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Psychology nature vs nurture explain
Nature and nurture in psychology
Heredity Versus Environment: Twin, Adoption, and Family Studies
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How adoption and twin studies have influenced the “nature verses nurture debate” has been a focal point for many researchers and people around the world which has caused controversy and many views regarding the topic. “Twin studies look into behaviour in identical and none identical twins and adoption studies separate the effect of nature from nurture, or at least do more successfully than twin studies.” ("The Usefullness of Twin Studies and Adoption Studies | psuea7", 2011, p.1) These studies are used to provide plenty of strong and reliable evidence that and positively influence the Nature vs. Nurture debate. “The Nature vs. Nurture debate is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behaviour, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Nature is often defined in this debate as genetic or hormone-based behaviours, while nurture is most commonly defined as environment and experience.” (("Nature vs. Nurture", 2014, p.1) Many controversial debates have surrounded this issue and many researchers are trying to find evidence to justify if twin and adoption studies have an effect on the nature vs. nurture debate. Twin and adoption studies have had a positive influence on the nature-nurture debate because research and evidence has identified different issues and quality information to help the nature-nurture debate evolve. This essay will outline these positive influences and will elaborate on the research and evidence that has helped the nature-nurture debate. The three influences of twin and adoption studies that will be discussed are the influence of researching the affects of behavioural issues such as schizophrenia, the influence of undergoing research on the drinking affects an... ... middle of paper ... ...supported that genetics and nature have a larger impact on whether the child would develop drinking issues. Lastly, the twin and adoption study that provided beneficial support for the nature-nurture debate was the impact on personality of each twin. Support is provided to suggest that genetics and nature have a bigger impact on the personality of the twin due to the similarity in characteristics and personality of separated twins. Although there are still many view points and various information that supports both sides of the argument, the result of these studies have been beneficial for the nature-nurture debate. Through the research and evidence that has been presented, it can be seen that twin and adoption studies have had a positive influence on the nature-nurture debate as the information has provided evidence to support agreements surrounding the debate.
I think that there must be a balance between nature and nurture regarding what behaviors or disorders we develop. I have personal experience with this concerning depression. I have an older sibling, they are only 16 months older than me so we developed, grew and learned generally around the same time. We were raised in the same environment, went through the same hardships and enjoyed fun times with our family. As adults we both are successful in post secondary; we both also have the same straightforward and determined attitude when it comes to meeting our goals. However despite how similar we are, my sibling very recently was diagnosed with manic depression as well as paranoid psychosis. Despite our identical environment and our genetic similarities only one of us has developed a mental illness. If only nature or nurture were responsible for characteristics or disorders we develop; by that school of thought I would have also been living with something similar to my sibling. This difference reinforces my opinion that all behaviors and disorders are a result of a spectrum of variability between the influences of our genetic susceptibility and our environmental
nurture argument. Theorists have wondered how much of development is affected by genetics and the environment. Ultimately, nature and nurture intertwine to shape the lives of children. Nature may predispose children to certain behaviors if placed in specific environments, however the timing of the environmental exposure and the child’s natural tendencies also play a role. Theorists have also discussed the extent to which development is universal and how much of it is unique to individuals. There are consistencies that have been noted universally yet; theorists have observed variations in their competency in different tasks and way of life that may be contributed to genetics or the environment. Lastly, theorists debate about whether changes in development can be portrayed as qualitative where it involves dramatic changes or quantitative in which development is a steady progression. These debates have merits independently but require each other for a better understanding of child
“The term “nature versus nurture” is used to refer to a long-running scientific debate. The source of debate is the question of which has a greater influence on development: someone's innate characteristics provided by genetics, or someone's environment. In fact, the nature versus nurture debate has been largely termed obsolete by many researchers, because both innate characteristics and environment play a huge role in development, and they often intersect”. (Smith, 2010 p. 1)
In the adopting method, behavioral geneticists study children adopted shortly after birth. By comparing their abilities and personality traits to those o their adoptive family members with whom they live and those of their biological parents whom they may have met, researchers can disentangle the effect of heredity and environment (Plomin et al., 19...
