Nature vs. Nurture

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The debate over nature versus nurture has been argued since the early years of psychology, perhaps even earlier when Aristotle proposed that humans have “four different types of causation, formal causes, material causes, efficient causes, and final causes,” (Moore, 21) that can explain the adaptation of certain characteristics in individuals over time . Psychologists today are still debating whether human behavioral traits are acquired through learning (Nurture) or if we have a predisposition to behave a certain way because of genetics (Nature). The nature versus nurture debate has since been branched off into many other psychological aspects of human characteristics. Traits such as intelligence, athleticism, and even our own individual personalities are just some of the topics researched by psychologist. So are our behavioral traits and characteristics learned and capable of change? Or are our behaviors innate and predetermined by our genetic makeup? Personally I believe a little bit of both theories; although some of our human traits are not subject to change, such as genetic qualities of hair and eye color, other characteristics like intelligence or athleticism, I believe, can be altered by human will power or choice. I do not believe human behavior is innate and that our lives are limited by genetic and biological factors. With the right environment, nurture, and determination I’m sure one can excel to their full capacity in traits such as intelligence or athleticism. I may be incorrect and I even might have my own bias but that is what I truly think and believe. Before we tackle on this longly debated predicament, we must understand that there are many different perspectives on the nature versus nurture topic. A biological psychologist might approach the problem focusing on genetic, hormonal, and neurochemical explanations of behavior, leaning more towards
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