Nature Vs Nurture

Nature vs Nurture
The developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that studies and examines our physical, cognitive and social development across the life span. One of the main topics of developmental psychology is the nature vs nurture debate.
The nature vs nurture debate discuss if behavior and development is driven by genes or by experience. Genes are nature. Nature is the inborn, biological factors, the things you were born with. People who believe that nature defines your personality and behavior are known as nativists. There have been several studies to try to prove that nature defines behavior. The principal studies are the twin studies. In the twin studies they compare identical twins versus fraternal twins. The idea is that identical twins share the same DNA and all twins have the same environment. So if the identical twins show more similarities that means that is the DNA which defines personality. The results of the study were that identical twins have more similar cognitive abilities and more similar personalities. But, they started thinking what if identical twins have a more identical environment? So, as a result of this question another study showed up. The twin-adoption studies compared identical and fraternal twins when they are separated at birth and adopted by different families. These studies showed that identical twins are more similar to their biological siblings and parents in personality, cognitive abilities and psychological disorders, even though they haven’t met them before. The conclusion for all of these studies is that genes play a large role in personality, cognitive abilities and psychological disorders. On the other hand, there is nurture. Nurture is the experiential environmental factors. People who believe that behavior is the result of only the experience and that the mind is like a blank slate (tabula rasa) are known as empiricists. Nurture has to do with the way you were raised, the whole process of attachment. Attachment is an emotional bond between the child and the caregiver. The type of attachment between a child and his mom can affect the child’s personality. There are two types of attachment, secure attachment and insecure attachment. Secure attachment is when the caregiver is a secure base, the child can be curious because he knows his mother will be there. And, insecure attachment where the kid will be clingy or unresponsive and uncommunicative towards other people because he does not know if his mother will be there for him. The determinants of human attachment are, physical contact, familiarity, parental responsiveness, previous attachment and temperament. These are important because depending on your attachment as a kid you will have a different behavior later on. Parental responsiveness determines a part of the attachment and the attachment determines later relationships. Sensitive, responsive caretakers create securely attached children who will probably be trusting in later relationships. Insensitive, unresponsive caretakers create insecurely attached children. There are two types of insecurely attached bonds. Cold and rejecting parents will create an avoidant attachment; these children in later relationships will be untrusting and will have intimacy issues. And, ambivalent and inconsistent parents will create an anxious-ambivalent attachment; these children in later relationships will be preoccupied with love, will expect rejection and will be jealous. So, with all of the information above we can answer the question “Which drives behavior and development?” The answer is both. People’s nature can affect their nurture. For example, if a child cries all the time and has a strong temperament it is more difficult to be sensitive towards the child, thus not being a great parent and not creating a securely attached bond. And, People’s nurture can affect their nature. For instance, abuse in a child can change the brain physiology.