Nature Vs Nurture

Words: 1169
Pages: 5
Open Document
When you are born, you are a clean slate. You do not know how to speak, act, or really do anything. With that being said, how do you develop your personality? Some say that your personality and actions are based on genetics, and others say it is based on how you were raised, media, and other things in society. Nature versus nurture is a very big debate amongst scientists and people in general. Personally, I believe that both of these take part in your personality and behavior. Nature would be your genetics, and nurturing factors would be your family and how you were raised, your friends and the people that you hang out with, and the media such as television, magazines, and social networks. We learn new things everyday, and as soon as we come …show more content…
Think of it like this: There are two newborn babies. One baby is very calm and easygoing, but the other baby is very demanding and vocal. The babies have just been born, but they both seem to already personalities. This proves that our personality has a genetic component, but this does not mean that we are just born with our personality. To prove this, researchers have found that a large number of twins have similar personalities. These findings suggest the heritability of some personality traits, implying that some aspects of our personalities are largely controlled by genetics (“Genetics, the Brain, and Personality”). Heritability is what researchers call the degree to which behavioral variations within a population can be accounted for by genes. Heritability is what is found to make up a lot of one's personality. One of the very first cases documented that linked genetics and personality was in 1858 with a man named Phineas Gage. He worked as a blasting foreman for a railroad company, and due to a faulty blast, a railroad spike was blown through his head. Somehow, Phineas Gage survived this atrocious accident. The railroad spike went through his frontal lobe in his brain, and he started to experience many changes in his personality that scientists now know are associated with this area of the brain. The changes in Gage's personality after his brain injury spurred interest in the biological factors involved in personality and implicated the frontal lobe as an important area associated with higher-order personality functions (“Phineas Gage
Show More

Related Documents: Nature Vs Nurture

Nature Vs Nurture

The question of nature vs nurture in psychology is a question that humanity’s greatest minds have been debating for millennia. From Plato who believes in nature, against Aristotle who argued for nurture. To as recently as today where scientists are still trying to figure out the answer with no prevail. (Nature vs Nurture) The basic premise of this debate is whether the mind is influenced by the world around it or is already predetermined. In other words, certain people believe that the mind is a…

Words 1179 - Pages 5

Nature Vs Nurture

and what is taught to us. We are taught by our parents, by our teachers, by grandparents, by siblings, friends, ect.. but ultimately a parents wants there child to grow up knowing they taught them to do what was right and wrong. This is where Nature vs. Nurture come into play this is where we learn ones interest and abilities such as creativity, social skills, problem-solving ability, and so forth. Parents are the keys to intellectual development for almost all children in the care and education…

Words 599 - Pages 3

Nature vs. Nurture Essay

Nature vs Nurture: Do You Choose Your Sexuality, Or Is It Genetic? The nature vs. nurture debate is one of the most enduring in the field of psychology because of the many different topics that can be attained in this single field. Psychologist have thought and asked questions of how far are human behaviors, ideas, and feeling, innate and how far are they all learned? These issues are at the center of the ongoing nature versus nurture controversy. The French philosopher Rene Descartes suggested…

Words 1083 - Pages 5

Nature Vs Nurture

In psychology, there are two main point of views when analysing the brain. The two main points are nature and nurture. Nurture is the theory that a person's behavior is determined in the womb. While, nature is the theory that your behavior is determined by your experience or environment. On May 21, 1960, Jeffrey Dahmer was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, raised by disheveled parents, Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He was known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, an American serial killer and sex offender, who committed…

Words 264 - Pages 2

Essay on Nature vs. Nurture

Nature vs. Nurture The dubious history of the heredity environment controversy can be easily traced as far back as the start of the present century with at least some historical evidence placing the roots of this dispute in the time of John Locke. This controversy has continued despite continual reiteration that the critical question is not how much of a trait is due to heredity and how much is due to environment, but rather how environment transact to influence development." ( Wachs ,…

Words 2492 - Pages 10

Nature Vs Nurture Debate

Debate on the Nature Versus Nurture controversy dates back to 1869 when the phrase was first conceived by Francis Galton, a man who had wide-ranging knowledge. Galton began to investigate further on the nature versus nurture debate when his half-cousin, Charles Darwin, publicized On the Origin of Species, where Darwin first began his study on the theory of evolution. Intrigued by Darwin’s theories and ideas, Galton publicized two books exploring inheritance, and evolution of traits. Since Galton…

Words 677 - Pages 3

Mcleod Nature Vs Nurture

thought nurture is important. In the article “Nature vs Nurture in Psychology” Saul Mcleod reports that the debate of the influence between nature and nurture. Mcleod claims that some nativists believe genetic factors control our physical characteristic and behavior. And empiricists believe that human’s development and behavior influenced by environment. Also she describes that there a controversy between whether “ genius” is from nature or nurture. In brief, the author states that nature and nurture…

Words 996 - Pages 4

Nature vs. Nurture Essay

Nature vs. Nurture “we all born mad,some remain so”.(Samuel Beckett) want it or not,we come to this world with a pre-determined identety that we have no power over it.A set of parameters, like our parents, form the blueprint of what we are.from this point,we are somehow consciously aware of the influences we are exposed to.I am going to discuss the superiority of nurture over nature, in the process of what we become.The issues involved, are family,values of the society, and the…

Words 466 - Pages 2

Nature Vs. Nurture In Criminology

this will layout how the Classical School of Criminology relates to the school of thought of nature vs. nurture. When we talk about nature vs. nurture, we are talking about how it relates to criminal justice and the notion of born vs. learned criminals. Nature is the factors that are uncontrolled by us, such as your genetics, and these have a significant impact on our behavior and how our minds work. Nurture is what we have experienced in our lives, the lessons and influences on us as we were growing…

Words 541 - Pages 3

Essay on Nurture Vs. Nature

7th Nurture Vs. Nature There has been a large controversy over whether parental teaching effect our way of thinking or if the environment influences and effects our way of thinking. Some people believe that it is strictly parental teachings that effect our way of life, others believe that it is the environment that effects us, and some believe that both of these influence our behavior. Either way, people have been struggling for a long time deciding whether our personalities are nurture or nature…

Words 558 - Pages 3