Nature or Nurture?

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CH 12 ASSIGNMENT
1. How did your parents influence your perception and performance in math and science? Cite an internet site and use your text to answer the following: Do you think that performance in math and science is more nature (due to genetics and biology) or nurture (due to environment, parenting, and society)? Also, are there gender differences, for example, do boys do better than girls in math and science?......(250 words)

According to the article Math Skills: Nature or Nurture? published on Psychology Today website (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/are-we-born-racist/201108/math-skills-nature-or-nurture), performance in math is somewhat defined by our genes, somewhat by the way we were nurtured. I agree with the author. We probably will never get a definitive answer to this question due to individuality of every single case. As I look back at my childhood years, I cannot remember my parents weighing in when it came to my education or homework. However, they did teach me diligence and responsibility (although it is hard to verify today—my parents could have helped me develop the sense of responsibility or I might have been born with inclination to take life seriously). I do not remember my parents helping me with math or science, nor do I remember them encourage me. Nevertheless, I did well at school, mostly because I studied everything with great enthusiasm and would avoid slacking off. Was it my genetic inheritance? It is possible. My father graduated in applied engineering and his cousin in mathematics. Was it nurture? My mother graduated as a kindergarten teacher. She might know a trick or two to make a child want to excel at school.
According to the article The Math Gender Gap: Nurture Trumps Nature that was ...

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...rm a society of their own: luxurious, frivolous, indefinitely happy and ultimately healthy. I am holding Psychology Today September/October issue. The last page advertises, “The study of psychology is the key. Hands-on experience is what turns it. Unlock human potential.” The picture that goes with it shows a woman teaching two young girls. They are wrapped in serenity. This page screams, “This is what you have to do if you want the children this smart and calm!” The truth is, whatever ads offer, should be divided by ten and then taken with a grain of salt. Same goes even for the kids magazines. Boy’s Life shows athletic boys that are capable of performing adult-age stuns and tricks. They look excessively neat, clean, groomed and dressed like adults with exquisite taste. This puts a lot of pressure on kids whose parents let them be kids and dress age-appropriately.

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