...Two of the meta theory that I chose to relate with my topic are stability versus change and nature versus nurture. The concept of meta theory is that it helps to understand human development more systematically because of the underlying theories that are supported by the set of assumptions. The first assumption that will be discussed is the concept of nature versus nurture. The term nature versus nurture identifies whether heredity or the environment is responsible for human development. In my development, I believe that both nature and nurture are connected together and thus both of them will impact the growth of development. For example, the reason that I am really good at art is because my parents have an amazing talent for art, which means that heredity is responsible for it. The concept of figuring whether nature or nurture is responsible for development is very crucial because it tells us the reason behind a particular development and allows if we could change that development....
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...What is the nature versus nurture controversy? In your opinion, is nature or nurture a more important determinant in human behavior? Why? Provide support for your answer. As we all know, nature is the biological genetics which individuals inherited from their parents, and nurture is known as the environment in which we're raised. The nature-nurture controversy is a classic research between behavioral psychologists in which they did find “the source of the creation of human personality” (Genes and behavior, “n.d.”), including physical and behavioral traits, and given out a question: “What is the main influence on human - their genetics or their environment?” (Nature vs. Nurture Examples. “n.d.”). It's commonly known that people have a few particular physical traits as their parents by sharing the same DNA. But where do people find their interest for other behaviors like the preference of reading specific kinds of book, or their natural abilities? That's what the nature versus nurture controversy tackles (What does "nature versus nurture" mean?, “n.d."). Some scientist claim that nature plays an important role in this issue. For example, in a theory of attachment, Bowlby shows us the “views the bond between mother and child as being an innate process that ensures survival” (“Bowlby, J., 1969”). In addition, Chomsky also claims that “language is gained through the use of an innate language acquisition device” (“Chomsky, N.,1965”). However, other scientists opposed that environmental...
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...Life Span Perspective Essay Mary "Beth" Walker PSY/375 October 28, 2014 Erica Yahya Life Span Perspective Essay Changes are always occurring in the development of an individual's life, from the day an individual is conceived to the day that the individual passes away. This essay will describe the physical and cognitive changes in the field of psychology that is called "Lifespan Development." This essay will also describe some of the theories involved in the field and how heredity and environment shape an individual. Each and every person goes through several stages, starting with infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle age, older age and then eventually death. The infancy stage, is the birth to two years old and is crucial stage for the development of relationships with others. The infant is totally dependent on an adult and learns that the world surrounding them is a safe place; this is the stage when bonding occurs. The childhood stage is two through ten years old. There are numerous changes in this stage; the child becomes less dependent on the adults in their life and gains more self-control of their physical and cognitive abilities. From the age of ten to twenty years old the individual is in adolescence, the adolescent is developing their identity and the thought process is more complex and logical. The early adulthood stage is from the age of twenty to forty years of age. In this stage the person is gaining financial independence, working in...
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...A person’s lifespan is from the moment of conception through death. Lifespan development is the different stages a person passes through as he or she develops. Perspective of lifespan development understands the changes that occur in development. Freud and Piaget have very different theories of lifespan development. Freud’s theory is a basis of id, ego, and superego, whereas Piaget’s is a cognitive development that occurs over a person’s lifetime. Nature and Nurture are more than perspectives in lifespan development they influence how and who a person will be. Lifespan development is the time from conception to death as a person develops and grows; the perspective in relationship to human development is lifelong, and theories of lifespan development can be seen in Freud, and Piaget, while the influences of a person life is nature and nurture. What is Lifespan Development A person’s lifespan begins as a fetus and as it develops and grows for nine months in the womb becoming a person either male or female will continue through stages in a his or her life. The study of human development is a science seeking to understand how humans change over their lifetime (Berger, 2008). The changes a person goes through as he or she grows can be linear-gradual, predictable, steady, but normally they are none of these. The common stages are birth, infancy, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and the ending death. To define lifespan development is also to mention that humans in their lifetime...
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...find out the sex of the couple’s child to enable planning such as a fitted name, nursery décor, and every extra-curricular and career aspirations. It is from that point forward nature and nurture work together hand in hand to create the child into society’s ideal male or female. Different changes occur, such as biologically, psychologically, and emotionally, depending of the gender of the baby; however, social situations and upbringing will not only be exposed according to the sex, but also the individual child. Certain times, the gender and the sex of an individual do not coordinate with one another. This uncertainty has caused and is currently causing misunderstandings to numerous psychologists, neuroscientists and parents. The origin of the development of gender begins at conception, and the point creates a separation between the male and female gender roles. This paper will discuss interactions between hormones and behaviors, as well as, how the interactions affect the determination of gender identity. Biological psychology takes into consideration the gender from different perspectives of the functions coming from different sexual organs and the underlying physiology (Wickens, 2005). Biological and environmental factor will also be explored, as well as, the influence of nature versus nurture in an individual’s gender identity. Jeffery Nevid (2009), defined gender identity as the “Psychological experience of being a male or female” (Nevid, 2009, p 406). The identity...
