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M1 Discuss the Nature Nurture Debate in Relation to the Development of an Individual

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M1 - Discuss the nature-nurture debate in relation to the development of an individual The historical debate regarding nature and nurture has been going on for years and is still unresolved. Many theorists believe what we have inherited and our genes, makes us the way we are and how we develop. Other theorists believe it is the way we are brought up and our experiences, that make us the way we are and how we develop. Physical The way we look can be argued to be mainly due to nature. The genes we inherit from our parents make the basis of we look. For example, people often say ‘Don’t you look like your father/mother!’ Genetic inheritance can determine our eye colour, whether we have straight or curly hair or how tall we will be. We …show more content…

Theorists argue over which plays more of an influence on our cognitive ability. Nativists believe our intelligence is pre-determined at birth from our genetic inheritance although it cannot be seen until the child becomes older, as babies are cognitively immature. This is maturation. Environmentalists do not believe this. They believe children's intelligence is a result of what they have learned, from their interaction with the environment and at birth the human mind is a ‘blank state’ that experiences slowly fill. Environmentalists also believe that differences in are due to social class. Children in lower social classes are deprived of opportunities available to children in higher classes. “Several recent US studies have demonstrated improvements in children's IQ's by improving the lives of infants in disadvantaged circumstances.” www.wilderdom.com ‘The US military tested recruits to assign rank and found that black applicants scored lower than whites. However, analysis of the recruits were found to be due to educational differences; black recruits scored very low until the 1950s, when an increase in score corresponded to improved educational standards for all.’

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