Nature v Nurture
In this essay the claim 'gender is determined by biology' will be critically examined. Sociologist's concern is whether men and women are the product of biological or cultural and environmental factors. They raise the argument for nature versus nurture, as to whether men and women differ naturally or are the differences influenced by societies and cultures. Sociologists who claim gender is determined by nurture say that some of the behaviour displayed by men and women is developed through the social learning of male and female identities. They claim our gender is socially constructed, learnt behaviour. Sociologists who claim gender is determined by nature argue that it is a hormonal process, which determines our gender. Their perspective argues that by our very nature it is our gender roles, which are determined by biology. Gender roles that do not fit this pattern are considered deviant. By examining the evidence for both sides of the argument, nature versus nurture, this essay will give more insight and understanding into each theory. The evidence in this essay will show and support the claim 'gender is determined by biology'. It will show that it is a biological process that determines our gender. This essay will show examples of how males and females are biologically determined and how trials into nature versus nurture can go drastically wrong. Nature versus
Nature Versus Nurture.
Steven Pemberton Nature Versus Nurture In The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, there are many themes that are developed throughout the play. So a few of the themes that Shakespeare develops in The Tempest are nature versus nurture, prejudice and its effects, and power of the artist. Shakespeare's theme of nature versus nurture asks what the determining factors in someone's development are. The two most determining factors in someone's development are the person's parents and his goals, which can be shown in The Tempest. So the person's parents can be considered the most important factor that helps to decide the way a person develops. For instance, in The Tempest when Miranda talks with Caliban and says, "I pitied thee,/ Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour/ One thing or other."(I.ii.333-335), showing that Miranda taught Caliban to speak. Therefore Miranda's own kindness teaches Caliban how to speak. But since Prospero raised Miranda, the kindness in her personality and her knowledge of a language must have come from the way he raised her. Consequently, Prospero's nurture allowed Miranda to be nice to Caliban, and Miranda's nature had to do with her act of kindness. Another time in The Tempest where parents are a determining factor in a character's development is when Prospero raised Miranda and helped to raise Caliban. So since Miranda and
Nature-Nurture debate
M3- Discuss the Nature-Nurture debate in relation to individual's development. D1- Evaluate the Nature-Nurture debate in relation to the development of the individual The nature-nurture debate studies the behaviour of individuals according to their development. There could be two different types of effects: * Natured * Nurtured The nature part of the debate shows biological factors which influence an individual. This could be genetic factors such as blood type or eye colour. This is something that cannot be changed. The nurture parts of the debate shows exactly the type of things which are taught to the individual such as, swearing or eating healthy food. This is influences from what the individual picks up as they grow older. This comes from the way they are cared for and the influence on the individual as they grow and develop. For example if an individual is born with a caring family that provides with support such as books, computers etc to learn new things then this individual will be able to develop cope better in the future than an individual that has no support with their learning. The nature-nurture debate has the different ideas which contribute to the upbringing of individuals. Our behaviour is often said to come either from inherited characteristics (our nature) or from experiences in our environment (our nurture). Certain actions will be classed as nature
Nature/nurture debate
Hayley Thomson How children Develop and Learn Nature/nurture debate Nature/nurture is one of the twentieth century's most scientific debates and has been a long-lived discussion between psychologists and philosophers. For some time, we have known that development results from the dynamic interplay of nature and nurture. From birth on, we grow and learn because our biology is programmed to do so and because our social physical environment provides stimulation.' www.classbrain.com Nature When a child is born, his brain is still trying to assemble itself for its full action. The brain has nerve cells called neurons. To begin with, the neurons are not joined together so over the first 3 years of a child's life, the job of his brain is to fix the neurons together by forming a root like connection called a synapses. 'Between birth and 3, the brain creates more synapses than it needs. The synapses that are used a lot become a permanent part of the brain. The synapses that are not used frequently are eliminated.' www.classbrain.com Experience plays an important part in the shaping a child's brain because the more learning and social opportunities the child is provided with means the synapses that are linked with the experiences will become permanent. The child's experience is the stimulation that forms the synapses. Hayley Thomson Nurture Interaction is the key to
Nature vs nurture
Reid Takeuchi Psych 41 T-TH 11:45am-1pm 11/08/06 Nature vs. Nurture We know that things such as eye color and other physical characteristics are genetically acquired. But, where does one get traits of personality and talent from? Are they learned or are they genetic? While it is clear that physical characteristics are hereditary, the genetic waters get a bit murkier when it comes to an individual's behavior, intelligence, and personality. Ultimately, the old argument of nature versus nurture has never really been answered. It is not known how much of what we are is determined by our DNA and how much by our life experience. It has been reported that the use of the terms "nature" and "nurture," as a convenient catch-phrase for the roles of heredity and environment in human development, can be traced back to 13th century France. Some scientists believe that people behave as they do because of a genetic predisposition or an innate "animal instinct." This is known as the "nature" theory of human behavior. Other scientists believe that people think and behave in certain ways because they are taught to do so. This is known as the "nurture" theory of human behavior. A fast-growing understanding of the human genome has recently made it clear that both sides are partly correct. Nature endows us with inborn abilities and traits; nurture takes these genetic tendencies and
Nature - Nurture Debate
Discuss the assumptions made about nature and nurture in two areas of psychological theory or research (30) The nature-nurture debate concerns the extent to which human behaviour is determined by heredity (nature) and to what extent it is the product of environmental influence (nurture). The controversy regarding the nature-nurture debate stems back to 1800 where it originated between psychology and philosophy. The philosophers represent the empiricist stance, whereby a baby is born with a mind like a blank slate - Tabula Rasa and they are shaped by individual experiences. On the other hand, there are the Nativists who believe that our inherited characteristics are the key influence on our individual characteristics. The nature aspect of the debate relates to the biological approach within psychology, this covers areas such as; genetics, biochemistry and brain structure. Research has been conducted into these areas in order to prove the greater influence of nature. Research has been conducted by Gottesman into the prevalence of schizophrenia between relatives. Gottesman found that if both parents have schizophrenia there is a 40% likelihood that a child of theirs will develop the disorder. When this figure is compared with the 1% chance of anyone in the general population developing the illness, it highlights the significance of genetics. However, it must be noted that the
Nature - Nurture Debate.
