Preview

Nature vs Nurture Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
804 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nature vs Nurture Essay
The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been disputed for years. Nature vs. nurture refers to the question of which factors are most significant in determining development; those related to heredity or environment. It has been reported that some scientists think that “nature” is referred as the importance in heredity as the major determinate also known as “nature” the theory of human behavior. The nurture theory scientists believe that people think and behave in certain ways because they are taught to do so.

This is an ongoing debate and understandably so. I do believe that both nature and nurture play apart in development. Nature in my opinion I 'd suggest that one of the reasons that people believe in the nurture effect is that they also believe in an overarching assumption about the importance of timing of experiences. This latter assumption, called "infant determinism", the belief that experiences that occur in the first months and years of life have a more powerful influence on the individual than later events. In Jerome Kagan’s book, Three seductive ideas, the "seductive idea" ration that notable exception imply young children are occasionally said to be too young to remember unpleasant events. The connection with the nurture assumption, of course, is that the infant years are the period when nurturing places most demands on parents, and when poor care practices have the most immediate and obvious impacts on the child. Understood that evolutionary adaptation is a critical but short time in development. The imprinting process is reported to be resistant to change that the behavior is made to be innate, according to ethnological notions are crucial for human development (Kagan, 2000).

An additional apprehension in parsing the nurture assumption is that there is an clear alternative to the effect of nurture: that children 's genetic make-up determines their personalities and abilities. However, these two factors, heredity and experience, do



References: Harris, J. (2009). The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn out the Way They Do. New York: Free. New York: Print. Kagan, J. (2000). Three seductive ideas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP. Print. Nature versus nurture at AllExperts. (n.d.). Expert Archive Questions. Retrieved April 29, 2010, Retrieved from http://en.allexperts.com/e/n/na/nature_versus_nurture.htm

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The psychological debate of nature vs. nurture is one that has been considered and contradicted for many years. This debate is so controversial because although it is fact that genetic makeup does play a major role in developing a person, the nurture and environment in which a person is brought up in is also an important factor.…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Disaster in Franklin Co.

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Nature vs Nurture are studies that have been going on for years within the scientific community to explain multiple issues. Some studies will suggest that nature makes us who who are, meaning genetic factors are the major contributor of being who we are. These include what personality traits, intelligence, and emotional characteristics we will inherit from our parents. Thus, these studies ultimately state we are genetically predisposed in deciding who we become. On the other side of the debate is the nurture studies, meaning environmental factors are the major contributors to shaping us into who we are or become. This include your upbringing, your lifestyle, home environment and the way someone was interacted with, taught or treated as a young child.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whether nature or nurture has more of an influence over individual development is debatable and has been a common argument in the field of psychology for a long time. Nature refers to inherited traits and genes given to us at birth which we have no control over, and nurture refers to family, friends or society. The exchange between nature and nurture is dynamic and complex and both nature and nurture cause dynamic and continuous influence on development. The relationship between nature and nurture cannot be explained definitively and it is hard to determine which one influences human development more.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nature versus nurture is a huge controversy in today’s society, and has been argued over for many years. Some psychologists believe that nature is present rather than nurture, while some experts believe the opposite. Many also trust that it is a combination of the two. Although nurture was more obvious then nature in my development, they were both evident in cognitive…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With nature versus nurture being a widely discussed debate it is easy to tie into different situations. "The debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics” (McLeod).There is two sides to the debate nature…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For decades, nature versus nurture debate has been an ongoing argument among experts studying life span development. Those who believe that nature is the determining factor of development argue that genes determine an individual 's personality, attitudes, and behavior. The other side of the debate among experts is that nurture or experiences and environment have the most influence on development. Santrock states, "nature refers to an organism 's biological inheritance, nurture to its environmental experiences" (Santrock, 2007, p. 17). This paper will take the debate a little further by examining whether nature or nurture has more of an influence on children raised…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the past centuries, there has been an issued over whether heredity or environment plays a greater role in determining or shaping the human development. Nature is the abilities that are present at birth, as well as any abilities determined by genes, including which we develop as we get older. On the other hand, nurture is the processes caused by environment. Everything is learned through our interactions with our environment and as a result of our experiences. Some people believe that the nature affects our human development, while others believe that it is nurture that affects us, and some believe that both of these influence our behavior. However, it seems that nurture is more strongly influences early human development which caused by environment and experience. This essay will discuss the effects of nature and nurture and provide some evidences of why nurture has a stronger influence on human development.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nature vs. Nurture

    • 1323 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A lot of people wonder where they get their freckles from, or their edgy and thrill seeking personality. This type of curiosity about where people get their traits from brings about the worldwide debate on nature vs. nurture. There are scientists who argue that people develop characteristics mainly based on their genetic makeup, and then their are people who say that environment and social interactions has more to do with a person’s traits than do genes. People often question why people are the way they are. Nature and Nurture often have a big impact on a person, and can help in explaining why they are a certain way. The nature vs. nurture debate encompasses a variety of major topics, leading to the idea that both nature and nurture influences people in their behaviors and decisions.…

    • 1323 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    He discussed, “The source of these social disparities have often framed for public discourse in terms of the nature-nurture polarity.” (Keating, 2011). The behavior genetic findings of substantial heritability of a range of characteristics and newer technologies, and nurture have pointed to be strong regularities of social patterns as well as to the indeterminacy of genetic influence. Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are including early childhood experiences, social relationships and surrounding beliefs. Both components play a vital part in all lives. Nature is responsible for producing healthy, well developed babies. However, nurture plays an important role in the early stages of human development. Researcher believes that early human development focused due to nurture as it builds up on the talents provided by…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nature vs. Nurture

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Philosophers and psychologists have debated the question of nature vs. nurture for many years. It is considered to be controversial because a person’s genetics are a crucial part of their development; however, the environment and nurturing that a person receives also plays a significant role. Nature illustrates the development of a person’s appearance and some of their personality traits. Nurturing and the environment a person is brought up in, presents a better explanation in the development of a person, because each person is a reflection of the environment they grew up in.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nature vs Nurture

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Have you ever been curious about what makes you who you are? Nature versue nurture debates have been around for over a century. What started this controversy? What has more influence and is there any evidence that supports either theories today?…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is Nature Or Nurture?

    • 2393 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Nurture means that one's personality, development and addiction are based off of the environment they live in. The debate of nature vs nurture deals with understanding how a person becomes who they are. The debate questions if a person's personality is genetic or if it is a product of their environment?In order…

    • 2393 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nature-Nurture Argument

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The nature versus nurture issue is not new. In fact it has been around for ages, and scholars have still not concluded which of the two has a greater effect on a person. Nature, referring to heredity, is the belief of some scientists. “They think that people behave as…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cognitive Development

    • 333 Words
    • 1 Page

    A major controversy in cognitive development has been "nature and nurture", that is, the question if cognitive development is mainly determined by an…

    • 333 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today the way we consider human psychology and mental development is heavily influenced by the genetic sciences. We now understand the importance of inherited characteristics more than over before. Yet we are still unable to decide whether an individual’s personality and development are more influenced by genetic factors (nature) or by the environment (nurture).…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics