Child Development, Nature vs Nurture

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centers on the relative contributions ofgenetic inheritance  and  environmental factors  to human development. Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that they simply occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Other well-known thinkers such as John Locke believed in what is known as  tabula rasa, which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate. According to this notion, everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our experience.For example, when a person achieves tremendous academic success, did they do so because they are genetically predisposed to be successful or is it a result of an enriched environment? Today, the majority of experts believe that behavior and development are influenced by both nature and nurture. However, the issue still rages on in many areas such as in the debate on the origins of homosexuality and influences on  intelligence. This question has puzzled philosophers, psychologists and educators for hundreds of years and is frequently referred to as the  nature versus nurture  debate.Are we the result of nature (our genetic background) or nurture (our environment)? Today, most researchers agree that child development involves a complex interaction of both nature and nurture. While some aspects of development may be strongly influenced by biology, environmental influences may also play a role. For example, the timing of when the onset of puberty occurs is largely the results of heredity, but environmental factors such as nutrition can also have an effect. From the earliest moments of life, the interaction of heredity and the environment works to shape who children are and who they will become.While the genetic instructions a child inherits from his parents may set out a road map for development, the environment can impact how these directions are expre ssed, shaped or event silenced. The complex interaction of nature and nurture does not just occur at certain moments or at certain periods of time; it is persistent and lifelong. Babies begin to take in sensory experiences from the world around them from the moment of birth, and the environment will continue to exert a powerful influence on behavior throughout life. Geneticscan have a powerful influence on development, but experiences re equally important. For example, while the genetic code contains the information on how a child's  brain  may be pre-wired, it is learning and experience that will literally shape how that child's brain grows and develops. Final ThoughtsClearly, genetics have an enormous influence on how a child develops. However, it is important to remember that genetics are just one piece of the intricate puzzle that makes up a child's life. Environmental variables, including parenting, culture, education and social relationships also play a vital role.Nature v ersus Nurture is a popular debate about whether our genetics, or environmental influences â€Å"mold† more of who we are. An example is whether you get your out-going personality because of your DNA, or because you grew up in an environment that made you out-going. Nature is your genes, Nurture is environmental influences. Read more:  http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_is_the_argument_of_nature_vs_nurture#ixzz29QTunXP3 The nature vs nurture debate is one of the most enduring in the field of psychology. How far are human behaviors, ideas, and feelings,  INNATE  and how far are they all  LEARNED?These issues are at the center of the ongoing nature versus nurture debate or controversy. In the 17th  century the French philosopher Rene Descartes set out views which held that we all, as individual Human Beings, possess certain in-born ideas that underpin our approach to the world. The British philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, on the other hand, emphasised the role of experience as fully contributing to behavioral development. Locke set out the case that the human mind at birth is a complete, but receptive, blank slate ( scraped tablet or tabula rasa ) upon which experience imprints knowledge.Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper void of all characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from EXPERIENCE. Dandelion children tend to do pretty well no matter what environment they grow up in. Orchid children, meanwhile, may develop behavior or mood problems in abusive or neglectful homes — but in loving ones, they may thrive even more than dandelions. And according to new research, the