7/25/2019 Debate Nature vs Nurture

1/2

-Debate-

Cultural/social/environmental factors/variablesvsbiological/genetic/hereditaryfactors

(nurture) (nature) (genes) (genetic inheritance)

>Conclusion: Cultural and social factors are responsible for human bad behaviors (rather than

biological factors).

Anomieor Strain theory, Robert Mertonproposes that people are delinquent because they can't

achieve their goals using conventional means (so they turn to illegal means)

!"## (criminologist) Albert Cohenstates that disadvantages faced by lo$erclass men cause status

frustration or strain leading to delinquency

!""% (sociologist) Robert Agnew insists that anomie or strain theory can be used to e&plain crime

and deviancy

ome commit crimes because they are responding to a social situation *obert +erton

,-ven gender roles are cultural creations Margaret Mead once states that gender is 01 based on

biological differences bet$een se&es2 but rather reflects the conditioning of different societies

Michel Foucaultclaims that sometimes people misbehave2 because they $ant resist the po$er

imposed by the higher class or authority2 $hich causes them stress and pressure (and is connected to

the 3nomie and train theory discussed before)

4here there is po$er2 there is resistance Foucault

Where there is a counter argument, there is always a rebuttal

We acnowledge that the !act cannot be denied" Fact is !act"

#owever, what we are going to do now is $ust to %oint out that your !acts are wea, our !acts

are stronger using !acts, evidences, statistics, and e&am%les"

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centerson the relative contributions of genetic inheritanceandenvironmental factorsto human

development.

Counter

[Some philosophers such as Platoand Descartessuggested that certain things are

inborn, or that theyoccurnaturallyregardless of environmental inuences. Nativiststake

the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the result of inheritance.

Advocates of this point of view believe that all of our characteristics and behaviors are the

result of evolution. enetic traits handed down from parents inuence the individual

di!erences that make each person uni"ue.#

$My point

%ther well&known thinkers such asJohnLockebelieved in what is known astabula

rasa,which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate.According to this notion,

everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our eperience.

http://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/genes-and-development.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/experience-and-development.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/experience-and-development.htmhttp://giftedkids.about.com/od/Book-Reviews/fl/Review-of-The-Blank-Slate-The-Modern-Denial-of-Human-Nature.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/experience-and-development.htmhttp://giftedkids.about.com/od/Book-Reviews/fl/Review-of-The-Blank-Slate-The-Modern-Denial-of-Human-Nature.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/genes-and-development.htm

7/25/2019 Debate Nature vs Nurture

2/2

!mpiriciststake the position thatall or most behaviors and characteristics result from

learning. "ehaviorismis a good e'ample of a theory rooted in empiricism. The

behavioristsbelieve that all actions and behaviors are the results of conditioning.

Theorists such asJohn ". #atsonbelieved that people could be trained to do and

become anything$ regardless of their genetic background.

$%ne e'ample of an empiricist theory within psychology is Albert (anduras social learningtheory. According to the theory, people learn by observing the behavior of others. *n hisfamous (obo doll e'periment, (andura demonstrated that children could learn aggressivebehaviors simply by observing another person acting aggressively.

+htt%'//%sychology"about"com/od/ninde&/g/nature-nurture"htm )

http--www.simplypsychology.org-naturevsnurture.html

http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/watson.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/bobo-doll-experiment.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/nindex/g/nature-nurture.htmhttp://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.htmlhttp://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/watson.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/bobo-doll-experiment.htmhttp://psychology.about.com/od/nindex/g/nature-nurture.htmhttp://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html