College of Western Idaho
Nature Vs. Nurture
Dylan Thomas Gough
gough_dylan@yahoo.com
English 201 002W
Professor Leslie Jewkes
April 21, 2013
Abstract
The
purpose of this paper is to expose the differences and similarities between
nature vs. nurture. How they correlate to each other, and shape human
development. That without both we would all be the same and have the same
experiences. This controversial topic is one of the oldest arguments in
psychology. Nature vs. nurture states that feelings, ideas, and human behavior
are innate or learned. I will be writing about when this debate first rooted,
and why. Also, I will be arguing that we are born with certain characteristics
in are thinking, that are then shaped by our experiences. I will be writing
about how genes do affect our behavior, and how the environment shapes
behavior.
Nature vs. Nurture
Human
development has been regarded as one of the most highly controversial topics in
the world of psychology. This debate is labeled nature vs. nurture. The
controversy centers on the premise that our personality, behavior,
intelligence, and feelings are either genetically inherited, or environmentally
earned; that we are innate creatures born with our personalities, or that they
are learned by experience and time. We are born with our personalities, but our
behaviors are learned through experience and shaped thru time.
The
study of human thought has been around for thousands of years. In ancient
Greece, China, India, and Egypt they had a more scientific way of approaching
psychology. They were among the first to have psychiatric hospitals. However,
the origin and the beginning of a more advanced and well-rounded approach came
from Wilhelm Wundt, the “father of psychology”. He set up the first laboratory
at Leipzig University in 1879. The studies he conducted were centered on both
the behavioral and genetic aspect of individuals. The entire study of
psychology is based off of nature vs. nurture. Which debates that human
experience can be defined as genetic inheritance and environmental
upbringing.
Psychology has five distinct branches
that are based off of nature vs. nurture. The biological approach focuses on
genetic inheritance for the explanation of behavior. Psychoanalysis is “innate
drives of sex and aggression (nature), and social upbringing during childhood
(Nurture)” (Mcleod 1). Cognitive
psychology focuses on mental processes, while humanism states that society
influences the way people perceive themselves. Lastly, behaviorism focuses on
the notion that human behavior is learned through conditioning that comes from
the environment.
The
nature vs. nurture debate started in 1582 when the British educator Richard
Mulcaster stated, “Nature makes the boy toward, and nurture sees him forward”.
What he meant is that the nature vs. nurture debate explores the contributions
of our genetic inheritance and environmental influences that shape our thoughts
and behaviors. The nature vs. nurture debate didn’t take full stride until 1866
when Gregory Mendel introduced that genes have an impact on human development.
Genes that are inherited include down syndrome, color blindness, sickle cell
disease, and among many others. Every individual inherits specific traits
unique to ones own genetic code including color of skin, hair, eyes, height,
and even the shape of our face. These are things that we inherit genetically
and not environmentally. If you take two of the exact same people with the
exact same traits and place them in entirely different environments they will
still possess those traits. In an interview with Barbara Latten, a board
certified nurse she stated, “I think that inherently we are who we are.
However, I do believe our environment whether it be our home, extended family,
or neighborhood tends to shape how we think and our worldview, and how we
respond. Some people can rise above environmental obstacles due to the strength
of their genetic traits” (Latten).
There
are two types of believers regarding human development: Nativists and empiricists.
A nativist is someone who
believes that certain skills or abilities are "native" or hard-wired
into the brain in the womb or at birth. That each person has a unique genetic
code that is specific to that individual as a whole. Some people are born with
a more superior genetic make-up than others. I sat down with Kent Kreuder a
surgeon F.A.C.S and Governor
of the American College of Surgeons, and President of the Board of West Valley
Medical Center regarding the
genetic superiority that some are born with:
People who are born genetically
superior. Meaning, with greater intelligence or greater physique, and those who
somehow miss the genetic propensity to cancer are naturally going to be fitter
than people who are stunted in their growth or have genetic disease’s or poorer
mental capacity will have a clear disadvantage in the competition that society
presents. Not everybody is the CEO of apple, or sitting on the sidewalk with a
sign (Kreuder).
Being genetically superior has been
around since the beginning of time. Survival of the fittest was not a test of
how environmentally prepared one was, but how genetically structured and fit an
individual was. It means how well one can perform under extreme stress, or life
threatening situations. So for human development without nature human beings
would not exist.
