Abajesude Rhoda Oluwatunmise

STE/2021/001
Science And Technology Education
EFC 203 Assignment

1. Discuss the nature and nurture controversy

2. Explain any 10 branches of psychology

Answer to Question 1

Nature and Nurture Controversy:

This began via a research on intelligence done by Francis Galton (1822-1911).
Nature describes the summary of every form of biological inheritance or characteristic ascribed
to a person and nurture describes the entire set of environmental conditions and influence which
contibutes to a person development.
The main question sparked by the controversy is this: Are psychological differences among
people primarily the result of differences in their nature (i.e genes) or in their nurture (i.e
environment)? This question births other questions that arises as a result of the debate. Such
questions are: Do children acquire language because they're genetically disposed to do so or
because parents intensively teach them from early age? Also what counts for the vast
differences among children in phenotypic traits, intelligence, personality and social skills? Is
nature or nurture more responsible?
Basically the nature-nurture controversy seeks to explain individual behavioural differences and
thinking patterns. Many theorists and research experts have put forward theories on this. Some
like Scoufe, Egeland & Kreutzer and Johnson, e.t.c emphasized the importance of heredity in
shaping and influencing characteristic attributes in children of which the degree to which it is
exhibited in them at early ages cannot be changed at later ages.
More theorists such as Masten and Reed(2002), Nelson(2002) and Greenspan, and Shanked
(2004) believed that change is possible and likely if new experiences support it. Many other
researchers regarded heredity and environment as two inseparable, interwoven entities of which
are of high importance, each capable of affecting the potential of the other in a child
characteristic development.

Answer to Question 2

1. Abnormal Psychology: This is a branch of psychology devoted to the study of the

classification, etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental disorders.

2. Biopsychology: This branch of psychology or biology deals with the interaction of the
mind and body and effects of this interaction.
3. Developmental Psychology: This deals with the study of ways to understand complex
behaviour by studying their beginnings and the orderly way in which they
change/develop over their life span.

4. Health Psychology: This is a field of applied psychology concerned with psychological

aspects of physical health including health promotion and prevention and treatment of
illnesses.

5. Medical Psychology: This field of applied psychology is devoted to psychological

problems arising in the practice of medicine including psychological aspects of pain,
terminal illnesses, bereavement, disability and reactions to medical advice.

6. Occupational Psychology: This is the field of psychology in which the results of

psychological research are applied to all problems related to people in work and
unemployment, including vocational guidance and selection, problems of work
motivation and job satisfaction.

7. Social Psychology: In this branch of psychology, ways in which individuals are affected
by the other people are studied.

8. Educational Psychology: This refers to the application of findings in the field of

education. Educational psychology as defined by Chauhan (2007) is the systematic
study of the development of the individual within the educational setting.

9. Experimental Psychology: This deals with the study of discovery and understanding of
the fundamental and general causes of behaviour.

10. Child Psychology: This is a part of developmental psychology which emphasizes the
study of changes in behaviour which occurs in early years of life.