NaturevsNurture

1、Nature vs. NurtureWritten by:liesaThe nature versus nurture debate has been a classic controversy among experts for centuries. Presently, there is no clear conclusion to the dispute; yet, there are many hypotheses. Both sides of this controversy have been explored thoroughly among researchers. The p

2、urpose of this paper is to prove that the mental aptitude of a person is determined by his genetics, along with his environment, which affects it more.The nature side of the debate argues that a person maintains his mental ability only based on what he is born with genetically. Defending this side o

3、f the debate exclusively would be establishing that environment plays no role in determining his mental aptitude.There are some reasons for an individual to be convinced that genetics play a large part in a person ' intelligence. When considering the biology of heredity, it is obvious that genes

4、 provide humans with their own physical equipment, which is in essence, their basis. Genes and chromosomes are passed on from each generation to the next. Therefore, without heredity, humans would have nothing to hand down biologically to their descendants; and this idea of genetics being purposeles

5、s is clearly incorrect.Twin studies are rendered on sets of twins; these include both identical twins and fraternal twins. They are conducted to determine the comparative influence of heritability and environment (Morris and Maisto 82).These studies determine the heritability of a trait: to what ext

6、ent the differences among individuals are due to genes, rather than to environmental factors such as upbringing, nutrition, and schooling?(Wright). Recent twin research showed that the genetic contribution to happiness and stability are about 50% and 80%, respectively, while life events have only a

7、transitory effect on happiness?(Segal 55). Segal ' conception is not directly concerning human intelligence; yet, if his statement is in fact true, itsubstantiatessomeimportance ofheredity convincingly. Itindicates thatheredity certainlydoeshave anotable effecton aperson. In general, twin studie

8、s support the nature side of the debate (Morris and Maisto 82).Adoption studies are somewhat similar to twin studies because they are conducted for related reasons. These studies consist of monitoring and testing children who are adopted. For them, researchers study the IQs in children, their birth

9、parents, and their adoptive parents. These studies also partially support the nurture side of the debate. Some of these studies have shown that heritabilty is about 48% influential in most humans (Hamer and Copeland 219).Conversely, many investigations have shown that a person environment plays a la

10、rge role in his mental aptitude. This may be the less obvious influential factor on one's life. Though, consideringthe enormous result of a human' surroundings and environment onhis life, an in depth investigation should be taken examining this notion.The amount of nourishment an individual

11、receives has been provento play a verylargepart ina person smental ability.This isespecially true concerning infants and young children. The human brain criticallyneedsnutritious food andantitoxins tofunctionproperly, particularly in early years of development. Starving people across the globe show

12、why lack of nutrients in human bodiescan stunt mental evolution as well as physical growth. What a premature infant eats in the first month of life can have lasting intellectual impacts. (Raloff).A study done in Great Britain in the late 1980s shows that nutrition plays a very large role in a person

13、's development. Adolescents agedtwelve to thirteen were given vitamin and mineral supplements for eight months. These subjects were then administered intelligence tests. Test scores were recorded before the test and after the test.These scores were also compared to other adolescents who werenot

14、given the supplements. The scores showed that the students who had taken the supplements scored higher on the tests after taking the supplements (Herrnstein and Murray 292).A person 's environment also plays an important role on his development from early on. Much research shows that people flou

15、rish from early stimulation. In an experiment done by H.M. Skeels using orphans, he proved this conception. Skeels studied mentally retarded orphans. Once these children were placed with families to live, were treated well, and were encouragingly nurtured, their IQs increased remarkably (Hamer and C

16、opeland 221).Kagan and Haverman define operant conditioning as the process by which, through learning, free operant behavior becomes attached to a specific stimulus (578). John Watson conducted a substantialexperiment in 1913 concerning behaviorism. He has become well- known as the psychologist who

17、played a large role in the research of behaviorism, which is a division of operant conditioning. Watson used an 11-month-old boy to prove that a person could be conditioned to be afraid of something by whichhe was notpreviously affected. The baby used, Albert, was put into a room with no other human

