Nature versus Nurture

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Nature versus Nurture

According to Davies et al. (2014), the nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest areas in psychology. In their Mol Psychiatry article the authors state that the debate revolves around the impact of genetic inheritance and environmental factors on the development of a human being. The first school of thought believes that the behavior or personality of an individual is influenced by inherited traits while the second school of thought believes that they are determined by individual life experiences. An analysis of the scientific points of view and review of available educational media on the subject can provide valuable insight into the matter.

Down Syndrome: The inspirational story of Reds’ bat boy with down syndrome

This movie explores the life of Teddy Kremer, an honorary bat boy for the Reds. His dedication to sports surprised me as most kids have an occasional interest in sports. It is incredible to observe a young person with Down’s syndrome to be so involved in a major sports team. Rather than harboring feelings of self pity, Teddy elects to be a part of the team. The other characters in the movie praise his courage, strength and ability to inspire other people he meets. This story proves that people with genetic disorders can not only lead a normal life, but can also play an active role in their society.

As a person who loves sports, I felt a great connection with the movie. Sports not only helps to keep own body in a good shape but also stimulates communicational skills development. Moreover, despite being competitive, sport activities provide invaluable opportunities to experience the joys of life. Being a member of a team helped Teddy feel the life like any other healthy kid would have enjoyed it. The video evoked a wave of good feelings in me. I felt inspired to be myself and to look beyond the limitations of life to what can be achieved if I dare to try.

Teddy has similar traits as myself as I also love being in the limelight. The movie demonstrates the ability of a person to lead a normal life in spite of having a genetic disorder. This is important in developmental psychology as it demonstrates the ability of an individual to transcend limitations placed by nature with priceless help and support of the family and community. According to Plomin and Bergeman (2011), the environment plays a significant role in the psychological development of a child. Moreover, it is an example of nature failing to overcome nurture. Rather than keeping a low profile because of genetic condition which significantly affects Teddy’s ability to participate in sports, he decides to step into the public eye, helping sports team to achieve its goals.

The story of Teddy Kremer provides important practical information that complements objectives of the course. It not only leads to a better understanding of developmental psychology, but also provides an opportunity to see what can be achieved when nurture seeks to improve rather than replace the nature. For example, Teddy accepts his condition and this acceptance frees him to pursue his passion. Moreover, it gives him the courage to be in the limelight. Consequently, students are inspired to be comfortable with who they are as individuals and to pursue their own interests. According to Hambrick and Tucker-Drob (2014), the genetic potential for skilled performance can only be realized through consistent practice. As a result, students gain understanding that genetic disposition doesn’t determine ability to achieve certain goals as it also depends on individual choices and aspiration.

Cracking the Code: Understanding rare chromosome disorder

The human’s body is based on a set of complex processes. The video demonstrates that a single defect in the human genome may drastically alter the physical or mental health of a person who would have experienced a normal life otherwise. However, genetic disorders are rare in any society. Moreover, each individual has 23 chromosomes, and although there is an infinite number of potential chromosome disorders, the most common ones are: deletion, multiplication, and dislocation. Individuals with genetic issues usually start to display some symptoms at early age. While watching the movie I was surprised and tried to imagine all the bases of the human genome spreading one millimeter apart, which is supposed to extend it from Memphis to Las Vegas.

The video is relevant to the objectives of our psychology course because it provides a general introduction into genetic disorders as well as expert opinions on the issue. The information provided in the video evokes a feeling of comfort since it is evident that there is no unique experience with genetic disorders and that it is possible to get the required help to cope with some issues that arise. I appreciated the background information provided by the narrator. Moreover, as a student, I could relate with the information provided by Murugu Manickam since we have covered some of it in class. I have a friend with Down’s syndrome, and my experience let me treat the video more personally. It is impossible to despise any of the characters in all the movies because each one of them gets to interact with the reality of a genetic disorder either in personal or professional life. As a result, characters are forced to handle traumatizing and emotionally draining situations that often have no obvious solution. I sympathized with parents who have to deal with unique medical conditions.

Dean, Ingram. Chapter 3. One Wrong Letter.

This video explores the story of a small kid, Aiden. The disease is as a result of one “wrong letter”. Children in such condition experience significantly reduced responses to physical activities in their environment as compared to their coevals. In addition, they cannot swallow any solid food or move on their own. Furthermore, they experience a drastically limited lifespan. They are expected to only reach five to seven years. The video demonstrates the importance of educating the public on genetic diseases in physiological and psychological terms. In Aiden’s case, the whole family appeared to be carriers of this genetic issue. I was surprised that there are such cases when the whole family in involved into a genetic disorder.

I sympathized with Aiden and his life story as he had to go through a lot of challenges at a young age. For example, as opposed to his peers, he failed to respond to the attention he received from his mother. The movie evoked a lot of sadness. It is depressing to see an innocent young child denied of the opportunity to enjoy childhood merely because of genetic defects. The video explains that Aiden’s condition in its basis is a result of one letter genetic issue. Furthermore, the depression is reinforced by the fact that this suffering cannot be cured. It seems so unfair given that there are about three billion letters in his DNA. Seeing the child unable to eat or see was too emotionally overwhelming for me. Moreover, knowing that such kid’s life is about to end not having even begun, stimulates dreaming of genetic issues remedies.

The relation between this movie and the developmental psychology is that it provides a window into one of the developmental defects which hinder some kids to grow in a normal manner. This is relevant to the objectives of the course because it not only addresses one of the developmental defects, one wrong genetic letter, but also provides insight on the emotional coping aspect of the families involved.

In conclusion, the developmental process is affected by both nature and nurture (Stiles, 2011). However, nature plays a more prominent role as it can affect the ability to be nurtured. Moreover, it can directly influence the lives of people in a profound manner by affecting their health, physical fitness and mental development. This shows that the nature versus nurture debate is misplaced. Instead, the development process should be seen as a function of the two. Lastly, there should be efforts to educate the public on genetic diseases and find medical solutions to help those who suffer.

Reference

Hambrick, D. Z., Tucker-Drob, E.M. (2014). The genetics of music accomplishment: Evidence for gene–environment correlation and interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, DOI: HYPERLINK “http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0671-9” t “_blank”10.3758/s13423-014-0671-9.

Davis, O.S.P., Haworth, C M. A., Lewis, C. M., and Plomin, R. (2012, June). Visual analysis of geocoded twin data puts nature and nurture on the map. Mol Psychiatry, DOI: HYPERLINK “http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/mp.2012.68” t “_blank”10.1038/mp.2012.68. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3427856/

Plomin, R. & Bergeman, C. S. (2011). The nature of nurture: Genetic influences on ‘environmental measures’. Behavioral and Brain science. DOI: HYPERLINK ” http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00070588″ http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00070588 14, 373-427.

Stiles, J. (2011). Brain development and the nature versus nurture debate. Progress in Brain Research. 189: 3–22. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier” o “Digital object identifier” doi: HYPERLINK “http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FB978-0-444-53884-0.00015-4” 10.1016/B978-0-444-53884-0.00015-4. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number” o “International Standard Book Number” ISBN  HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780444538840” o “Special:BookSources/9780444538840” 9780444538840. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PubMed_Identifier” o “PubMed Identifier” PMID  HYPERLINK “http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21489380” 21489380.