Discuss Whether Nature or Nurture Contribute to Special Needs In Children

Discuss Whether Nature or Nurture Contribute to Special Needs In Children

Introduction

Development psychology refers to the scientific study of the various changes that take place in human beings in their entire life. It is a branch of knowledge that seeks to acquire a deeper understanding of the influence that both nature and nurture have on the development of human beings (Brewer,2020). Not only does this study explore the level to which development is caused by the gradual gathering of knowledge, but it also analyses the degree to which children are born with mental structures that are innate as opposed to acquiring knowledge through experience.

The relationship between whether an attribute is part of one’s nature or is influenced by his environment of existence has been an issue of great significance in developmental psychology. Development psychologists have therefore opted to investigate this kind of relationship. From their investigations, nativists have always argued that attributes exhibited in children are due to the influence of their genes (Sameroff,2010). Natural human behavior is, therefore caused by present biological factors like the genetic code. On the other hand, empiricists have always argued that the attributes seen in children are acquired from their interaction with the environment. Nurtured human behavior is therefore caused by environmental interactions

According to the biopsychosocial model, both the biological, psychological and social factors significantly contribute to human development. The expression of an individual’s genes can be affected by environmental genes in a kind of relationship known as gene-environment interaction. Both the genes and the environment of an individual work in togetherness, commutating all the times to help in the creation of traits (Plomin et al.,2006). Everyone is born with particular traits inherited from the parents, for example, the color of the eye, height, etc. An intense interaction exists between one’s genes and the environment. Our cooperation with the environment influences the way certain traits are expressed in us, while at the same time, the genes in us also influence our interaction with the environment.

Heritability is the origin of the various differences that exist among people. It is a concept that describes how the variations of traits in a population are caused by the genetic differences. It is inferred on the basis that those who have a similar genetic system have identical achievements. The variation in the behavior of children explained by measuring DNA variations is minimal. Research in the last five years has shown that heritability of educational achievements at age 16 years goes up to 60%  (Brewer,2020). The same genes explaining variability in diverse academic disciplines are the ones that control for IQ. Moreover, Heritable traits, for example eye color do not only depend on the heritability but also on a wide range of environmental factors like the temperature or the oxygen levels while developing.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an example of the environmental factors which are most predictive of both the cognitive and the educational outcomes of a child. (Plomin et al.,2006).  Differences in cognitive abilities caused by SES have been observed at the time when children start schooling, and this has also been noticed to narrow with age. A study that has been undertaken by two researchers, Von Stumm and Plomin on children from low socioeconomic status families in the UK has shown that these children score 6IQ points lower than those from high SES families at the age of 2 years. At the age of 16, this difference has been noticed to triple (Brewer,2020). Significantly, the cognitive ability difference in these children at school-going age in consideration of SES has been observed to be higher as compared to the effects caused by different schooling. This suggests that focus must be maintained on environmental factors in children beyond the classroom that includes their family’s status, poverty levels, the environment of upbringing and other factors.

From the above discussion, it is quite evident that nurture contributes to a greater extent in the special needs of children as compared to nature. A child can be born with genes of intelligence, but due to the poverty levels and the low socioeconomic status of the family, his intelligent genes can be immensely suppressed.

References

Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., & Fulker, D. W. (2006). Nature and nurture during infancy and early childhood. Cambridge University Press.

Brewer, K. (2020). Nature is the best way to nurture pupils with special educational needs. Retrieved 24 March 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/may/01/nature-nurture-pupils-special-educational-needs-outdoor-education

Sameroff, A. (2010). A unified theory of development: A dialectic integration of nature and nurture. Child development, 81(1), 6-22