Nature versus Nurture

Why Nurture Wins the Battle against Nature

Introduction

Nature comprises of the hereditary factors such as genetic materials inherited from the family, parents. The nurture comprises of environmental factors such as emotional, physical and social surroundings within the environment. The debate of nature versus nurture is very old. This all started when nature and nurture were considered black and white. The psychologists have to choose one or the other. Some would argue that the development of abilities and personalities is totally because of the environment while others argue that it is because of genetic inheritance. For the development of an individual, both nature and nurture are contributing factors. The genetic development of a baby is determined by the potential as well as the environment. The developmental changes are influenced by the hereditary and environmental factors. Psychology is the study of experience of human and animal behaviour. Therefore, psychology studies both the behaviour influenced factors inspired from hereditary or environment (Roepstorff, 2010). Every psychologist has its own view. This paper aims to describe which sides win over the argument: nature or nurture.

Discussion

One of the central debates of psychology is the debate of nature versus nurture. The nature versus nurture debate is mostly used in the developmental psychology. The child psychologists usually question about the contributing factors of the mental and physical health of the child related to the inherited genes from the parents and what factors are left in aging such as physical and social environment. In earlier times, the debate used to comprise of one of the two sides: either nature or nurture. With time, many psychologists have developed an interactive vision where they believe that the features of the product are the result of both nature and nurture (Roepstorff, 2010).

Decomposition of the genetic and environmental components shows that nature is responsible for the majority of the effect. There are two types of environmental factors. One is the physical environment which comprises of prenatal nutrition, and the other is the social environment which comprises of peer pressure, media and neighbourhood. The human development has various levels of influence by the environmental factors which comprises of multiple layers from the immediate level of families and friends to the societal contexts of school systems and local government (CollinsWA, 2000).

According to the nativists, the child takes birth with developed innate abilities which are unable to perceive unless the child grows older. The genetic inheritances of the newborn determine the characteristics such as personality and intelligence. According to the view of empiricists the newborn does not inherit any personality or intelligence. On the other hand, the intelligence is the outcome from the learning through the interaction with the environment. Same way, the personality of the child is shaped by the experiences obtained from the external environment. According to the psychological context, nurture is meant by the direct and indirect experience of the child within the environment. The psychologists view the meaning of the environment in its literal ...