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The nature versus nurture controversy psychology
Nature nurture debate psychology
Nature vs nurture psychology
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Nature versus nurture has been debated between psychologists for years and probably will be for years to come. However, both sides of the debate need to come to their sense because the human being is a product of nature and nurture. There are endless experiments to test each side’s theories; but they will never reach a law. The reason for this is because there is too many variables that cannot be controlled. Nature is what we are born with, so our genes. Then nurture is how we are impacted by our environment; these are, parents, siblings, family, peers, culture, gender, norms, child rearing, and experiences. Our genes predispose us to traits like skin color, height, and gender; we cannot change our height or skin color, but our gender is questionable. …show more content…
Gender is also defined by culture; we take on gender roles, like which bathroom you are supposed to use. Each culture has different gender roles; the United States used to see the nuclear family as a norm, but this has changed with present day gay marriage. Gender roles have been questioned and to what is gender? This all goes back to the nature versus nurture debate because gender is a production of both. Hence, human beings are a product of both their nature and nurture. The 60 Minutes special on Baby Lab, the experiment questioned if babies know between right and wrong? They tested the theory with a puppet show on three to five month old infants; examining weather infants were born with the ability or learn the difference between right and wrong. Then another study looked at children four to ten years of age with tokens for prizes; looking at weather they would chose to share the tokens with someone else or take them all for themselves. The infant study, conducted a double blind study in which the independent variable was the puppet show and how the puppets acted; the dependent variable was the infant’s consciousness between right and wrong. The five month olds reached for the good puppet a …show more content…
As the age group increased in the study it was evident that by the age of ten the children would give all their tokens to the other child, but why is this? The older children have been trained, that by giving all of the tokens away will result in something good for them in return someday. It happens all the time and we were taught to do unto others as you want done to you; so there is an incentive to treating others good and sharing. My mother used to use this line on my sister and I as kids so that we would share our toys, and it worked. Weather the children in the study were conscious of it they, may have been giving the other the person all the tokens because they saw it as the right thing to do. Why do we volunteer for different events? There is some type of incentive, weather it is getting to be at the event, getting a t-shirt, or getting the joy from helping others. In the end you are receiving a gift of some sorts. I do a lot of charity work because it makes me happy; but I also have to do it for my school scholarship, I do it to look good on a resume, and I also do it because I am Catholic and that is what the Church teaches me to be a good person. Which brings us back to the theory, are we born with the understanding between good and bad? It is a question that someday, if I am good, I will learn in heaven with all the
...s may never agree on a conclusive degree to which both nature and nurture play roles in human development, but over the years, more improved studies have shown that both are crucial aspects. With all the knowledge we are gaining from these studies, it would be quite limiting to believe that a criminal and his actions are the sole result of heredity. Even in people who do not commit crimes, genes themselves are affected by the prenatal environment. Undoubtedly, the fetus experiences changes in environment, forcing possible changes in heredity and reactionary response. We are likely to never find the answer to how much or how little either, nature or nurture, impacts our lives, but at least we can agree that they both do, in fact, have major roles. Our development is not the culmination of heredity alone, but of a tangled web of experiences and genetics entwined.
While sex refers the biological characteristics that make up a person, their gender is determined by the behaviors and attitudes considered “proper” by society according to their sex.
The nature vs. nurture debate: the nature side, are those such as biologists, psychologists and others in the natural sciences, argue that behavioral traits can be explained by genetics. Those taking the nurture side are sociologists and others in the social sciences, they argue that human behavior is learned and shaped through social interaction. This argument should be dismissed because you don’t have to look far to see that both genetics and our environment, plays a role in who we are and our behaviors. (Glass). The point is there is a complex relationship between nature and nurture, either one alone is insufficient to explain what makes us human. (Colt). Our heredity gives us a basic potential,...
