1. The term “nature versus nurture” was first introduced by Francis Galton in 1968 when he proposed that intellectual ability is, in fact, inherited through genetics in families (McLeod, 2015). His proposition brought about a relentless and controversial debate that focused on finding out whether human behaviour and trait personalities are governed by genes or environment. The supporters of the nature side argues that like physical characteristics such as skin colour, height and hair type, behaviour is determined by genetic predisposition (Dee, 2010). On the other hand, the nurture side supporters claim that environmental variables are what impacts individual behaviour such as early childhood experiences, upbringing, social relationships,
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No one is born with a pre-existing knowledge of how to behave in the proper way, as it is an ability gained only through the learning process. The determinant of personality is up to the social condition a child was born and raised in. For example, if a child was brought up in a family where the act of stealing is deemed normal and bears no punishable penalties, the child will grow to commit theft as he perceives it as a norm and is merely behaving in the manner in which he was taught. On the contrary, children raised in healthy environments will usually accumulate more decent personalities. In addition, an experiment on zebra finches conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter and Hamburg also discovered how foster parents can play an influential role in developing the personalities of their adopted offspring (Rowe, 2013). By breeding a pair of finches which possess certain characteristics and placing their offspring under the care of another pair of zebra finch, the experiment was able to demonstrate how the offspring raised by foster parent finches emulated the behaviour of its foster parents instead of its birth parents. This depicts that genes are not necessarily the key aspect that gives an individual their …show more content…
(2014) ‘The Horrific Story of ‘Genie': the Feral Child Who Suffered at the Hands of Her Sadistic Father’ First to Know [online] available from: http://firsttoknow.com/the-feral-child-who-suffered-at-the-hands-of-her-sadistic-father/ [27 June 2015]
‘Psychology 103: Human Growth and Development: Chapter 5 The Sensitive Periods of Development: Birth to Age 6’ Study.com [online] available from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-sensitive-periods-of-development-birth-to-age-6.html [27 June 2015]
Powell, K. (n.d.) ‘Nature vs Nurture - The Nurture Theory’ about.com [online] available from: http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture_2.htm [27 June 2015]
Rowe, N. (2013) ‘Is personality determined by nature or nurture? New research suggests environment is stronger than genes’ Daily Mail Online [online] available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2335681/Enviroment-stronger-genes-determining-personality.html [16 June 2015]
Schuett, W., Dall S.R.X, Wilson A.J., Royle N.J. (2013) ‘Environmental transmission of a personality trait: foster parent exploration behaviour predicts offspring exploration behaviour in zebra finches’ The Royal Society Publishing [online] available from: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/9/4/20130120 [16 June
No one is born with a pre-existing knowledge of how to behave in the proper way, as it is an ability gained only through the learning process. The determinant of personality is up to the social condition a child was born and raised in. For example, if a child was brought up in a family where the act of stealing is deemed normal and bears no punishable penalties, the child will grow to commit theft as he perceives it as a norm and is merely behaving in the manner in which he was taught. On the contrary, children raised in healthy environments will usually accumulate more decent personalities. In addition, an experiment on zebra finches conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter and Hamburg also discovered how foster parents can play an influential role in developing the personalities of their adopted offspring (Rowe, 2013). By breeding a pair of finches which possess certain characteristics and placing their offspring under the care of another pair of zebra finch, the experiment was able to demonstrate how the offspring raised by foster parent finches emulated the behaviour of its foster parents instead of its birth parents. This depicts that genes are not necessarily the key aspect that gives an individual their …show more content…
(2014) ‘The Horrific Story of ‘Genie': the Feral Child Who Suffered at the Hands of Her Sadistic Father’ First to Know [online] available from: http://firsttoknow.com/the-feral-child-who-suffered-at-the-hands-of-her-sadistic-father/ [27 June 2015]
‘Psychology 103: Human Growth and Development: Chapter 5 The Sensitive Periods of Development: Birth to Age 6’ Study.com [online] available from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-sensitive-periods-of-development-birth-to-age-6.html [27 June 2015]
Powell, K. (n.d.) ‘Nature vs Nurture - The Nurture Theory’ about.com [online] available from: http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture_2.htm [27 June 2015]
Rowe, N. (2013) ‘Is personality determined by nature or nurture? New research suggests environment is stronger than genes’ Daily Mail Online [online] available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2335681/Enviroment-stronger-genes-determining-personality.html [16 June 2015]
Schuett, W., Dall S.R.X, Wilson A.J., Royle N.J. (2013) ‘Environmental transmission of a personality trait: foster parent exploration behaviour predicts offspring exploration behaviour in zebra finches’ The Royal Society Publishing [online] available from: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/9/4/20130120 [16 June