8.3.2 The Interactionist Approach

• The internationalist approach refers to the contributions that nature (e.g. biological factors) and nurture (e.g. environmental factors) contribute to human behaviour and how the interaction of heredity and environment shapes behaviour.

Approaches:

Nurture	Interactionist	Nature
Behaviourist Social learning theory	Psychodynamic Cognitive	Biological

Evaluation:

P: A strength is that the interactionist approach has real-world applications. In modern research, many psychologists believe that an interactionist approach should be taken which considers both nature and nurture aspects in shaping behaviour.

E: An example of this is the diathesis-stress model. It suggests that even if someone is born with a genetic vulnerability to a disorder such as OCD, OCD will only develop if it is triggered by an environmental stressor. This implies that one's nature is only expressed under certain conditions (e.g. traumatic childhood).

E: Therefore, a strength is that the interactional approach has led to the development of models that have helped improve our understanding of psychological conditions and well as find treatment for them.