Beyond
the genetic make-up of individuals we have extremists who believe that our
behavior, personalities, ideas, and characteristics are shaped by experience
and environmental factors alone. These individuals are labeled as empiricists.
Empiricists believe that knowledge comes only from experience and that any
individual can obtain this knowledge if surrounded by the correct environment
with the right resources. Among
the many people who used this approach the most famous were Aristotle, Plato,
and Thomas Aquinas. These individuals used the scientific method due to
experience and trial and error to formulate hypothesis and conclusions. The
environment in which we grow up in shapes the way we perceive the world. If we
are secluded to a certain environment for a long period of time, we think of
the rest of the world in a similar fashion. Our thoughts, attitudes, and
behavior are shaped in that environment due to survival. If you look at some of
the most extreme places to live in the world, an individual living in that
environment has to remain emotionally strong due to extreme environmental
factors. Whether the reason being human created or environmentally made. The
environment in which we are surrounded in shapes our character, we must adapt
to our surroundings.
People who are born into families that
isolate children and don’t stimulate them emotionally or educationally will
grow up to a disadvantage to society. Society is by nature competitive and evolutionary.
You can take a thousand children with the same genetic capacities and nurturing
will stratify them. We are all born with one of nine general personality types
and that the nurture aspect our parents seem to emphasize what they would like
rather than what we were born with (Kreuder).
Our environment can change, but are
genetic code is mostly constant and irreversible. Therefore, one can change
their life and behavior by changing their environment. Our parent’s emphasize
traits and values that society or our environment encourages. Our natural
instincts are put on hold, and forced to change. When a parent tells a
two-year-old boy not to be aggressive, in theory that parent is disregarding
genetically inherited qualities that most boys possess due to hormonal
imbalances and chemical compositions.
A
study done on identical twins is considered one of the biggest breakthroughs on
the nature vs. nurture debate. What scientists found was incredible. When you
take two individuals with the same genetic code and place them in two entirely
different environments and analyze their differences and similarities 35 years
later, the results are astounding. Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein were both
born in New York, they were separated at birth and adopted by two loving
families. Little did they know they were going to be apart of a secret
scientific study conducted in the 1960’s and 1970’s to assess nature vs.
nurture. The notion was that, “If
they are reared apart, any differences between them must be attributed to
differences in their environment, while similarities are mainly due to their
identical heredity” (Gruber 1). Paula
received a phone call from an adoption agency stating that she had a twin
sister looking for her. When they reunited researchers gathered up all the
information and concluded that despite the fact that these two twins grew up in
completely different environments, they still possessed the same physical
traits along with similar personalities and behaviors. Their experiences were
different, but the way they responded to life was much of the same. However, after the twins reunited
researchers tested their IQ scores and they were significantly different. This
valuable piece of information shows that experience and environment is directly
linked to intelligence.
Like
Richard Mulcaster stated, “Nature makes the boy toward, and nurture sees him
forward”. I believe that our genetic make-up largely shapes who we are and how
we will respond to stress and environmental factors. While those environmental
influences shape who we are in the sense of how we view the world. Our
behavior, traits, personality are both shaped by nature and nurture.
Works
Cited
Barbara,
Latten. Personal interview. 26 Apr. 2013.
Gruber, Howard E. "Nature Vs.
Nurture: A Natural Experiment." The New York Times (1981): 1.
Print.
Kreuder,
Kent. Personal interview. 26 Apr. 2013.
Mcleod, Saul. Nature Nurture in
Psychology . Simply Psychology , 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html>.
Nordqvist, Christian. What are the
branches of psychology . Medical News Today, 22 June 2009. Web. 28 Apr.
2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154874.php>.
Richman, Joe. Identical Strangers.
NPR books, 25 Oct. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2007/10/25/15629096/identical-strangers-explore-nature-vs-nurture>.
Outline of Nature Vs. Nurture
Thesis: Human development has been regarded as one of the most highly controversial
topics in the world of psychology. This debate is labeled nature vs. nurture.
The controversy centers on the premise that our personality, behavior,
intelligence, and feelings are either genetically inherited, or environmentally
earned; that we are innate creatures born with our personalities, or that they
are learned by experience and time. We are born with our personalities, but our
behaviors are learned through experience and shaped thru time.
