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Flip to reveal answersNature vs nurture — the debate?
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All 8 Flashcards — Nature vs nurture
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Question
Nature vs nurture — the debate?
Answer
Are we born a certain way (nature), or made by our environment and experience (nurture)?
Question
Locke's tabula rasa?
Answer
The newborn mind is a blank slate; everything we know is written on it by experience — pure nurture.
Question
Skinner's behaviourism?
Answer
Behaviour is shaped by conditioning: reward a behaviour and it grows, punish it and it fades.
Question
What is 'conditioning'?
Answer
Learning to repeat what's rewarded and avoid what's punished.
Question
Strongest evidence for nature?
Answer
Identical twins raised apart still end up strikingly alike, which suggests a lot is born in us.
Question
Strongest point for nurture?
Answer
Upbringing clearly shapes us, and rewards/punishments really do change behaviour (Locke, Skinner).
Question
The modern 'interaction' answer?
Answer
Genes and environment combine: a gene can switch on in certain settings, and inborn traits shape how we're treated.
Question
Why avoid 'all nature' or 'all nurture'?
Answer
The evidence cuts both ways, so the real question is how much each matters and how they combine.
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Topic 1.5 hub
Human nature
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