Nature
VS
Nurture
Most theories grant some role to both NATURE and NURTURE
"Nature" is a pre-wiring that is influenced by genetic inheritance.
The heredity information we receive from our parents at the moment of conception.
Do children acquire language because they are genetically predisposed to do so?
What accounts for the vast individual differences among children?
Or do they acquire language because parents teach them form an early age?
Genetics
Height
Weight
Physical Coordination
Intelligence
Social Skills
Theories either support
Nature
Children that have specific characteristics
Sociability
will remain so throughout their life.
Verbal Skills
Rousseau
John Bowlby
Nurture
Regarding environment as more influential
Early experiences lead to lifelong characteristics
John Locke
Erik Erikson
Sigmund Freud
How can we research this?
Why can studying twins who are separated at birth give us information about the Nature VS Nurture debate?
Twin Studies
Write-Pair-Share
Essential Question:
Nature and Nurture: The Study of Twins
Why might we want to know if a personal trait was created by our environment or inherited genetically by our parents?
Before we had modern research and twin studies to help us understand childhood...
Which aspects of myself come from my environment and what aspects come from my genetics?
There were THEORISTS
Twins: Is it All in the Genes?
Before the 17th Century
Childhood was not seen as separate from adulthood
A common view was that children are born evil
And parents needed to use harsh punishments to "civilize" the children
"Nurture" is the influence of external factors after conception.
Our life experiences (prenatal-death), and our surroundings
First Child Development Theorists
(1632-1704)
Environment
John Locke
(1712-1778)
Hello students!
I viewed children as a "Tabula rasa," which is Latin for "Blank slate."
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Parents
=
They can mold the child in any way they wish
"Rational Tutors"
Children begin with nothing at all- Their character is shaped entirely by experience.
Unlike John Locke, Rousseau believed that children have
Rousseau believed that adults needed to be receptive to children's various needs in each of his four stages of development:
"Children are not blank slates, or empty containers that need to be filled by adult instruction."
Childhood
Infancy
Rewards
A unique way of thinking and feeling
"They are 'Noble Savages', naturally endowed with a sense of right and wrong."
Adolescence
Late Childhood
For good behavior
Rousseau believed that ADULT TRAINING could harm the child's natural gifts
John Locke was
Opposed to physical punishments
Which side of the debate is Rousseau?
NATURE
"The child repeatedly beaten in school cannot look upon books and teachers without experiencing fear and anger."
-John Locke
Which side of the debate is Locke?
NURTURE