Three-legged Race:Nature vs. nurture

      Upon attending a number of outside gatherings and outings, there are a number of games played and one in particular is the three-legged race. The goal of the race is to win but the difficulty is using three legs. The two people have the middle legs tied together which causes great dependency on one another. This is the same when it comes to nature and nurture in terms of reaching development. Nature is the biological make-up of an individual and nurture is the environment one is in which impacts behaviors. The investigation for years is: which one impacts an individuals behaviors, choices, etc. the most? The verdict is not definite but the jury (psychologist) prove both run "hand and hand." However, my view is nurture as a robust man who is running a three-legged race with a petite shaped woman with little to no athleticism (nature), as the whistle is blown to start the race which symbolizes the time in an individuals life to start making critical choices nurture is strong enough to win the race with or without nature.    

            Before determining a winner of any race, there has to be a clear understanding of where is the finish line. So let's define development (the finish line) as an orderly process in which one changes through adaptation from the time of birth to death.  There are four types of developmenmt: social; personal; cognitive and physical. The development that relies on nature is phyiscal because that is directly impacted by ones genes. As stated before nature is the biological make-up of a person. The DNA a person inherits from his or her parents is crucial to the physical make-up. For instance ones' facial features are hereditary. Siblings resemble each other when the parents are shared because of DNA. Me, personally, my mother is 4'11 and I'm 5'0, while my father is about 5'9 and my sister is 5'6. The notion of nature having the greater influence is  supported by renowned philosophers like Plato and Descartes.  However with the other types, it is easy to win the race to development by nurture.

       The remaining developmental stages are personality, social and cognitive are significantly impacted by the environment one is in. One of the greatest psychologist, Sigmund Freud's developed the psycho-sexual development theory which is based on the belief that an individual's persoanlity developes as a result of the enviornment one is constantly in.  The five stages of developmenmt are: 

• Oral Stage:  a period from birth to the age of one when an individual is satisfied through the mouth but the conflict comes when it is time to esxperiecne a seperation from the primary caregivers; 
• Anal Stage: the time from 1 to 3 in which a child is conscious and in control of the needs of the physical body
• Phallic Stage: when children are able to process the difference between a girl and a boy
• Latent period: from the age of 6 until puberty when an individual is full of the desire to explore
• The Genital stage is the stage from puberty to death when an individual desires companionship

How each of these stages are completed can be significantly influenced by those around the individual like parents, guardians, older siblings, any and all caregivers.  Those around impact how one acts
(personality-wise). Let's take, for instance, the time in the oral stage if a child becomes significantly dependent on the caregiver prior to being weaned than this causes the child to be aggressive and dependent.  Social development is how a person relates with others, which in the phallic stage maybe a direct correlation to dicphering the difference between male and female which happens between the ages of three and six. The greatest development is cognitive which is the way one thinks. The mastermind behind famous cognitive development theories is Jean Piaget which is

MY interpretation of Piaget's Cognitive Development theory are: it is apparent a child can only observe what's in their surroundings; a teen can only think concretely about the future under the influence of those around and in order for a child to act out what is seen they have to see what is in their environment. 

      Development is such a crucial process in a human's life. It is essential the make-up of an individual. I have to agree significantly with John Locke's idea of tabula rusa- which is the belief that one is born with a blank slate mentally and experience writes the knowledge on slate of the mind. Genes and DNA which is essentially nature does play a vital role in the physical development but as far as the other types of development are concerned nurture is most impacting. When the finish line a race is development and nurture  is the source of the victory it's easy to conclude that development may be a three-legged race but nurture reigns as the true means of winning.