WHICH IS THE MORE MONUMENTAL FACTOR IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT NATURE OR NURTURE

By La Tanya Bass

Abstract

The subject matter of Nature versus Nurture is one of the oldest debates in psychology. Human development is a significant subject. Everyone has their own opinion toward the view of this controversial matter. Nature consists of inheritable factors while; Nurture consists of environmental factors. Forward I will convey some ideas of other’s on the subject at hand and let you decide for yourself which you think is the most monumental factor in human development. How important is it to know which came first the chicken or the egg or as in our case nature or nurture. My attention is on many who have their outlook on whether nature or nurture is the prime or monumental source of human development. Are individuals born as criminals or are they made is just one question I have of importance to this subject? Ordinary individuals like you and I, criminologist, famous psychoanalysis, philosophers, evolutionist, professors, researchers and more are concerned about the origination of human development. The answer may make a difference on how we diagnosis and treat individuals with human development concerns. Intelligence and personality can possibly be assessed and improved through more knowledge on the topic of this debate. My final thoughts will conclude this topic but following is more exploring on this area of human development.

Introduction

Nature versus Nurture centers on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development. More plainly the question is whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture. Nature refers to an organisms biological inheritance, nurture to its environmental experiences. Nurture has also been extended to include the influences on development arising from prenatal, parental, extended families, and peer experiences. The nature proponents claim biological inheritance is the most important influence on development; the nurture proponents claim that environmental experiences are the most important influences. A group of individuals that agree on nature being the most important factor says that just as a sunflower grows in an orderly way unless defeated by an unfriendly environment, so does the human grow in an orderly way. The environments can be vast but the nature approach argues that a genetic blueprint produces commonalities in growth and development. Psychologist emphasizes the importance of environmental experiences. The biological environment includes nutrition, drugs, and physical accidents. The social environment consists of the media, community, family, schools, and peers. Currently most psychologist considers the question of nature versus nurture an outdated state of knowledge. Now the question. “Which Is More Monumental to Human Development Nature or Nurture”?

Literature Review

Charles Murray IQ and Economics Success Study concluded that the greater part of inequality in education and income in the sibling sample was attributable to genes; with their shared environment playing a subordinate role.

Literature Review

Criminologist input what is inherited is not behavior but, it is the way in which an individual responds to the environment. No single gene is responsible for an individual’s behavior. Criminologist for the past 10-15 years say that the truth lies somewhere in between and we should believe that human development is nature plus nurture. The proof is in evidence that comes from animal and clinical studies which biological and acquired traits are parts of human development.

Literature Review

Bowdon-Butler, Tom (2007) 50 Psychology Classics who we are, how we

think, what we do This book includes the nature vs. nurture

debate which includes different views of many well known famous psychologist all with their own point of view. Such as Sigmund Freud, Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Coleman, Karen Horney, Carl Jung, Alfred Kinsey, RD Laing, Jean Piaget, Martin Seligman, Oliver Sacks, Gail Sheeny, BF, Skinner and more.

Literature Review

Dougan –Farmer Valeri, PhD Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Biological Sciences Illinois State University-Three Controversies in Psychology.

She says that if personality traits are largely inherited, there is little a psychologist can do to change the behavior. In contrast if the environment highly impacts the developing individual, then environments can be altered to produce what are deemed positive behavioral characteristics.

Literature Review

Immanuel Kant wrote : “The form of thought and actions is

provided by nature, whereas the content is provided by experience.” He is a transcendental idealist philosopher.

Literature Review

John Locke emphasized the role of experiences as fully contributing to behavioral development. Locke set out that the human mind at birth is a complete, but receptive “blank slate” upon which experience imprints knowledge. His quote says,

“Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper void of all characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this he answered in one word. From EXPERIENCE. John Locke: Essay Concerning Human Understanding: Herrnstein &Murray, 1994, p. 311

Literature Review

Meaney M. (2004) The Nature of Nurture: Maternal effects and chromatin remodeling, in essays in Social Neuroscience.

Meaney discusses the relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities, nature vs. personal experiences, nurture. For example, he mentions a far-fetched contention that a Jesus or a Hitler could be recreated through genetic cloning.

