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Studies of the behaviors of chimpanzees and bonobos illustrate striking similarities to human behaviors and suggest evolution and kinship (De Waal 1999). These range from politics, child rearing to violence and morality. There is no place for a blank slate. Human beings are naturally selfish and aggressive or they have evolved into cooperative and loving creatures. At the same time, the resemblance rejects genetic or biological determinism. Genes are merely biological inputs into the personality, powerless to dictate the course of its development. And the environment contributes passing stimulations, which eventually fade out. Oncoming researches promise to integrate developmental, genetic, cultural and evolutionary approaches into one integrated perspective. These developments will incline students and advocates of animal behavior towards environmental effects on human behavior, as in the case of primates and marine animals. These suggest that information and habits are culturally transmitted from them to human beings. These developments may erase the boundary between the extremes of nature and nurture and introduce a new understanding of human behavior in their merger (De Waal).
Comparison
The two authors agree that the human mind does not begin as a tabular rasa or a black slate. Nature is a given. Parents and other ancestors provide the genes and cultural...
Neither nature nor nurture determines everything in the development of human personality or society. In many cases, parents are not to be blamed at all (Pinker 2002). How the individual responds to a particular stimulus is determined by his own uniqueness, spurred by chance events. A still-unrecognized development process, inherent in human nature, is at work in that uniqueness. It is neither nature nor nurture.
De Waal (1999) similarly rejects genetic determinism as the force behind the dynamics of the human mind and society. He believes that a continuity exists between the culture of primates and marine animals and human beings. Both negative and positive cultural traits are in common among the species. These suggest that human beings are more sociable, cooperative and creative than primates, except when motivated by malice and destructiveness (De Waal).
Both authors visualize an oncoming integrated approach to the opposition between nature and nurture. This will not only blend the opposite views but also lead to the discovery of other details on the amazing phenomenon of the human mind. #
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pinker, Steven. Why the Nature/Nurture Debate Won't Go Away. Boston Globe: Globe
Newspaper Company, October 13, 2002
Waal, Frans de. The End of Nature vs. Nurture. Scientific American, December, 1999
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pinker, Steven. Why the Nature/Nurture Debate Won't Go Away. Boston Globe: Globe
Newspaper Company, October 13, 2002
Waal, Frans de. The End of Nature vs. Nurture. Scientific American, December, 1999
Nurture Wins Nature/Nurture The debate of nature vs. nurture has persisted with intensity over time. Some scholars contend that this debate can be traced back to the times of ancient Greece. In the debate, nature may be referred to as nativism, or innatism. The side of nature contends that a person's natural, in-born, or innate qualities have more of an influence over the person's life. Nurture refers to personal experience, context, and
Providing more effective and less painful treatments would indeed be a very large step in the right direction. The study results indicated by the above authors provide significant hope in this direction. References Jaffee, S.R. And Price, T.S. (2007). Gene-environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness. Molecular Psychiatry, Vol. 12. Retrieved from: http://www.biostat.sdu.dk/courses/f11/TwinAnalysis/papers/Gene%20Environment%20interaction/jaffee2007.pdf Lahey, B.B., D'Onofrio, B.M. And Waldman, I.D. (2010, Feb. 10). Using Epidemiological
Nature-Nurture and Language Development The development of language in an individual is considered as an antecedent from the cognitive ability that is found to be enacted from the genetic structure which helps in the retention and effective utilization of language in the early stages of life. However, the external stimuli with respect to culture and environment also play an effective role in the language development. Moreover, the application of language development
Objects are the same size, obviously, whether they are near or far, but our minds perceive size relative to surroundings. The dogs appear much larger the closer they get. They may seem huge to a person who is afraid of dogs. 3) Depressants, Stimulants, and Hallucinogens Depressants numb one's feelings. They act as anesthetic to one's nervous system. One loses energy, almost as if very fatigued. A person under the influence
nature/nurture in the development of children. The author presents the argument that nature has a lot to do with development but that nurture has a larger influence. There were two sources used to complete this paper. There has been a long-standing debate on what is more important to a child's development; nature or nurture. Those who believe it is nature think that one can provide an optimum environment and the
Finally, nativists must concede that culture and native language can shape ideas in the long run. After all, a person's cultural surroundings seem to greatly affect their interpretation of experiences over the course of their life (Bowerman and Choi 475-476). The difference in how much those cultural experiences affect an individual and their language, as well as when such effects happen, is what makes up the entire debate between