Citation Surgeon Kent:
“People who are born genetically superior. Meaning, with greater intelligence
or greater physique, and those who somehow miss the genetic propensity to
cancer are naturally going to be fitter than people who are stunted in their
growth or have genetic disease’s or poorer mental capacity will have a clear
disadvantage in the competition that society presents. Not everybody is the CEO
of apple, or sitting on the sidewalk with a sign”.
“T The other side
of the coin is that people who are born into families that isolate children and
don’t stimulate them emotionally or educationally will grow up to a
disadvantage to society. Society is by nature competitive and evolutionary. You
can take a thousand children with the same genetic capacities and nurturing
will stratify them. We are all born with one of nine general personality types
and that the nurture aspect our parents seem to emphasis what they would like
rather than what we were born with.”
Kent Kreuder
M.D. F.A.C.S and Governor of the American College of Surgeons, and President of
the Board of West Valley Medical Center.
Barbara Latten:
“I think that inherently we are who we are. However, I do believe our environment
whether it be our home, extended family, or neighboorhood tends to shape how we
think and our world view, and how we respond. Some people can rise above
environmental obstacles due to the strength of their genetic traits.”
Outline
Thesis: Human
development has been regarded as one of the most highly controversial topics in
the world of psychology. This debate is labeled nature vs. nurture. The
controversy centers on the premise that our personality, behavior,
intelligence, and feelings are either genetically inherited, or environmentally
earned; that we are innate creatures born with our personalities, or that they
are learned by experience and time. We are born with our personalities, but our
behaviors are learned through experience and shaped thru time.
I.) Introduce
psychology.
II. Psychology definition: Psychology is the science of the mind
and behavior. (Nordqvist, 1)
III. Origin and
beginning of psychology.
a.)
Wilhelm Wundt
b.)
1879
c.)
Set up first laboratory that conducted studies regarding behavior and genetics
at Leipzig University
d.)
known as the father of psychology.
III. In a philosophical context psychology was around thousands of years ago
in ancient Greece, Egypt, India, Persia and China. Medieval Muslim psychologists
and doctors had a more clinical and experimental approach to psychology - they
were the first to have psychiatric hospitals. (Nordqvist 1).
IIII.
The entire study of psychology is based off of nature vs. nurture. The human
experience can be defined as genetic inheritance and environmental
upbringing. Psychology has five
distinct branches that are based on nature vs nurture. A:
1.)
Approaches to psychology:
a.)
Biological approach- Focuses on genetic inheritance for the explanation of behavior.
b.)
Psychoanalysis- Innate drives of sex and aggression (Nature). Social upbringing
during childhood (Nurture). (Mcleod 1).
c.)
Cognitive Psychology- Focuses on mental processes.
d.)
Humanism- States that society influences how people perceive, themselves.
e.)
Behaviorism- Focuses on the notion that human behavior is learned through conditioning
that comes from the environment.
_____________________________________________________________________
II.)
Introduction to nature vs. nurture debate
III. Where it all started
a.)
British Educator Richard Mulcaster
b.)
Gregory Mendel introduced that genes have an impact on human development in
1866.
b)
“Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward”
IIII. The nature
vs. nurture debate explores the contributions of our genetic inheritance and
environmental influences that shape our thoughts and behaviors.
1.)
Give examples of specific genetic mutations.
a.)
Down syndrome
b.)
Skin pigmentation diseases
c.)
etc
2.)
Give examples of specific traits.
a.)
Color of skin
b.)
Color of eyes
c.)
Color of hair
d.)
Shape of face
e.)
etc
ii.
These are genes that we inherit naturally in the womb and are not environmentally
obtained.
IIII.)
If we grow up in a well off suburb or a very low income neighborhood our
experiences and the way an individual perceives things is going to be
drastically different.
Source:
“I think that inherently we are who we are. However, I do believe our
environment whether it be our home, extended family, or neighboorhood tends to
shape how we think and our world view, and how we respond. Some people can rise
above environmental obstacles due to the strength of their genetic
traits.” (Latten).
_____________________________________________________________________
III.) Nature
iii.
Certain behavioral tendencies are wired in us before we are ever born. It has
been scientifically proven that height, hair loss, and vulnerability to certain
illness are apart of our genetic make-up. Therefore, how can behavioral
tendencies not be apart of our genetic structure as well?
