An Optimistic Look at the Nature-Nurture Controversy” by Julius Segal talks about the conflict between Nature vs Nurture. He states that it is neither one nor the other when it comes to the development of a child’s personality, but that it is a mix between the two. Although, genes are an important influence, nature cannot account for all of one’s personality differences. Genes may determine a range which traits may evolve, but not the exact personality trait itself. “Human development,’ says Harvard University developmental psychologist Jerome Kagan Ph.D., ‘does not proceed along a single, predictable line. Instead, it is comprised of a set of transitions and transformations that can advance in many different directions – more like a branching oak tree than a tall, slim palm.’”
I found this article and its point of view on nature vs nurture, to be fascinating. “The real question is no longer whether the human personality has innate or environmental roots, but how they relate.” (Segal, 1998) I agree with Dr. Segal and his stance on nature vs nurture. A personality of a child cannot be dependent on one or another, but is dependent on a combination of both. Those who say that genetics is the only factor of personality would be denying that traumatic experiences or lack of, would not effect a…show more content… Page 9 of the textbook talks about the extreme of each side of the argument, but that neither can really stand on its own. This page also stresses that the nature vs nurture issue is the most important and most complex issue in the study of human development (Goldharber, 2012). The texts seems to take a nurture stance when it comes to child behavioral problems on page 516. It describes how often when there is a behavioral problem arise with a child, the negative way parents or other adults react or treat the child can make the situation worse. The effect of genetics is not really addressed in this section of the