Nature Vs Nurture

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?

“Twins have been the heart and soul of the nature versus nurture debate for over a century” (Plicher 1). Scientists and psychologists believe that because identical twins share 100% of the same genes, that studying twins, would benefit in proving the theory. Twins that are separated at birth end up living in different environments. Because they grow up differently, scientists and psychologists are able to analyze the genetic and environmental influences that shape the twins personalities. Even though the discussion of the nature versus nurture topic has not yet been proven, some feel nurture wins. The study of twins contributes to the debate of nature versus nurture and whether the environment or genetics affects the development of personality.

Studies of the human brain have been done multiple times and it has been concluded that “those who had been convicted of murder with aggression or antisocial disorders showed distinct brain activity as compared to those who were normal. Those brain scans showed a relationship between the orbital frontal cortex, the anterior cingulated cortex, and the amygdale, which plays a large part in controlling negative and violent emotions” (Coleman et al. 2). Mental illness is something very serious that, if diagnosed at a relatively young age can be controlled by medication and counseling. The problem lies within those who either don’t receive medical treatment or don’t follow doctor’s orders when it comes to treatment regiments. For example, a schizoid patient following a doctor’s order may very well be an upstanding member of society. But when medication is no longer being taken, that person will be more likely to give into the urges given by the voices inside their head. Many serial killers are also considered to be psychopaths: a psychopathy is “a neurodevelopmental disorder, one which a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as neglect or poor bonding with parents, lead to deficits in the brain” (Anderssen and Mcllroy 1). Psychopaths are unable to feel empathy, kindness, and in some cases they even struggle with feeling love. Psychopaths experience these symptoms from a young age and are often very violent as children. The corpus callosum is frequently different structure wise, it is part in the brain that connects the left and right side while controlling someone’s ability to control other people. Psychologists and Psychiatrists “generally agree that factors outside a killer’s control, such as their upbringing and hereditary background, can have a defining effect on the way they behave as adults”

Nature or Nurture. Nature may be all of the genes and hereditary factors with which influence them to become who they are such as physical appearances and personality characteristics. Nurturing impacts people’s lives as well as how they are raised and all the environmental factors. In combination, these qualities can be the true identity of oneself. Many people may argue that nurture appears to a play huge factor in the two, but others may think otherwise. Not having both as a characteristic can have a negative effect on a person physically and mentally. The debate of nature versus nurture appears to be the oldest argument known to man, and it still remains to be unanswered. In the old-age argument nature versus nurture, nature may play a huge role in determining a person’s true identity.

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

Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick, the famous identical twins from the movie The Parent Trap, were separated at a young age by their divorcing parents. Sharon grew up in Boston to a socialite mother while Susan grew up in California on her father’s ranch. Sharon had structure while Susan’s life was very laid back. They looked the same and liked many of the same things, yet their personalities were very different. What is responsible for these differences? Is it simply that they are two different people with different interests and preferences? Or did the environments that they grew up in play a part in making who they are? In the nature vs. nurture controversy, nature proclaims that our genetic make-up plays the primary role in human

Psychologist Donald Hebb once answered the question of nature vs. nurture by responding with a similar question, “Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?” I find this to be a very interesting and true argument. As we know, a rectangle’s area can be determined by multiplying its length by its width, or vice versa. If either one of these variables is unknown, you cannot determine what the area is. They both have an equal contribution to the equation. Similarly, it is impossible to single out either nature or nurture as the reason that somebody becomes a psychopath. They both contribute equally to the equation.

There are many different ways that behavior can be explained, especially on the terms of nature vs. nurture. Aggression is a behavior that has been extensively analyzed in a complex manner and the causes of it can be explained many different ways. Aggression can be defined as hostile or destructive behavior that can cause injury or destructive outlook especially when caused by frustration. Nature can be defined as aspects of behavior that have been inherited or are genetic, while nurture is all aspects that are influenced by environmental characteristics and experience. Many factors, both biological and environmental, influence and promote aggressive behaviors, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, genetics, family life, past experiences, and hobbies.

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

In society, not one person is alike. By saying this, many people believe that they strongly take after their parents. Meaning they think Nature is a big part in their life and why they are who they are. The genes in each cell in us humans determine the different traits that we have, more dominantly on the physical connections like eye color, hair color, ear size, height, and other traits. However, it is still not known whether the more abstract attributes like personality, intelligence, sexual orientation, likes and dislikes are gene-coded in our DNA. The nurture theory has experiments showing a child’s behavior with the environment as to adult behavior. In the Nature Vs Nurture debate, everyone has their own thoughts and ideas on each

Are nefarious people born the way they are or do they learn their ‘corrupt’ behaviors? This is the biggest conflict in psychology, the battle between nature and nurture and which factor has the most significant impact on human behavior; nonetheless, nurture has the largest impact on human behavior. “Nature is the predisposition one is born with while nurture includes how one is shaped by his or her family, friends, and the environment.” (Guo). Some scientists believe nature has the biggest impact, but nurture has the largest impact on behaviors because of influences such as friends and peers, family incomes, household environments, and overall environment.

Growing up was an interesting time for me. I believe that both nature and nurture played a role in my development growing up. Nature is the influence genetic has on development. Nurture is the influence the environment around us has on our development (Levine & Munsch). The reason I think nature played a big role for me growing up is because in a lot of ways, I acted as my mother did.

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.

Aim: To calculate meta-analytic estimates of heritability in liability and shared an individual – specific environmental effects from the pooled twin data.

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.