Nurture Shock Summary

Lying has is a part of our culture, and it seems as if not a day goes by where you do not lie at all. Our world could not exist as it does, if we lived in a society in which lying did not exist. However as humans, we are prone to lying, because of our need to protect ourselves, or the ones close to us, that we turn to lying in order to either make our lives easier or to avoid problems. Humans have adapted over time into societies where lying is an evolutionary advantage, which has made it a part of our DNA. Even children, as soon as they can talk, are using deception as a way to get what they want, and these children have not even had a chance to learn to lie. Lying also continues throughout our entire lives, because it is not something that we can help, it is a part of who we are. When evaluating the argument Stephanie Ericsson makes in “The Ways We Lie”, regarding the reasons we chose to lie, however it is also important to consider extending the argument to include the idea that lying is not only a daily occurrence, it has also become imbedded into human nature.

Children have a reputation for being innocent and naive. This is mainly because their experiences with the world are few and sheltered. As the children grow up they are exposed to more and more of the unfiltered world. Some parents do everything they can to keep their children from seeing that world. That is because as they see more of the world they become less innocent. Normally adults are the only ones who have truly lost their innocence. Unfortunately, there are exceptions, as there are to every rule, and they are not good. Children who have lost their innocence have had horrible things happen. Elie Wiesel writes in the novella Night how he lost his innocence. Elie has suffered a loss of innocence because he is desensitized, he has lost

This is a summary of Part 2 (chapters two through five) of The Nurture Effect by Anthony Biglan, PhD. Chapter two is titled ‘Nurturing Families.’ As one might imagine the chapter revolves around the topic of family. It discusses the importance of nurturing development during pregnancy and the first two years of the child’s life. The Nurse-Family Partnership program is talked about as a great solution for poor single teenage mothers. As the chapter continues it goes into topics related to the development of young children and adolescents. Specifically, emotional regulation and nurturing young children as well as the power of attuned, attentive interactions and the

In this clip, researchers are using babies to discover whether morality comes from birth or life experiences growing up. In the first study they tested several babies by using three puppets: one helping the puppet that is struggling and one not helping by being mean. They were then given the chance to select a puppet, more than three fourths of the babies took the nice puppet. This is evidence that babies know right from wrong even at a young age. In WDIAM chapter 7 “Right and Wrong” Nagel brings up the question, “Are right and wrong the same for everyone?” This clip seems to answer the question, yes because in the beginning of life everyone has a general sense of right and wrong. Everyone has a natural instinct of morality, but as people

A debate on whether or not Perry Smith was more controlled by nature and nurture when committing crimes is a hot topic. Most solemnly believe that this is what manipulated the actions that Perry took. According to www.simplypsychology.org, "Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual." Due to Perry Smith's exposure to abuse, the abandonment emotionally and physically from his family, and influential behavior from Dick, it led him to making extreme actions such as committing murder and other crimes.

I feel that nurture has affected who I am in my life more than nature for the life stage I am currently in. Outside factors such as my parents divorce, my larger quantity of siblings, living in the city and the opportunities that gives me have made a strong impact on my decision making and personality.

Genes influence every aspect of our physiology, development, and adaptation. Obesity seems to be no exception. Yet, even after reading this article and researching this topic, I still know relatively little regarding the complex interplay between our genetic makeup and our life experiences. The author of this article and the research contained within does little to clarify the role of nurture in the nature vs. nurture argument. Environmental causation is discussed only in terms of how environmental stress has the potential of becoming a part of one’s genetic makeup and therefore transferrable to future generations. It’s clear that genetic factors make a contribution to obesity risk, but not everyone who may be predisposed to obesity because

Family is like a roller coaster and is always changing and adapting as is needed. One day, a family may be permissive and allow their children to do as they please. However, the next day, the parents may feel it is necessary to use a dictatorial style where everything they say is essentially the law of the house. The last parenting style, authoritative, is when the rules are consistent and the parents are flexible. Depending on which of these styles a parent uses, the child will grow up in a different atmosphere that can influence their personality. This is the idea of nurture, whereas the idea of nature would be that the genetics of the parents, not their parenting style, is what decides the children’s characteristics. Arguably, authoritative parenting is the most effective and reliable, whereas permissive parenting can lead to a lack of stability within a family.

As a toddler develops into a child, he/she becomes aware of what is right and wrong. A child desires to find out what morals are and why their parents make the decisions that they do. Coles articulates that “… any parent who has listened closely to his/her child knows that the girls and boys are capable of wandering about matters of morality…” (2003, p.439). Coles suggests that if a parent is willing to pay close attention to what his/her child asks, a parent will realize that children are indeed able to and need to ask those challenging moral

Most people tell lies directed at children. Some lie as a way to shield innocents from situations that are potentially dangerous or hard to understand. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Christopher’s

Stephanie Ericsson categorizes the many ways people lie on a daily basis. She uses a mixture of facts, quotes and opinions to capture the severity of telling a lie. Her article has enabled me to understand the thought process that goes behind telling a lie. She justifies minor lies by using ethos and stating that minor lies prevents hurt feelings and that it is normal to lie. Stephanie frequently asks rhetorical questions to make readers think of the matter at hand. She also uses anaphora to seem more relatable and understanding to her readers. I tell minor lies on a daily basis but I did not realize that there is so many different types of lies. i and many other people often rationalize with ourselves to make our lies seem less harmful when

Are people designed or defined? Some say that people are designed a certain way by their inherited traits. Others say people are defined by the way in which they were raised and the way they’ve been treated by life. In the case of Perry Smith, nurture seems to have cast the deciding vote in his life. Nature has been trumped by nurture in deciding the way Perry Smith's inner thoughts, feelings, and actions have been shaped.

Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman in their article “why kids lie” (p80). States that parents often fail to address early childhood lying, since the lying is almost innocent. Their child’s too young to know what lies are, or that lying’s wrong. When the child gets older and learns that lies are bad, parents believe that lying will stop. A child who is going to lie must recognize the truth, intellectually conceive of an alternate reality, and be able to convincingly sell that new reality to someone else. When children first begin to lying, they lie to avoid punishment, and because of that they lie indiscriminately. One short example is, if there are two kids in room and one of them broke a television the more intelligent will call their mom to tell that he wasn’t the responsible that was his brother. By the time a child reaches school age, her reasons for lying

Do you believe that children know right from wrong the moment they start to lie? I do, because the moment they don’t listen to you or do something wrong knowing it is wrong but they do it anyway, that’s when they know right from wrong. Two to thirteen year olds are a prime example. But the biggest example is teenagers. Teenagers do crazy stuff that can get them in trouble just to be cool. That’s mostly why we have so many teens going to jail.

First of all, each and every child should hold the moral value of honesty and integrity. Each and every child should learn to be honest, no matter what. If one is honest, others admire them. For example, if a child has done something wrong, the child should be honest about it. Generally, I feel that this moral value is critical because it matters so much in life. If it is not a value someone contains, they will have a hard time in life, and people will have a difficult time trusting them. If you look at it one way, I have always believed that forming bonds of trust and trustworthy relationships are the strongest. Therefore, this correlates back to honesty and integrity, because trust forms when one is honest, and always tells the truth. This moral value has always been emphasized in my family origins, and that is why it is so important to me. My religion, Hinduism, does believe in honesty (as it is written in the “Gita”), and as we learn about Hinduism