Nature Or Nurture?

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Nick Barreto Mrs. B 11/13/14 Nature or nurture? One of the mysteries we as psychologists try to understand is who we are and who we will become. A lot of this concept has to due with whether nature, the genetic makeup, or nurture, the effects of environment, has a more significant influence on who we are. But having done much research regarding the distinguishing factors of nature and nurture on psychological development, I have concluded that neither can be fully responsible. Mokokoma Mokhonoana, idealist and philosopher, believed “Needs are imposed by Nature, wants are sold by society”. In a general sense, this statement is truthful but in dissecting the subject a bit further, the realities about genetic variance, heritability, and the effects …show more content…

Regarding our physical, psychological, and behavioral development, the two sources of stimulus are nature and nurture. Nature involves the inheritance of specific genes, shared by the view of Nativism, which believes that our brains are “hardwired” at birth. This means that we are predetermined at birth to be exactly what our brain has planned for us. The opposing force is nurture, which shares an empiricism view that a “blank slate” or Tabula Rasa theory is the indication that we develop mainly by the influences and experiences of environmental and social experiences. Interestingly, nurture has been expanded to include prenatal, parental, and peer experience as well as media, advertisement, and economic status. Due to modern research, we have found that neither force can account for full developmental responsibility. Donald Hebb, known psychologist, was once asked, “which, nature or nurture, contributes more to personality?" and in response asked, "Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?". His statement supports the idea that both nature and nurture contribute to human development, and similarly, a rectangle’s width and length are essential for determining its area….. Having distinguished between nature and nurture, I would like to narrow the focus of biological development to the scientific approach of this …show more content…

Nature includes genetic variance and heritability from immediate gene pool. This reflects the concepts proposed by nativists arguing that humans begin development with a “hardwired” set of inherited genes and are predetermined to display either those from their mother or father. Nurture on the other hand encompasses the environmental factors such as family interaction, peer- pressure, and media in an idea titled environmentalism, which counters nativism with a “blank-slate” (tabula rasa) concept of maturation. The “All or Nothing” explanation of this phenomenon proves faulty because, based on the extent of my research, there is no single source that contributes to who we are and who we will become. The path that lies ahead of us is not predetermined as claimed by nativists, nor is it a “blank slate” waiting to be constructed. Both nature and nurture contribute significantly to our personality and behavioral development. This becomes obvious with the studies done involving twins (especially monozygotic) where results in behavior differed even when genes were identical. It is important that this informative essay upholds the idea, that no two people are exactly alike because of not specifically gene variations but rather the experiences that mold our perception of the world we live

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