IndexIntroductionExplaining Behavior in Relation to Nature vs. NurtureIntelligence in Relation to Nature Nurture TheoristsEvidence in Relation to Nature Nurture from TheoristsReimer/Money Case StudyEvidence for and against nature educationConclusionReferencesIntroductionIntroduction: nature can be defined based on the abilities we present at birth, the ability can be determined by our genes; including those we develop as we age. Both biological and evolutionary perspectives support the model that our behavior is determined by nature. Culture can be defined as the influence of experiences. The nature versus nurture debate revolves around the theory that behavior is simply inherited from our genetics or developed and learned through experiences. Nature is generally what we think and is influenced by our biological factors such as genetics. Education is developed and learned through external factors such as life experiences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The nature versus nurture debate is alarmed by the relative contribution that both influence human behavior such as our cognitive traits, personality, and even psychopathology ( Lykken, D., 1999). Explaining behavior in relation to nature vs nurture Context: The evolutionary approach talks about behavior as a result of nature, in 1969 John Bowlby stated fourthly that attachment type behavior is displayed because it ensures the survival of the child. In turn, it is also instinctive for the parent to reciprocate the same attachment. Therefore, by creating such attachments children are set up for life by increasing their chances of reproduction, thus extending their genes. A behaviorist model would suggest that instead of breeding, individuals should learn to create attachments through classical conditioning. When a child understands that when attachments are created, they are rewarded with objects such as love, food and even play, therefore reinforcing the behavior. Attachments learned through modeling in childhood will teach the child that the greater the attachments, the more rewarding life will be (Leahy, AM, 1935). Stress can be seen as an adaptive response to such environmental pressure. Behaviorists argue that in environments such as exams stress should be encouraged. Therefore, through reinforcement and reward individuals can display and experience stress. Aggressive behavior could be explained from an educational perspective. Bandura's bobo doll experiment demonstrates that behavior can be imitated and modeled through reinforcement, especially if the model is similar to the viewer in terms of age and personality. A nativist perspective states that individuals who become aggressive are predisposed to this behavior due to their genes. They would argue that if the gene were not present, an individual would be unlikely to experience aggression. Thesis Statement: However, it is not possible to assume that behavior is determined by nature or nurture. The connection between two genes and the environment has greater validity and is now supported by more psychologists, including the psychodynamic approach. In the diathesis-stress model, a genetic vulnerability or predisposition (diathesis) interacts with the environment and life events (stressors) to trigger behaviors or psychological disorders. The greater the underlying vulnerability, the less stress needed to trigger thebehavior/disorder. In contrast, where there is a smaller genetic contribution greater life stress is required to produce the particular outcome. Therefore, even someone with a diathesis to a disorder does not necessarily mean that they will ever develop this disorder. For this to happen, both diathesis and stress are necessary. Intelligence in relation to nature Educational theorists Topic sentence: AThe famous sociologist Francis Galton, who was first influenced by his half-brother Charles Darwin, was the first man to propose a theory of intelligence. Evidence and Citations: Galton believed that intelligence was a biologically based faculty that could be studied by measuring reaction time to a cognitive task. Galton measured the size of individuals in Britain, including scientists, although he found no relationship between their heads and his definition of intelligence. Topic Sentence: Alfred Binet attempted to understand human intelligence in the early 1900s when he began performing intelligence tests on school-age children in France, Binet's goal was to develop a measurement tool that would help understand intelligence differences between normal and subnormal school-age children. Research assistant Theodore Simon assisted him in developing the intelligence measurement test known as the Binet-Simon scale, which has now been replaced by the modern IQ test. Topic sentence: Charles Spearman with his publication of an article entitled "General Intelligence" In the American Journal of Psychology of 1904, Spearman confirmed, on the basis of the results collected from studies conducted in England, that there was a common function among the intellectual activities that called g, or general intelligence. Evidence and Citations: Since the publication of this essay researchers have concluded that g is highly correlated with numerous important social outcomes and also the best predictor of successful job performance. The American Psychological Association currently defines intelligence as a hierarchy of three levels of intelligence factors, with g as the superscript. Topic sentence: David Wechsler in 1940 became a leading critic of the Binet-Simon scale and also of general intelligence. Evidence and Citations: Wechsler was an influential proponent of the concept of non-intellectual factors such as; variables that would contribute to an overall intelligence score, although they do not consist of intelligence-related elements such as; trust, failure, fear and even attitudes. Wechsler said the Binet-Simon scale did not do a good job of incorporating these