Abstract: Nature vs Nurture has been a long debate on whether what has the most impact on child development. Nature, a series of genetic codes that are primarily responsible for the maturing of humankind. Or Nurture which determines that a series of psychological events shape the person who they become. There are various arguments made from either side and within this research paper, we dive into each category and eventually come to a conclusion about the origin of human nature.
The question of how we become who we have traditionally put people in opposition based on their answers; Nature or nurture. Nature refers to genetic predispositions’ impact on human traits, while nurture describes the environment as the linchpin for development. The age-old ‘nature vs. nurture ‘ debate somehow still rattles both scholars and people to date. The debate has had severe implications especially concerning what determines intelligence.
Physical characteristics such as eye color and skin pigmentation have long been biologically determined by genetic inheritance, including some diseases like Sickle cell Anemia. This knowledge has led to whether psychological traits like personality attributes and behavioral tendencies are genetically wired before birth. Nativists assume that individual differences among people are due to the unique genetic codes of each person and that abilities are genetically influenced, Heritability refers to the estimates of genetic influence and is measured by how early a particular ability appears in a person. They believe that humans’ most basic skills are genetically passed down from birth. On the other hand, traits that appear later in a person’s life are presumed Maturation products (Jensen and Arthur 45). Maturation relies on the fact that everyone has a pre-programmed ‘biological clock’ within them that ticks to reveal types of behavior at the predetermined time. From a nativist perspective, bodily changes during puberty are a perfect example of how Maturation affects the physical development of a person. Nativists also argue that Maturation determines language learning, attachment in infancy, and even cognitive development as a whole. Pieces of work produced by nativists that support this notion include Noam Chomsky’s theory of language development. Chomsky’s theory argued that children had an innate biological ability to learn the language, even though there were never genetic or neurological studies to support his theory. On the other hand, Sigmund Freud established the idea of aggression where he considered aggression to be an implication of a more primary instinct he called Thanatos. Freud believed that humankind’s instincts originated from the simple theory of life and death, and Thanatos being “death instinct” where humans destructive urges and aggression originate from.
The Nature debate is simpler to understand as it determines causality and helps to identify the importance of individual factors. It is deterministic, making the establishment of cause and effect easy, thus improving credibility (Smith). Furthermore, it employs laboratory and scientific equipment, which do not give room for researcher biases.
However, a groundbreaking study on aggression led by psychologist Albert Bandura between 1961 and 1963 discredited Freud’s aggression theory on aggression. His Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children could learn by observing adult behavior. The experiment placed the children in a room where they observed scientists physically and verbally abuse a clown doll and then later had the children mimic the actions they had previously seen. From this point of view, how one is raised governs significant psychological aspects of child development. Bandura’s theory gives some insights into the downsides of the nature debate. For one, the discovery that certain behaviors like personality and intelligence are inherited can lead to the assumption that these particular behaviors are difficult to change through the environment, which isn’t true. Also, the naturist view explains behavior with one affluence. Behavior is complex, which means that different factors have to interact to influence behavior. The fact that the natural approach ignores this reduces its credibility. Lastly, it ignores free will. This is an issue as it makes it challenging to implement consequences of lousy behavior, i.e., punishment. Punishment is only possible where an individual’s bad behavior is intentional.
On the other side, the Nurture Approach is based on the assumption that the human mind at birth is like a clean slate that is gradually filled as one experiences more. From this point of view, psychological characteristics and behavioral differences emerging through infancy and childhood result from learning. “Verbal behavior is behavior that is reinforced through the mediation of other people, but only when the other people are behaving in ways that have been shaped and maintained by an evolved verbal environment, or language” (Lourdes). It also determines that people learn language via behavior shaping techniques, just as demonstrated by Skinner in 1957. The nurture point of view is practical as it demonstrates real-life relevance based on real-life social issues. This way, it influences the idea that human behavior can be manipulated positively. Also, changing the environment is easier compared to changing biology. Notably, it encourages rehabilitation rather than punishment for negative behaviors.
However, studies within this theory have limited samples for experimentation, therefore, don’t give enough results for generalization to the broader population. It is also difficult to separate the effects of social influences from the individual; thus, the validity of this notion is still a question. While it is true that the environment influences behavior, there is never a 100% chance of one factor affecting a topic as complex as behavior. Additionally, this approach is subject to bias since deceiving participants can influence results.
In Arthur Jensen’s research about the inheritability of cognitive ability in 1969, he pointed out that conceptual learning and knowledge synthesis occurred more frequently in white people than in black people. The storm of controversy that followed Jensen’s claims had little to do with the empirical and logical weaknesses but with the social and political implications often associated with research that claims to demonstrate natural inequalities between social groups. At this point, it is clear why the nurture vs. Nature debate has often led to ideological cul-de-sacs rather than pinnacles of insight. What intends to explain behavioral differences among people is developed into a politically motivated dispute (McLeod and Saul 123). However, whatever the outcome of the broad discussion of nature-nurture, it is pretty clear that neither can entirely be left out while asking questions of behavioral traits.
Domestication in the animal Kingdom was understood to be the result of encouraging domesticated behaviors while having animals that most successfully adopted those behaviors breed with each other. Hence, it becomes part of their nature. An opportunity to observe this in the human world is through adoption studies; since an experiment isn’t quite possible in typical human families. Children put up for adoption aren’t raised by their biological parents, yet they still look like them. Such children, however, still tend to have behavioral qualities relating to the families they are adopted into.
It is a fact that some physical traits and the susceptibility to most physical characteristics and mental health disorders run in families. While one cannot inherit their parents’ illnesses, they are more likely to develop them depending on certain environmental factors. For example, eating a healthy diet and sticking to a good exercise regime can lower the risks of heart disease or diabetes. Similarly, exposure to community violence can increase the likelihood of anxiety.
Intelligence and subsequent learning are also viewed as primarily molded by the combination of both nurture and nature. While genes have a massive impact on the size and biochemistry of the brain, the brain is never fully developed until after the first 20 years of life. This explains why it is imperative to have safe communities that nurture learning and confidence for children. It helps promote cognitive development. Behavioral genetics is the science of how genes and environments work together to influence behavioral traits. This science has allowed psychology to quantify the relative contribution of both nurture and nature concerning particular psychological characteristics. Instead of defending either nurture or nature, psychological researchers have resorted to looking into how these two interact. Therefore, it makes more sense to say that behavioral differences between people are primarily due to environmental factors or primarily due to hereditary factors. This new approach establishes a middle ground between nature and nurture. The conclusion that nature and nurture are complementary in determining behavior results from vigorous studies of each of the components of the equation, which alleviates the understanding of development and behavior. It has revealed nurture and nature as influences rather than determinants. In conclusion, this knowledge and the recent advances in genetics are milestones to finally solving the controversy of what makes us who we are.
Works cited
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