PSYC2314 Week One Assignment-Nature versus Nurture The nature-nurture controversy has been debated by philosophers and psychologists

for many centuries trying to find out which one was more important: the environmental influences that can nurture an individual or the individuals inborn nature. Today, psychologists have framed this subject under heredity versus environment. The issue of nature-nurture focuses its questions on how much heredity and environment can affect a persons intelligent quotient and personality characteristics, for example. Advocates of the Nature theory believe that a persons heredity determines not only a childs phenotypic characteristics but everything else as well. This includes intelligence, gender, personality traits as being encoded in the genes. For example, criminal cases may be excusable and divorces might be found justifiable if behavioral genes are proven to be present in our genes. If for some reason genetics didnt contribute anything, then fraternal twins, who were raised in the same environment, would be similar, despite their genes being different. However, though twin studies conducted demonstrate that fraternal twins do more closely appear like one another than do brothers and sisters who are non-twin, fraternal twins also display this same likeness when raised apartjust like in twin studies done with identical twins (45). Nurture theory advocates feel that a child has a clean slate and that the life experiences they gain while growing up along with the influences from different people they encounter determines what is written on the childs slate. When a woman is pregnant, she is usually advised to use caution because the environment can have positive or negative effects on the baby (48). Expecting mothers are told to not do drugs, watch their diet, and to exercise carefully. This suggests that environment can affect behavior during the early life stages. In the twin studies mentioned in the book, it demonstrates how identical twins are by no means exactly the same, despite the fact that they are alike in most features (46). Heredity and environment will always play a role in a childs development. It is the parents responsibility to ensure that their childs environment is safe while at the same time cultivating their minds to the maximum potential. Works Cited Santrock, John W. Essentials of Life-Span Development. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008.