Literature Review

World Religions, Plato Socrates, Pythagoras, Shakespeare and Modern Psychological Science all tend to suggest that the Human Mind or Psyche as Freud says it is not a “blank slate” and that human nature actually has 3 principle aspects the spirit, body and soul. Two 20th Century studies in psychology have produced results that in fact there may be 3 principle aspects referred to as The Human Psychological Tripartite.

Literature Review

Sigmund Freud didn’t think in terms of nature vs. nurture but in the possibility of a subjective constitution starting from a primal other (complex of Nebebmench-Letter No.52). Freud spoke of nature and nurture as Free will and Determination. He talked about nurture but involving parental action and inactions determining who you are as an adult in what he called the psychosexual stage of development. Freud believed that people were born “blank” and shaped by society, but able to change.

Literature Review

A group of individuals (Advocates) that agree on nature being the most important factor says that just as a sunflower grows in an orderly way unless defeated by an unfriendly environment, so does the human grow in an orderly way. The environments can be vast but the nature approach argues that a genetic blueprint produces commonalities in growth and development. Psychologist emphasizes the importance of environmental experiences. The biological environment includes nutrition, drugs, and physical accidents. The social environment consists of the media, community, family, schools, and peers. Currently most psychologist considers the question of nature versus nurture an outdated state of knowledge.

Literature Review

Robert Ulrich of Health Environment Research did a study in 2004 called, The Role of the Physical Environment in a Hospital of the 21th Century Environment. Researchers found a correlation between the level of stress and the risk with the hospital design. The study concluded that environmental settings do indeed impact individuals and supports the nurture side of our question.

Literature Review

The question proposed here is what makes us who we are, our life experiences or our DNA. This article talks about an experiment that unknowingly Bernstein and Schein have been part of a secret research project in the 1960’s and1970’s that separated identical twins as infants and followed their development in one of a kind experiment to assess the influence of nature vs. nurture in child development. The results will be sealed until 2066. They are in the archives at Yale University.

Strengths and Weakness

The strengths of my resources are the facts that each theorist and philosophers have their proof of human development. The weaknesses are that their ideas of human development may explain something about nature or nurture but not all. Any live study can be manipulated to fit the researcher needs.

Many of these resources have not solved the mysterious question of nature vs. nurture and human development but are more in favor of nature, nurture or both. The evidence speaks that nature, the inheritance of qualities or nurture, the development and personal experiences do contribute in one way or another.

There could too be another possible explanation for human development as some argue. Different fields of study have their explanation of the nature vs., nurture controversy. For example, Philosophers expounds on their theories, Biologist have their theory. Anthropologist compare different cultures, Humanist focus on human values, Scientist use the scientific method for study and many other theorist and theories have their side to contribute to the controversy of nature vs. nurture. All are important to evaluate from true no manipulated source of facts. This is hard to do with a human in control. We have fault and manipulation is always being used to try and prove a point.

Conclusion The nature versus nurture matter is of great debate. It centers on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and

environmental factors to human development. There are many other opinions on this subject but to keep the answer to this

question reasonable; this should give you an idea of how complex this question is.

The question is whether development is the primarily influenced by nature or nurture.

To further develop my question I could ask, “Is it relevant to know the monumental factor of human development?” or is the soul included in human development ?

I feel that my question is relevant because knowing the monumental factor may play a big part in how we treat individuals with development problems, criminal behavior or mental illness to name a few.

Conclusion continued:

Research is still being done on the topic of nature/nurture and for now for at least one study the results won’t be available until 2066.

Some are persuaded to think that general human nature is positively a source of inherited, human potential.

Others think human beings are consciously and unconsciously nurtured by their families, and consciously and unconsciously educated and socialized by their societies.

My conclusion is not finial. I’m still in suspense that their could be another components to human development, the soul The soul is an mysteries entity that needs more exploring.

This is not all by a long shot but merely a glance into the world of nature versus nurture in human development.

Which is more monumental nature or nurture is very broad indeed, but inclusion of what’s been researched for this paper I must say that nature and nurture are both monumental factors in human development.

The End