“Nature” is defined as all genes and hereditary factors that contribute to a person’s unique

physical appearance, personality, and physiology while “Nurture” is defined as the many
environmental variables that affect a person, including their experiences in early
childhood, family and social relationships, culture, and community. Both nature and
nurture are linked to the philosophical concepts of empiricism and nativist. A nativist
(“nature”) account of development would argue that the processes in question are innate
and influenced by an organism’s genes. Natural human behavior is seen as the result of
already-present biological factors, such as genetic code. An empiricist (“nurture”)
perspective would argue that these processes are acquired through interaction with the
environment. Nurtured human behavior is seen as the result of environmental interaction,
which can provoke changes in brain structure and chemistry. For example, situations of
extreme stress can cause problems like depression.

With nature and nurture child intellectual development, researchers find that many
aspects of development that were once thought to be determined by a child’s environment
also have a genetic component, whereas others that were believed to be controlled solely by
heredity are greatly influenced by external factors. Genes determine certain human
characteristics, such as eye and hair color and the incidence of genetic diseases. However,
most human traits, including life expectancy, height, and weight, have both an
environmental and genetic component. For example, social learning theory states that we
learn by observing the behavior of others, so parenting styles and the child’s learned
experiences determine whether the child behave politely or aggressively in specific
situations. Genetic and epigenetic contributions to the learning process are inheritable and
interact with behavioral learning such as study habits and the availability of educational
resources.

How Nature Influences Intellectual Development

Distinctions will be drawn based on activities such as sleeping, crying, eating, socializing,
and movingon how nature contributes to the major growth in intellectual development of a
person.

1. Sleeping
In a situation when an individual is a peaceful sleeper or if he/she keeps waking up at night,
it may be because of his/her genes. In a study conducted on identical and fraternal twins, it
was observed that genes play a significant role in the sleeping pattern of a person. It was
seen that almost all identical twins had the tendency of waking up during the nights, but
they also shared the same napping patterns. However, fraternal twins exhibit less tendency
of waking up at night in comparison to identical twins.

2. Crying

A situation where people (especially young ones) tends to cry to get attention from others so
that their needs are taken care of. While some babies are easy to calm and soothe, others
may make their parent’s life miserable with their wails. Genetics plays an important role in
the way baby cries. Many researchers believe that almost 60 percent of the temperament of
a baby is hereditary.

3. Socializing

If someone is highly social and loves the company of people or if he/she is extremely shy
and feels awkward in the company of strangers, then in most cases it is due to the inherited
genes. In one of the studies published, it was stated that inherited temperament is what
makes a person act in a certain way.

4. Eating

The eating habit of a person can be influenced by the gene present in that individualEating habits
of your baby may be genetic too. If sSome people who babies are slow eaters and others who
love to guzzle on, it is because of their genes. Even after making constant efforts to feed a
particular food to your baby, if your baby still despises that food, it may be his genes into action.
In a study conducted on identical and fraternal twins, it was observed that food aversions
may be genetic.

How to Nurture
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If your child is a fussy eater, you can do a lot to make your baby to eat a particular food. The first
and foremost thing is to understand that mealtimes should be fun and your baby should look
forward to it. Always introduce one food at a time, as offering too many tastes and foods at the
same time may confuse your baby’s palate. It is very normal for babies to make funny faces
whenever a new taste is introduced. Practise patience whenever it comes to introducing a new
food to your baby.

5. Moving

If your baby likes to be in motion all the time or if he is laid back and does not like to move
around much, this may be because of his genes or the way he is nurtured.

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A baby crawling

What is Expected Nature?

It is seen that people babies who are more active or like to move around much are that way
because of their inherited genes. Similarly, when if your babysomeone is more relaxed and
sedentary, then it is because his/her genes are making him/her do so. In a study, it was
established that active babies grow up into active adults whereas relaxed babies may
remain the same as they grow up.

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How to Nurture

You may do a lot in terms of helping your baby to be more active. You may involve him in
various activities and games, give him various kinds of toys to play and do other such
things. It is also important to give your baby enough tummy times during his early months.

Interaction of Nature and Nurture

We are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height,
and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction
between our genes and our environment: our unique experiences in our environment influence
whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how
we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). There is a reciprocal interaction
between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become.

In the present scenario, various developmental psychologists are of the opinion that apart
from how nature and nurture affect physical development in childhood, the human
development also depends on social factors such as socio-environmental, socio-economic,
and cultural factors. All of us are born with specific genetic traits and are nurtured in
different environments and thus we all develop different traits. However, how we react to
the various environmental factors is determined by our genetic factors too. This may
indicate that these factors are co-dependent.

Some examples of nature and nurture in child intellectual development may make the
above-mentioned statements clearer. For example, if a child is born to the tall parents, but
he is not nurtured properly or receives improper nutrition, then he may not grow tall in
spite of having taller genes in him. Similarly, a child may have the ability to understand
music because of his genes, but the genes alone will not make him a musical genius; he will
have to undergo training from an early age.

