• Question: What are your opinions on the nature/nurture debate?

    Asked by anon-236977 to Tom, Rachel, Priya, Jessica, Dan, Beatrice on 10 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Tom Gallagher-Mitchell

      Tom Gallagher-Mitchell answered on 10 Mar 2020:


      As an identical twin I can acknowledge that there is an impact on genetics and nature of some of how we develop, however also as a parent of adopted children I am also fully pushing for the impact of nurture as well.

    • Photo: Priya Silverstein

      Priya Silverstein answered on 10 Mar 2020:


      Very good question! My data so far have been more in line with the nurture side of the debate, but both definitely play a part. I think because I used to study infants, there’s a lot of “pop psychology” trying to show that babies know absolutely everything from birth because it sounds cool, but in reality, I find it more cool that they’re little learning machines and are just absorbing everything around them all the time.

    • Photo: Dan O'Hare

      Dan O'Hare answered on 11 Mar 2020:


      Well – it’s probably both but I suppose I would ask you, why is this a useful question to ask? Why does psychology seem to gravitate back to this question, frequently?

      In my work I think I sometimes get variations of this question. If a child is experiencing difficulties, sometimes adults want to know why – is it because of their upbringing, their school experiences, their brain?!

      I think that in my experience, it’s been more helpful for us to work out what a person’s strengths are, what they might struggle with, and think about what we can do or change to make things better e.g. improve friendships, improve learning, improve wellbeing.

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