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The debate is about the relative influence of an individual's innate attributes as opposed to the experiences from the environment one is brought up in, in determining individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. The philosophy that acquire all or most of their behavioral traits from "nurture" is known as ("blank slate"). In recent years, both types of factors have come to be recognized as playing interacting roles in development. So several modern psychologists consider the question naive and representing an outdated state of knowledge. The famous psychologist, Donald Hebb, is said to have once answered a journalist's question of "Which, nature or nurture, contributes more to ?" by asking in response, "Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?"

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Nature Nurture

In the "nature vs nurture" debate, In the "nature vs nurture" debate, nature refers to an individual's nurture refers to personal What is it? innate qualities (nativism). experiences (i.e. empiricism or ).

Nature is your genes. The Nurture refers to your childhood, physical and personality traits or how you were brought up. determined by your genes stay Someone could be born with the same irrespective of where genes to give them a normal Example you were born and raised. height, but be malnourished in childhood, resulting in stunted growth and a failure to develop as expected.

Factors Biological and factors Social and environmental factors

Contents: Nature vs Nurture

1 Nature vs. Nurture in the IQ 4 Philosophical Considerations of the Nature vs. Nurture Debate debate 4.1 Are the Traits Real? 2 Nature vs. Nurture in Personality 4.2 and Traits 5 Videos 3 Moral Considerations of the 6 References Nature vs. Nurture Debate Nature vs. Nurture Debate

Nature vs. Nurture in the IQ debate Evidence suggests that family environmental factors may have an effect upon childhood IQ, accounting for up to a quarter of the variance. On the other hand, by late this correlation disappears, such that adoptive are no more similar in IQ than strangers. Moreover, studies indicate that, by adulthood, adoptive siblings are no more similar in IQ than strangers (IQ correlation near zero), while full siblings show an IQ correlation of 0.6. studies reinforce this pattern: monozygotic (identical) twins raised separately are highly similar in IQ (0.86), more so than dizygotic (fraternal) twins raised together (0.6) and much more than adoptive siblings (almost 0.0). Consequently, in the context of the "nature versus nurture" debate, the "nature" component appears to be much more important than the "nurture" component in explaining IQ variance in the general population of the United States. The video below furthers the debate on Nature vs Nurture:

Nature vs. Nurture in Personality Traits Personality is a frequently cited example of a heritable trait that has been studied in twins and . Identical twins reared apart are far more similar in personality than randomly selected pairs of people. Likewise, identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins. Also, biological siblings are more similar in personality than adoptive siblings. Each observation suggests that personality is heritable to a certain extent. However, these same study designs allow for the examination of environment as well as genes. Adoption studies also directly measure the strength of shared family effects. Adopted siblings share only family environment. Unexpectedly, some adoption studies indicate that by adulthood the of adopted siblings are no more similar than random pairs of strangers. This would mean that shared family effects on personality wane off by adulthood. As is the case with personality, non-shared environmental effects are often found to out-weigh shared environmental effects. That is, environmental effects that are typically to be life-shaping (such as family life) may have less of an impact than non-shared effects, which are harder to identify. Moral Considerations of the Nature vs. Nurture Debate Some observers offer the criticism that modern science tends to give too much weight to the nature side of the argument, in part because of the potential harm that has come from rationalized racism. Historically, much of this debate has had undertones of racist and eugenicist policies — the notion of race as a scientific truth has often been assumed as a prerequisite in various incarnations of the nature versus nurture debate. In the past, was often used as "scientific" justification for various forms of discrimination and oppression along racial and class lines. Works published in the United States since the 1960s that argue for the primacy of "nature" over "nurture" in determining certain characteristics, such as The Bell Curve, have been greeted with considerable controversy and scorn. A recent study conducted in 2012 has come up with the verdict that racism, after all, isn't innate. A critique of moral arguments against the nature side of the argument could be that they cross the is-ought gap. That is, they apply values to facts. However, such appliance appears to construct reality. Belief in biologically determined stereotypes and abilities has been shown to increase the kind of that is associated with such stereotypes and to impair intellectual performance through, among other things, the stereotype threat phenomenon. The implications of this are brilliantly illustrated by the implicit association tests (IATs) out of Harvard. These, along with studies of the impact of self-identification with either positive or negative stereotypes and therefore "priming" good or bad effects, show that stereotypes, regardless of their broad statistical significance, bias the judgements and behaviours of members and non-members of the stereotyped groups. Philosophical Considerations of the Nature vs. Nurture Debate Are the Traits Real? It is sometimes a question whether the "trait" being measured is even a real thing. Much energy has been devoted to calculating the of (usually the I.Q., or ), but there is still some disagreement as to what exactly "intelligence" is. Determinism and Free Will If genes do contribute substantially to the development of personal characteristics such as intelligence and personality, then many wonder if this implies that genes determine who we are. is the thesis that genes determine who we are. Few, if any, scientists would make such a claim; however, many are accused of doing so. Others have pointed out that the premise of the "nature versus nurture" debate seems to negate the significance of free will. More specifically, if all our traits are determined by our genes, by our environment, by chance, or by some combination of these acting together, then there seems to be little room for free will. This line of reasoning suggests that the "nature versus nurture" debate tends to exaggerate the degree to which individual behavior can be predicted based on knowledge of and the environment. Furthermore, in this line of reasoning, it should also be pointed out that may determine our abilities, but free will still determines what we do with our abilities. Videos Here are two interesting videos discussing the impact of nature vs. nurture on human personality:

