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nature vs nurture psychology
nature vs nurture psychology
Other stages of psychological development
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“For over 2000 years psychology remained an integral part of philosophy. The ancient
philosophers of Greece, Italy and Egypt from around the seventh century BCE onwards, raised the perennial questions concerning the nature of nature, the nature of human nature, the mind, the soul, purpose, and of course the nature of the human soul” (Laungani, 2004, p. 108). Understanding where exactly the origins of psychology begin is still under investigation by researchers to this day. Did psychology first begin for when the early Greeks proposed methodical explanations and theories of memory, perception, and human cognitive experience, or when it developed as a separate science in the 19th century. For whenever psychology rooted up into existence, Western philosophers and psychologists have been attempting to figure out human behavior and thought processes ever since.
According to Laungani, 2004, “The Greeks laid the intellectual foundations on which future ideas and theories were constructed. It is fascinating to note that most of the issues of concern to ancient philosophers are as relevant today as they were in the past. For instance, issues related to the composition of matter, the nature of change and permanence, the relationship between mind (soul) and body, are debated as vigorously today as they were in the past” (p. 180). Not until the middle of the nineteenth century, psychology was perceived as an essential part of philosophy. “It was only in the latter part of the nineteenth century that several psychologists in America and in Europe began to question what they felt were the ‘constraints of philosophy’ upon their fledgling discipline and started to consider the possibility of transforming psychology into a scientific discipline...
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...of the Nature-Nurture Dichotomy and What It Means for the Study of Infancy. Infancy, 16(4), 331-367. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00079.x
Mcnamara, C. (2011). Science and the Fate of the Human Soul in Tom Wolfe. Perspectives On Political Science, 40(3), 123-131. doi:10.1080/10457097.2011.585930
Perry, B. D. (2002). Childhood experience and the expression of genetic potential: What childhood neglect tells us about nature and nurture. Brain and mind, 3(1), 79-100.
Rushton, S., Juola-Rushton, A., & Larkin, E. (2010). Neuroscience, Play and Early Childhood Education: Connections, Implications and Assessment. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(5), 351-361. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0359-3
Shields, C. (2007). Aristotle on Action: The Peculiar Motion of Aristotelian Souls. Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 81(1), 139-161. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8349.2007.00154.x
D. Brett King, Wayne Viney, & William Douglas Woody, (2013). A History of Psychology, Ideas & Context. 3rd ed. United States: Pearson.
Psychology comprises of two words originally used by the ‘Greeks’, ‘psyche’, defining the mind, soul or spirit and lastly ‘logos’ being study. Both words define together the ‘study of the mind’. Psychology perspectives evaluate the normal and abnormal behaviour and how persons’ deal with different concepts of issues and problems. Psychology theories’ are based on ‘common sense’, but its scientific structure, everything needs to be evaluated and tested, therefore, promoting different psychological theories’.
Glass, Julia. "Nature Vs. Nurture." Parenting 13.10 (1999): 156. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
Rationalism and empiricism were two philosophical schools in the 17th and 18th centuries, that were expressing opposite views on some subjects, including knowledge. While the debate between the rationalist and empiricist schools did not have any relationship to the study of psychology at the time, it has contributed greatly to facilitating the possibility of establishing the discipline of Psychology. This essay will describe the empiricist and rationalist debate, and will relate this debate to the history of psychology.
Hothersall, David. (1995). History of Psychology. 4th ed. McGraw Hill Co: New York, New York.
Nature versus nurture is one of the oldest and most studied debates in the history of psychology. This debate is about an individual’s genetic influences as opposed to the environmental influences on physical characteristics and intelligence (Rathus 197). Some think that genes determine an individual’s development and others think that it comes from how one was raised. My development was influenced by nature and nurture equally because I would not be myself if I did not get my ambition from my mother and my manners from my upbringing.
The birth of psychology was in December of 1879, at Germanys University of Leipzig (Myers, 2014, p.2). In 1960, Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener defines psychology as “the science of mental health” (Myers, 2014, p.4). However, two provocative American psychologists, John Watson and B.F Skinner, redefined psychology in 1920. They redefined psychology as “the scientific study of observable behavior” (Myers, 2014, p.4). The problem arose when psychologists realized people could not observe feeling or thought so they needed to come up with a new definition for psychology. We define psychology today as “the science of behavior and mental processes” (Myers, 2014, p.4). Psychology includes many subfields such as human development, social behavior,
“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)
Notwithstanding the basics of developmental psychology, human development is known for the controversial debate on nature and nurture. Researchers have not distinguished
Nurture is constituted by the influence of millions of complex environmental factors that form a child's character. Advocators of nature do not believe that character is predetermined by genes, but formed over time. Although often separated, nature and nurture work together in human development. The human conscience is neither innate from birth or entirely shaped through experience, instead, genetics and environmental influences combine to form human behavior, character, and personality traits that constantly change and develop throughout life. The debate on nature versus nurture has existed for thousands of years.
In this essay I am looking at where Psychology as a discipline has come from and what affects these early ideas have had on psychology today, Psychology as a whole has stemmed from a number of different areas of study from Physics to Biology,
Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
Global Post, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. The Web. The Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP)
In the study of child development, nature and nurture are two essential concepts that immensely influence future abilities and characteristics of developing children. Nature refers to the genetically obtained characteristics and abilities that influence development while nurture refers to the surrounding environmental conditions that influence development. Without one or the other, a child may not develop some important skills, such as communication and walking. The roles of physiological and psychological needs in a person’s life are also crucial for developing children. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that humans don’t only aim towards survival, but also aim towards self-actualization (Rathus, P. 94).