Nature Vs Nurture Essay - 1409 Words

Zachary Hobbs Sheen Cowper Psychology 200 20 October 2017 Nature vs Nurture In today’s society, it has become common to question what exactly makes us human. There are many questions to ask that pertains to the idealism of mankind, but the most important would be, â€Å"what shapes us into who we are?† The debate of whether nature or nurture molds the character of our being has been an exhilarating question throughout the history of time. Though this matter is only answered through individual perception, with nature being genetics and nurture serving as the environment in which an individual is raised from birth to adolescence. For centuries the argument between nature and nurture has brewed, yet it can be inferred that nurture has more of an†¦show more content†¦Just as morality, beliefs are molded by the environment that a given individual is raised. In a study performed, children who were primed with a picture of santa claus, the more likely they were to share candy. While this is the case in America, a child who lives in India woul d have no clue who santa claus is or anything about the Christmas holiday. Fears are important to acknowledge as well. A study in 1960 tested the depth perception of children between the ages of six months to a year and two months, in an attempt to see how the children would react to heights and loud noises. In the study, children were placed on a platform with plexiglass set at the end, which could be walked on, though wasn’t due to the fear of falling off of the platform, while also showing evidence of what neuroscientist Seth Norrholm of Emory University states as an individual s, â€Å"...acoustic startle reflex.† (kunang) â€Å"You’re going to duck your head due to loud noises being startling,† (kunang) says Norrholm. The learning of fears can also be evident from the Little Albert experiment, in which a baby by the name of Albert was introduced to animals, accompanied by a loud noise that made him cry. After countless times of repeating this proces s, little Albert began to not only fear animals, yet anything that had any close relation to fur. The two fears of falling and loud noises are the only natural, instinctive fears in the humanShow MoreRelatedNature vs. nurture Essay1322 Words   |  6 PagesNature vs. Nurture It is a matter of concern whether human behaviors and characteristics are determined by nature or nurture. If a person’s behavior is inherited directly from the genes of his/her parents or other biological factors, then it is the nature that determines his character. But if the environment that a person grew up in, affects his behavior, then it is the nurture that determines his/her character. It became a great matter of controversy among scientists, psychologists and sociologistsRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture Essay1612 Words   |  7 PagesNature vs. Nurture Essay Throughout many years, scientists have been debating about whether nature or nurture is the driving force that shapes a person’s cognitive abilities and personal traits. Before the ongoing debate can be explained, it is necessary to understand what nature and nurture actually are. Nature is loosely defined as the genetics one inherits and tendencies that influence development. Many things in an individual are hereditary, for instance; gender, disease, height, eye color,Read More Nature vs Nurture Essay804 Words   |  4 PagesNature vs Nurture In his book, the universally acclaimed and bestseller The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins presents his viewpoint that living organisms are but survival machines, that the individual [is a] selfish machine, programmed to do whatever is best for its gene as a whole. In fact, this is the central concept in his book that he brings across. 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The resulting variety of physical shortcomings and limitations in each person has, for centuries, been countered by endeavours to improve or interfere where necessary, and every individual is consequently the product of a delicate middle path of balance between the two. The importanceRead MoreNature vs. Nurture Essay794 Words   |  4 Pages Nature vs. Nurturenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Through time, psychologists have argued over whether only our genes control our behaviors in life or if the environment and the people surrounding us have any effect in our lives. This is called nature versus nurture. We do not know what dictates our behavior, or if it is a combination of both. One question is, if genes control our behavior, are we really responsible for our actions? I think that if we can make choicesRead MoreNature Vs Nurture Essay882 Words   |  4 PagesNature vs Nurture The discussion about nature and nurture can be considered one of the oldest problems in psychology, the main question of which is: Are human traits present at birth or are they developing through experience? (Meyers, 2013). The natural side of the discussion asserts that the facial features and the way of their development strictly through DNA and genetics are transmitted by parents and grandparents. The nurture side of the debate argues that we are born with a clean list andRead MoreNature vs. Nurture Essay1250 Words   |  5 PagesNature vs Nurture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the past five weeks we have studied three different but influential people in our perspective on human nature class. They are Freud, Plato and Tzu. The main discussion between all of them is nature versus nurture. I will discuss the difference between nature and nurture and then I’ll apply to each of these philosophers and how they react to it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When looked up in the dictionary the term nature means the universe and its phenomena or one’s own character and temperamentRead More Nature vs Nurture Essay778 Words   |  4 PagesNature vs Nurture Most of us have an intuition that, although our genes provide advantages and constraints, we retain great control over our lives. However, we are developing a second, competing intuition that, like it or not, our genes determine our abilities, our preferences, and our emotions. We would like to think we are much more than the sum of our genes, but scientists have apparently demonstrated that our genes determine some of our most complex behavioral and cognitive characteristicsRead MoreEssay on Nature vs Nurture1052 Words   |  5 PagesNature vs. Nurture M. B. Liberty University Psychology 101 Nature vs. Nurture There has been extensive debate between scholars in the field of psychology surrounding the Nature vs. Nurture issue. Both nature and nurture determine who we are and neither is solely independent of the other. â€Å"As the area of a rectangle is determined by its length and its width, so do biology and experience together create us.†(Myers, 2008, p. 8) Carl Gustav Jung, and leading thinker and creator of analytical