From the above information, we hope you now have a clear understanding of what a kid inherits
from his parents and how you can help nurture it. These two factors play a key role in shaping up
his behaviour, so pay attention to your child’s behaviour.

In the past, children were viewed as ‘blank slates’. The common view was that parents could
'mould' their child’s development through their actions. And this idea actually put a lot of
pressure on parents. It suggested that any decision, whether good or bad, small or large, would
shape their child.

We now know that children are not blank slates to be moulded by us. Their genetic makeup
influences all aspects of their behaviour and personality. Starting from when they were first
conceived, how a child develops and behaves is partly influenced by the genes they inherit.

On the other hand, genes are not completely in control of a child’s destiny – no behavioural or
personality traits are 100% heritable. Genes give children a tendency towards certain ways of
being, such as their sleeping behaviour or personality. But they also need an environment in
which these genetic influences can play a role.
Both nature and nurture

Parenting does play an important role, just not in the way we originally believed. Nature and
nurture both play a role. How we act as parents as well as our child’s genes are strongly
intertwined.

Each child responds to parenting in different ways. We know that children bring out different
responses from their caregivers, partly as a result of their genetic makeup. This is called
evocative gene-environment correlation.

Children will also seek out environments that suit their genetic background. This process is
known as active gene–environment correlation.

Why does it matter?

Information on how nature and nurture intertwine to influence children’s development can
support families in several ways. As parents, it’s easy to take credit or to blame ourselves for
every aspect of our children’s behaviour. Yet we cannot completely control a child’s
development because part of it is influenced by the genes in their cells. Realising this can help
put our role as parents into perspective and respect our child as an individual.We are all born
with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height, and certain
personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction between
our genes and our environment: our unique experiences in our environment influence
whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence
how we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). There is a reciprocal
interaction between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become
Heritability refers to the origin of differences among people; it is a concept in biology that
describes how much of the variation of a trait in a population is due to genetic differences
in that population. Individual development, even of highly heritable traits such as eye
color, depends not only on heritability but on a range of environmental factors, such as the
other genes present in the organism and the temperature and oxygen levels during
development. Environmental inputs can affect the expression of genes, a relationship called
gene-environment interaction. Genes and the environment work together, communicating
back and forth to create traits.

Some concrete behavioral traits are dependent upon one’s environment, home, or culture,
such as the language one speaks, the religion one practices, and the political party one
supports. However, some traits which reflect underlying talents and temperaments—such
as how proficient at a language, how religious, or how liberal or conservative—can be
partially heritable.

Diathesis-Stress Model

The diathesis–stress model is a psychological theory that attempts to explain behavior as a

predispositional vulnerability together with stress from life experiences. The term diathesis
derives from the Greek term for disposition, or vulnerability, and it can take the form of
genetic, psychological, biological, or situational factors. The diathesis, or predisposition,
interacts with the subsequent stress response of an individual. Stress refers to a life event or
series of events that disrupt a person’s psychological equilibrium and potentially serve as a
catalyst to the development of a disorder. Thus, the diathesis–stress model serves to explore
how biological or genetic traits (diatheses) interact with environmental influences
(stressors) to produce disorders, such as depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia.
The difference between siblings

Understanding the joint roles of nature and nurture also helps us to understand why
siblings are sometimes very different from one another. Siblings with the same mum and
dad only share half of the genetic influences affecting their development. As such, siblings
have a partly different genetic makeup, and this is one reason for sibling differences.

Siblings sometimes evoke different reactions from their parents. A parenting style might
work for one child but not for another. Siblings might choose different environments to one
another and show different tastes in toys, people, eating and napping habits, despite being
raised by the same people.

Nature and nurture also help us understand why things run in families. This could be a
behaviour like being very active, or a sleep pattern like needing less or more sleep than
others. Research on genetic influences in infancy is still at an earlier stage than similar
research on older age groups though.

If genes play a role, can I still help my child?

Yes, you can. Many things are partly down to our genes but this doesn't mean they can’t be
supported or addressed through our environment. For example, sleep problems that persist
into childhood are partly inherited. Yet we know that changing something in our child’s
environment, such as routine and using black-out blinds at night, can help to resolve these
problems.

It’s hard to pin down exactly how much of your child’s personality is down to nature and
how much is nurture. We do know it’s a bit of both. The good news is you still play an
important part in your child's development but take some pressure off yourself too. Not
everything you do (or don't) will necessarily influence them or change who they are.

This chapter considers the influence of “nature” – the hereditary aspects. A child’s DNA
will determine their eye colour, physical build, height and other physical characteristics.
DNA can also have a role in determining character traits such as personality, aggression,
and intelligence.

