There is no denying the fact that both genetic and environmental factors have an influence in determining the course of human development to some degree. This subject has been a long-running debate through the centuries by many scholars all over the world. Motor development after birth is one of the prominent examples that illustrate the interaction between genetically planned maturation and environmental influence. 'Nurture' is the upbringing, education and environment an individual experiences, and 'nature' is the hereditary characteristics, which act as a determinant of personality and character. Though the question still remains as to which of the two is better, current opinion suggests that a union of natural development before and after birth, and the experiences that infants come across, affect and improve their courses of maturation. This essay will identify the influences on early human development leading to prove nurture's stronger and vital role in the maturation of one's social and psychological identity.
Developments that are independent of environmental events are determined by inborn biological aspects. For example, the genetic structure of fertilized ovum determines sex of the fetus, color of hair, general body size and characteristics, etc., are expressed in development through the process of maturation. This is evident when considering the fact that almost all children go through the same sequence and stages of motor behaviour: rolling over, sitting without support, standing while holding onto furniture, crawling, and then walking. "In the process of normal growth, all human infants learn to speak, but not until they attain a certain level of neurological development." (Atkinson, 1999) All this sums up to show that the development process is genetically programmed.
It basically means that the way parents raise their children may possibly not be very important to engrave a positive adult character. "Judith Rich Harris, one of the most exceptional heroes of behavior genetics wrote in her 1995 article, and then in her 1998 book, the importance of the nonshared environment (in particular, peer socialization) on infant development, and partially explains why siblings who share half their genes and raised by the identical set of parents within the same family can time and again be very different, as dissimilar oftentimes as kids from different families. As the late great behavior geneticist David C. Rowe puts it: "Parents are often given too much acknowledgment for children who turn out well and too much fault for children who turn out badly. The source of underlying influence is not in nurture variation, but in the genes and in unshared environmental variation." (Kanazawa, 2007)
DNA breakthroughs are revealing that even the finest parenting doesn't have the results experts promise. "One of the strongest and most counterintuitive findings in this nascent field of genomics is that children with a sweet temperament, which is under strong genetic control, are the least likely to emulate their parents and absorb the lessons they teach, while fussy kids are the most likely to do so. Fussy children have a hypersensitive nervous system that is keenly attuned to its surroundingsïincluding what Mom and Dad do and say." (NEWSWEEK, 2008).
Although these aspects are fairly related to genetically programmed maturation, what genuinely influences child development is the environmental atmosphere a child experiences. The idea that all children go through the same stages of motor development may contribute to the fact that different children go through the same stages at different rates. More recent studies indicate that extra stimulation can hasten the appearance of motor behaviors in children to a great extent. This discusses the idea that when children are encouraged and stimulated to speak, the development of speech is accelerated (Atkinson, 1999)
The strong influence of nurture in the course of human development arises from existence of several environmental factors that may increase or decrease the rate of maturity in infants. The abnormality of the uterine environment affects the growth of the fetus. Seriousness of the damage borne by the fetus depends on which organ system was in a critical stage of development at the time the mother was infected by the disease. (Atkinson, 1999) Poor maternal health and malnutrition, smoking and consumption of alcohol also disrupts the normal maturational process of the fetus very severely.
Cases where an individual lacking marvelous environmental conditions turns out to be the worst scenarios of childhood clearly makes the case for parents and other environmental factors to have relatively greater influence on a child's growth. And so the importance of parental encouragement and support throughout the learning and developing process of a child is unavoidable. Research has recognized a causal link that "the children of pleasant and competent people grow up to be pleasant and competent people because of how they were treated by their parents and what they learned at home." (Eberstadt, 1998)That is, the emotional health of parents, their social instability and socio-economic status are also among the other environmental factors that can affect the normal maturational process of children.
