One of the most argued about controversy in the field of Psychology is the nature vs. nurture debate, which is really one simple question: Do our human traits develop through experience, or do we come equipped with them? Beginning in the days of Plato and Aristotle, this issue has still not been settled to this day. Many philosophers such as Plato, Descartes and even Charles Darwin believed that we are born with innate abilities, while others such as Aristotle and John Locke believed that the mind is a tabula rasa - a blank tablet -- upon which experience writes. Many proven experiments and research findings have shown that

One of the most obvious of our environments is our parental nurturing, but some psychologists believe that "parents should be given less credit for kids who turn out great and blamed less for kids who don't" (Myers 103). So if parents aren't the main influence in child development then who is responsible for the way children behave.

Though our environment does have the greater influence in our development, genes do play a small role in our development. The major factor that genes provide for us is our gender. These genders determine wear we stand in society. Genes also enable us to learn from our experiences and enjoy our environments. Our genes also fit us with the basic instincts to survive temperature changes and the ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment.

Peers have a tremendous influence on children and their development. In several case studies done by psychologist Judith Harris that yielded these results: 1) "Preschoolers who disdain a certain food despite parents' urgings often will eat the food if put at a table with a group of children who like it." 2) "A child who hears English spoken with one accent at home and another in the neighborhood and at school will invariably adopt the accent of the peers, not the parents. Moreover, immigrant children who are placed in peer groups of nonimmigrants quickly lose their parents' culture. 'When in Rome, they become Romans,' notes Harris. 'Even if their parents happen to be British or Chinese or Mesquakie.'" 3) "Direct parental influences on smoking are less important than many people suppose. Rather, teens who start smoking typically have friends who model smoking, who suggest its pleas

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Approximate Word count = 1128
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)