children heritability of IQ was very high (0.72). 

Show question

Question

What is a heritability coefficient?

Show answer

Answer

Heritability coefficient is a statistic which tells us how much variation in a trait can be attributed to genes on a population level.

Show question

Question

          studies investigate the correlation of the trait between individuals with different degrees of relatedness and include twin studies and adoption studies.

Show answer

Answer

Family

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Question

             genetics investigates how individuals vary in traits and how much genetics or the environment account for this variation.

Show answer

Answer

Behavioural

Show question

Question

Behavioural genetics is mainly investigated via...

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Answer

family studies.

Show question

Question

Adoption studies give us more insight into the role of nature and nurture, true or false? 

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

If the behaviour of adopted children correlates more with their adopted relatives, the behaviour is likely due to          .

Show answer

Answer

nurture.

Show question

Question

Lucy was adopted when she was very young. She has recently come into contact with her biological family; everyone says she is the carbon copy of her Dad. What does this example highlight?

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Answer

The role of nature.

Show question

Question

Involving the biological family in adoption studies can be           if they don't wish to reunite.

Show answer

Answer

unethical

Show question

Question

Adoption studies rely on correlational data; what is the issue of this research method?

Show answer

Answer

Can't determine causality

Show question

Question

Which type of twins shares 100% of the same genes? 

Show answer

Answer

Mz

Show question

Question

A hypothetical study found an 80% concordance rate of OCD in Mz twins and 32% in Dz twins. What does this suggest about the nature-nurture debate?

Show answer

Answer

It suggests genes play a huge, significant role; however, they independently cannot explain human functioning and dysfunction. 

Show question

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