Human development has been regarded as one of the most highly controversial topics in the world of psychology. This debate is labeled nature vs. nurture. The controversy centers on the premise that our personality, behavior, intelligence, and feelings are either genetically inherited, or environmentally earned; that we are innate creatures born with our personalities, or that they are learned by experience and time. We are born with our personalities, but our behaviors are learned through experience and shaped thru time. The study of human thought has been around for thousands of years. In ancient Greece, China, India, and Egypt they had a more scientific way of approaching psychology. They were among the first to have psychiatric hospitals. However, the origin and the beginning of a more advanced and well-rounded approach came from Wilhelm Wundt, the “father of psychology”. He set up the first laboratory at Leipzig University in 1879. The studies he conducted were centered on both the behavioral and genetic aspect of individuals. The entire study of psychology is based off of nature vs. nurture. Which debates that human experience can be defined as genetic inheritance and environmental upbringing.
Psychology has five distinct branches that are based off of nature vs. nurture. The biological approach focuses on genetic inheritance for the explanation of behavior. Psychoanalysis is “innate drives of sex and aggression (nature), and social upbringing during
One of the most enduring debates in the field of psychology is the controversial idea of nature vs. nurture. Throughout the endless history of the debate, no clear conclusion has been met, only hypotheses have been formed. At the center of the debate, human behaviors, ideas, and feelings are being determined, whether they are learned or inherited. Determining physical traits, such as eye color or hair color, are simple because they are hereditary traits. The idea of having a certain personality, intelligence, or ability is under discussion because scientists cannot determine if these traits are learned, or predetermined by genes.
The nature vs nurture issue has been a controversial argument among psychologist for decades. This argument exposes two different views. One of them emphasizes that our personality depends solely on genetics (nature). On the other hand, the second view suggests that humans “develop through experience” (Myers 2013, SG 6) (nurture).
The concepts of Nature vs Nurture, are major concepts in social science. Nature is the hereditary pattern of physical features in a human being 's development. These features include, but are not limited to, our personality, usual and unusual appearances and the general measurements of how humans hold the attributes of being sociable, hostile behavior, their emotions, and the usage of alcohol and drugs. On the other hand Nurture is slightly different. Nurture is the influence of the environment that plays upon the behavior and characteristics in a human. The idea of nurture is that humans will grow up to form their personality on the way they are raised and life experiences. Culture is defined by the people in the environment, however, the environment helps shape and form human personalities in order to forge a culture. Culture is created by religions/beliefs, clothing/foods, language/social habits as well as the humanistic discipline; such as music, paintings, literature, and many more. Culture is generated by humankind, because humans hold their belief systems and patterns that was passed down by generations; by humans passing down what they have learned from their families this begins to create a culture. Personality plays a central role in both nature vs nurture and culture. Furthermore, personality is stated “the total organization of inherited and acquired characteristics of an individual as evidenced by the individual 's behavior (Hunt 119). Personality is either
When examining human development, the universal idea of conflict between nature and nurture often arises. The argument presented by the “Nature vs Nurture” debate is extremely controversial and has been discussed and critiqued for decades. “Nurture” is cited as being a combination of elements from one’s environment and experiences that shapes a person and their life, whereas “Nature” is cited as being a combination of genetic and hereditary aspects that dictates who a person is and will become. The controversy surrounding the argument most directly stems from the differences of views on whether or not nature or nurture affects a person’s life more. Historians, scientists, psychologists, and everyday philosophers have all studied this uncertainty, and many of whom have developed countless theories. Among these is the
The concept of “nature vs. nurture” began with the English polymath, Francis Galton in 1869. When applying the term “aggression” to the matter, there were two views about its source, the first being nature, a psychoanalytic approach. Nature is the belief that genetics determine our behavior. In the case of aggression, many nature-based factors play a role in aggression, of which include certain neurotransmitters, genetics, and gender. Sigmund Freud played a large role in the psychoanalytic approach to aggression. Freud believed that aggression was an innate drive within in a person, and that humans possess two basic drives: Thenatos, or destructive energy (aggression), and Eros, the drive for pleasure. He
