Throughout the early 1900s, the nature-nurture debate (also referred to as heredity-environment and maturation-learning) was the center of lively controversy. With emerging psychologists such as Edward Thorndike, John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and many others, the behaviorist theory surfaced into the realm of psychology and with it, the idea that all human behavior is learned. In terms of the nature and nurture of heightened human capabilities, this idea contradicted the accepted belief that talent was inherited, a belief established by Sir Francis Galton in 1896 with his work, Hereditary Genius. Although psychologists agreed both were necessary to an extent, the debate centered itself around which one had more impact and how much was needed to be evident in gifted individuals. That is until it took a new form in 1958 in Anne Anastasi’s presidential address to the American Psychological Association, “Heredity, Environment, and the Question ‘How?’”, in which the focus shifted from “which” to the manner of interaction between the two and how they interacted to produce examples of high ability or talent. Anastasi is best known for her work in the development of psychometrics, the technique and theory of psychological measurement. The basis of the nature-nurture debate on talent has become: How much of any characteristic, behavior, or emotion is the result of genes and how much is the result of specific experiences? On one extreme, psychologists of the biological perspective are predisposed to believe that most traits are inborn, that some individuals are innately musically inclined while others are not. On the other side, behaviorists stress nurture, either crediting or blaming non-hereditary factors, such as experience, practic... ... middle of paper ... ...del." Psychological Review. 106.3 (1999): 435-457. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Winner, Ellen. "The Origins and Ends of Giftedness."American Psychologist. 55.1 (2000): 159-169. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Works Consulted Amabile, Teresa M. "The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization." Journal of personality and social psychology. 45.2 (1983): 357-376. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. Berger, Kathleen Strassen. Invitation to the Life Span. 2nd ed. Worth Publishers, Incorporated, 2013. 194-199, 304. eBook. Evans, Robert J., Robert Bickel, and Edwina D. Pendarvis. "Musical Talent: Innate or Acquired? Perceptions of Students, Parents, and Teachers." Gifted Child Quarterly. 44.2 (2000): 80-90. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. Hollingworth, Letta Stetter. Special talents and defects : their significance for education. 1st ed. London: MacMillan and Co., 1926. 202-221. Web.
Sigelman, C., & Rider, E. (2012). Life- span human development . (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Today’s generation needs to be able to fend for itself when its members join the workforce and start families of their own. A child’s success is the dream of many parents, but kids need to posses that dream for themselves, whether they are born with it or not. Medical histories are just another example of the Nature vs. Nurture debate that can relate to almost everyone. There are some diseases, like diabetes, Huntington’s disease, and heart failure, that are common in families due to genetics. There are also those that are entirely separate from genetics, but are contracted, like Cholera. Many things can make a person who he or she is, but where it comes from is the trick. A personality can be made either through the genetics passed down from parents, or the experiences that one faces throughout his or her entire
Kuttler, Ami Flam. “Gifted/IQ Evaluations.” Ami Flam Kuttler, Ph. D 2011. Web. 31 October 2011.
Loveless, T. (1998). The tracking and ability grouping debate. Retrieved April 20, 2004 from http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=127
1. The nature vs. nurture question: “How much of any given characteristic, behavior, or pattern of development is determined by genetic influence and how much is the result of the myriad experience that occurs after conception.” I believe that a person cannot develop properly through only one of the influences. Chapter 1 deals with controversies of nature vs. nurture. Chapter 2, Leaning Theory that falls under the nature issues of capacities and limitations and the cognitive theory which falls under the nurture issue of cultural and how it affects behavior. Chapter 3, is Genetic code, which is nature, genetic influences. Chapter 4, Development and Birth is nurture, environment and embryo influence. Chapter 5, is both nature and nurture. Dealing with subjects of motor skills and physical growth. Chapter 6, is cognitive learning, which is nurture. Chapter 7, is Psychosocial dealing with falling under nature.