18、 and no other distracters present. Watson placed a white rat in the room. Albert seemed to like the rat; he even showed affection towards it. Some time later, Watson would produce a very loud and displeasing noise every time Albert would reach out to touch the rat. As a result, the baby became terri

19、fied of every whiteand furry object in which he came in contact. This distinguishedinvestigation became known as the摘 lbert experiment?(Kagan andHavemann 94). This established that humans could be taught certain feelings and fears through their environment, with whichthey were not born (Morris and M

20、aisto 15). Experiments such as these ones prove that a person's environment can have a crucialeffect on him and on his manner of thinking. Much research followed experiments like Watson's. Psychologists have always been enticedby factors, namely environment, that affect humans.Adoption studi

21、es have also somewhat shown that a person 's environment plays an important role in his mental ability. For example, a study done with adoptive children raised in the same house had very similar IQs. Granted this does not seem like considerable evidence; however, these children were in no way re

22、lated genetically. Their environment growing up provided them with similar aptitudes for learning and for retaining information (Kagan and Havemann 39). Fraternal twins (who share approximately half of their genes) present an informative contrast?(B)ecause they areraised in the same environment buta

23、re not genetically identical, they help us to see the influence of environmental factors?(Segal 69). These factors are valuable to this argument.Although certain twin studies are not completely clear in their findings, one specific study indicates that some children 's environments have had sign

24、ificant influence on them.Much current research examines influences on intelligence. (Researchers) examine the extent to which children's surroundingsinfluence their intellect. In a prior study, they found that children adopted before age 1 into high-income families displayed particularly large

25、IQ gains by adolescence. The new(er) stud(ies) expanded on that (conception) (Bower 54-55).One study that was conducted proves that an individual's environment can have an extraordinary affect on a person. The subject of the investigation was called the 摘 ild Boy of Aveyron?(Herrnstein and Murra

26、y 410). He was discovered in France around 1799, which was soon after the French Revolution.The 12- or 13-year old boy had been found running naked in the woods, mute, wild, and evidently out of contact with humanity for most of his life?He) seem(ed) to be unable to become fully human despite heroic

27、 efforts to restore (his) society (after the Revolution) 通 rom (this) rare case, we can draw a hopeful conclusion: Iftheordinary human environment is so essential for bestowing humanintelligence, we should be able to create extraordinary environments to raise it further (Herrnstein and Murray 410).T

28、hough exceptional, this incident shows that environment can have an extremely drastic influence on a person.Considering the evidence stated previously in this paper, it would be a result of ignorance to believe that one sole factor, either genetics or environment, determines a person's mental ab

29、ility. It is ratherobvious that both of these factors contribute to a person's mentalaptitude. Through the research I have done, it seems that heredity, as well as environment, plays an important role in humans mentality; but these are not exactly equal in influence though. A person 's entir

30、e environment seems to be more effectual in determining his mental ability than heredity is.The most fundamental way to rationalize my opinion is quite comprehensible. It is that heredity determines one's potential, butenvironment devises how far one will reach that potential. Nature designs blu

31、eprints and nurture modifies them each step of the way?(Dempsey and Zimbardo 164). ?For instance), some genes increase our risk of heart disease: but if we know this and eat less fat, we reduce the risk?(Tudge).A study was done to determine whether children who are born firstsiblings. It primarilybe

32、tween a person sare more intelligent than their later-born concluded that there is no relationship confirmed that both heredity and environment are influential in aintelligenceand his time of birth. Mainly though,the studyperson. Intelligence is influenced by genetics and quality of childbearing par

33、enting efforts can make all the difference in a childsdevelopment?(Rogers 20).In certain cases, both heredity and environment could possibly play a roughly equal role in humans. The mental disorder schizophrenia is one of these circumstances. Schizophrenia has been proven to be very hereditary; furthermore, it is most common among people living in the poor rundown areas (Kagan and Havermann 39). Hence, humans with schizophrenia may have this brain disorder for