Qualification: A-Level Psychology
Paper: Issues and options in psychology
Unit: Issues and debates in psychology
Assessment criteria: The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach.
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- Nature = Our behaviour is pre-determined by our biology such as our genes.
- Nativists believe our behaviour has evolved to behave in particular ways due to its survival value.
- Nurture = Our behaviour is influenced by external influences e.g. parents, teachers, experiences.
- Nurture followers are known as empiricists.
- Many social learning theorists support nurture through models of imitation and observation.
- Interactionist apporach = Nature and nurture band together to control and shape human behaviour.
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