The nature and nurture debate has been greatest debate in psychology over the centuries. Biologists will support the nature side of the debate while the environmentalist/behaviourists will support the nurture side of the debate. The two stages of development of an individual that will be discussed in this spread are adults and children.
At the very beginning of development, infants are believed to inherit the capacity to learn how to walk, learn a language(s) and mimic behaviour. From a nature perspective, this is an advantage for survival because their interaction helps them to inform an adult, especially parents, their needs for comfort, hunger, warmth etc. although, the type of surrounding of the infant is also important too.
But, there is evidence that shows that children’s behaviours can be learned (nurture) i.e. feral children study of two boys who were raised by a lioness in Cairo, Egypt. Dave and Chip were described as “lionfish” in appearance and behaviour. This shows that even if they were not raise by a human(s), what they see is what they learn. If biology is so strong in influencing our behaviour, then these children must be acting normal like others even if they did not grow in a normal family, but that didn’t happen. There are many stories of feral children but all have come to one important point. That is the important role of education. All the things a child must know, or can do, must be learned. For example a child must learn how to walk, use fork and knife to eat, to ride a bicycle and many more, all of which will help for them to survive longer. Similarly, learning to be friendly, thankful, honest, truthful, unselfish, and respect to authority are learned from school, peers and parents, which could help them have a successful and happy future.
The concept is similar to adults to some extent; although they have innate ability to learn, to