Nature Vs Nurture : A Debate On Education Since The Late 1600 ' S

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.

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

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.

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;

This paper is going to discuss the Nature vs Nurture debate. There will be history of the debate, where it is presently and where it may go in the future. We will look at the beginning of the debate, the battle that started with Descartes and was pushed further by BF Skinner, Bandura and Piaget. We will further look at Bandura and Piaget and look at Social learning theory verses biology. Interviews with a sibling set of sisters, one adopted and one biological separated by 4 months in age will show us how being raised in the same environment will over shadow biological beginnings. The Nature vs Nurture debate will be discussed in

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centers on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development.

Nature versus nurture is one of the oldest physiological debates in history. Some believe that nature, the innate factors like genetic inheritance and other biological elements impacts human development. Nurture, however, are the external aspects such as experiences and the raising of a child. The Age Old Debate of Nature Versus Nurture article reads that “John Locke believed in what is known as tabula rasa, which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate (Cherry, Kendra). According to this notion, human evolution and knowledge are determined by experiences.

According to the American Psychological Association, in a study of American kindergarten children, 36 percent of lower class parents read to their children on a daily basis, compared to the 62 percent of parents from higher incomes. Children’s initial reading skills are correlated with their home environment, and number of books owned and read to them on a daily basis. As a result, socioeconomic status (SES) affects our society as a whole; its relevancy to all realms of behavioral and social science includes education and advocacy. The inequities in wealth distribution and resource distribution is increasing in the United States which is directly correlated to the inequality seen in our education system nationwide. According to APA, children from low-SES communities develop academic skills more slowly compared to children from higher SES backgrounds. Consequently, Initial academic skills are correlated with the home environment; therefore, low literacy environments and stress negatively affect a child’s academic skills. The school systems in low-SES communities are often under resourced, negatively affecting students’ academic

As the dubious history of the debate on nature vs nurture continues to be a controversy, more and more psychologists start to rise from both sides of the argument. The earliest evidence can be traced back to the time of John Locke, who believes that our minds are blank slates and only experience can write override it. Despite the main focus of the issue being how environment transact to influence development, psychologists today continue to argue on the issue of nature vs nurture. Intelligence is more of a concept rather than a specific measure of something. To be able to argue for nature or nurture, one needs to understand what intelligence really means. By definition, it refers to our "mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. This concept covers the fields of many different aspects of the obstacles we meet in life, and what we are trying to figure out is which side of the argument can support and explain how the idea of intelligence is actually produced. Although some correlational studies show that nature corresponds greatly with peoples ' intelligence levels, it does not prove causation unless the correlation level is extremely high (somewhere around +0.8-+1.0). However, many factors and ideas can be used to prove that nurture has a bigger impact on peoples intelligence levels. Through the parenting, education, and social economic and cultural background, it is evident that nurture is

Chapter 2 starts off by introducing the nature-nurture debate. There’s an idea that either nature (heredity) or nurture (environment) is what shapes human development. The majority of people would agree that both play a tremendous role in shaping people. However, some people still tend to favor one over the other.

The Nature vs. Nurture has been a long never ending debate for some time now. Nature vs Nurture has been so profoundly debated, that now it’s unclear whether what makes us who we are and what we do, nature or nurture. For purposes of this essay Nature is going to be defined as characteristics we acquire through our genetic and biological factors, while that Nurture is going to be defined characteristics we acquire through our interactions and influences with the environment. There are endless ways of taking an approach to the Nature vs Nurture conflict, thus the reason that it’s truly unclear if its Nature or Nurture or even both what makes us who and what we are.

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.

Nature vs. nurture has been discussed by philosophers in the past and by scientists more recently. Philosophers such as Plato argued that all knowledge was inherited from your parents and when you were told something you didn’t learn it you were just reminded of it. Aristotle however argued that all humans were born with a blank slate and built on it with influence from there environment. In the 1700’s the empiricists and the internalists took over the argument. They fought through letters explaining there point of views and denouncing the others. This leads to Pavlov coming up with the idea of behaviorism in the early 1900‘s. Behaviorism became the new wave of Psychology and influenced a lean towards the nurture side. It was not

“You inherit your environment just as much as your genes.” (Rich, 2015) In 1869, the phrase “nature vs. nurture was coined by an English polymath named Francis Galton. There are two sides to this debate, each with their own pros and con’s. Nature is the side that argues that the DNA and genotype humans are born with determines who they are and what personality and traits they will have throughout their lifetime. Whereas the nurture side of the debate argues that humans are born with sponges as minds, and through interactions and experiences while we grow, the knowledge and understanding of life is gained and this is how our personalities are sculpted. Many people have studied this debate through multiple schools of thoughts; each with their own arguments to which side they believe prevails. Yet, to this day, there is no proof to say which side of the debate if correct. Based on the psychological, sociological, and epigenetic schools of though, it can be validated that when it comes to the nature vs. nurture debate, nurture will always prevail and remain most relevant.

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centers on the relative contributions ofgenetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development. Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that they simply occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Other well-known thinkers such as 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.