Millions of children start new lives every day. The process of their development has always been of question to us; we are completely unaware of the exact processes that they go through. Human psychologist continue to ponder the dispute of whether the factors that structure a human are biological or circumstantial. Several contradicting theories have been made about the nature versus nurture discussion. Through personal experience and being an older sibling, I am able to clearly analyze and make my own conclusions. I believe that nurture is the dominating force compared to nature. “Nature” refers to the inherited traits. Each human being has roughly 100,000 genes that create the physical characteristics of a child. The genes are only responsible for fostering traits such as blue eyes, brown hair, and skin color. In addition, nature is also responsible for passing on genes that contain diseases such as alzheimer 's and even certain cancers. On the other hand, “nurture” refers to the environmental factors that influence a person. Nature is the superior force in the creation of personality and distinct and individualized characters because each person perceives events differently. After our brains perceive different events, we either produce dopamine (pleasure) or register in our cortex to not do the same thing again. A common example used by psychologists is the hot stove; if you get hurt by touching a hot stove, it is highly likely that you will never do it again. Because
In Nature vs. Nurture Debate by CommonLit Staff, the authors talks about the quarrels between nurture and nature, nurture being the development through “environmental influences”; meanwhile, nature being the traits passed down from biological parents to the child, and Huck’s nature side, in comparison, is more noticeable than his nurture side. Had Huck’s nurture side been more apparent than his nature side, he would be like just any other kids— one who follows the rules of society. Since his nature side is greater, even though readers do not know what his nature sides are, he is able to do whatever he wants. In Twain’s book, the Widow Douglas tries to civilize Huck, but he dislikes being civilized; therefore, his nature side is dominant which
However, recently more progressive mindsets on the debate have been formed and it is now believed that it is neither nature nor nurture that is completely responsible for the psychological development of a child, but rather the relationship between the two that have the most impact on the development of our minds. This new answer to the “Nature vs. Nurture” debate seems the most accurate since there has not been a determined conclusion to which has the bigger effect. Members of society are now coming to terms with the idea that both of these factors are important to the psychological maturity of every human mind, however, I still believe that how a child is brought up has the most impact on their future success and the person they become. Biological elements have the power to set limits on what our mind can achieve, but life experiences, familial relationships, and the way we are educated all influence the way we mature socially, academically and as people. These limits that are set by our DNA (i.e. mental disorders, delayed development, etc.) are all challenges that have the control to stop one from surpassing a certain point psychologically, however, it is the way we are nurtured that allows our minds to grow in the first
One of the huge problems with the nature vs. nurture debate is that people often forget to include religion, beliefs, and God into the discussion. Religion, especially Christianity, plays a large role in the development of a person, being in part nature and nurture. Several people grow up believing God is real and He loves and nurtures everyone, and this can in turn give them an instinct to care and nurture others. But God also gives each person a natural instinct to love and protect others because He created mankind in His likeness, and His love is endless. The article Nature vs Nurture – Which Side is God On? makes the point that “God did not create us to be bad (it’s our nature). Nor does God provide an environment for us where we have to
The nature nurture debate discusses to what extent aspects of behaviour are a product of either inheritance or learning. The nature or inherited aspect of this debate is influenced purely by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. The biological approach to psychology states that behaviour is due to genetics, neurochemical and hormonal changes. Early philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggest that certain things and behaviours are innate and not due to the environment. It has been excepted for a long while that certain physical characteristics are purely biological and are determined by genetic inheritance this includes aspects of a person such as their eye colour.
On November 15, 1959, four members of the prosperous Clutter family were murdered for seemingly no reason. This led many people to come up with their own ideas of what happened that night. This debate may be answered by psychology. One question that psychologists have is whether people are controlled more by their nature-genetics-or nurture-how they were raised (Mcleod 1). This debate can be used to discuss the motive of murderers, and argue for or against the death penalty in their case. Richard ¨Dick¨ Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, the ¨Clutter Killers,¨ are a perfect example of the nature vs. nurture debate. Perry was more influenced by nurture, while Dick was more influenced by nature.
