Nature Vs Nurture Cognitive Development

The debate of nature and nurture and their impact on intelligence has been widely debated over the last century. This dynamic has been studied, tested, examined and reexamined. Typical cognitive development milestones and the nature vs. nurture conundrum have been a huge focus in the study of intelligence. This abundance of attention on the subject of intelligence has not yet yeilded a working and universally accepted definition. Despite of the lack of definition, intelligence is tested and measured in a variety of ways. Recently the validity, results, and standardization of intelligence tests have fallen under scrutiny. These tests give rise to the debate of what intelligence really is and whether it results from nature or nurture or a combination …show more content…
nurture of intelligence. The sensorimotor stage is a great example of the interrelationship between nature, nurture, and intelligence. During the sensorimotor stage of development, a child lives in the here and now. (Myers) There is no history for the child on which to draw knowledge and experience from. The child responds to its needs and environment with a series of instilled reflexes that are obviouslly natural. Children can 't conceptualize the world in different points of view, only their own point of view. (Myers) This is where the nurture aspect of intelligence and development is important. This stage of development requires that a baby 's needs are met physically and emotionally in order for them to learn healthy attachments so that they are able to recreate healthy relationships through out the progression of their life. It is believed that children who do not have a secure attachment with their parenting figure or figures can develop social as well as learning disabilities …show more content…
The first argument is the idea that the tests don 't give a complete view of intelligence and the second argument is that the tests are biased. (Brice) A study conducted on people of various ages and cultures completed 12 cognitive tests. The tests assessed memory, reasoning, attention and planning abilities and were compiled with the participants lifestyle and background information. (Brice) This study found that there was no one individual test that encompassed all the facets involved to accurately measure intelligence. It also found that the background and lifestyle of the participants attributed to the differences that the test results found. (Brice) This lends fire the fact that truely standardizing tests isn 't possible because the population representations they are geared towards cannot be totally accurate without controlling the testing group which would render the results useless. The tests validity depends on if the test actually measures what it sets out to measure. Reliability of results is a simple matter of the similarity of results in the same people taking the same test at the different times or scoring in the same range on each half of a divided test. Conversely, reliability is not validity of the tests or their results. While these studies have gaps and are flawed in their inability to encopass the full spectrum of intelligence, they do suit a purpose. Intelligence quotent tests can be