Melinda Wenner from Scientific American Mind and Benedict Carey from the New York Times both report on this study and use it to prove that birth order indeed effects IQ and therefore effects your personality. The study concluded that the eldest children tend to have IQ’s that are higher than their siblings- an average of three points higher (Carey). It also found that the difference was not because of biological factors, or genes that were inherited, but instead were the result of sociological interplay of parents and other siblings. Both articles defend the findings by explaining that eldest children teach, or tutor their younger siblings naturally. This, in turn, helps the information solidify in their minds creating room for expansion of deeper more abstract
Ecological systems theory recognizes that both nature and nurture work together to form behavior. While ecological theory acknowledge that development takes place in a social context, they put forth that that process is about the interaction of an individual within her/ his specific environmental context. As ecological theorist, Urie Bronfenbrenner puts forth, the focus must be on the two-way interactions between parent and child and not simply focused on either a biological or child rearing causes of behavior. In the behaviorist model, behavior is shaped by positive or negative “reinforcers”, such as praise or attention, this feedback then forms a person’s behavior. Conversely, ecological systems theory sees that the process of development is a permeable one, and development occurs as the individual and his/her environment reciprocally interact.
Nature vs. Nurture Controversy Dawn D. Elkins Psychology 101 Liberty University What are my thoughts on the Nature vs. Nurture Argument? Nature, defined refers to the genes that people inherit, as in, the color of our eyes, the shape of our faces, and the coarseness of our hair. Nurture, defined refers to all the environmental influences, beginning with the mother’s health and diet during prenatal development and continuing lifelong, including the individual experiences with family, school, community, and society (Berger, K. Pg. 667). I believe that we are a beautifully crafted puzzle of genetic inheritance; however, I also believe that nurture plays a major role in a person life.
When debating the topic of Nature Vs Nurture you must look at both sides of the topic at hand. First we have Nurture, which states that an individual’s development is based off of his or her experiences and environment. This means things like where they grow up or whom they interact with as they grow up shape the kind of person they will become. For example if you grow up in a Jewish family you will be Jewish or if you grow up around a farm you will want to be a farmer. The other side of the debate is Nature, which states that an individual’s development is based off of his or her genetic heredity.
We can now see obesity is the second killer behind tobacco that could have been prevented with the proper lifestyle changes. Kiess states that obesity risks are even higher when the child has an obese parent (Kiess 220). Obesity is caused by unhealthy lifestyles, and lifestyles are passed on from parents to their kids.
Both of these men believe, that to a certain extent, people have many innate traits. To this day there has been no definitive research as to which shapes us more: our environment or our genetics. Many behaviors are learned from our parents, which is nurture. For example, safety. As kids, we’re all curious.
We as humans learn something every day it is in our nature. You get your brown eyes, big lips and large feet from one or both parents these features are hereditary the environment has nothing to do with this. The traits you are born with cannot be changed. Genetic is the science that explains the similarities and the differences we have. There are different degrees of genetic versus environment contributions to a trail called heritability (Omoto 181) .
The nurture part of it is that we are who we are because of the way that we are raised and the type of environment we are raised in. Also, there are some people that think that it is both Nature and Nurture that make you who you are, meaning it is a mix of both what you are born with and the traits you get from the environment you grow up in. Scientist have known for years that your hair color, eye color, body size, etc. Are determined by what you inherit from your parents. They can answer those questions, but why can’t they come up with an answer for Nature vs. Nurture?
COPYRIGHT MICHAEL P M MHLANGA THE NATURE NURTURE DEBATE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALS. MICHAEL P M MHLANGA GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY The concepts of nature and nurture shape the development of human beings. This write up sets out to assess the nature nurture debate, pinpointing the effects each has on the development of children. Terms that will be defined are nature nurture debate, nature and nurture. Feldman (2009) defines the nature nurture debate as the issue of the degree to which environment and hereditary factors influence the behaviour.
Nature and Nurture help to make up a person, and help to determine what it means to be human. Nature or nurture, which one has major influence on our personality and development? This issue has been widely debated in our society from ancient time till now. Some people maintain that it is concluded by the characteristic people born with, whereas others are confident that it defers to the experiences people have had in the life. I also believe nurture education plays the significant role in a person’s characteristics.