Unit 5 1 Seperated at
Birth rely 4
Write an initial substantive response of 80 words in length.
Begin your response with a restatement of the question/prompt, and include
in-text citation(s) and a reference for each scholarly source used according to
the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide located in the Student Success
Center. The restatement of the question/prompt, the references, and the
citations are not included in your response word count.
In rare cases due to unfortunate life events, some twins
have been separated at birth. After watching the short video discussing this
topic by clicking here , please answer the following questions:
In thinking about the nature versus nurture debate, what
facts, ideas, or concepts do you believe twin studies such as those shown in
the video help demonstrate in terms of this age old debate? Please give at
least 2 examples.
Do you believe that nature or nurture is a stronger
“guiding factor” in development? Please share at least 2 examples to
help support your stance on this issue.
Vivian Vidal
Unit 5 Separated at birth
COLLAPSE
In the nature versus nurture debate, the pivot is trying to
figure out which influences us the most. Watching the video confirmed that they
both go hand in hand but each holds its own weight and purpose when it comes to
human development. However, I believe a person is either molded or destroyed by
the one they receive more of. If there is a perfect positive balance of the
two, you have a nearly perfect human being, if you have a perfect negative
balance of the two you have an imperfect individual by societal standards. From
our chapter nine reading assignment, I gathered that nature deals with the
hereditary aspect of maturity and nurture deals with the surrounding
conditions. The most important realization when comparing the two is that they
are intertwined and therefore cannot exist without the other.
The twin study helped me realize that there was not much of
a difference in how they turned out as adults. It was almost as though nature
played more of a role than nurturing did. They both did similar things while
growing up and even had the same thoughts although they both grew up miles away
from each other. I’m sure there were many different influences, experiences and
beliefs growing up but that didn’t change their individual aesthetics. Their
physical growth were no different from each other due to where they lived so we
can agree with the text which states, “Heredity also places limits on
physical abilities; humans simply cannot run at a speed of 60 miles an hour or
grow as tall as 10 feet, no matter the quality of their environment (Dodge,
2004; Pinker, 2004).”
It is hard to say which is a stronger guiding factor in
human development. From the reading and life in general, I concluded that
nature is what must happen and nurture is our response to that natural
occurrence. An example relating to the nurturing theory, I read a story about
two brothers who grew up in the same household with a drunk and abusive father.
One brother grew up to be exactly like his dad, the other was the total
opposite, and wouldn’t hurt a fly. When asked why they were the way they were,
they both gave the same answer, “because my father was an alcoholic”.
They both experienced the same form of nurturing environment (or lack there of)
as adolescents but were influenced differently. Another example pertains to
nature, a Law and Order episode where Olivia found out she has a half brother
who is a serial rapist like their father. They were both byproducts of rape. He
had the same m.o as their father but neither of them lived with him nor knew
who he was until only she, Olivia was an adult. Hereditary? But why was Olivia
on the other side of the moral spectrum? Could she produce a son who was a
rapist as even though she was not one? I don’t think that the theory of one
upping the other in the nurture vs nature debate will ever be conclusive. There
are too many factors to actually come up with fool proof facts, theories and
concepts.