Today most psychologists agree that not only does nature and nurture play very important roles, but that they work together constantly to guide maturity. But as is evident from most researches, the development of many personality traits early in humans, such as sociability, emotional stability, and motor development, development of speech and health of the infant is majorly influenced by environmental factors. Debates prevail, and always will, but realities all around our lives prove time and again nurture's role in shaping certain basic physical and mental features in humans. Most ideas lead to the same conclusion- the influence of nurture on early human development is not only stronger than that of nature, but is an inevitable fact of life.
Developments that are independent of environmental events are determined by inborn biological aspects. For example, the genetic structure of fertilized ovum determines sex of the fetus, color of hair, general body size and characteristics, etc., are expressed in development through the process of maturation. This is evident when considering the fact that almost all children go through the same sequence and stages of motor behaviour: rolling over, sitting without support, standing while holding onto furniture, crawling, and then walking. "In the process of normal growth, all human infants learn to speak, but not until they attain a certain level of neurological development." (Atkinson, 1999) All this sums up to show that the development process is genetically programmed.
It basically means that the way parents raise their children may possibly not be very important to engrave a positive adult character. "Judith Rich Harris, one of the most exceptional heroes of behavior genetics wrote in her 1995 article, and then in her 1998 book, the importance of the nonshared environment (in particular, peer socialization) on infant development, and partially explains why siblings who share half their genes and raised by the identical set of parents within the same family can time and again be very different, as dissimilar oftentimes as kids from different families. As the late great behavior geneticist David C. Rowe puts it: "Parents are often given too much acknowledgment for children who turn out well and too much fault for children who turn out badly. The source of underlying influence is not in nurture variation, but in the genes and in unshared environmental variation." (Kanazawa, 2007)
DNA breakthroughs are revealing that even the finest parenting doesn't have the results experts promise. "One of the strongest and most counterintuitive findings in this nascent field of genomics is that children with a sweet temperament, which is under strong genetic control, are the least likely to emulate their parents and absorb the lessons they teach, while fussy kids are the most likely to do so. Fussy children have a hypersensitive nervous system that is keenly attuned to its surroundingsïincluding what Mom and Dad do and say." (NEWSWEEK, 2008).
Although these aspects are fairly related to genetically programmed maturation, what genuinely influences child development is the environmental atmosphere a child experiences. The idea that all children go through the same stages of motor development may contribute to the fact that different children go through the same stages at different rates. More recent studies indicate that extra stimulation can hasten the appearance of motor behaviors in children to a great extent. This discusses the idea that when children are encouraged and stimulated to speak, the development of speech is accelerated (Atkinson, 1999)
The strong influence of nurture in the course of human development arises from existence of several environmental factors that may increase or decrease the rate of maturity in infants. The abnormality of the uterine environment affects the growth of the fetus. Seriousness of the damage borne by the fetus depends on which organ system was in a critical stage of development at the time the mother was infected by the disease. (Atkinson, 1999) Poor maternal health and malnutrition, smoking and consumption of alcohol also disrupts the normal maturational process of the fetus very severely.
Cases where an individual lacking marvelous environmental conditions turns out to be the worst scenarios of childhood clearly makes the case for parents and other environmental factors to have relatively greater influence on a child's growth. And so the importance of parental encouragement and support throughout the learning and developing process of a child is unavoidable. Research has recognized a causal link that "the children of pleasant and competent people grow up to be pleasant and competent people because of how they were treated by their parents and what they learned at home." (Eberstadt, 1998)That is, the emotional health of parents, their social instability and socio-economic status are also among the other environmental factors that can affect the normal maturational process of children.
Today most psychologists agree that not only does nature and nurture play very important roles, but that they work together constantly to guide maturity. But as is evident from most researches, the development of many personality traits early in humans, such as sociability, emotional stability, and motor development, development of speech and health of the infant is majorly influenced by environmental factors. Debates prevail, and always will, but realities all around our lives prove time and again nurture's role in shaping certain basic physical and mental features in humans. Most ideas lead to the same conclusion- the influence of nurture on early human development is not only stronger than that of nature, but is an inevitable fact of life.
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