Nature Vs Nurture Debate
Nature vs Nurture
Jennifer Lail
WGU
Nature vs Nurture
The debate on Nature vs Nurture is one of great controversy that has been studied for over 130 years. I would like to discuss and focus on the basic elements of the Nature vs Nurture controversy, this debate centers around the importance of a persons inherited qualities versus personal experience in determining a person’s differences in behavioral and physical traits.
Nature refers to a person’s innate characteristics. Ones genetics are considered nature. A persons physical and personality traits will ultimately always remain the same. Nurture refers to one’s personal experiences, the experiences they have absorbed since birth from their environment. A persons traits are predetermined …show more content…
They believe that our behavioral aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our upbringing. Studies in infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for the nurture theory. (Eisenberg, 2005).
The first study I’d like to discuss is called “The little Albert experiment”. This experiment was conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson. The participant in the experiment was a child called “Albert B”. Around the age of 9 months the child was exposed to a series of stimuli including a white rat, rabbit, monkey, masks, and a burning newspaper. After exposer to the above stimuli the observers noted the boy’s reactions. Initially the boy showed no fear of any of the above objects.
The next time Albert was exposed to the rat, Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer. Albert began to cry with the addition of the loud noise. Over time the boy began to cry at just the site of the rat and would try to crawl away. This is what is called classic conditioning. Classic conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. (Cherry, …show more content…
The results for the DZ twin pairs showed considerable similarities in their responses to all 5 cartoons. There was a lack of correlation in MZ twins compared to DZ twin pairs indicated that shared environment which may include family environment, education, peer influence rather than genetic influence were the biggest contributors to the similarities in the Reponses to the cartoons. (Cherry, nd).
The results confirmed that without genetic factors and with shared and unique environment only provided the best explanation of the data with in each of the multivariate models tested. Genetic factors offered no significant contribution to the conclusion of the study results. This study is similar in the fact that nurture or environment has the biggest impact on ones development in all aspects of life.
In the “Little Albert” study when exposed to stimuli that caused a fear response to the white rat. This exposure created a deep rooted fear of rats where the subject would otherwise not be fearful if the exposure had never occurred. This proves that our environment can have a tremendous impact on our
Jennifer Lail
WGU
Nature vs Nurture
The debate on Nature vs Nurture is one of great controversy that has been studied for over 130 years. I would like to discuss and focus on the basic elements of the Nature vs Nurture controversy, this debate centers around the importance of a persons inherited qualities versus personal experience in determining a person’s differences in behavioral and physical traits.
Nature refers to a person’s innate characteristics. Ones genetics are considered nature. A persons physical and personality traits will ultimately always remain the same. Nurture refers to one’s personal experiences, the experiences they have absorbed since birth from their environment. A persons traits are predetermined …show more content…
They believe that our behavioral aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our upbringing. Studies in infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for the nurture theory. (Eisenberg, 2005).
The first study I’d like to discuss is called “The little Albert experiment”. This experiment was conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson. The participant in the experiment was a child called “Albert B”. Around the age of 9 months the child was exposed to a series of stimuli including a white rat, rabbit, monkey, masks, and a burning newspaper. After exposer to the above stimuli the observers noted the boy’s reactions. Initially the boy showed no fear of any of the above objects.
The next time Albert was exposed to the rat, Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer. Albert began to cry with the addition of the loud noise. Over time the boy began to cry at just the site of the rat and would try to crawl away. This is what is called classic conditioning. Classic conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. (Cherry, …show more content…
The results for the DZ twin pairs showed considerable similarities in their responses to all 5 cartoons. There was a lack of correlation in MZ twins compared to DZ twin pairs indicated that shared environment which may include family environment, education, peer influence rather than genetic influence were the biggest contributors to the similarities in the Reponses to the cartoons. (Cherry, nd).
The results confirmed that without genetic factors and with shared and unique environment only provided the best explanation of the data with in each of the multivariate models tested. Genetic factors offered no significant contribution to the conclusion of the study results. This study is similar in the fact that nurture or environment has the biggest impact on ones development in all aspects of life.
In the “Little Albert” study when exposed to stimuli that caused a fear response to the white rat. This exposure created a deep rooted fear of rats where the subject would otherwise not be fearful if the exposure had never occurred. This proves that our environment can have a tremendous impact on our