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...Nature vs. Nurture: What are the reasons behind the development of human behavior? Laquinta Gantt Baker College English 102: Composition II Melissa Rigney May 4, 2012 Nature vs. Nurture Theory: What are the reasons behind the development of human behavior? Throughout history, research has attempted to determine if an individual’s personality, behaviors and intelligence are shaped by genetics or the environment, which formed the nature versus nurture theory. The nature versus nurture debate is about the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities (“nature”) versus personal experiences ("nurture") in determining individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. There have been many theories formulated to explain why humans behave the way they do. Explanations vary from demonology to magnetic fluids controlling people's behaviors. Toby Epstein Jayaratne’s article entitled “The Perennial Debate: Nature, Nurture, or Choice? Black and white Americans’ explanation for individual differences” attempts to persuade readers that choice is just as an influential factor as genetics or the environment by examining a group of black and white Americans to determine which of the three factors are most responsible for their differences. The author argues that in order to account for a person’s behavior, their explanation or beliefs about what causes them is very influential in determining the behaviors they exude. To provide evidence for his topic...
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...Nature versus Nurture Lloyd Williams W00634255 lloydvw@yahoo.com Nature • People are born with some innate abilities that they use to interact with and understand the world world. • Through prolonged use, learners will eventually achieve proficiency in the target language. Nurture • People are born “tabula rasa” (or blank slate) and become who they are through the course of their lives alone alone. • Students need to be taught their language. Naturists vs. Nurturists vs • Noam Chomsky oa C o s y • Stephen Krashen • Gardner • • • • Vygotsky ygots y Piaget Pavlov Skinner The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) • Test created in 1905 to predict which students would benefit from teaching. • Attempts to objectively measure “intelligence” intelligence • Scores are given as numbers that show the test taker’s results relative to others. • When adjusted for age, a person’s IQ generally does not vary greatly over the course of their life. • IQ tests can be given on various skills (linguistic, math, etc) Nurture Theories (Skinner) Behaviorism B h i i • Knowledge and Linguistic ability results from stimulus-response conditioning. • Focus is on controlling behavior not behavior, cognitive processes. •C Concerned only with d l ith observable/measurable behavior. Nurture Methods The Audio-lingual M th d Th A di li l Method • Based on Behaviorism – Positive reinforcement of desired production – Emphasis on “correctness” ...
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...Scientist have debated about nature vs. nurture and whether, which one can be scientifically proven to provide evidence about the facts; from human behavior and identical twins separated at birth. Looking through the points of nature argues that put made by their parents, scientifically speaking, every trait and gene is genetically passed down through our parents. On another note, nurture provides us with evidence about our personalities and how they are sculpted through how and where we grew up (Scott, 2008). Of course dramatic experiences change a person’s perspective on certain issues throughout the course of time. Looking through some research I have discovered two main examples that argue both nature and nurture. The movie “Elf” shows us that him growing up in North...
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...Life Span Perspective Paper Historically, the philosophy of human development has stemmed from the Biblical understanding of original sin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s intimations of innate goodness, and John Locke’s postulation that we are born with a psychological blank slate (Boyd & Bee, 2006). However, in the 19th century the study of human development was given legs to its already well-defined frame in the form of the theory of evolution, as put forth by Charles Darwin. With the idea of evolutionary stages in place, G. Stanley Hall of Clark University was able to formulate his theory of norms, which hypothesize that human development can be segregated into identifiable phases, and Arnold Gesell was able to suggest his theory of maturation, which was largely dependent on genetic predisposition. From these beginnings the lifespan development perspective of human psychology has been largely concerned with the physiological, psychological, cultural, genetic, and environmental context of individual human development from conception to old age (Baltes & Staudinger, 1999; Boyd & Bee, 2006). Moreover, the lifespan perspective (LSP) of development can be put into context through the models of both human development domains and developmental periods, the major characteristics of LSP, and the contemporary concerns about LSP. Human Development Domains LSP is concerned with three separate, but principally overlapping, domains of human development: physical domain (ontogenesis)...
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...Are we humans the product of nature or nurture? Nature is how much of your personality is genetic, what you were born with. Nurture is how much of your personality was caused because of your environment, how you were raised. So does nature or nurture contribute more to someone's personality and behaviour? Or do they both play a role in shaping our lives? I hope to come to a conclusion with this debate in the end of my thesis. With nurturing, people tend to observe others actions and behaviour, and try to be like others. As a result, the human behaviour is the result of experience and imitating. The social learning theory suggests that we learn through imitation and observation. It also suggests that people learn within the environment and get approval from the public by learning through an influential model. Bandura, a known psychologist found that according to this theory, a model can be the main cause for learning new actions. However, when there is a role model that illustrates bad behaviour, that behaviour could be imitated by young children. A few psychologists criticised Bandura’s theories- where children behaved more aggressively after observing violent acts from their family members. This meant that children, who witness their parent’s aggressive behaviour, have a higher risk of being abusive later on in their life. This theory is also questionable as there could be other factors, like genetics, which affect the behaviour. Our behaviour is more influenced by...
