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    Debates

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    Love Lovely

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    Debates

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    Love Lovely
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    9 views16 pages

    Debates

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    Love Lovely

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    You are on page 1of 16

    AS Psychology Debates

    Nature vs Nurture
    Individual vs Situational
    (Reductionism vs Holism)
    Nature vs. Nurture
    A long-standing debate The Nature-
    relating to the extent to
    which different behaviours Nurture Debate
    and cognitive processes
    are thought to result from
    genetic factors that are
    innate [nature] (inborn)
    versus experiences from
    our physical and social
    environment [nurture]
    (environmental).
    Nature
    behaviours are innate (inborn or
    genetically inherited)

    What causes
    a behaviour?

    Nurture
    behaviours are acquired through experience
    or environmental influence
    • Behaviour is caused by
    innate, unchangeable Nature
    factors. We are born with
    physiological/biological
    characteristics.
    • Genes provide the blueprint
    for all our behaviours; some
    are present from birth, others
    are pre-programmed to
    All or most
    emerge with age. behaviours /
    • Behaviour is therefore characteristics are
    determined by our biology. inherited.
    Nurture • We are born a blank slate
    then influenced by our life
    experiences.
    • We are affected by lots of
    different factors education,
    childhood, culture,
    socialisation, observations,
    All or most
    maternal environment
    behaviours / • Behaviour is therefore
    characteristics are determined by our
    learned from the environment.
    environment.
    Individual vs. Situational
    Suggests behaviour is due to our personal characteristics, traits,
    Individual
    qualities explanation of behaviour:
    or abilities.

    Believes that in the same situation different people may act in


    different ways due to participant variables (e.g. aggression levels,
    intelligence, empathy, etc).
    ● Traits are thought to be relatively stable over time - can measured with
    psychometric tests.
    ● Traits - generally determined by genetics or environmental exposure -
    predispose us to behave in certain ways.
    Situational explanation of behaviour:
    Suggests behaviour is due to us responding to situational cues from
    our environment, e.g. social,

    Suggests, despite differences in participant variables, many people


    behave in similar ways when put in the same situation.
    ● The power of the situation refers to how certain environmental factors can elicit
    behaviour from us that we may not have been able to predict.
    ● Suggests that immediate circumstances overrides pre-existing personality and traits.
    Individual explanation Behaviour is due to the
    participant variables
    of behaviour personal traits, characteristics,
    abilities, etc.

    What causes a behaviour?


    Behaviour is a response to
    Situational explanation our environment
    of behaviour Social group, setting, other
    people’s actions, temperature, etc.
    Reductionism vs. Holism
    Reductionism
    explaining psychological phenomena
    by reducing them to their constituent
    parts

    What causes
    a behaviour?

    Holism
    Looks at behaviour as a whole/looks at a
    complex of factors that might explain a
    behaviour.
    The extent to which a Purpose: to simplify
    psychological psychological events and
    phenomenon can be processes “reducing”
    explained in terms of its something complex into
    most basic elements its most simple form.

    REDUCTIONISM
    Human behaviour can be
    explained by breaking it down into
    simpler component parts
    e.g. if your car had
    broken down you
    would look at the
    pieces that make up
    the car to understand
    what the problem was.
    By knowing how each individual part works,
    reductionists suggest we can form an
    understanding of the whole.
    The extent to which a Greek ‘holos’ which
    psychological means “whole” or “entire”
    phenomenon that “The whole is more than
    considers all the factors the sum of its parts”
    affecting it as a whole.

    HOLISM
    biological factors, social
    Behaviour should be factors,
    viewed as a whole not cognitive factors,
    as separate parts environmental factors,
    …
    Looking at the individual
    parts of a car will tell you
    a lot about the vehicle.

    Could it tell you about:


    ⮚ how comfortable the inside of
    the car is?
    ⮚ how smoothly the car drives?
    ⮚ how good the gas mileage is?

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