Nature Nurture Debate Essay

?NATURE VERSUS NURTURE IS THE ARGUMENT OF WHETHER IT IS the characteristics that are inherited, or those that are learnt through environmental influences, which effect how we develop. ?WE ARE GOING TO LOOK INTO THE DIFFERENT PSYCHOLOGICAL approaches in relation to whether it is nature or nurture that determines gender: ?Psychodynamic ?Biological ?Social Learning ?Cognitive Sex and Gender Sex and gender are often referred to as one and the same, so it is important to distinguish between certain words and phrases: ?Sex: The biological state of a person; whether they are male or female depending on their genetic makeup. ?Gender: This is the social interpretation of sex. Is an individuals classification on whether a person is male or female. ?Gender Identity/ Role: Through socialisation we learn what is acceptable behaviour from females and males. We learn that each have different expected characteristics. ?Gender Constancy: Is the realisation that gender is fixed. This happens at 4 years of age. Psychodynamic Approach ?Freud backs up both the nature and nurture, with his psychodynamic approach: ?His idea of the personality being in three parts: the Id, Ego, and Superego. ?The Id is what we are said to have acquired naturally in birth. It is the primitive self, who strives to survive. Psychodynamic Approach ?The ego develops a few months in, and continues to be learnt from the outside world, it is when our consciousness comes into play. A child would learn the di$erence between male and female. ?The superego is the internalisation of moral values. We strive to do the right thing. So a child may have it instilled to act a certain way because that is what is expected, so any other feelings may be pushed into the unconscious. Psychosexual Stages ?In Freuds Psychosexual stages, it is the Phallic stage at age 3 to 6 years old that children become gender aware. ?A child is aware of what sex they are biologically, but their gender is e$ected by interactions between mother and father. Psychodynamic Theory ?However the personality model Freud talks about cannot be proved. ?This approach is also deterministic in that there is no free will when it comes to the psychosexual stages Little Hans Case Study Biological Approach All that is psychological is psysiological ? rst ‘Aron’. Social Learning Approach Cognitive Approach Conclusion ? There is no doubt that sex is based solely upon nature, whereas determining gender brings together both nurture and nature as it is the how society views the sexes. All that is psychological is psysiological ? rst ‘Aron’. Thought’s, feeling’s, ect, reside in the mind and are ultimately of biological cause. Biological psychology is the study of the physiological basis of behaviour and experience, it is highly scienti+c in approach, the key areas of study include:- †¢The nervous system and behaviour †¢States of consciousness †¢Biological rythms †¢Motivation †¢Anxiety and stress †¢pain Biological Psychology Cognitive is mainly a consequence of maturation stages of innate structures Biological Biological psychology states:- †¢Human Behaviour can be explained through hormones, genetics, evolution and the nervous system †¢If in theory, behaviour can be explained biologically, causes for unwanted behaviours can be modi+ed or removed using biological treatment such as medication for mental illnesses. †¢Biological psychology believes in experimental treatment conducted using animals, this is due to our biological similarities. Biological Charles Darwin †¢Was an 18th century English naturalist and geologist. †¢Best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. †¢Whilst on a 5 year expedition, Darwin concluded species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. †¢This created the scienti+c theory to a branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection. †¢For 20 years Darwin worked on his theory †¢1859 The origin of species was published †¢The book was extremely controversial, mainly due to the theory of homo sapiens being another form of animal, leading to a theory of our evolution from apes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The church was not happy. Biological Studying psychology within an evolutionary framework has revolutionized the +eld, allowing di$erent approaches to be uni+ed under one banner. Darwin also pioneered one of evolutionary psychology’s most important tools, the comparative method. The results coming from this new +eld continue to change how we view our behavior and mental abilities, as well as those of other animals. Darwin’s impact in biological Psychology Biological Strengths and weaknesses biological psychology and the theories within support nature over nuture. However, it can be argued, that by limiting explanations for behaviour in terms of either nature or nurture, the complexity of human biengs is underestimated. It could be argued, that the interaction of both nature (biology) and nurture (environment) both play vital roles in our behaviour. A strength to the biological approach is its use of scienti+c methods, producing clear evidence, such as neurotransmitters. The biological approach is able to produce clear evidence, scienti+cally, for explanations A weakness to biological psychology is the reductionist explanations provided, which do not fully encompass the full scope of human behaviour. Individuals may posses a predisposition, to particular behavioural traits, however, environmental factors can also be the cause. This is called ‘Diathesis stress model’ of human behaviour. Biological Biological explanation of gender. Through evolution, men in their role as ‘hunter gatherer’, may have developed a stronger ‘+ght or ;ight response than women, who had the role of caring for the children. Due to this males and females may have developed a di$erent physiological response to stress. Taylor et al (2000) suggested that women produce a calmer response to stress due to a hormone. Oxytocin is realised in response to stress and has been shown to lead to maternal behaviour. Taylor called this the ‘tend and berfriend response’ instead of the ‘+ght or ;ight’ response. Leading to the idea women are more likely to seek social support to cope with stress.