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...of different theories about how personality develops. Different schools of thought in psychology influence many of these theories. Psychologists seek to describe personality characteristics and to explain how personality develops. As psychologists seek to define personality, a theory of personality is developed. This research paper examines six major tenants that are fundamental to the development of a personality theory. First, research is provided to explore the tenants of nature versus nurture, the unconscious, and view of self. These tenants build the basis under a broad area of foundations of personality. Second, research is provided to examine the tenants of development, motivation, and maturation. As these tenants are studied, a view on the progression of personality is developed. A third aspect of this research is an investigation into Biblical principles of developing a personality theory. To explore the six major tenants of a personality theory, this research paper analyzes scholarly journal articles and scholarly books published from 2007 to 2014. The findings of this research are valuable in developing a theory of personality that includes important Biblical integration. A Theory of Personality How is a theory of personality developed? Psychologists have long studied the development of human personality. The debate of “What influences the things people do and do not do?" has been ongoing since the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud...
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...Describe the basic elements of the nature-nurture controversy. The amount of influence that genes have on personality verses the influence of learning experiences is not only related to genetics but also psychology. The debate of nature- nurture controversy has been studied for over 130 years and is still being researched. “After studying many prominent English families, Galton concluded that intelligence is inherited- that nature, not nurture, is responsible for intelligence” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2005, p. 278). Nature refers to an individual’s innate qualities. Genes is considered nature, the physical and personality traits determined by ones genes will always stay the same. The coding of genes determines an individual’s traits such as eye color, hair color, and height. Nurture refers to personal experiences. This refers to ones childhood and how they were raised. This debate will always be controversial. An individual’s traits are predetermined by their genes but life experiences are what shape a person. There have been many research studies completed regarding this debate with no conclusive results. Discuss what is controversial in the nature- nurture debate. Nature versus nurture is one of the most frequently debated issues among psychologists. The term was created by a British researcher Sir Francis Galton who studied the role of genes in intelligence. The debate is about the importance of an individual’s inherited qualities versus personal experiences in determining...
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...Life Span Perspective Paper Historically, the philosophy of human development has stemmed from the Biblical understanding of original sin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s intimations of innate goodness, and John Locke’s postulation that we are born with a psychological blank slate (Boyd & Bee, 2006). However, in the 19th century the study of human development was given legs to its already well-defined frame in the form of the theory of evolution, as put forth by Charles Darwin. With the idea of evolutionary stages in place, G. Stanley Hall of Clark University was able to formulate his theory of norms, which hypothesize that human development can be segregated into identifiable phases, and Arnold Gesell was able to suggest his theory of maturation, which was largely dependent on genetic predisposition. From these beginnings the lifespan development perspective of human psychology has been largely concerned with the physiological, psychological, cultural, genetic, and environmental context of individual human development from conception to old age (Baltes & Staudinger, 1999; Boyd & Bee, 2006). Moreover, the lifespan perspective (LSP) of development can be put into context through the models of both human development domains and developmental periods, the major characteristics of LSP, and the contemporary concerns about LSP. Human Development Domains LSP is concerned with three separate, but principally overlapping, domains of human development: physical domain (ontogenesis)...
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...An alternative approach through which the variance between the theories may be uncovered is to give thought to language acquisition. Chomsky put forward the Naturist theory and proposed that humans are born with an integrated language devise. Skinner, however perceives that humans discover language as they do with any behavior. Skinner has put forward two types of conditioning: classical combined with operant. In the classical conditioning, he signifies that the child begins to learn by association. As an example, if the word chocolate is accompanied by chocolate tasting, the child will quickly discover that each time he/she hears the word chocolate he/she will salivate since they associate the word with the taste of chocolate. In the operant conditioning children learn by reinforcement and confirmation. Consequently learning language iis focused on nurture. Chomsky considers that vocabulary is employed creatively and is initiated by the environment at a specific age otherwise it will never occur. To illustrate, Jeanine a thirteen year old who was restricted to isolation by her father was not subjected to language, she was never able to utilize language again. This backs up Chomsky concept that language is natural and if this is not learned by a certain age it will not be attained. All these hypotheses are an additional demonstration of just how distinct the perceptions of naturist is as compared to nurturists. To summaries, as shown an enormous amount of work has gone into...
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...Life Span Perspective Paper Kyla Rash University of Phoenix Life Span Human Development Psychology 375 Professor Kathleen Phelps March 05, 2012 Life Span Perspective Paper No one brought evolution to light like Charles Darwin. His book, titled On the Origin of Species, offered compelling evidence for evolution within species and drew in large amounts of controversy. This controversy led to more and more field work and observations of nature. Eventually, Darwin’s research and studies turned to people and the study of the human life span (Beddall, 1968). The study of the human life span gained momentum in the years that followed the publishing of Darwin’s famous book as psychologists around the world developed different perspectives and theories regarding life span. The following examination focuses on explaining the life span perspective of development, summarizing two different theories of life span development, and offering an explanation to how heredity and the environment produce differences in overall development. The study of human development centers on how a person changes over a lifetime. A person starts life with the birth stage, and then moves through infancy, adolescence and puberty, adulthood, and finishes with death (Berger, 2008). Berger (2008) describes these changes as being linear, gradual, predictable, and sometimes steady. During their life spans, humans learn to communicate, work together, experience emotions...
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