Essay On Nature Or Nurture

The question of whether humans develop according to nature or nurture is centuries old, with some of the earliest experiments carried out by King Frederick of Germany in the 13th century, when he rather crudely and cruelly attempted to establish what kind and manner of speech children would have if nobody spoke to them (Stone, 1973). Sadly, the children all died. It would seem unthinkable in modern times to expect a child to develop speech or language without being exposed to any, as we take it for granted that language and speech is learned from caregivers and that we are influenced by the environment in which we grow. Speech and language isn’t the only area humans learn from their caregivers and environment and in this essay I will outline some of the studies carried out that indicate clearly that how we develop is not simply a case of nature OR nurture, but the interaction between both.
Nature is what we are born with, the genetic blueprint that determines much about us, our eye colour, hair colour, the length of our limbs, whether we are susceptible to particular diseases, how long we are likely to live and countless other characteristics that make up each unique individual. Nurture refers to how we are shaped by our environment and includes everything that we encounter in our lives; our socio-economic environment,

A parent/primary caregiver who gives to charity for example, is more likely to raise a generous child, as the child grows with a belief and example that it is a good thing to help. A parent who encourages sport as a positive and exciting activity in life is more likely to raise children that are interested in sport. Dorothy Law Nolte’s piece “Children Learn What They Live” (1972) begins with the familiar line “If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn” and summarises how many important character traits are influenced by a child’s