Influence of Nature and Nurture Developmental Research Essay

How about(a)(prenominal) bald, six-foot-six, 250-pound volunteer firefighters in New Jersey wear droopy mustaches, aviator-style eyeglasses, and a the influence of character versus key ring on the right situation of the belt? nurture. The answer is two Gerald Levey and Mark Newman. They are twins who were garbled at birth. Each twin did not even know 25. 2 Describe developmental the other existed until they were reunitedin a fire military postby a research techniques. fellow firefighter. . . The lives of the twins, although separate, took remarkably sympathetic 25.Discuss antenatal paths. Levey went to college, studying forestry Newman planned to development. study forestry in college but instead took a job trimming trees. . . . Both men are unmarried and commence the same kind of woman attractive tall, slender, long hair. They share similar hobbies, enjoying hunting, fishing, going to the beach, and watching old John Wayne movies and professional wrestling. Both interchan geable Chinese food and drink the same brand of beer. learning outcomes 25. 1 Compare and contrastThe remarkable range of similarities we see in legion(predicate) pairs of identical twins raises one of the fundamental heads posed by developmental psychology, the study of the patterns of growth and change that occur throughout life. The question is this How give notice we distinguish between the purlieual causes of demeanor (the influence of parents, siblings, family, friends, schooling, nutrition, and all the other experiences to which a child is exposed) and hereditary causes (those based on the genetic piece of an individual that influence growth and development throughout life)?This question embodies the naturenurture young. In this context, nature refers to hereditary factors, and nurture to environmental influences. Although the question was first posed as a nature-versus-nurture come on, developmental psychologists today learn that both nature Gerald Levey and Mark Ne wman 282 Chapter 8 development and nurture interact to produce particularised developmental patterns and outDevelopmental psychology The comes. Consequently, the question has evolved into How and to what mark rovener of psychology that studies the do environment and heredity both produce their personal effects?No one grows up patterns of growth and change that free of environmental influences, nor does anyone develop without being occur throughout life. affected by his or her inherited genetic makeup. However, the debate over Naturenurture issue The issue of the comparative influence of the two factors remains active, with different the degree to which environment and approaches and different theories of development emphasizing the environ- heredity influence behavior. ment or heredity to a greater or lesser degree (Pinker, 2002 Gottesman & Hanson, 2005 Rutter, 2006).For example, some developmental theories rely on basic psychological principles of learning and straining the s ocial function learning gos in producing changes in The naturenurture issue behavior in a developing child. Such theories emphasize the role of the enviis a key question that is ronment in development. In contrast, other developmental theories emphasize pervasive throughout the the influence of ones physiologic makeup and functioning on development. field of psychology, asking Such theories latent hostility the role of heredity and aturationthe unfolding of biohow and to what degree logically predetermined patterns of behaviorin producing developmental environment and heredity change. Maturation can be seen, for instance, in the development of sex characproduce their joint effects. teristics ( such as breasts and body hair) that occurs at the start of adolescence. Despite their differences over theory, developmental psychologists concur on some points. They agree that genetic factors not only provide the potential for specific behaviors or traits to emerge, but also place limitati ons on the emergence of such behavior or traits.For instance, heredity defines pluralitys general level of intelligence, setting an upper limit thatregardless of the quality of the environmentpeople cannot exceed. Heredity also places limits on physical abilities humans simply cannot run at a speed of 60 miles an hour, nor will they grow as tall as 10 feet, no matter what the quality of their environment (Dodge, 2004 Pinker, 2004). Figure 1 lists some of the characteristics most affected by heredity. As you consider these items, it is important to keep in mind that these characteristics are not entirely determined by heredity, for environmental factors also play a role.Developmental psychologists also agree that in most instances environmental factors play a critical role in enabling people to snuff it the potential capabilities that their genetic background makes possible. If Albert Einstein had received no understanding stimulation as a child and had not been sent to s tudy ale r t Height Weight Obesity Tone of voice physiological Characteristics Blood pressure Tooth decay Athletic ability Firmness of milk shake Age of death Activity level Intellectual Characteristics