Nature And Nurture On Child Development: Chapter Analysis

The old and popular debate between ‘nature vs. nurture’ has generated a lot of interest in newborns, who were previously thought to be ‘blank slates’, and has contributed a lot to developmental psychology, a field of psychology focusing on studying infants. It is now generally accepted that both nature and nurture make equal contribution to the infant’s development.

The historical debate regarding nature and nurture has been going on for years and is still unresolved. Many theorists believe what we have inherited and our genes, makes us the way we are and how we develop. Other theorists believe it is the way we are brought up and our experiences, that make us the way we are and how we develop.

One of the main, and most controversial topics discussed in a child’s development is, nature vs. nurture. Nature pertains to genetic influences that a child has inherited from their parents, such as traits, abilities, and capacities. For instance, what color eyes the child may have, how athletic they may be, and even their brain development. Whereas nurture, refers to the environment the child is raised in and how this shapes their behaviors. Such factors can include, the family’s socio-economic status, schooling, parental discipline, as well as whether the child is provided with enough resources. When it comes to nature or nurture having a stronger influence then the other, the answer is both, nature and nurture, influence the outcome of the child. This idea that both nature and nurture, play a part in how the child will develop, is known as the nature-nurture continuum.

There are many different aspects of environment that can affect the development of children. One major environmental impact that influences the development of a child is the neighborhood they are raised in. Within the neighborhood there are several other aspect of influence. Where a child is raised can affect their behavior, attitudes, emotions, personality, values, health, and so much more. This can be seen in their personal lives at home to their social lives around others in classrooms. The affects of a child’s development due to their environment can be seen in both a positive and negative aspect. The neighborhood that a child is raised in can be very critical in their

The controversy surrounding the topic of whether nature or nature aid in the development has been discussed from speech-language pathologist to developmental psychologists. Nature can be described as what we are born with. Nature includes the inherent characteristics that we are born with that come from our biological parents. Nature has been also known to supplement generative theories by emphasizing the role of the characteristics that we are born with in the development of language. Nurture can be defined as the interaction a human has with their environment. Development occurs in different aspects in the human. Those facets include the cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and communicative development that everyone needs in order to

The Developing Child tells the viewers a brief history of the Nature vs. Nurture debate. Jean-Jacques Rousseau stressed the nature side of our personalities, believing it is nature alone that makes us how we are. English physiologist, John Locke believed children start off as blank slates and that they are completely shaped by their environment and thus held to the nurture side of the debate. This video has much newer ideas and experiments than those of Rousseau’s and Locke’s and because of that their thesis is “while biological factors provide the capabilities, environmental factors see if they are reached”. Babies know and think much more than was previously thought. Babies can turn their eyes and heads immediately recognize mother’s voice,

Nature is inherited characteristic that affect development and nurture is environmental condition that effected development. They both have an influence on growth and development in children one way nature influences physical growth is if a child has a chronic illnesses such as asthma, epilepsy, kidney disease and multiple sclerosis. For example people who have multiple sclerosis have problems with their brain and spinal cord people with MS have weakness, tingling, numbness, blurred vison and muscle stiffness. Child who would be diagnosis with MS would have a hard time developing and growing because they man not be able to the things a normal child would be able to. Walking and trying to ride a bike might be harder for them than to a child

I believe that nature and nurture both play a crucial role in early development. Naturally, we are genetically predisposed to certain diseases but we won’t develop all those diseases. Nature also sets the foundation for our physical characteristics which does affect how we will be perceived throughout life. Additionally, as we grow the environment will also shape us as individuals. As stated on page 70, we humans are not locked into an unchangeable physical body or unchangeable social system; both can change and each exerts an influence on the other.

The discussion between nature and nurture is quite complex for the fact that nature is determined by genes (DNA), on the other hand, the nurture believes that the behaviour is learnt by experiences and are divided between social and physical influences. Psychodynamic perspective assumes

Sameroff, A. (2010), A Unified Theory of Development: A Dialectic Integration of Nature and Nurture. Child Development, 81: 6–22. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01378.x

Nature and nurture are two terms used in behavioral psychology to describe or debate what influences our personal growth and development. Nature is the genetic influences on how closely related people can have similar characteristics. The concept of nature is that certain genetic and hereditary characteristics are passed down from generation to generation. For example, a grandmother, a daughter and a granddaughter can all have the same skin color, hair color, eye color and also be similar in height. Also genetics are believed to play a role in intelligence, as well as some birth defects, and sexual orientation. Nurture on the other hand, is the role of environmental influences on an individual’s growth and development. Environmental influences include the home environment, parenting style and the effects of educational programs. There had been much research and debate on the roles of nature and nurture in one’s personal development.

In analysing both nature verses nurture, the combination of these two factors affects the outcome of an individual. The popular debate on which is the dominate influence has had a strong arguments from both sides. The nature of the individual is referring to their biology and genetics, while nurture, is referring to the environment that the individual has been raised in. However, both of these sides are highly important to a person’s development, therefore combining both studies would create the most productive research outcome. Firstly analysing evidence from the nature side of the debate.

Nature versus nurture is a commonly debated topic in the scientific world. For example were all child molesters abused as children themselves or are their genes or other factors to blame for their bad decisions? Genes seem to determine much about children, such as eye color and height, but do they also determine behavior and overall health, or is the environment the children were raised in to blame? For example, when a child is misbehaving, is it the parents responsibility to take the blame for their offspring's behavior due to how they have chosen to raise their son or daughter, or is the child's genetic makeup to blame for their faults? Can a child's environment override the genes a child is born with?

The role of nature versus nurture in the development of humans has been frequently argued in physiological, psychological, and nonacademic settings. Nature includes both genetic predispositions and evolutionary biological processes, while nurture consists of factors such as the environment in which a child is raised, prenatal conditions, or life experiences. Emotional processes and their elicited behaviors and feelings each play a large role in our character. It is therefore important to consider the necessary function of and connections between innate processes and the environment in the development of the emotional system. With a clear intention of evaluating the effects of the environment on developing children, Bos et al. (2011)

Human development is a very complex process – from conception to death. There has been a long debate on whether human development is determined by nature or nurture. If their growths were all guided by nature only, they would all be born with a mind of “blank slate”. This means that they do not have any inborn ability to do anything when they are born. On the other hand, if their growth was determined by nurture only, it would mean that they were fully equipped with all the skills they need in their lives when we are born. In other words, all the physical and mental skills they have right now would have been inherited from their parents and the environment they grow up in has no effect. This essay will focus on the effects of both