Nature vs Nurture

I was born with blue eyes and blonde hair, but where did I get my athleticism, driven personality, and intelligence? Did I inherit these abilities from my parents, or did my environment aid in their development?  Throughout the field of psychology, nature versus nurture has been one of the most controversial debates on the topic of human development.

In the field of psychology, the term nature refers to the genetic material given to us at the time of conception. We all know that we get half of out genetic information from out mother and father. Also, we know that eye and hair color are encoded in our genetic information as well. Psychologists who believe nature is everything conclude that human intelligence level, sexual orientation, and personality are encoded within the genetic information as well. 

According to Socrates, human knowledge is innate. Socrates believed that we are born with all our knowledge. He believed that knowledge is not acquired through experience, but rather knowledge was already within us and the idea of reasoning was all it took to bring that knowledge to the surface.

The term nurture, when it comes to psychology, refers to the social and physical forces that affect our genetic information before we are born and throughout our lifespan. Psychologists that believe in the nurture aspect of development think that intelligence, personality, and sexual orientation are all influenced by the environment you are exposed to. The nurture theorists believe that the people in our lives, and the culture within which we live, have the greatest effect on our development. 

Locke knew that not all ideas were from experience. He wanted to determine how the mind works and how humans developed their knowledge. Locke believed that education is a critical part in development permitting one to understand their experiences. Locke says children acquire their knowledge through curiosity. 

Currently, many scientists believe that nature and nurture work together in the developmental process. The first concept in combining these theories is known as range of reaction, which means each person's unique genetically determined response to the environment.  Range of reaction consists of two main ideas. First, each person's predetermined genetic makeup allows them to perceive the same environment differently. Second, there are differences in the way genetics and environment influences can be combined to make two different people appear the same.