Nature vs. Nurture - Comparative Essay

Nature vs. Nurture

Laura Fierro

Psychology Fall 2010

      In the 1800’s a new concept was brought by Charles Darwin, this concept was called evolution. In the 13th century Francis Galton from France used the terms nature and nurture and in 1874 he discussed the influence of genetics over environment (nature-or-nurture.com, 10/01/2010)

      Nature vs. Nurture is a common term that describes a dilemma psychologist face today. The question that they face is, is “human behavior caused by heredity or their environment?”(Powell, Kimberly 2010)   I believe that this question is crucial in psychology. Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior (answers.com, 2010). In order for psychologist to do their work they must understand how the mind works and where behaviors come from. When someone thinks that behavior comes from nature, that means that they are born with that skill or way of being, and that can’t be changed. If someone believes its nurture, then that implies that behaviors are taught by others or by observations from the environment.

      According to Kimberly Powell theory is very controversial among society; many issues include, “are homosexuals born with that preference or is the environment impacting their sexual orientation”, “are athletes born with their talent”, and the one I’m going to be expressing my opinions on is “are singer born with their talent”.

      In music many people believe that if you can talk you can sing. I believe this statement is false and somewhat erroneous. Although singing does take a lot of training and practice, I believe that not everybody can sing. Choral teachers in early ages work on maintaining musical interest in students and are raised throughout their childhood and adolescence to enjoy music and attempt to sing as a group. In most choirs there is always the singer/s that sticks out from the group. Those singers are the ones with the true talent yet they have been taught with the same methods...