Nature Vs Nurture Debate

Over recent years the nature vs. nurture debate has been extensively discussed and researched. Should human characteristics such as intelligence, personality, behavior and ability be attributed to our genetics or our environment? One problem with this is how to pin a trait down to either an inherited or learned characteristic, or perhaps it’s both.

Are we to blame for our behavior or is inevitable due to our genetics? This question and others seems to be part of the controversy over the subject. Also, these questions play a factor in how to change and adapt behavior. Different techniques would be more effective depending on the cause of a particular behavior or characteristic.

When analyzing the causes of behavior problems in children the
Both of these studies looked exclusively at one cause or the other with little being discussed about the other possibilities. The differences in the studies was the length of time given to each study with the genetic study being short term and the childcare study involving observations over a period of time. Another difference is the twin study looked at parents of a specific group, that being twins. The child care study looked at the children of many different types of parents.

While both of these studies have their merits, neither study was able to conclusively determine the cause of behavioral problems observed as being attributed solely to genetics or the environment. The question of which one plays a greater role will likely continue to be asked. Hopefully this leads to more research and answers that will further our understanding of human behavior.

ReferencesSociety for Research in Child Development (2007, March 26). Center-based Care Yields More Behavior Problems; In Other Types Of Care, Problems Short-lived. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