Throughout the early 1900s, the nature-nurture debate (also referred to as heredity-environment and maturation-learning) was the center of lively controversy. With emerging psychologists such as Edward Thorndike, John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and many others, the behaviorist theory surfaced into the realm of psychology and with it, the idea that all human behavior is learned. In terms of the nature and nurture of heightened human capabilities, this idea contradicted the accepted belief that talent was inherited, a belief established by Sir Francis Galton in 1896 with his work, Hereditary Genius. Although psychologists agreed both were necessary to an extent, the debate centered itself around which one had more impact and how much was needed to be evident in gifted individuals. That is until it took a new form in 1958 in Anne Anastasi’s presidential address to the American Psychological Association, “Heredity, Environment, and the Question ‘How?’”, in which the focus shifted from “which” to the manner of interaction between the two and how they interacted to produce examples of high ability or talent. Anastasi is best known for her work in the development of psychometrics, the technique and theory of psychological measurement. The basis of the nature-nurture debate on talent has become: How much of any characteristic, behavior, or emotion is the result of genes and how much is the result of specific experiences? On one extreme, psychologists of the biological perspective are predisposed to believe that most traits are inborn, that some individuals are innately musically inclined while others are not. On the other side, behaviorists stress nurture, either crediting or blaming non-hereditary factors, such as experience, practic... ... middle of paper ... ...del." Psychological Review. 106.3 (1999): 435-457. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Winner, Ellen. "The Origins and Ends of Giftedness."American Psychologist. 55.1 (2000): 159-169. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Works Consulted Amabile, Teresa M. "The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization." Journal of personality and social psychology. 45.2 (1983): 357-376. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. Berger, Kathleen Strassen. Invitation to the Life Span. 2nd ed. Worth Publishers, Incorporated, 2013. 194-199, 304. eBook. Evans, Robert J., Robert Bickel, and Edwina D. Pendarvis. "Musical Talent: Innate or Acquired? Perceptions of Students, Parents, and Teachers." Gifted Child Quarterly. 44.2 (2000): 80-90. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. Hollingworth, Letta Stetter. Special talents and defects : their significance for education. 1st ed. London: MacMillan and Co., 1926. 202-221. Web.
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press. Van Hoose, W.H. (1980).
Williams, R. H., & Wirths, C. G. (1965). Lives through the years: Styles of life and successful aging.
The problem associated with how students are chosen to join a gifted and talented program stems from the way that we define giftedness. Because there are countless ways in which any individual can define talent, the government created a federal task force in 1972 to study gifted education in order to standardize the way in which schools choose students for and implement their gifted and talented programs. The task force’s results are known as the Marland Report and include much information as a result of their research, including a decision that a public school’s gifted and talented programs should aim to serve between 3 and 5 percent o...
Harris, Sara, and Laura E. Berk. Instructor's Resource Manual for Berk Exploring Lifespan Development, Second Edition. 2nd ed. Illinois: Allyn & Bacon, 2011. Print.
Nature does not simply determine our physical traits. In Alina Tugend’s article, “For the Best of the Best, Determination Outweighs Nature and Nurture,” Tugend explores the interaction of nature and nurture when it comes to talent. Tugend states that “’genetics influence how quickly and how well a person can master the expertise necessary to perform at world-class levels’” (Tugend 7). Nature influences our abilities or our capacity to do something. If nature can determine how quickly someone can develop a talent, then it does not play such a minimal role in our actions. Zoologist Matt Ridley argues that is nature via nurture in his article “What Makes You Who You Are.” Ridley states that “[genes] are both the cause and the consequence of our actions” (Ridley 5). Our genes and our actions are more connected than we thought. Genes can produce actions and our actions affect which genes are active in our lives. Nature greatly influences our behavior, but it is not all nature.
1. The nature vs. nurture question: “How much of any given characteristic, behavior, or pattern of development is determined by genetic influence and how much is the result of the myriad experience that occurs after conception.” I believe that a person cannot develop properly through only one of the influences. Chapter 1 deals with controversies of nature vs. nurture. Chapter 2, Leaning Theory that falls under the nature issues of capacities and limitations and the cognitive theory which falls under the nurture issue of cultural and how it affects behavior. Chapter 3, is Genetic code, which is nature, genetic influences. Chapter 4, Development and Birth is nurture, environment and embryo influence. Chapter 5, is both nature and nurture. Dealing with subjects of motor skills and physical growth. Chapter 6, is cognitive learning, which is nurture. Chapter 7, is Psychosocial dealing with falling under nature.
Kuttler, Ami Flam. “Gifted/IQ Evaluations.” Ami Flam Kuttler, Ph. D 2011. Web. 31 October 2011.
Loveless, T. (1998). The tracking and ability grouping debate. Retrieved April 20, 2004 from http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=127
...ouglas A. (2002). What's Wrong with Doug? The Academic Struggles of a Gifted Student with ADHD from Preschool to College. Gifted Child Today, 25, 48-59 http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=EJ657356&db=eric
One of the oldest arguments in psychology is the nature versus nurture debate. This debate focuses on if the contributions of genetic inheritance or the environment plays a role in human development. As always, there are two sides of every debate. In this case, there are the nativists, who believe human development is determined by genetics, and there are the empiricists, who believe that development is the result of learning and the person’s environment. Philosophers from centuries ago, such as Plato, suggested that certain aspects of human life are innate or that they occur because of someone’s environment. However on the contrary, John Locke believed in the “blank slate” on the nurture side of the debate. According to Locke, humans are determined and molded into the people they are by their experiences or learning. There have been countless of twin studies, showing that genetics does play a role in human development, but on the empiricist’s behalf, there have also been many cases, like Oxana Malaya, who was practically raised by dogs because of her parent’s abandonment and started...
One of the most controversial things about gifted and talented education is the criterion educators use to identify the gifted and talented. In the past, a student’s intelligence, based on an I.Q. score, was considered the best way to determine whether or not they qualified as gifted. As a result of using this method of identification, many gifted and talented students are not discovered nor are they placed in the appropriate programs to develop their abilities. Talents in the arts or an excellent ability to write are not measured on an I.Q. test but are abilities that may certainly qualify a student as gifted or talented.
Gifted Child Today, 2004: 2000-. Willis Web. City U of New York Lib. 1 Dec
...e. Social Cognitive theories help to provide a significant understanding to gifted underachievement as this particular theory states that
Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor” (Drew et al., 2002).