1.)
There are two types of believers regarding human development: Nativists and
empiricists
a.)
Definition- A nativist is
someone who believes that certain skills or abilities are "native" or
hard-wired into the brain in the womb or at birth. That each person has a
unique genetic code that is specific to that individual as a whole. Some people
are born with a more superior genetic make-up than others. I spoke with Kent
Kreuder a surgeon at St. Lukes regarding the genetic superiority that some are
born with:
Source:
“People who are born
genetically superior. Meaning, with greater intelligence or greater physique,
and those who somehow miss the genetic propensity to cancer are naturally going
to be fitter than people who are stunted in their growth or have genetic
disease’s or poorer mental capacity will have a clear disadvantage in the
competition that society presents. Not everybody is the CEO of apple, or
sitting on the sidewalk with a sign”. (Kreuder 1).
________________________________________________________________________
IIII.) Nurture
1.)
Beyond the genetic make-up of individuals we have people who belive that our
behavior, personalities, ideas, and characteristics are shaped by experience
and environmental factors.
2.)
On the other spectrum we have empiricists.
a.)
Empiricists believe that knowledge comes only from experience and that any
individual can obtain this knowledge if surrounded by the correct environment
with the right resources. Among
the many people who used this approach the most famous were Aristotle, Plato,
and Thomas Aquinas. These individuals used the scientific method due to
experience and trial and error to formulate hypothesis and conclusions.
b.)
The environment in which we grow up in shapes the way we perceive the world. If
we are secluded to a certain environment for a long period of time, we think of
the rest of the world in a similar fashion. Our thoughts, attitudes, and
behavior are shaped in that environment due to survival. If you look at some of
the most extreme places to live in the world for instance. An individual living
in that environment has to remain emotionally strong due to extreme
environmental factors. Whether that be human caused or environmentally made.
Source:
“People who are born into families that isolate children and don’t stimulate
them emotionally or educationally will grow up to a disadvantage to society.
Society is by nature competitive and evolutionary. You can take a thousand
children with the same genetic capacities and nurturing will stratify them. We
are all born with one of nine general personality types and that the nurture
aspect our parents seem to emphasis what they would like rather than what we
were born with.” (Kreuder)
IIIII.)
Identical Twins
1.)
A study done on identical twins is the considered one of the biggest
breakthroughs on the nature vs. nurture debate. What scientists found was
incredible, when you take two individuals with the same genetic code and place
them in two entirely different environments and analyze their differences and
similarities 35 years later, the results are astounding.
a.)
Paula Bernstein
b.)
Elyse Schein
c.)
Both born in New York
d.)
Both adopted and raised in a loving environment.
e.)
Met when the were 35 years old.
f.)
Did not know the were apart of a secret scientific study conducted in the 1960’s
and 1970’s
g.)
Researchers followed their development to assess nature vs. nurture.
h.)
Paula received a phone call from an adoption agency stating that she had a twin
sister looking for her.
II.)
The notion was that, “If they are reared apart, any
differences between them must be attributed to differences in their
environment, while similarities are mainly due to their identical heredity”
(Gruber 1).
III.)
Researchers found that despite the fact that these two wins grew up in
completely different environments, they still possessed the came physical
traits along with similar personalities and behaviors. Their experiences were
different, but the way the responded to life was much of the same
Conclusion:
Like Richard Mulcaster said, “Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him
forward”. I believe that our genetic make-up largly shapes who we are and how
we will respond to stress and environmental factors. While those environmental
influences shape who we are in the sense of how we view the world. Our
behavior, traits, personality are both shaped by nature and nurture.
Works Cited
Barbara, Latten. Personal interview. 26
Apr. 2013.
Gruber, Howard E. "Nature Vs.
Nurture: A Natural Experiment." The New York Times (1981): 1.
Print.
Kreuder, Kent. Personal interview. 26
Apr. 2013.
Mcleod, Saul. Nature Nurture in Psychology
. Simply Psychology , 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html>.
Nordqvist, Christian. What are the
branches of psychology . Medical News Today, 22 June 2009. Web. 28 Apr.
2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154874.php>.
Richman, Joe. Identical Strangers.
NPR books, 25 Oct. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.npr.org/2007/10/25/15629096/identical-strangers-explore-nature-vs-nurture>.
