Duncan has learned about the Pepperberg (parrot learning) study. He believes that the results support the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] The nature side of the debate is about what behaviours etc. we are born with (1 mark)
2. [1] whereas the nurture side of the debate is about what we learn in our lives (1 mark)
3. [1] Alex was taught/trained how to use same/different so this was learnt;
4. [1] Alex got rewarded for his efforts and got better at the skill of same/different showing this was learnt;
5. [1] He was taught to label colours and materials so this was learnt;
6. [1] He learnt skills through operant conditioning/social learning/Model-Rival Technique;
7. [1] He could transfer his ‘knowledge' to novel objects which could have only happened if he had learnt labels;
8. [1] These skills are not common among wild parrots;
9. [1] This shows that Alex was not born with the ability to use labels/eq.
10. [1] Alex had already learned some vocabulary in a previous study.