Nature vs Nurture: Do Genes Or Environment Matter More?

1007 Words3 Pages

In an attempt to understand human behavior, professionals for centuries have looked at the nature vs. nurture theory. While it is known that the physical traits such of eye or hair color have to do with nature, some strongly believe that the way people behave such as in personality and intelligence, have to do with genetic makeup and some believe that people behave a certain way solely due to their environment. Professor Jerome Kagan, from Harvard opened up a brand new world and offers hope for those who behave a certain way. He pointed out that two year old Marjorie unlike other children her age started out shy, a tendency he believed she inherited and while it is true that Marjorie cannot change the fact that she is a girl there are certain aspect of her make up that did change due to her environment later in life. Pediatric psychiatrist, Stanley Greenspan is a strong believer of both nature and nurture playing intricate parts but not independent of each other. Even though one affects the other the saying like father like son is not guarantee true but it is highly possible to activate that inherited gene due to external influences. To pinpoint for instance what temperaments are inherited, scientist at Allegheny University, are hard at work and are looking closely at twins for answers. It is a hard and long process because each gene has to be singled out and look at in conjunction with the environment. Those with the dopamine-4 receptor gene are thrill seeker says Greenspan but can be retrained to behavior otherwise this is accomplished by giving alternative way of meeting their needs. It was clear to Professor Kagan when he studied 500 children for more than 17 years. He even got to the stage where he could detect sig... ... middle of paper ... ...including my mother remain shy and withdrawn in public. For the first time I understand my shyness. My mother is extremely shy and so I also carry that gene but a strong outside influence of the activation of that gene was that fact I grew up in an household were I was not allowed to express, speak up or voiced my opinion. I now know that it is highly possible that I inherited my shyness from my mother but is it also possible that I inherited all my negative traits such as my moodiness? While genes seem powerful due to the fact that physical traits are unchangeable, the environment is like the king of the jungle when it comes to behavior. It is possible to retrain a person to think and behave a certain way. Perfect example of the fetus that shows signs of shyness, parents cannot throw up their hands and say that their children will be shy forever

Nature and Nurture, not Nature vs. Nurture
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In a study conducted in 1983, researchers studied more than 350 pairs of twins in order to research if human personality traits were largely inherited or learned. Daniel Goleman, author of “Major Personality Study Finds that Traits are Mostly Inherited,” shares with his audience the parameters and results of this elaborate twin study. Goleman introduces his reader to Auke Tellegen, a psychologist and principal researcher on the long-term study, performed at the University of Minnesota, discovered that the human traits most strongly determined by heredity were leadership, obedience to authority, and even traditionalism. He would surely argue that heredity, more than influence of experience, is more responsible for development in human traits. Tellegen may have substantiating facts that nature is more predominant in a mere handful of traits, but what about the several other traits he failed to test? It is possible for a person who shows leadership and obedience during one part of their life to have an experience in which their obedience and leadership is thwarted. The study Tellegen conducted could not have been without environmental influence. Every single one of the participants, whether a twin or not, had environmental experiences separate from the others. Since every person experiences and responds to environmental stimuli differently, how can several prior years of experience be measured in order to present an unbiased result in this study? Unquestionably, it is impossible. Just as this particular study failed to take into consideration a persons’ prior experiences, it also failed to consider the probability of future environmental factors that could affect the traits Tellegen focused on in his study. Although difficu...
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Nature versus nurture is a long question of whether genetics influence environmental or environmental influences, genetics (Myers, 2014). While we are all born with 20,000 to 25,000 genes there are some that are dormant and some active; believed that environmental influences effect which stay dormant and which become active (Myers, 2014). Throughout Bandura’s experiment, we can see that while some children already seem exposed to elements to awaken the genes for anger and aggression. While others seem to repeat what they saw the adult do, but not with as much force and
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Nature vs Nurture: Do Genes Or Environment Matter More?

Nature and Nurture, not Nature vs. Nurture