Nature vs Nurture

When it comes to child development, there have been many debates on how nature, nurture, or a combination of both affect a child’s development. You will write a 5-6 page APA paper that will analyze how both the environment (nurture) and genetics (nature) can either have a positive or negative effect on a child. Once you choose a topic, your goal will be to debate both sides of the argument (nature vs. nurture). For example, if you choose physical development as your topic, you will need to choose at least two theories/arguments that support how nature (theory/argument #1) and nurture (theory/argument #2) influence a child’s physical development. You will also include a case study/child that will support one of your theories/arguments discussed. You can include a personal example if one of the children below does not apply to your topic.

Choose a topic.

Prenatal development
Personality development
Socioemotional development
Physical development
Perceptual development
Cognitive development

Choose at least two theories/arguments. You will need at least two of these to support both sides of the argument (you may choose other theories not included below).

John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Jean Piaget Theory of Cognitive Development
Mary Ainsworth Attachment Theory
B.F. Skinner’s Theory of Operant Conditioning
John B. Watson (classical conditioning)
Harry Harlow’s Attachment Theory
Noam Chomsky’s Theory of Language Acquisition
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stage Theory

Choose a case study/child to discuss (you may include your own personal examples).

Little Albert
Genie (feral child)
Twin Studies
Beth Thomas (child of rage)