Research Paper On Nature Vs. Nurture

Developmental psychology seeks to understand why and how all people change over time (Berger, 4). We start off as similar babies, yet we grow to be so distinct from each other. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss some of the big questions that we have today in the field of developmental psychology; the nature-nurture controversy, how we grow into such distinct adults, and whether or not the experiences we go through can change us.
Is it nature or nurture?
The nature vs. nurture debate seeks to understand how our personalities and traits are produced by our genetic makeup and how our environment, including our parents, peers, and social interactions, shapes them. Nature states that an organism’s genes influence these processes.

The most popular answer is that both play a major factor in our development. Nature and nurture to some degree affect us alike. Some theories that support nature are psychoanalytic and cognitive theory. Theories such as the behaviorism and sociocultural theory support the nurture argument.
How come we begin life as babies, and yet we grow into such distinct adults?
According to Freud, development in the first six years of life occurs in three stages. These stages are characterized by a sexual interest and pleasure arising from a particular body part. The first stage is the oral stage (the mouth), the second stage is the anal stage (the anus), the third stage is the phallic stage (the penis), the fourth stage us the latency period, which is a quiet period, and last, is the genital stage (puberty). Freud stated that these sensual satisfactions were major to development. However, he stated that each stage had its own conflict. According to Freud, the way that individuals resolved these conflicts would determine their personalities. Personalities and habits were all determined in the earlier stages and maintain throughout

Whenever we go through a bad experience we learn to not have the same behavior in similar situations. The way we think, look, and act when we are babies is different then when we reach adulthood and old age. Not only do we look different because we grow, but we also think differently as we have encounter and learn to satisfy more in life than our simple needs for food. We form an identity from our experiences whether they are negative or positive. Identity development is the transition form one stage to another. Marcia (1966) proposed that personal identity is developed through a process of four identities. We move from one identity through the other as we commit or overcome a crisis. However, it is stated that different developmental paths and circumstances amongst various groups of people impact this identity formation. The choice of this pathway is developed by a variety of variables. Humans are socially active every day, “…people act on the environment. They create it, preserve it, transform it, and even destroy it” (Bandura, 2006, p. 167). Social learning theory states that people learn often through copying what they see others do, however we all choose to model only some actions. For example, children model after their parents due to their inexperience and similarity to them (Bandura, 1986,