What do you think determine your likes,
dislikes, and personality characteristics.
Is it genetic makeup or your environment?
NATIVISTS - those who 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.
They, in general believe that the earlier a particular ability appears,
the more likely it is to be under the influence of genetic factors.
Characteristics and differences
that are not observable at birth,
but which emerge later in life,
are regarded as the product of
maturation.
What is maturation?
Maturation is the physical, intellectual, or
emotional process of development.
Maturation is often not quantifiable, and it too
is mostly influenced by genetics.
Growth is the physical process of
development, particularly the
process of becoming physically
larger. It is quantifiable, meaning
that it can be measured, and it is
mostly influenced by genetics.
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 (e.g., behaviorism).
From this point of view,
psychological characteristics and
behavioral differences that
emerge through infancy and
childhood are the results of
learning.
It is how you are brought up
(nurture) that governs the
psychologically significant
aspects of child development
and the concept of maturation
applies only to the biological.
For example, when an infant forms an attachment it is
responding to the love and attention it has received,
language comes from imitating the speech of others,
and cognitive development depends on the degree of
stimulation in the environment and, more broadly, on the
civilization within which the child is reared.
Comparison chart
Nature - Nurture
What is it?
In the "nature vs nurture" debate
Definition:
Nature refers to an individual's innate
qualities (nativism).
Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring
and is influenced by genetic inheritance
and other biological factors.
Nurture refers to personal
experiences (i.e. empiricism or
behaviorism).
Nurture is generally taken as the influence of
external factors after conception, e.g., the product
of exposure, experiences and learning of an
individual.
Example:
Nature is your genes.
The physical and personality traits
determined by your genes stay the
same irrespective of where you were
born and raised.
Example:
Color of eyes, straight or curly hair, pigmentation of the skin and
certain diseases are all a function of the genes we inherit.
Height, weight, hair loss (in men), life expectancy and vulnerability to
specific illnesses (e.g., breast cancer in women) are positively
correlated between individuals.
Nurture refers to your childhood,
or how you were brought up.
Someone could be born with genes to
give them a normal height, but be
malnourished in childhood, resulting in
stunted growth and a failure to develop
as expected.
Factors:
NATURE:
Biological and family factors
NURTURE:
Social and environmental factors
Instead of defending extreme nativist or nurturist
views, most psychological researchers are now
interested in investigating how nature and nurture
interact.
For example, in psychopathology, this means that
both a genetic predisposition and an appropriate
environmental trigger are required for a mental
disorder to develop.
Therefore, it makes more sense to say that the
difference between two people’s behavior is
mostly due to hereditary factors or mostly due to
environmental factors.
"Which, nature or nurture,
contributes more to
personality?"
"Which contributes more to the
area of a rectangle, its
length or its width?"
Donald Hebb,
Group Activity
1. Do you think personality traits are primarily
inherited or influenced by environment? Explain
your answer and provide an evidence to support
your stand.
2. Who might be most interested in resolving
the nature versus nurture debate? What
effect might a resolution have on our society?
Group Activity
3. Based on what you have learned, do you
think it is possible to change your
personality? Why or why not? If so, how
would you go about making changes?
