Nature And Nurture Debate

The nature vs nurture debate is one of the oldest and most argued debates throughout psychology. It has been analyzed by some of psychology's most reputable theorists for hundreds of years. The nature-nurture debate asks the question of whether an individuals intelligence, attitude, and behaviors are due to their life experiences, environment, or surroundings. Or, if they are based on ones DNA , genetic predispositions, and inherited intellects of their blood relatives (heritability). Currently standing, it is still undetermined whether or not a persons intellect is due to nature or nurture primarily, and to what extent. It is confirmed that both nature and nurture play extensive and vital roles in human development and intelligence, but its
This debate gives explanations for these things, from two different perspectives and reasonings to back it up. Nature-nurture touches topics such as one’s IQ score and people with various relationships; as far as to the effects of race and gender, effecting individuals development and intellect. Being able to look deeper into some of these topics, helps us further understand several aspects of cognition, language, and intelligence. These topics are very important in understanding human development as a universal topic, and are analyzed throughout several parts of
These include early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social and peer relationships, and our culture. Theorists who back up this philosophy believe environmental factors are the genuine influences of our behavior. One of the ways we address this theory with psychological research has been through analyzing infants. This has been tested on multiple accounts, however, according to “John Watson, one of the strongest psychologists who proposed environmental learning as a dominating side in the nature vs 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.” This perspective on development contradicts the beliefs and studies of the nature philosophers.

In conclusion, we are left with the baffling question: Are we born the way we are way, or do we behave according to our life experiences? The nature vs nurture debate continues on and on, however, it is factual that we carry traits that are predetermined by our genes, however, we can choose who we want to be as we travel through our lifetime. Most psychologists agree that both nature and nurture play a key role in intelligence and development; but the question remains of the proportions contributed by