Definition & Explanation

• The nature vs nurture controversy is one that has remained prominent throughout the scientific community. Often referred to as heredity vs. environment, or maturation vs. learning the question remains unanswered as to which is more significant to development: nature, or nurture. Nature, in regards to development, relates to the traits, capacities, and limitations that each individual inherits genetically from his or her parents at the moment of conception. Nature simply refers to the influence of the genes that people inherit. For example, Nature includes: eye color, height, and hair color. In contrast, Nurture includes all the environmental factors that affect the individual after conception (economic status, community, etc.) beginning with health and diet of the embryo’s mother and continuing lifelong. One factor to acknowledge is epigenetics; the study of how environmental factors affect genes and genetic expression— enhancing, halting, shaping, or altering the expression of genes. An example of epigenetics can look like the gene for diabetes being passed down to a newborn, but because he, or she exercises and eats healthy that gene is never expressed.

       Relation to Biological development

• In relation to biological development nature & nurture affect the body’s physical characteristics (size, and shape). According to George Alter & Michael Oris, height is perhaps the most obvious example of a physical characteristic determined by the interaction between heredity and environment. Although genetic inheritance (nature) plays a role in determining height, children who are poorly nourished will not reach their potential adult height (Artis, Oris). Nature & nurture affect development in the way that their interaction decides whether a newborn will be 6 feet tall when they grow older, or if that newborn will only reach 4 feet 8 inches. Pertaining to nature and biological development , something to acknowledge are fetal alcohol syndrome, and teratogens. Teratogens are any agent, or condition, including viruses, drugs and chemicals, that can impair prenatal development, resulting in birth defects, or complications. Also, fetal alcohol syndrome is a cluster of birth defects, including abnormal facial characteristics, slow physical growth and intellectual disabilities, that may occur in the child of a woman who drinks alcohol while pregnant. It is important to recognize teratogens and the risks of alcohol use while pregnant because it affects the development of newborns.

        In relation to Cognition Development

• In relation to nurture and cognitive development nurturing experiences are lifelong. In the developing brain, experiences cause dendrites to be produced, (which allows brain weight to increase) thus furthering synapses which reflects how a baby is treated. Synchrony, and other parent-infant interactions act as a buffer to things like fear, and stress which harm the brains development. In regards to nature everything starts from the brain: reactions, emotions, senses, temperament, etc. New dendrites form, and those that are not used die off in a process called pruning. Brain functions like the cortex are used for thinking feeling, and sensing. The prefrontal cortex is the brain function that focuses on planning, impulse control, and anticipation.

          In relation to Social Development

• As previously stated teratogens are risk factors to newborns. Behavioral teratogens are agents and conditions that can harm the prenatal brain, impairing the future child’s intellectual and emotional functioning. Temperament, as opposed to personality, is the inborn difference between one person and another in emotions, activity, self-regulation, and it is measured by the person’s typical responses to the environment. Temperament can be a huge factor in a child’s early social development in the way that in distinguishes those ho are shy, fearful, and worrisome, and those who are outgoing, social, and happy. Nurture as it pertains to social development begins in infancy with rapid, exchanges of responses between caregiver and child (synchrony), and the development of attachment. As poverty (nurture) increases so does insecure attachment. As in cognitive development, parent-child interactions serves as a buffer to future problems like antisocial behavior and actions, aggression, and bullying.

         ARTICLES SUMMARIZED

• The article by George Artis, and Michael Oris addresses the interaction between genetic
  s and environment comparing the heights of brothers in Nineteenth-Century Belgium. The article shows that shared genetics (nature) results in high correlation in the heights of brothers, but experiences (nature) can prevent or cause how high tall they stand. The article touches on factors (labor effort, disease, and diet) that affect height. To further prove the correlation between genetics and environment Artis, and Oris compare the heights of boys in areas where resources are deprived, and heights of boys in areas where resources are abundant citing that the deprived areas had shorter boys. (BIOLOGICAL)
• The article discusses how nature and nurture both influence mental illnesses. Genetics, or nature, have been proven a significant role in mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Because genes are passed down from parent to offspring, researchers emphasize nature when discussing mental illnesses. Researchers emphasize the environment when nurture enhances the probability that a person develops that illness.

REFERENCES

Alter, G., & Oris, M. (2008). Effects of Inheritance and Environment on the Heights of Brothers in Nineteenth-Century Belgium. Human Nature, 19(1), 44-55.

Ake, D., Raypole, C., Schwaab, A., & Wieman, R. (2015, August 12). Nature vs. Nurture. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/nature-versus-nurture