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PAGE 1 Unit 8 Nature and Nurture Useful Information “Nature and nurture” is the catchy and rather poetic term used to evoke the two main sources of factors that influence the physical, psychological and intellectual characteristics of any human being. “Nature”, in this case, means everything a person inherits genetically. Originally, the verb “nurture” was chosen to describe the home environment and the influences parents had on their children. In a broader sense, “nurture” refers to the general social environment which includes such things as family influences, peer influences, and educational experiences. Which has more influence on us, our genes or our environment? How do people become who they are? These are questions that have intrigued educators, psychologists, and geneticists for decades. Over the years, various experiments and studies have been carried out in an effort to determine the relative importance of heredity and environment. Although it is fairly easy to see how our genetic make-up affects physical characteristics such as hair color, bone structure, and facial features, it is far more difficult to measure the impact of parental behavior on the development of personality, for example. One of the best-known studies on nature-nurture issues was carried out by scientists at the University of Minnesota. Their research on identical twins raised apart suggests that genes play a major role in shaping both personality and intelligence. Some critics of the Minnesota study feel that the social environments of the twins raised apart were too similar to really make conclusive observations feasible. Ideally, the Other studies have stressed the influence of parental verbal behavior on the intellectual development of children. In other words, the more parents talk with their children, the more they are likely to enhance their children’s communication skills. The same studies also showed that socially and financially deprived working-class families were much l