The discussion of nature versus nurture is always highly debated. However, it is not that simple of it being one or the other. Rather that nature and nurture go hand and hand. So much of what makes up a person is not done consciously but lies in the unconscious. How a person views themselves is dependent on what that person does in their life. The negative outlook can form a negative self -view that will hinder a person’s achievements. A person develops and matures over time with life experiences shaping who they end up becoming. Positive experiences can shape a person’s personality for the better. What is positive to one person may not be seen as positive to another. Rewards and punishments are motivations of behavior. People are likely
Nature versus nurture is concerned with what aspects of our behaviors are inherited or genetic and what characteristics are learned or acquired. Nature is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is usually the influence of external factors such as experience and learning on as an individual. This debate is about the influence of an individual inherited features as opposed to the experiences from the environment, when determining individual differences in the physical and behavioral traits. Many famous philosophers have also contributed their views and research on how behavior is learned.
Nature vs. nurture is a debate that comes up with adopted children because they seem to have more problems than non-adopted children. Adopted children tend to have more behavioral problems such as; conduct disorders and academic struggles. Meanwhile, non-adopted children seem to have less behavioral problems. The problem seems to be that the parent doesn’t know how to help the child’s behavior and it ends up getting worse. Many questions seem to appear to why adopted children tend to have these problems. There’s really no right or wrong answer, but many studies seem to lean to nurture as the problem. Even though, nature and nurture both influence a child’s behavior, they tend to affect behavior in different ways.
Nature v. nurture is a controversial topic that to this day has not been settled. In my opinion I believe they both play a huge role but nurture outshines that of nature. Any person can be changed through experience and circumstances. For example, the environment I was raised in was not too friendly and for that reason my parents wouldn’t let me be outside for much when I was younger. I was more of a couch potato and for that reason I was able to focus on school and that’s all I ever really cared about. My family was loving and never neglected me. I was the first born of the family and I believe my parents knew what they were doing even if I was the first child they had. They gave up alot for me and to this day they still sacrifice many things
The nature vs. nurture debate is about characteristics pertaining to the personality, behavior and intelligence of an individual is it due to genetics, or environment. Now drawing upon a NURTURE assumption, some specific ways in which I think my child’s experiences of my parenting style/choices mattered for her development are, safe environment, intensive school work, and experiences. For instance, I would take Salma to some of the important meetings I have in my work, or after work meet up among coworkers, because I was doing these kind of activities with Salma she started improving way more than the normal developmental rate of socially and emotionally at her age. For example, one of the highlights from my virtual child report is Salma is
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
"Nature vs. Nurture - Twin Study Overview." Nature vs. Nurture - Twin Study Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Nature is described as our physical attributes and genes from when we are born. Our genetics that make us who we are include our eye colour, height and hair colour, as well as our natural talents, abilities and our intelligence level.
Researchers have placed more emphasis on nature because of addictions (Agin).. For this reason, there is the same amount of chances to be an alcoholic as there is to have a mental disorder if someone in the family has had or was either because of genes. Newspaper reports, “scientists are on the verge of discovering the gene for alcoholism.” (McLeod). Gaten himself in 1883 suggested that human society could be improved by “better breeding” (McLeod). What Gaten is trying to say is that the children of two adults would not have any mental disorders or be an alcoholic if there was better breeding. The behavioral genes are the genes that gives inheritance of alcoholism, or addiction. So, behavioral genes can give inheritance of alcoholism or other addictions by the wrong breeding. In summation, if one's grandparent or even an ancestor has an addiction, there will be a good chance that the breeds will have the same type of
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.
When looking at the factors that influence children’s behaviour is important to take into consideration the nature versus nurture debate, MacLeod-Brudenell (2008) informs the reader that the term “nurture-nature debate” is to indicate two different perspectives; some propose views that genetic inheritance also known as nature influence children more that contextual factors or nurture. The influences of the debate can we widely seen as some people believe that all children are born with the ability to talk or walk as this is inbuilt knowledge. McDevitt and Ormrod (2010) reinforces this “All children have a set of universal human genes that permit them to develop as reasonably capable human beings.” The other side of this debate is nurture some believe that through children being loved they will develop to be person who can contribute to society, this however is not always the case as some children grow up in neglectful situations and are not always given the same love.