Nature versus nurture is one of the most controversial topics of discussion among human beings. For many years, phycologist’s have been studying various people’s behavioral patterns in order to settle the debate. The argument of nature suggests that a person is born with a pre-conceived set of personality traits that determine the way they will act for the rest of their life. That is to say that all characteristics of a person, not just physical appearance, are passed down through genetics. The case with nurture states the idea that every person, no matter where they are from, is born with a blank slate. In other words, asserting that the behavior of someone is solely a result of their surroundings. This subject often comes up when a person
One of the oldest, most prominent topics of academic debate is the Nature vs. Nurture argument. Nature vs. Nurture is a largely psychological term, in which the Nature aspect places more significance on genetics and personality; our innate predisposition to various circumstances tell us a great deal more about who we are. On the other side, the Nurture aspect places more focus on our environment and stresses the salience of the majority of what we do in our daily lives have been “learned” We see a wide array of examples of this specific argument in literature, popular culture, and even in our everyday lives. While no one can deny that both sides have extremely valid points, it would be very naive to assume that one had more of a dominant factor;
When we look at the science of human development, the main consideration is how people change over time. In the age old question of nature versus nurture, there are some that believe the characteristics and traits within us are innate, meaning we are born with them. Still others feel that nurturing, our environmental influences like friends, community, schools, media and even parents affect who we are. This is a false dichotomy, it is not which-but how much of each because both play crucial roles in our development (Berger 2015).
Through history, the idea of nature vs. nurture has been a hotly debated issue. Nature, or genetics is often believed to be the most important aspect of a persons’ upbringing, as nature is something intrinsic to any one person. However, many debate that nurture, or the care and encouragement of any human life, trumps nature. The earliest evidence and rebuttals of these theories have been honed and developed over time by specific psychologists and educational theorists – all who hoped to prove their own ideas as fact at one time in history.
There is a debate occurring in the world of psychology revolving around the way people’s behavior is based on either nature or nurture. Both of these, again, deal with psychology and are both aspects of behavior that are products by one of two realms. One being inherited through genetics and the other
Human development is known as the most highly controversial topics in the world of psychology. The debate is known as nature vs. nurture. The controversy on nature vs. Nurture centers on the personality, behavior, intelligence, and feelings. This debate is over are they genetically inherited or environmentally earned. We are all known as innate creatures born
According to Collins (2000) “the position of majority of psychologists over nature-nurture issue is how both blend up to influence our thoughts, actions and feelings”.
A debate between psychologist, scientists and philosopher thinkers on the spectrum of ‘nature vs. nurture’ arose concerning human development. In the nature versus nurture debate, the term "nature" refers to the genes we inherit while the term "nurture" refers to our outside environment (Nature vs. Nurture: Twin and Adoption Studies). This debate of ‘nature vs. nurture’ has existed for centuries and up to now it is still a topic of major discussion although at present time. Human development is the scientific study of age-related changes in behavior, thinking, emotions and personality (Boyd & Bee, 2005). In order to understand cognitive, emotional, physical, social and educational growth that everyone experiences from
The significance of nature and nurture has been a prolonged debate that has caused quite a controversy and the discoveries made on this topic have made harder to determine which side is the most crucial. Multiple experiments and research studies have been conducted to prove one is better or stronger than the other and they continue to be conducted. As a species, human beings inherited DNA from our ancestors, but what impacts our actions the most is our environment. The predetermined genes are impactful, but it is what one makes of it that shapes oneself. The path is driven by the human being. The way we carry ourselves out is affected by the choices we make, but the way we have evolved mentally comes from the nurturing of our caretakers.
The nature vs nurture debate is one of the most enduring in the field of psychology.How far are human behaviors, ideas, and feelings, INNATE and how far are they all LEARNED?These issues are at the