...ouglas A. (2002). What's Wrong with Doug? The Academic Struggles of a Gifted Student with ADHD from Preschool to College. Gifted Child Today, 25, 48-59 http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=EJ657356&db=eric
Whether giftedness is a product of nature or created through nurture is a controversial discussion. However, Winner (2000), Colangelo & Davis (2003), Mrazik & Dombrowski (2010) all agree the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The idea of giftedness is often evaluated under the premise of expertness or mastery. Do all gifted children become masters or experts of their gifted area? Can people become gifted through extensive training (which is required for expertness)? Winner states that families cannot make a child become gifted, however, certain parenting styles that combine nurturance and stimulation can help maintain and nurture the gift. Winner reviewed many studies on hard work, perseverance, and practice, none of which can explain the origins of giftedness, but are very necessary for high achievement. Colangelo and Davis propose that high intelligence alone will not provide high levels of achievement, but may be necessary for achievement.
Loehlin, John C., Lindzey Gardner, and J.N. Spuhler. Race Differences in Intelligence. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1975.
One of the oldest arguments in psychology is the nature versus nurture debate. This debate focuses on if the contributions of genetic inheritance or the environment plays a role in human development. As always, there are two sides of every debate. In this case, there are the nativists, who believe human development is determined by genetics, and there are the empiricists, who believe that development is the result of learning and the person’s environment. Philosophers from centuries ago, such as Plato, suggested that certain aspects of human life are innate or that they occur because of someone’s environment. However on the contrary, John Locke believed in the “blank slate” on the nurture side of the debate. According to Locke, humans are determined and molded into the people they are by their experiences or learning. There have been countless of twin studies, showing that genetics does play a role in human development, but on the empiricist’s behalf, there have also been many cases, like Oxana Malaya, who was practically raised by dogs because of her parent’s abandonment and started...
Exploring Lifespan Development (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Levy-Hinte, J. & Sons, J. London, M. (Producer), & Hardwicke, C. (Director). (2003). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'.
One of the most controversial things about gifted and talented education is the criterion educators use to identify the gifted and talented. In the past, a student’s intelligence, based on an I.Q. score, was considered the best way to determine whether or not they qualified as gifted. As a result of using this method of identification, many gifted and talented students are not discovered nor are they placed in the appropriate programs to develop their abilities. Talents in the arts or an excellent ability to write are not measured on an I.Q. test but are abilities that may certainly qualify a student as gifted or talented.
... have come to the conclusion that genetics is very important for the development of personality but even they have to determine how these genes are investigated for the purpose of determining a particular personality. “What scientists have found is that there does not appear to be a single gene for a particular trait, but that genes show their effects by working together in complex combinations. For example, there is no single gene for dancing or music. Whether a child will be musically inclined will be determined by the way that child's genes interact with one another. Some parents would like to believe that by creating an environment rich in music while the child is young will develop the child's talent towards music. However, despite assumptions like this, there is no evidence that shows long term effects of growing up in a particular environment” (Pinker, 2003).
Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to The Life Span (Second Edition). Unite State of America: Worth Publishers.
...e. Social Cognitive theories help to provide a significant understanding to gifted underachievement as this particular theory states that
Nature vs. nurture has been discussed by philosophers in the past and by scientists more recently. Philosophers such as Plato argued that all knowledge was inherited from your parents and when you were told something you didn’t learn it you were just reminded of it. Aristotle however argued that all humans were born with a blank slate and built on it with influence from there environment. In the 1700’s the empiricists and the internalists took over the argument. They fought through letters explaining there point of views and denouncing the others. This leads to Pavlov coming up with the idea of behaviorism in the early 1900‘s. Behaviorism became the new wave of Psychology and influenced a lean towards the nurture side. It was not effectively argued against until 1928 when Watson published his book. This opened up the floodgates for environmental influences studies. Soon the idea of nurture was the popular excuse for behavior. Studies using animals were the most popular was in which scientists used to prove a theory, or disprove a theory. The newest studies use human twins to prove nature vs. nurture.