Just as Rhesus monkeys tend to adopt maternal behaviors and elements of personalities of their mothers irrespective of their genetic inclinations, so do human infants and growing children and adolescents internalize and adopt various aspects of the behaviors and reactions exhibited by their parents and other significant adult behavioral role models in their lives (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007).
Twin Studies
The quality of resources available to siblings (such as food, medicine, educational opportunities, etc.) is generally very similar within biological families (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007; Rutter, 2006). To the extent these factors contribute to the development of behavior, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to identify their connection to behavior in any way that distinguishes it from biological factors because siblings usually have access to identical or very similar resources as well (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007; Rutter, 2006).
In that regard, some of the most fascinating data into the dual influence of environment and genetics on human behavior has come from twin studies (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007; Rutter, 2006). Specifically, the fact that twins are sometime separated at birth and raised by completely different families in very different situations and circumstances provides a natural laboratory for inquiries into the relative influence of genetic predisposition as compared to that of external environment and experiences (Steen, 2006).
Consider that in empirical studies, researchers have established that among identical twins, the development of specific diseases, such as schizophrenia in particular, in one twin corresponds to a one-third probability of the same disease developing in the other twin (Steen, 2006). Likewise, the anecdotal evidence of identical twins is sometimes even more dramatic, such as exemplified by cases where twin brothers were separated at birth, raised in different families in different cities, only to meet by accident as adults and find out that they have chosen identical careers, recreational hobbies, and even married women with the same first name (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2007).
Conclusion
Prior to the era of modern scientific methods and the technological research tools and technologies of contemporary researchers, it was understandable why the nature/nurture debate generated arguments that substantially disputed or at least discounted the influence of one another on human behavior. However, in much the same way that 20th-century physicists demonstrated that electrons are better represented as a "probability cloud" rather than by models depicting individual particles occupying specific points in space at a particular time, modern psychological methods have demonstrated that the distinction between nature and nurture involves a much more complex multi-dimensional analysis. Ultimately, the answer boils down more to probabilities than to absolutes, just as in the case of electrons within atomic structure.
References
Gerrig, R., and Zimbardo, P. (2007). Psychology and Life. Prentice Hall.
Rutter, M. (2006). Genes and Behavior: Nature - Nurture Interplay Explained. Wiley-
Blackwell.
Steen, R.G. (1996). DNA and Destiny: Nature & Nurture in Human Behavior. De Capo.
Bleidorn, W., Kandler, C., Hulsheger, U.R., Riemann, R., Angleitner, A., & Spinath, F. M. (2010). Nature and nurture of the interplay between personality traits and major life goals. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 99(2), 366-379. doi:10.1037/a0019982 The first article is written by Bleidorn and a few other authors. Per the title, it pertains to the interplay and correlation between a person's personality traits and their life goals as they progress through life.
According to McGoldrick recognizing these repeated patterns in families can help individuals understand and deal with them today, potentially combating their effects. The work is noted as a guide to dealing with unresolved grief. Though the work is informative, it would also seem to be rather destabilizing in that it points out so many flaws in familes and then tells the modern individual that if they do not react,
Nature vs. Nurture An Age Old Debate Nature vs. nurture is one of the age old debates primarily within psychology but also within other social sciences such as sociology. Intelligence is often one of the aspects in which the argument hinges upon. There has been some evidence that the first born child in any family is more likely to possess traits consistent with intelligence and aptitude. This would suggest that nurture is
To deal with the 'fallout' of these neurological particularities may require treating anxiety, depression, and teaching him or her to psychologically compensate for certain deficits through intensive therapy. The fact that autism is not 'caused' by conventional psychological causes like bad parenting or 'refrigerator mothers' as was once assumed does not mean that psychology and orchestrating the child's environment does not have a role in treating the illness. The two
human nature that people like to categorize and have thinks set clearly to them in 'black and white'. People have always liked to think in terms of dualisms: there is the Cartesian 'body and soul' and 'paradise and hell', and "good and evil' amongst so many other dualisms. Either one category or the other exists. Belonging to that same schematic order of pattern is 'man and woman'. Shades of
This chapter points out how early environmental influences, however, are also part of the nurture equation, something that is often forgotten. A baby who is picked up when he or she cries, is given stimulation in the nursery, and is given good nutrition will have a better start in life than a baby who is given none of these advantages, even if the deprived and enriched infants in this
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now