factors into intelligence. Wechsler believed that these factors were necessary to predict an individual's ability to succeed in life. He further denied intelligence as a person's ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and also to deal effectively with the surrounding environment or situation. The culture of nature from theorists Topic sentence: The debate between nature and culture regarding intelligence began in the seventeenth century, when John Locke, a philosopher, published data regarding empiricism in 1632. Evidence and Citations: Locke's black slate approach, also known as "Tubular Rasa", suggested that our minds are completely black at birth and so we combine external stimuli, forming chains of association which then develop and become more complex. This in turn would give people the ability to perform single, complete units of interaction which would then be composed of many simple learned associations combined together. Although this perspective was viewed differently by other philosophers of the time and also by new developing psychologists. Francis Galton, a committed eugenicist, was that individual whohe had a different perspective than Locke. Topic Sentence: Galton argued in his book published in 1884 entitled 'Hereditary Genius', that from the studies he had conducted on eminent Victorians, he concluded that intelligence clearly ran within the family and was therefore hereditary. Evidence and Citations: Galton noted in his studies that the "lower class" reproduced at an alarming rate, therefore, to prevent intelligence achievements from reducing, these individuals should be prevented from reproducing to allow for "pure" society and to prevent it from becoming 'mongrelized'.Topic sentence: The scientific study of intelligence continuedProgress with the introduction of a standardized test was introduced by a man called Alfred Binet. In 1905 Alfred Binet introduced the first recognized intelligence test Evidence and Citations: Binet argues that a child's age has direct links to what one might expect in the way intelligence develops. Binet, with his colleague Theodore Simon, performed a number of such developmental tasks and released a specific test, which then matched tasks to specific age groups From this they then devised a technique that would allow them to rate the individual in question and give them a single numerical figure score on how well. compared themselves to their peers, this later became known as the modern IQ test. Topic sentence: The nature-nurture debate regarding the nature of intelligence has developed to also include discussion of whether there is a specific factor within intelligence or perhaps even two factors working in tandem. Evidence and Citations: The two-factor theory in which Spearman incorporated a "g" factor (general ability) and also an "s" factor (specific ability). Spearman developed a method called "factor analysis" to try to determine the performance of numerous children performing various tasks. The tasks were carried out for analysis, where it was possible to evaluate the child's ability in terms of intelligence which can draw on a wide range of skills such as spelling, punctuation, arithmetic, grammar and also reasoning. Comment: The final hypothesis would be that the more similar the score in two or more tests, i.e. the greater the correlation, the more likely it is that the tests tap the same skill, for example; general ability. However, if some children perform better on the first test and worse on the sending test and other groups of children vice versa, then one might say that distinct abilities are being tested. Case Study Reimer/Money David Reimer who was born identical (non-intersex male twin) in 1965. David and his brother at the age of eight months both had a minor medical problem involving their penis, so the doctor decided that the best treatment was circumcision. It was a failed surgery as the doctor accidentally burned virtually all of David's penis. John Money, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, suggested gender reassignment to David's parents, to which the parent agreed to reassign a female gender through surgical, hormonal, and even psychological treatment, according to the system Money advocated for intersex children. For numerous years John Money claimed that David, who was now known as "Brenda", was happy with a female gender. Money used this experiment to promote his approach to intersexuality, the approach that is still commonly used in much of the United States. This approach is now based on the assumption that gender identity is about nurture through nurture and not so much innate traits such as nature, and that gender assignment is important for treating all children with a typical namingsexual. With new revelations it is now clear that Money was lying, Money was aware that Brenda had never been happy with a female gender, and he knew that as soon as David learned what had happened to him, David would assume the identity of a male again. The experiment with David Reimer has now been used by the "gender is innate" theory of nature which highlights that they are right. From this experiment it is important that we can now understand and evaluate how much harm we can cause to an individual by treating them inhumanely and lying to them. It is now clear that it is inhumane and immoral to predict an individual's gender identity, although with this experiment we can now predict how individual children treated with shame, secrecy and even lies will suffer at the hands of medical professionals who we trust and believe. to have the best intentions. Evidence for and against Nature Nurture Topic sentence: The educational perspective of the debate suggested that your gender is biological, within this theory because your gender shares the same physiology and anatomy and has similar characteristics and traits. The nature perspective may initially highlight physical differences between