Epigenetics, a new field that challenges the 'nature vs. nurture effect on humans' theory: A video of Neil deGrasse Tyson discussing the science of on NOVA ScienceNow.

References Wikipedia: Nature versus nurture Nature vs Nurture: Racism isn't Innate - National Journal

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Comments: Nature vs Nurture

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May 9, 2014, 2:03pm 66 comments Nurture an nature can change becose it is unchangeble to the Add a comment... personality. — 141.!.!.231 Also post on Facebook Posting as Melissa Beran Taft (Not you?) Comment October 10, 2012, 8:50am

Mugerwa Kassim · Lubiri SS Somewhere, someone has to be scratching their head and Is there some similarities of nature and nurture. saying...what about free will? What about man's ability to reason? Nature and nurture do not complete the picture. They are influences, Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · October 17 at 3:30am but we should not reduce the human and spirit to such base Lewis Mann · Follow concepts. hello — 69.!.!.87 Reply · Like · Follow Post · October 15 at 3:54pm

Okoye Joseph Davidson · Follow · Works at Self-Employed February 28, 2013, 7:28pm nice one nature all the way

Reply · Like · Follow Post · October 2 at 11:51am — 170.!.!.19

Sasha Praetorian · Follow · Welder at P.A.L Incorporated what's the different between nature and nurture? what's the different between nature and nurture? I'm so amazed of this . interested . September 13, 2012, 1:25pm Reply · Like · Follow Post · September 8 at 10:34pm we were assigned to be on the "nature" side, to defend it. and the Hari Sharan · Works at Nepal Red Cross Society information I got from here made me "encouraged" to win on our debate, and has provided me a chance of having a high grade llok like same but different meaning of both. tomorrow. thanks.. Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · July 3 at 2:01am — 109.!.!.162 Angelo Lawrence · Juba, South Sudan different nuture and nature June 18, 2009, 1:55pm Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · May 7 at 5:15am we were assigned to be on the "nature" side, to defend it. and the Richeal Siaw · University of Ghana, Legon information I got from here made me "encouraged" to win on our excellent.... debate, and has provided me a chance of having a high grade Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 16 at 6:34pm tomorrow. thanks.. — 124.!.!.255 Jasper Kambole Milambo · Works at Zambezi FM 107.7 nature or nurture. how is acquired? Reply · Like · Follow Post · March 20 at 3:32am June 18, 2009, 1:54pm we were assigned to be on the "nature" side, to defend it. and the Chukwu Daniel · Institute of Management and Enugu information I got from here made me "encouraged" to win on our Coool debate, and has provided me a chance of having a high grade Reply · Like · Follow Post · March 21 at 1:31am tomorrow. thanks..

