Psychology fundamentals and key concepts

¶ … 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 child will still develop with genetically programmed traits, both good and bad. Those who advocate for nurture winning out believe the environment is the major factor in how a child develops. The debate has raged on for many years and both sides have their points but nurture seems to win out if the statistics are accurate.

Every once in awhile a case makes the headlines about a child who grows up to be violent and he or she turns out to be adopted. This brings to light the nature vs. nurture argument. In one case a 15-year-old boy in Oregon killed several people with a gun including his parents. The investigation showed that he had been brought up in a warm nurturing environment therefore many believed it was nature that caused the tragedy as the boy had been adopted (McCall, 1998). While this is an easy conclusion to draw based on the one case, there are many millions of children who have been adopted and grow up to become productive and successful citizens.

Aside from what they teach in the home, parents can and do influence children when they select a church, pick a neighborhood or decide on a school. For various reasons, some parents offer better choices than others, and some children look for and receive more parental guidance and direction (Nature, 1998)." This provides an explanation for the differences in some children that some will attribute to nature but it is really a question of nurture.