EssayClub.com - Free College Essays and Term Papers

Nuture Va Nurture; Psychologist Theories

Nature v. Nurture 2

      "Genes and family may determine the foundation of the house, but time and place determine
its form." (Kagan, Jerome). Even though nature and nurture influence human behavior, nature
and nurture work together equally in the development of human behavior because both genetics
and environmental influences affect the outcome of a person's behavior and/or personality, while
neither of the two traits can single-handedly determine one's behavior and/or personality. The
question that has been pondered upon for many decades is "which of the two (nature or nurture)
are more influential?" To illustrate: In looking for the causes of individual differences in
intelligence, a major issue is the relative contribution of genetics and environment.

100% Genetics(Nature) 90% Gen. 80% Gen. 70% Gen. 60% Gen. 50-50 60% Env. 70% Env. 80% Env. 90% Env. 100% Environ.(Nurture)
Rate the extent to which you believe nature and nature influence (cause) human intelligence. (Ridley, 1999)

    There is a question as to how nature and nurture influence behavior. All throughout history
psychologists have been trying to figure out which of the two, nature or nurture, influence the
development of human behavior and/or personality more and because of this particular question
psychologists began to do intensive research. They did this by studying each of the two theories
separately. One psychologist, Plato, campaigned nature while the other, Aristotle,
campaigned nurture. The studies began with nature. Nature is defined as the heredity or
biological make-up that influences the outcome of one's behavior and/or personality. Nature can
also be defined as an individual's innate qualities. Some psychologists, like Plato, suggest that
humans start out in life with some amount of knowledge. Nature provides us with abilities and
traits like eye and hair color, skin color, and intelligence that is determined by certain genes that
are...