— 124.!.!.255 Jared Acadimia · Geneva High School, Geneva, Ohio I am so intrigued by this. It just makes my head spin with information. :) Reply · Like · Follow Post · March 2 at 5:25pm

Michael B Smith · Top Commenter · Augusta, Missouri I believe nature has a very strong influence on the type of person we are. However, if you look at the stunning statistics of children from fatherless homes, you'll see that nurturing is also critical in how a child developes and reacts to life. Reply · Like · 5 · Follow Post · October 5, 2013 at 8:25am

Jhon HJ YOU IS SUCH A DUMB BIUTCH NIGGA Reply · Like · 1 · January 31 at 12:15pm

Pam Smiley Wheelz Hall · Bronx, New York His was a good video, I think everyone should have a chance to watch it, and share what they think for himself and for the generation to come. Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 15 at 11:16am

Kelly Appleby Everyone is born with certain tendancies, it is completely normal to want to explore them. Homosexuality is not a sin, it is people who cannot accept it and who preach that make it a sin and therefor make these children feel ashamed and outcast. Nature and nurture go hand in hand, we all preach what we are taught, its just a shame some of us do not think first. Reply · Like · Follow Post · Edited · December 11, 2013 at 10:17am

Bre Boss Chatman · Concordia Lutheran College Out of curiosity, why don't you think it's a sin? Reply · Like · December 11, 2013 at 5:41pm

Ralpheal Audi · Managing Director at Dope Hotties KELLY with all due respect ,i think you have gotten this NATURE vs NUTURE issue twisted! Homosexuality cant be classified as nature cos Men were born to be with women and not Men for MEN. OR women for women. Reply · Like · December 25, 2013 at 5:47pm

Ralpheal Audi · Managing Director at Dope Hotties THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY, if everyone in this world is gay and adopts children, dont you think the human race would go into ? i mean c'mon who would then be giving birth to babies? Reply · Like · December 25, 2013 at 5:49pm

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Jessa Alena Calimlim · Follow · Shinwa (seol korea) well Reply · Like · Follow Post · November 19, 2013 at 2:15am

Luke Fuller · Cashier at Woolworths well what about Homosexuality? do we inherit that from our ? I thought people were born gay/lesbian? and don't grow into it... does that mean we must consider it as a disease or mental disability! (hypothetical, I'm sure its not either of those).

I think we still have much more to discover. Reply · Like · 5 · Follow Post · May 29, 2013 at 11:25am

Gina Bobb · University of the West Indies Gina Bobb · University of the West Indies No my friend no one is born that way but bceause of spiritual dyfunctions and bad choices people make. I will like to point you to the book of Romans chapter 1:fr vrs15 and you will see what causes homosexuality; which most of the world is blind to but dont be caught in that circle because the price is a heavy one to pay. Reply · Like · 3 · June 12, 2013 at 4:52pm

Oyinkan Olusesi · Follow No one is born to be a homosexual. We are all born as a heterosexual. Why would God make homosexual babies when he knows it's against his will/commands. Homosexuality is due to "nurture" not nature. Also you cant inherit gay/lesbian gene when gay/lesbians cant procreate to begin with. Reply · Like · 8 · October 16, 2013 at 11:51pm

Chris Giles As a teacher I believe both nature and nurture both an important part in a child's education. I also agree with Michael about the 'fatherless generation' and how critical this is to a child's development, but not essential as single mum and dads do an amazing job nurturing a child without their spouse present. On the homosexuality debate, I do not think it is too significant if it is either nature or nurture, and this might be an issue that will bother and vex us for the rest of our lives. However, what is important is fighting for LBGT rights in society and groups/communities that feel on the fringes of society being accepted and appreciated as human beings. Reply · Like · October 21, 2013 at 2:52pm

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