Question: "The age old nature-nurture controversy about the underlying causes of the course of development continues today, with some theorists attributing the course of development to genetic influences while others believe that the complex forces of the environment are responsible." Discuss the evidence for each of these positions and indicate how this debate will influence your future work. The nature versus nurture controversy about the underlying causes of developmental progression continues to be debated. There are many theories for both genetic influence and learning environment, there are also theories about the interaction of nature and the environment, each with its own theory of relative influence. As an educator, it is useful to have knowledge and understanding of why children develop the way they do and how teachers can help children to reach their full potentials. "Developmental psychology has a relatively recent history, with different theoretical approaches based on philosophical thought as well as well as a tradition of research that began in the 1800s." (Berk, 1997 Cited in Vialle, Lysaght and Verenikina, 2002. Page 7.) Hence theories on developmental psychology are relatively brand new. Consequently there is no genuine proof that any individual theory is accurate or erroneous. Lefrancios (1973) published a book about child development. In it was a
Nature Vs Nurture
Nature or nurture? Or nature and nurture? 'The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated' Eliza Doolite, My Fair Lady (NB this is just an idea!!) Over the course of the last century one of the greatest debates in anthropology concerns the basis of behaviour, specifically whether behaviour is innate i.e. genetically controlled, or whether it is learnt through the socio-cultural environment. This is often referred to as the Nature vs Nurture debate. There are two main arguments on this issue. The 'Nativist' claim that all behaviour is innate believing that genes control the majority of animal behaviour. On the other hand, the empiricist position suggests that all behaviour is learned through an individuals cultural experience and conditioning - that individuals begin life as blanks slates. This debate has evolved such that I shall argue the question is not whether behaviour is innate or learned, but rather how much of behaviour, if any, is genetically determined - not so much nature or nurture, as nature via nuture. (Matt Ridley - source). One school of thought argues that behaviour is determinant, and that genetics influences on behaviour in a minimal way. Extreme examples of nurture being the only cause is in Watson's concept of behaviourism. "Give me a child and let me control the total environment in which he is raised
Nature vs Nurture
Mayur Bedadala Ms. Blair Hon Sophomore Composition 17 October 2008 To begin with what is intelligence? As Merriam Webster dictionary states intelligence is "the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations". Some say its nature and some say its nurture. Who is right and who is wrong. From the past decades there is a raging debate going on whether intelligence is nature or nurture, but the results were always inconclusive or full of loopholes. There are many reasons that clearly prove that intelligence is genetic. In this essay the topic that I will be exploring are the differences in intelligence within different races and ethnic groups. Intelligence is clearly more affected by genetics than it is by environmental factors due to the results of twin studies between two different races. From many years scientists have been studying the IQ scores of twins between many different ethnic groups. Some results were very accurate and enlightened the scientists a lot. For example in an article scientist Philippe Rushton informs us that some races have average IQ scores that are higher than others. Rushton also said that twins receive over 50% of their intelligence from their family. Also scientists reported that the average IQ scores for white identical twins was 86 percentile, for Asians .99 and for blacks .80. Therefore these results suggested that
Nature and nurture evaluation
Health & Social Care D1 Nature has a lot of factual information that has an effect on individual’s behaviour. Both nature and nurture have strengths and weaknesses. Twins can be a huge example of how both of their nature and nurture can have an effect on their behaviour. Most people believe that nurture has a stronger and influential point to how individual behaviour and development is inherited. According to Ceci and Williams both biological and environmental influences has an effect on an individual’s development. There have been arguments made that the type of environment can have an effect on the development of an individual, so if you live in a rich environment your behaviour and development are going to be different to someone who lives in a poor environment. Both nature and nurture cannot give us the right reason for human development, so they both have to be merged together in order to find the solution. Nature and nature are beginning to become more alike according to research. According to a psychology book individuals mature at different ages this depends on their genes, this is when patterns in that individual body will change, so this is one of nature’s strengths. Watson a psychologist sees individuals as a substance
