Noya's draft2

Nurture strongly influences early human development

Everybody knows both nature and nurture play important roles in the course of human development. Which of them is more strongly influence about infants has been a debated issue in UK. Some psychologists think environment has more powerful affect, but some others experts firmly do not believe that. In this essay I will explore same argue for this situation and tell my opinion.

On the basis of the hereditarian viewpoint, nature determines infants many physiological features. All of our physiological features is controlled by our genes. Our genes which get from our parents contain all the physiological information. They decide our sex, race, the colour of our skin, eyes, and hair and general body size. More over fetus may get some hereditary disease from their genes.

Nurture also can influence early human’s physiological features. For example, a part of the infants may be born deaf, blind or brain-damaged not because they got hereditary disease. They may be influenced when they in their mother’s body. Everyone knows the human fetus developing in the mother’s body for about ten months, at this period fetuses are very weak and they are in a critical stage of development. If the uterine environment is seriously abnormal in some way, maturational processes can be destroyed. For instance, if the mother lack of nutrition, keep smoking, drinking or take drugs all of these will change the environmental factors that can affect the normal maturation of the fetus. So that baby may be born disability.

At the same time, nurture can change the speed of baby’s development. More recent researches show that giving baby more extra practice can make them master some behaviours more quickly. For example, nowadays, many parents buy a baby walker to their children. The function of baby walker is providing an upright position to help baby learning walking earlier. Many facts show that it is very helpful for baby. “A group of infants who were given stepping practice for a few minutes several times a day during the first two months of life began walking five to seven weeks earlier than babies who had not had this practice” (Zelazo, Zelazo&Kolb, 1972). Just like John B Watson and B.F. Skinner’s argument: early training can turn a child into any kind of adult, regardless of his or her heredity. (1930.p.30)

In addition, environment will make many far-reaching influences on baby. At the age of six months, the children will have gained enough information about the langue which they hear from their around, and it will also have begun to ‘screen out’ sounds it dose not use (Kuhl et al, 1992). “Thus, human infants appear to be born with perceptual mechanisms already tuned to the properties of human speech that will help them in their mastery of language” (Eimas, 1975). So if parent speak more different language around the baby that can have a good benefit for their children future language study.

Base on what has been mention above, compare of nature and nurture’s influences. I would like to say that nature has more strongly impact of infant’s development. And its influence will rise with the passage of time.


Bibliographical reference:
Zelazo, Zelazo & Kolb, 1972; Kuhl et al, 1992; Eimas, 1975;
John B Watson & B.F. Skinner, 1930, p.30
McGraw, 1935/1957; Dennis & Dennis, 1940;
Gesell & Thompson, 1929;
Reading & writing source book, Early human development, p.12 p.13 and p.15