剑桥5 谢振礼 雅思: 先天後天
Cambridge English 5
IELTS Writing Task 2
Topic:
Research indicates that the characteristics we are born with have more influence on our personality and development than any experience we may have in our life. Which do you consider to be the major influence?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Essay:
The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues within psychology. So what exactly is it all about heredity or environment? Do the characteristics we are born with have more influence on our personality, or does any experience we have in our life play a more important role, or both factors combine to shape our personality?
On the side of nature, biological psychology tends to stress the importance of the characteristics we are born with. That is to say, nature refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are—from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics. Advocates of this approach believe that all our characteristics and behaviors are the results of evolution. Genetic traits handed down from parents influence the individual differences that make a person unique. These are the genes that we are born with that cannot be altered with conditioning. Also, traits such as hair color, eye color, height, and physical make-up form a part of what is called nature. In addition, disorders and diseases that are inherited genetically also explain a part of this viewpoint. Believe it or not, sons are always like their fathers while daughters are always like their mothers?
On the side of nurture, the argument focuses on the impact that the environment has on our personality and behaviors. In this approach, nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture. According to this notion, everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our experience from learning in our environment. In other words, people could be trained to do and become anything, regardless of their genetic background. For example, those who would argue that a child’s intelligence was affected by nurture would look at the child’s educational background as well as how that child was raised. This means that the intelligence level which permitted the child to be so successful is largely the result of the child’s upbringing and the school system.
It should be realized that nature and nurture interact in important ways all throughput life. The one-sided approach in psychology has become the two-sided approach. Today’s experts recognize that both factors go hand in hand, with the one having the other in mind.
