In the history of psychology one of the oldest arguments is the Nature-Nurture debate with regard to what makes us human beings different from each-other: our genes or our environment, and which one of these sides contributes more to a person’s psychological and physical development.
The Nature -Nurture debate was introduced in the late nineteenth Century by one of the first experimental psychologists Francis Galton in his “English men of science: Their Nature and Nurture” (1874). In this work he calls nature and nurture, “a convenient jingle of words, for it separates under two distinct heads the innumerable elements of which personality is composed. Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world; nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth” (p. 12).
Philosophers in ancient times, such as Plato, believed that a child was born with some innate knowledge. Locke however, was an empiricist and believed that the mind at birth was a “blank slate”-with an empty brain and no abilities.
Certain physical characteristic are biologically determined by genetic inheritance such as pigmentation of skin and color of eyes which are gathered by the genes we inherit. Additional physical characteristics such as height, weight, hair loss even some illnesses (e.g. breast cancer in women) appear to be influenced by the genetic make-up of our parents. These facts have made many to ask the question whether psychological characteristics such as intelligence, gender, personality and behavior are product of our genes or they are influenced by the environment.
The following debate looks at whether we acquire many of our traits through nature, or through our environment- nurture concerning our intelligence and gender.
The case of heredity (nature) as an argument to the debate can be traced back to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and the idea of “survival of the fittest” influencing the Biological approach in Psychology which focuses on genetic and hormonal explanation of behavior and tends to favor the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. The nature approach view claims that many human skills and actions are result of genetically inherited urges (e.g. intelligence, personality, maternal instinct) and it is supported by nativists. On the other hand the view that supports the belief that human main skills and characteristics are socially learned and developed through experience is the view of empiricists, according to whom whatever we learn we learn through perception.
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