Nature vs nurture has been an ongoing debate for many decades among some of the greatest minds in psychology. Everyone is trying to figure out the source of human personality. Does our personality develop primarily by genetics, known as nature or is it based off of our environment and the way we were raised, nature? I believe it is a bit of both, but in my opinion nurture plays a bigger role.
chimps, infants, and twins. Nurture theories claim that it comes from experience and that it is
Gender is not about the biological differences between men and women but rather the behavioral, cultural and psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Gender is socially constructed meaning it 's culturally specific, it 's learned and shared through gender socialization. What it means to be a woman or man is going to differ based on the culture, geographical location, and time. What it meant to be a woman in the US in the 19th century is different than what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. As cultures evolve over time so are the ideals of what it means to be man or woman.
The nature vs. nurture controversy is an age old question in the scientific and psychological world with both camps having evidence to support their theories. The controversy lies in which is more influential in the development of human beings. While there is no definitive answer for this, it is interesting to look at each of them separately.
The argument of nature vs. nurture is a long-standing one in the psychological and social worlds. It is the argument about whether we are ruled by our genes or our upbringing. It is my thought that neither is true. It is nature working with nurture which determines our personality and our lifestyle.
The word gender refers to a general classification of human beings into male and female with socially and culturally constructed characteristics, behaviors, attributes and roles preconceived and labelled as appropriate for each class. The society and culture today have placed human beings in a box which to a large extent dictates how we act in the world.
Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Isn’t that a stereotype we deal with from the time we escape the womb? Gender is part of our social structure, just as race and class are. When applied to Camara Phyllis Jones ' article, "The Gardener 's Tale," men are the red flowers and women are the pink. From the moment of birth, men and women are put into different pots. (UK essays,2015). For decades Psychologist have been conducting experiments to determine what has an effect on a person’s gender identity. Their conclusions show that biological influences, environmental influences, social learning theory and gender schema theory all have some type of effect on gender identity. There are many sides to Nature vs. Nurture, specifically when it comes to gender identity. However, both sides discussed here agree that nature and
We cannot be absolute when it comes what shapes us, yes indeed we come to this world which specific characteristic, our genes make us who we are but do not determine our future and our possible potential. Our cultural influence and our interaction with our environment make up our experience and step by step build our schemas and our perception regarding the world around us. Nature gives us the first tools in order for us to service, give us the information from generation to generation to overcome the possible obstacles. Then, nurture’s takes over, through the interaction with the averment, base to our cultural norms and rules we shape our beliefs; values; attitudes and behaviors. We learn how to behave, how to interact and how to communicate with the people around us. Thus, the answer between what side to choose, nature or nurture, I personally believe that the answer lies between the two of them. As we say, especially in the field of psychology, it depends. Yes, we born into this world we some innate information, but this information is interpreted from the stimuli we gather through the interaction we have with the
Nature and Nurture are both things that work together they aren’t just separate jobs. They each may do a bit of different things but all in all they both work together and they do things with each other and may also do some things alone.
One of the most well-known debates in psychology is nature versus nurture. Nature is pre-determined traits, influenced by biological factors and genetics. Physical characteristics such as height, hair color, and eye color is all determined by the genetics we inherit. Nurture is the influence of environmental factors. Nature and nurture affects the physical, emotional, and social development of a child.
first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised. Second is the society in which a child interacts; makes friends and enemies. The third is our school system and our board of education. And the last but not least is our own self conscious. Each of the above four ways have a unique way of molding and helping an individual define his/her gender.
Nature vs nurture debate is one of the oldest arguments in the history of psychology. It is the scientific cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Nature and nurture are both equally important. They are the two are major influences that affect the person you grow to be and will determine what your children will be tomorrow. Nature refers to heredity, which are traits and features that are inherited from your parents and ancestors. At birth you, as a person, inherits 50% of each parent 's genetic material that are passed along through the chromosomes found in the DNA. Hair color, height, body type, and eye color are some examples of characteristics