Nature vs. Nurture Essay

To begin this essay, it is essential to define some key terms. The Nature-Nurture debate argues whether our behaviour is as a result of our biology (such as our genes or neurochemistry), or if our behaviour arises from learning from others. For the purpose of this essay, a bully is defined as “a person who uses their strength or power to hurt or frighten people who are weaker” (Oxford Student’s dictionary, 2007). It is essential to investigate why bullying occurs and how to prevent it as bullies as well as their victims are likely to develop mental health problems. Children and adolescents who bully often develop increased levels of negative mental health outcomes in adulthood, as shown in Copeland, Wolk & Angold et al’s (2013) study; 9.4%

One of the oldest debates in psychology is nature versus nurture. Nature is the inborn, innate character of an organism. (Spencer A. Rathus pg. 56) Nurture is the sum total of the environmental factors that affect an organism from conception onward. (Spencer A. Rathus pg. 56) Basically nature is what you have from heredity and nurture is you environmental influences.

One of the most enduring debates in the field of psychology is the controversial idea of nature vs. nurture. Throughout the endless history of the debate, no clear conclusion has been met, only hypotheses have been formed. At the center of the debate, human behaviors, ideas, and feelings are being determined, whether they are learned or inherited. Determining physical traits, such as eye color or hair color, are simple because they are hereditary traits. The idea of having a certain personality, intelligence, or ability is under discussion because scientists cannot determine if these traits are learned, or predetermined by genes.

Is the question really Nature versus Nurture or is it Nature working with Nurture? These two forces work together to form a person throughout his or her life. Some scientists believe that personality is based on genetic predispositions, which is known as nature. Other scientists believe the way a person acts is from life experiences, the way a person is taught, and the environment in which a person grew up is known as nurture. In all honesty, the two go hand in hand. One side may pull a bit harder from time to time but the two never fully let go. According to John Watson, one of the strongest psychologists who propose environmental learning as a dominating side in the nature versus nurture debate once said that he can be able to train a baby randomly chosen in a group of 12 infants, to become any type of specialist Watson wants. He stated that he could train him to be such regardless of the child 's potentialities, talents and race. Lerner (2002) expressed a similar position that human behavior cannot be fully understood without mentioning the changing relationship between human and the contextual environment. Nature and nurture have influences towards many aspects such as, personality, intelligence and physical development.

Throughout my nineteen years of living I have gone through many events and have had many influences, both good and bad. Only a few of these events I would consider significant. I believe that both nature and nurture played a role in these significant events. Nurture had the biggest impact in my life and how I am today.

Nature versus Nurture is the issue of the degree to which environment and heredity influence behavior and development. In this issue nature can be defined as, behaviors due to heredity. Which means behaviors are based on the genetic makeup of an individual and is an influence of the individuals' growth and development throughout life. On the other hand nurture are causes of behaviors that are environmental. Which means the influence is from, parents, siblings, family, friends and all other experiences to which the individual is exposed to.

Though the Nature vs Nurture argument has been going on for years and scientist still have no completely yes or no about on or the other its is your opinion and your decision about which side you take. I support the yes for nature side because to me it is all about where you grow up and how you were raised. The human nature is to do something that is wrong if you are not told that that is wrong. If your parents don't care about what you do and let you get away with anything than you will not know about what is right and what is wrong. If your parents teach you the values of life, how to have manners and everything else a good parent would teach their kid then they will be more respectful and have manners.

In today's society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind, and it is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior often stems from both biological and environmental factors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits which the general population do not usually have. For example criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted individuals. However biological reasons cannot solely be the cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, one must look to other sources as to how a criminal mind is developed. Social and environmental factors also are at fault for developing

1) Use the example of feral children to construct an argument in the nature versus nurture debate.

easily traced as far back as the start of the present century with at least some

When we think of the word nature what comes to mind often is trees and birds or the way the wind blows . In this case we are talking about nature in a way that involves genetics.

From Dr. Money’s perspective, raising Bruce as a girl would allow him to live a “normal” life, if he were to live his life without a penis, he would be seen as an outsider and rejected from society. He also suggested to put Bruce on estrogen, but also surgically give him a cosmetic vagina. Dr. Money explained to Ron and Janet that Bruce/Brenda, would psychologically mature as a woman, and be attracted to men, as well as be able to have sexual intecourse, without a problem. According to Bruce’s parents, there was no reason “that it shouldn’t work” (50). However, they could have thought it out thoroughly, what if Brenda didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin? Would she feel as though something is wrong with her? This is where the topic of

The theory of Nature vs Nurture is the controversial notion that people are born a certain way, as opposed to the concept that people are a result of the environments they have been molded by. I am wholeheartedly a result of the environment I was raised up in, however, I am also proudly a deviation of the ambiance of the Western Bronx. As I step out of my building, the obnoxious slam of Domino pieces hitting tables and Bachata music blasting from cars infiltrates the aura of Marble Hill. This was a typical day in 228th Street’s tightknit community. As a Dominican, we are constantly making the best out of the difficult cards we are dealt. We, Dominicans, come here for a better life, yet our success stops at minimum-wage jobs. You are faced with a dilemma when you come from a place like I do:

     For the past five weeks we have studied three different but influential people in our perspective on human nature class. They are Freud, Plato and Tzu. The main discussion between all of them is nature versus nurture. I will discuss the difference between nature and nurture and then I’ll apply to each of these philosophers and how they react to it.

Throughout this paper, we will be comparing similarities and differences between our seven members based on the Big Five Inventory test results to our Zodiac sign attributes. Each member of Psychology 101 Group 14 was required to take the OCEAN Big Personality Quiz, and then compare the results to the other members of the team. Then after looking at the results individual members compared their scores to their Zodiac signs to see if they could identify similarities.