Human Intelligence : Nature And Nurture

The nature versus nurture debate is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Within the field of psychology, this so-called nature-nurture debate, is very often associated with the issue of intellectual quotient, better known as IQ. In the past psychologists have argued that the way in which a child developed was based solely on nature, genetic or hormone-based behaviors, or nurture, environment and experience. Nevertheless, this extreme way of thinking is now long outdated, and it is clear that both nature and nurture have great effect on our intellectual development. The question now lies in just how much impact each has on an

The basic elements of the nature-nurture controversy, debates the genetic or environmental effects of IQ, personality and behavioral differences in humans. Nature describes an inherited trait, otherwise known as the genes, containing the genetic code for each individual born. These genes contribute the physical characteristics, for example: eye color, skin pigmentation, hair texture, blood type, longevity, etc. Genes impose certain diseases, such as Huntington 's Chorea, Breast Cancer, Down Syndrome, and many more. Nurture describes an influence on the individual by the surrounding environment. This surrounding environment includes: parenting, culture, learned experiences, nutrition, exposure to toxins, pollutants and medications. In summary, scholars have been in debate for years over the issue determining the development of an individual from birth to an adult. Are issue of IQ, personality and behavior, inborn or are they learned? Or is it both? The nature-nurture controversy continues still today (McLeod, S. A. (2007).

nurture” and its effects. The article that I found on the internet stated that when people were first trying to understand the mind, people tended to be more extremist with their opinions on nature vs. nurture. “John Locke believed in what is known as tabula rasa, which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate. According to this notion, everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our experience.” (Cherry) . Over time, with more research, it seems to be that nature and nurture work together to form who a person is, but when it comes to intelligence, scientists still debate which of the two may be a more powerful determinant.

For many years, there has been on the ongoing debate that is referred to as nature vs. nurture. It poses a question that many theorists have contested. Do human personalities and behaviors relate to our genetic makeup, or are we directly influenced by the environment and people that we are subjected to? What is more important, genes or environment? While some theorists take either one side over the other, some believe that both nature and nurture play an active role in human development.

Development is best based off of both nature and nurture. On one hand, nature plays a large role in development because navigating different environments leads to growth and being able to make these independent decisions can make a significant difference in adulthood. It is important to encounter uncontrolled environments on a regular basis. On the other hand, it is important for growing individuals to have a safe area to express their feelings and frustrations to someone who understands them. It is important for development to be positive growth as well, not just being “toughened up.” Intelligence is best based off of nature. It is important to properly nurture intelligence, but extraordinarily high intelligence is only truly determined by

During the 20th century, there was a popular debate between nature and nurture among scholars. On the one side, some psychologists, such as, Arthur Jensen believed that genetics plays a significant role in shaping a person’s traits and behaviors. While on the other side, psychologists such as B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson argues that behaviors are primarily learned from an individual’s surrounding and derived by the environmental influence. But today, the majority of the scholars propose that nature and nurture are interrelated and they affect people’s development of traits and behaviors simultaneously. Therefore, in our research, instead of making an argument on which factor generate more influence on human development, we focused on the

The role of genetics and the human genome in intelligence has been discussed by researchers for centuries, the heritability of intelligence as a trait in

There has always been a long and hot debate over the issue Nature vs. Nurture. It examines the controversy about whether it is nature (inherited genes and components) or nurture (environmental factors) that influences, changes and even dominates our personalities, behaviors, intelligence and abilities. Through an intensive examination, I endorse the belief that both nature and nurture influence our development and they cooperate through synthetic effect to shape our traits.

Throughout history, philosophers, scientist and psychologists have always possessed different opinions on what gives humans distinct characteristics. “Nature”, includes heredity which is a biological component that is believed to affect IQ while “Nurture” is when one’s environment which shapes us through various experiences. Those who are inquisitive about life commonly reflect on their lives, wondering whether they would be different if their experiences in childhood were altered; childhood experiences or our social environment ever so greatly affects our personalities. Withstanding that, nurture has the ability to change an individual's characteristics based on social environment. However, the severity of these changes is different for each

Intelligence has been a cause of debate between psychological researchers for many years. This question of nature vs nurture can be examined in many ways. Although many psychologists argue for and against the nature nurture debate and agree that the many characteristics and personality traits are caused by nature and nurture both working together. Through the many developmental studies of famous researchers, it helps us assume that the influence of nurture outweighs that of nature. Plato and Aristotle, for instance, were both philosophers with different views on the issue. Plato believed that knowledge and behaviour were due to innate factors, meaning heredity, whilst Aristotle, also written by philosopher John Locke backed up the idea of tabula

The age old debate of nature and nurture continues to this day; however, one notion that is widely accepted is that intelligence is jointly influenced by genetic and nongenetic factors (Plomin & Asbury, 2005, p. 88). Genetics narrowly refers to the DNA differences that are inherited by humans; genetics does not refer to the DNA which is common throughout all humans or the DNA mutations that may occur with the exception of sex cells (Plomin & Petrill, 1997, p.55). How is intelligence within humans affected by genetic factors? This research paper compiles information from four research articles in order to provide insight into the affects that genetics may have on intelligence in humans. The conclusion will provide a summary of the points covered

The subject introduced has nothing to do with the nurture vs nature theory. During the development of a child genetics are an important factor, but it is not the most important when determining the intelligence of an individual. The most important element to a child's intelligence development is the baby's environment. The baby’s surrounding can change

Genetic and environmental impacts on intelligence have been known as “the nature versus nurture” debate. The arguments supporting the biological or the environmental implications that influence the way we think, learn, and behave have been popular topics among psychologists, researchers, and educators.

The debate of nature versus nurture has been an ongoing debate for a long time. When applying this argument to education there is no proven winner. The nature side of the coin believes that a person is born the way that they are. This could include intelligence level or personality traits such as being outgoing or shy. The other side of the argument of nurture believes that the type of upbringing that someone has will play a large role in the way they develop. It is thought that if a child has proper parenting and schooling then their educational achievements will be higher than one who is from a “broken” home where education is not a high priority. This writer’s belief is that both nature and nurture come into play, but nurture has a bigger role in dictating ones success in school and life.

The nurture versus nature debate is commonly seen as one of the most important issues in psychology. It is assuredly one of the best researched, with various studies dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Two schools of individual difference theorists clearly differ in their approach to this question. The first school of thought, implanted in social psychology and sociology, claims that the environment is of principal importance in determining how individuals behave. For these theorists, the examination of social processes by which intelligence and personality traits are attributed to others is seen as the only relevant issue in personality study. As shared environment has been shown to have a certain impact on personality and intelligence, affirming that « children are not empty canvases on which parents can paint their dreams » (Judith Harris, 1998) is not legitimate. However, the second school of thought claims that personality and ability appear to have a distinct relationship with biology and the nervous system. For these theorists, personality and intelligence are behavioral consequences of biological structures that are within the individual. As it can be shown that a trait is substantially influenced by genetics, affirming that « we can make our children turn out any way we want is an illusion » is reasonable.The aim of this essay is to evaluate the extent to which evidence supports the idea that personality and ability cannot be influenced by parental