Evaluate the nature-nurture debate in relation to the development of an individual

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BND Health and Social Care
Unit 4- Development through the life stages

D1- Evaluate the nature-nurture debate in relation to the development of an individual

Is a person’s development mainly influenced by their biological inheritance? Or could the majority of the influence be found in the person’s environment? Questions similar to these are possibly one of the oldest theories debated, mainly in psychology (Bee, 2004). This is known as the nature versus nurture debate. Nowadays it has been accepted many that most parts of a person’s development are shaped by the interaction of both nature and nurture. This can be said because both sides of the nature/nurture argument provide strong evidence on how each fact influences development. Each side also takes into account very important details and good explanations for reasons in which nurture or nature control how we develop. (A.Bell, 2002).

A nature account of development, which is also known as heredity, focuses on what someone is born with or traits which have been passed down from parents through your genes. Some examples of nature (or heredity) could be eye colour, height and behaviour. It is believed to determine an individual’s personality, appearance and other traits because of the fact that it is all genetically down. ( M.Eysenick, 2004)

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The effect of nature in relation to an individual’s development can be shown in the studies of twins. Flanagan (2002) did research in a study in which a set of twins were raised differently. This set of identical twins was raised apart and they didn’t meet each other until they were 40 years old. They had many similarities despite the fact that they were raised differently. The explanation for this was that nature must’ve been a major part in their development. The study’s conclusion was that on multiple measures of personality, temperament and social interests, mono-zygotic twins reared apart are ...

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This is a rather short and simple argument of Nature v Nurture. It is correct in its content but it does not really include as much as it could. There is an awful lot of research on development and its influences and the work could easily be enhanced through a bit more discussion. ****