The other major determinant of child development is "nurture," or the environmental

influences. Within psychology there has been an ongoing debate known as the nature
versus nurture, or nature-nurture debate which probably reached its height in the 1950's
and 1960's. This debate has been concerned with the extent to which heritability and
environmental factors are each responsible for developmental characteristics. Whilst there
was a time when many psychologists would adopt a particular polar stance, these days
there are few who would claim that nature or nurture are responsible for human
development at the exclusion of the other. Nature and nurture can be more accurately
scrutinised by considering how much each contributes to, and in what way they each affect,
development.

GENETICS

Some of the early proponents of heritability were interested in intelligence. Francis Galton
in the UK was a supporter of eugenics and founder of the eugenics movement in the 1880's.
He claimed that intelligence was passed on in families and so must be inherited.
Furthermore, members of the lower classes were less intelligent and were having far too
many children - which would ultimately dilute the overall intelligence of the population. He
went as far as to call for sterilisation of those of lower intelligence and his ideas were widely
adopted for some time in the UK and the US.
Galton based his ideas on data he gathered from physical measurements of people such as
circumference of the head, chest measurements, and height. From this he extrapolated that
intelligence level was a result of physical characteristics. He argued that each person could
be classified according to their intelligence level and that this was fixed from birth. From
Galton's perspective, no matter how much time and effort a parent or teacher puts into
helping a child to develop cognitively, they will never be able to exceed the upper limits of
their inherited capacity for intelligence.

In the US in the early 1900's, Goddard took up Galton's ideas on the heritability of
intelligence and published work on a 'degenerate' family he referred to as the 'Kalikaks.'
This work was often used in an attempt to persuade others about how poor heredity could
be passed on in society if such degenerate types were allowed to breed without restraint. He
claimed that there was a single gene for feeble-mindedness. Thankfully, such extreme views
are no longer widely held in society.

Other proponents of the heritability of intelligence were Spearman and Burt. Spearman
believed that general intelligence could be represented as a single score on an intelligence
test - he referred to this as the "g factor." Cyril Burt's ideas on the heritability and fixed
nature of intelligence resulted in the introduction of 11-plus exams in the UK in the 1940's
which determined what type of education a child at age eleven would go on to have. Those
who performed well went on to receive a more privileged grammar school education.

Many of Burt's assertions with regards to the heritability of intelligence were based on his
studies of twins, which have since been found to be flawed (see problems below).

Twin Studies AND HERITABILITYon Intellectual Development

The study of identical (monozygotic) twins and non-identical (dizygotic) twins helps to
determine the relative influence of nature (heritability) and nurture (environment).
Because identical twins are genetically identical, it is assumed that any differences between
them have been created by the environment. Heritability is thought to be responsible for
characteristics that are more similar in identical than non-identical twins who have been
reared in the same environment.

Less commonly, identical twins who have been separated at birth provide further evidence of the
influence of nature on development. Identical twins separated at birth allow for observations of
people with identical genes (identical by nature), reared in different environments (different by
nurture). These studies often show extraordinary similarities between the twins that have been
reared apart - in personality, attitudes, mannerisms, abilities, intelligence, and even their choice
of partners and careers. However, we can only conclude that these similarities are probably due
to nature.e.

Twin studies are important in studying the significance of genetics and the environment on any
factors affecting us, so let’s consider these in more detail.

PROBLEMS WITH TWIN STUDIES

Twin studies are not infallible though. Whilst they are a natural form of experimentation, in
order to get a good sample hundreds of pairs of twins need to be studied. Cyril Burt who used
his twin studies to convince others of the heritability of intelligence was later accused by his
biographer, Hearnshaw, of claiming to have tested far more pairs of twins (53) than he actually
did, because he only kept records of 21 pairs of twins.

Other difficulties relate to the fact that much of the data derived from twin studies can only be
considered probable at best. Some studies have looked at similarities - if the similarity in
behaviours between individuals is related to the degree of genetic similarity between them, then
obviously we would expect identical twins to have more similar behaviours, followed by
fraternal twins, siblings, grandchildren and so on. Therefore, if there is a genetic basis for say,
alcoholism - we would expect a higher probability that if one identical twin is an alcoholic that
his or her twin will be, and the likelihood of alcoholism would become gradually diluted as the
degree of genetic similarity becomes less. However, there are many similarities between relatives
which are not genetic. For example, they may follow the same sports or support the same teams
but you couldn't argue there was a genetic basis for this. In fact, comparisons of similarity
amongst relatives are usually used to disprove a genetic basis for a particular condition.

Data from identical twin studies where the twins have been reared in the same environment is
also flawed. Since these twins have more genetics in common than fraternal twins they are more
likely to behave similarly and this might be interpreted as indicative of genetics. However, the
fact that they behave similarly also suggests that they are likely to be treated similarly by their
parents and others and so they share greater environmental (nurture) similarity. Even with the
hardest evidence from studies involving identical twins reared apart we still cannot rule out the
possible influence of the prenatal environment on behaviour.

Although twin studies have fallen in and out of fashion, but they are used increasingly in
research areas like gene technology to look at the bases for complex diseases such as diabetes,
cancer, heart disease, and so forth.

We shall consider twin studies and the influence of nurture in the next chapter.