OUGD603 - The Batsford Prize - Nature versus Nurture

The nature vs. nurture debate involves whether human behaviour is determined by the environment, either prenatal or during a person's life, or by a person's genes. Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception, e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual. The strong dichotomy of nature vs. nurture has thus been claimed to have limited relevance in some fields of research. Close feedback loops have been found in which nature and nurture influence one another constantly, as seen in self-domestication. In ecology and behavioural genetics, researchers think nurture has an essential influence on nature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature-versus-nurture

NATURE - refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are, from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics.
NURTURE - refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture.
Biological psychology tends to stress the importance of genetics and biological influences. Behaviourism focuses on the impact that the environment has on behaviour. Today, most experts recognise that both factors play a critical role.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-nature-versus-nurture-2795392

Approaches to psychology:

Biological approach - focus on genetic, hormonal, and neuro-chemical explanations of behaviour.
Psychoanalysis - innate drives of sex and aggression (nature). Social upbringing during childhood (nurture).
Cognitive psychology - innate mental structures such as schemas, perception and memory, and constantly changed by the environment.
Humanism - Maslow emphasised basic physical needs. Society influences a person's self concept.
Behaviourism - all behaviour is learned from the environment through conditioning.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html

Nature is nurture (and vice versa):

Today, most scientists have come to appreciate that the nature and nurture domains are hopelessly interwoven with one another. Genes have an influence on the environments we experience. At the same time, a person's environment and experience can directly change the level at which certain genes are expressed (a rapidly evolving area of research called epigenetics), which in turn alters both the physical structure and activity of the brain.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/abcs-child-psychiatry/201710/nature-versus-nurture-where-we-are-in-2017