male and female, such as sexual organs. Evidence and Citations: In 1944 psychologists David Buss undertook research into the natural side of the debate. The objective of the experiment was to investigate the heterosexual mate preferences of both males and females. This ties into the naturalistic side of the debate as it investigates what mates are looking for, such as biological traits and characteristics. The investigation was conducted in thirty-seven different countries where participants were asked to rate the importance of a selection of traits in protentional mates. Comment: From the results, Buss found that men examine good looks in all countries, youthfulness and chastity are higher than women. From the results, women rated good financial prospects and greater reliability than men. Buss concluded from these findings that this study supports the evolutionary theory that women and men look for different traits in potential mates. Good looks and health were a good representation of a woman's fertility by men. For women, they should be able to demonstrate that a man has good financial prospects. Although this study contributes to the naturalistic aspect of the debate, there are some problems, such as the questionnaires sent, which meant that respondents were not able to indicate any of the characteristics they were looking for. Buss conducted research in only thirty-seven countries, most of them Western, meaning that men and women have similar mentalities. That's why Buss can rank the results because other countries and societies lack diversity. Also known as cross-cultural research, the research study is useful in the debate because if a behavior is a product of human nature, it should occur worldwide regardless of experience and education. There are obvious genre problems with the naturalistic side of the topic. For example, there are questions that are often asked: How does nature explain those cases in which a person does not assume the gender role expected by their sex even when no genetic irregularities exist? And, if males and females are naturally different, then how do we explain that both sexes are becoming more and more similar as gender roles are becoming more and more intersexual, as in the case of female police officers. Topic sentence: The naturalistic side of the debate states that gender (depending on environmental conditions) experiences) is essentially a socialization factor. Evidence and citations: Therefore, characteristics such asfamily upbringing and societal expectations would play an important role in a person's gender. Comment: Most girls have learned to behave in a feminine manner and boys in a masculine manner. This side of the argument allows us to understand why some of us choose a different gender than expected. For example, a tomboy would have experienced an upbringing influenced by factors that led her to choose this masculinity unlike most girls. This side of the debate also explains why gender rules can change an individual's gender over time, anything learned can be unlearned and replaced by a new set of behaviors. Evidence and Citations: The topic of education can also define cultural variations related to gender first, the difference between cultures is the fact that they have their own set of beliefs and morals. Comment: Evidence has shown that people's behavior is influenced by the society in which they live. Gender is a behavior that is also open to this type of influence. The educational aspect explains why some take on the unexpected gender role because of their sex. A feminine boy, for example, would have had experiences that would lead him to that gender role. If gender is cultivated, this explains why a person's gender role can change over time because anything learned can be unlearned. For example, a male child may wear clothes because he currently has only one parent, his mother, but when he grows up and his father is involved in his life, he may only wear football shirts. The football shirt is stereotypically masculine. Cultural variations in gender-related behavior can also be explained by the education argument; the difference between cultures is the set of beliefs, morals and standards. It is proven that the behavior of individuals is influenced by society's standards and expectations. Evidence and Citations: Diamond and Sigmundson conducted a study on nature and nurture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of biology in gender role development. In this study, the case of an eight-year-old boy who lost his penis was analyzed. The boy underwent vaginal construction surgery to reassign his gender. From then on he was associated as a woman called "Brenda", developed masculine traits, and as he grew up eventually had his penis reconstructed. Comment: This study can help discuss the nature discussion to conclude with the fact that children are born with one gender identity. The fact that despite her upbringing, Brenda developed masculine traits shows that she somehow had a sense of her gender identity. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion Concluding paragraph: As seen from the essay, the nurture versus nature discussion has equal amounts of evidence and knowledge to support both, but both lack knowledge on many gender issues. The debate is mostly based on assumptions that make it difficult for one side or the other to fully believe them. References Rutter, M., 2006. Genes and behavior: explaining the nature-nurture interaction. Blackwell Publishing.Lykken, D., 1999. Happiness: What twin studies show us about the nature, nurture, and set point of happiness. Golden books. Nature, nurture or chance: stochastic genetic expression and its consequences. Cell, 135(2), pp.216-226.(Leahy, A.M., 1935.) Nature-nurture and intelligence. Genetic psychology monographs. (Pastore, N., 1949.) The nature-culture controversy. Lerner, R.M., 1978. Nature, culture, and dynamic interactionism. Human Development, 21(1),.