Nature and Nurture

The question of whether human behavior is driven by innate biological forces or is the product of our learning and environment has been a popular discussion at scientific conferences for many years. In psychology, some scientistsconsiderthat heredity is the more important determinant of behavior. Otherstake the opposite viewpoint that everything is determined by upbringing. Russian psychologists (for example, Vygotsky) have their own vision of this problem, which isn’t similar to the others (Rettew, 2017).

The initial use of the Nature vs. Nurture Theory was credited to psychologist Francis Galton in 1869. Many centuries later, philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke independently thought that people are born as blank slates (i. e. " tabula rasa" ), and that their eventual individual differences develop solely due to the result of environmental influences. Twentieth century behavioral psychologist John Watson shared a similar perspective, believing that the events that take place during early childhood have far more influence on what kind of adults we become compared to the effects of our genes (Skurnik&, George, 1972). While certain physical traits like skin and eye color and diseases like sickle cell anemia and Huntington’s chorea have been found to be the result of direct genetic inheritance, virtually any pattern of thinking or behavior can be understood from the perspective of a combination of nature and nurture. In humans, many studies in more than the past 20 years involve identical or fraternal twins who are separated at birth. I would like to give a very clear example (Brys – Brenda) of this problem. It was a cruel experiment which started with doctor’s mistake. «A boy became a girl» and Brys became Brenda. The boy was raised as a girl. Mani (the experimenter) observed the development of Brenda and also as well as changed the behavior of parents and twin brother. Mani think that behavior is most influenced be upbringing, and genes aren’t important in this case. But he wasn’t right. Sometimes later Brenda became David and married.

Nativists adopt an extreme hereditary position. Their basic assumption is that the characteristics of the human species as a whole are a product of evolution and that individual differences are due to each person’s unique genetic code. Examples of an extreme nature positions in psychology include Chomsky, who proposed language is gained through the use of an innate language acquisition device (Chomsky, 1965). Another example of nature is Freud's theory of aggression as being an innate drive (called Thanatos). But nativists also argue that child’s maturation governs the emergence of attachment in infancy, language acquisition and even cognitive development as a whole (Plomin, Bergerman, 1991).

Empiricists are the environmentalists. Their basic assumption is that at birth the human mind is a tabula rasa (a blank slate) and that this is gradually “filled” as a result of experience. From this point of view, psychological characteristics and behavioral differences that emerge through infancy and childhood are the results of learning. Freud stated that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality. He thought that parenting is of primary importance to a child's development (Freud, 1905).

Today, the majority of experts believe that both nature and nurture influence behavior and development. However, the issue still rages on in many areas such as in the debate on the origins of homosexuality and influences on intelligence. While few people take the extreme nativist or radical empiricist approach, researchers and experts still debate the degree to which biology and environment influence behavior (Cherry, 2019).

Increasingly, people are beginning to realize that asking how much heredity or environment influence a particular trait is not the right approach. These influences include genetic factors that interact with one another, environmental factors that interact such as social experiences and overall culture, as well as how both hereditary and environmental influences intermingle. Instead, many researchers today are interested in seeing how genes modulate environmental influences and vice versa (Cherry, 2019).

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