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Chris Pretrick

Mrs. DeBock

English IV Honors

September 28, 2017

Essential Question: Is our intelligence, personality, and behavior patterns influenced by

environmental factors or our genetic code?

Working Thesis: Our behavioral patterns, personality, and intelligence is shaped by either

nature or nurture.

Refined Thesis: As child development theories have evolved, more studies has been conducting

balancing the perspective, concluding that both nature and nurture have an impact on how an

individual changes over time physically, socially, mentally and emotionally.

Adie, Jillian, and Jonathan T. Delafield-Butt. Social and Emotional Development in Nurture

Groups: The Narrative Structure of Learning through Companionship.Psychology of Education

Review, vol. 40, no. 2, Sept. 2016, pp. 39. Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection,

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=119119068&site=eds-

live&authtype=uid. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. This article talks about a case study and the

findings of an experiment conducted on social and emotional development through relationships

as a child. The study investigates the psychological processes on how socio-emotion in children

in nurture groups and how they participate in the groups and how they make meaning of the

relationships they make. Children are good active listeners, they learn through their psycho-
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physical experiences. Their active listening skills allows them to build their social schema and

learn their culture. The method used in this study was the project showed seventeen primary

schools students in four time nurture groups over one school year. They observed the patterns of

children's facial expressions and movement within social interactions. Weekly nurture groups

were observed and recorded. They observed a kid who was emotionally insecure, who displayed

negativity toward others and himself, and made no connection with other at the start of the year.

Results show after a year of the nurture groups the kid made progress in involvement and

emotional security. Study indicate that the relationships between the students and teacher and

feeling of a secure environment is important to show changes.

Dilalla, Lisabeth1, ldilalla@siu.edu, et al. Peer Victimization and DRD4 Genotype Influence

Problem Behaviors in Young Children. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, vol. 44, no. 8, Aug.

2015, pp. 14781493. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10964-

015-0282-4. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. Research supports that the presence of significant genetic

influence on children's behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties. This study shows the

nature of gene-environment relationship between the DRD4 gene and if this is significant to

children causing bullying, social, emotional problems. Interactions between genes and

environment showed that children with the DRD4 allele responded to victimization

deferentially as to a stimuli with no victimization at all. Children with longer DRD4 alleles have

been associated with behavioral problems and temperament characteristics. The DRD4 gene has

been linked to behavioral and emotional difficulties, including hyperactivity and impulsivity.

This is mainly showed between in children in ages 6 - 10.

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French, Fred. Revisiting Nature vs. Nurture: Implications for the Teaching/Learning Process.

Education Canada, vol. 43, no. 2, 1 Mar. 2003, pp. 2023. ERIC, EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ666827&site=eds-

live&authtype=uid. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. This article revisits the Nature vs. Nurture debate

with special emphasis on cognitive ability and how it is affected when teaching/learning and if

our intelligence is shaped by our environmental factors or genetic code. This article mentions

that our intelligence is both affected by non genetic factors and genetic factors. Among the

environmental factors are parenting styles, nutrition, exposure to illness, parents education

levels, and access to sources of knowledge. Some genetic that influence our intellectual level is

that some people are predisposed to being to learn certain things easier and faster and

intellectual growth.

Glass, Julia. Nature Vs. Nurture. Parenting, vol. 13, no. 10, Dec. 1999, p. 156.MasterFILE

Premier, EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=2499192&site=eds-

live&authtype=uid. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. This article supports more of the nature side of the

debate. Studies indicate that our overall intelligence is past down from genes. Traits studied by

behavioral geneticists shows that non shows more genetic influence than our IQ. Our behavioral

tendencies and temperamental is somewhat genetic and our big five major personality traits are

mostly developed through our experiences.

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Jones, Caitlin M. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Criminal Behavior. Genes,

Environment, and Criminal Behavior, Caitlin M. Jones, 12 Feb. 2005,

www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.Criminal behavior has

always been a focus for psychologists due to the Nature vs. Nurture debate. Early families

studies showed a predisposition for criminal behavior as a conclusion of inherited

characteristics, but a person's traits and personality could be affected by the environment. The

family environment is most critical to a child's development, if they're problems the child is

most likely to suffer. Studies indicated weak family communication and poor family bonds

could have a correlation in children's development of aggressive and criminal behavior. Early

childhood abuse and neglect is another indicator of future criminal behavior and the engagement

of criminal acts.

Leisman, Gerry, et al. The Neurological Development of the Child with the Educational

Enrichment in Mind. Psicologia Educativa, vol. 21, no. 2, Dec. 2015, pp. 7996.Fuente

Academica, EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.pse.2015.08.006. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. This article

discusses how early life can have a significant impact on both the pattern of the brain's structure

and behavioral pattern. The environmental influences in school and at home as a child can have

impact on the brain. It can modify the structure and wiring of the developing brain. The role of

experience has major importance to neurological development.

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