Does the environment that one grows up in contribute to alcoholism or is alcoholism determined by genetics? It wasn’t until 1991 that alcoholism was considered both a medical and psychiatric disease by the American Medical Association. Alcoholism is defined in the dictionary as a chronic disorder characterized by dependence on alcohol, repeated excessive use of alcoholic beverages, the development of withdrawal symptoms on reducing or ceasing intake, morbidity that may include cirrhosis of the liver, and decreased ability to function socially and vocationally. (dictionary.com). It is also defined as an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness
Three things that I find interesting were nature verses nurture controversy because we as a human being always look at one side and make a huge deal of the stuff for example, negative behavior often credit to neighborhoods and environment. We do not see the nature affects the nurture and nurture affects the nature. Another one was genetic links because we do inherit certain gene from our parent for example, my mom is allergic to beef meat so as I and therefore, I’m unable to digest too. Next is outdoor play because playing has nothing to with vision especially when people believe watching TV constantly can dim our vision because many children in developing countries do not have access to television or internet and still got problems with
How is the nature vs nurture debate related to a consideration of the mental disorder, schizophrenia?
1. Some people have argued that the Johns Hopkins psychologist used this opportunity as an experiment to test his nurture theory of gender identity. What are the expected results of this experiment, assuming that the nurture theory is valid?
For years, the nature vs. nurture debate has always been a topic that biologists and psychologists cannot come to an agreement on. There have been many controversies that suggest that criminals are born and not made. Some biologists believe that it can be predicted whether or not a baby will grow up to have aggressive behavior by conducting research on them before they are born. In the early 20th century, biologists who supported the nature side of the debate were the same ones who believed traits such as learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and criminality were a drain on public resources . As a result, researchers believed they could ultimately control which human genes were passed on by using forced sterilization on women. However,
People are not born evil, but more shaped by how they are nurtured while growing up in their environment. The Nature vs. Nurture debate is one of psychology’s oldest arguments, yet it is still yet to be concluded (Sincero). However, nurture has a greater impact with regard to animal development than does nature due to a longevity of development, genetic myths, and impact on society. When asked about the nature vs. nurture matter, most people usually respond to the question by insisting that it is actually mixture of nature and nurture combined that influences a person’s future criminality (Lyon). However true this might be, the question now is: “Which one is more dominant: nature or nurture?”, and by dissecting each side’s supporting studies
Although sexuality researchers make a strong case that homosexuality has a biological basis, the continuous nature vs. nurture debate makes us hard to ignore possible social influences. Supporters of social causation coin a term “social constructionism”: different sexualities are products of and constructed by different culture, society and experience. Gagon and Simons (1973) opposed the essentialist view of sexuality and believed that “sexuality is not…[a] universal phenomenon which is the same in all historical times and cultural spaces” (Gagon, 1990, p.3). If sexual orientation is biologically defined then it should be consistent across cultures and species-universal. However, many studies state otherwise- there are observable variations. For instance, Kitzinger and Wilkinson (1995) found that women’s sexual orientation is fluid. Women are more likely to change their sexual orientation and display bisexual tendency. Most of them live as heterosexuals during earlier period, then self-identify as lesbians (Kitzinger&Wilkinson, 1995). Therefore, homosexuality is not an innate characteristic since intrinsic characteristics are resist to change. There are four major proposed social constructionist explanations.
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
What determines who you are or what you will become? The debate between nature versus nurture is trying to figure this out. According to “Essentials of Psychology”, Jeffrey S. Nevid (2012) Nature versus nurture is the debate about how genetics and nature determine our behavior. In other words, have your attitude, behavior and health problems developed because of how you were raised or who you came from. It is a debate that has stumped psychologists for centuries. The study of twins, both identical and fraternal, have made it easier for psychologists to figure out this debate. So what is the answer to this age old debate; Nature or Nurture?
For more than a century, researchers and psychologists, such as Sir Francis Galton, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and many others, have been trying to understand how people are transformed by their environment. Researchers have mainly argued whether it is in fact our environment or rather genetics, our biological pre-wiring, which has influenced human behavior. This concept ultimately facilitated what is now known as the Nature versus Nurture debate. The Nature aspect states that human behavior is predetermined by our inherited genes or is the product of our innate behavior. The Nurture side of the disagreement postulates that human behavior stems from acquired attributes through individual learning and experiences. Correspondingly, the Object Relations Theory in psychoanalytic psychology supports the position that a person’s natural environment (i.e. family, peers, acquaintances, society) forms human development. The Object Relations theory stresses that it is the relationships between people, more specially family, often between mother and child, that crafts the human psyche.