ARE WE PREPROGRAMMED OR PROGRAMMABLE?.
Are We Preprogrammed Or Programmable?.
In an effort to determine what forces most often influence our perception, many ideas and theories have been offered. Of these, two schools of thought have come to the forefront. Many believe that the primary component determining our perception is instinctive in nature, and passed down by our heredity. Others subscribe to the theory that these traits can be nurtured, and therefore molded by their respective environment. And thus there exists the "Nature versus nurture" controversy that has perplexed psychologists since the birth of modern psychology. As one psychologist, E. Turkheimer eloquently stated,"Virtually all Psychologists accept that both innate factors and experience are needed to provide a complete account of our perceptual abilities," (Baron 3). So most psychologists are of agreement that both contribute to the overall framework of perception, but which factor weighs more the equation. The arguments for both sides are compelling, and it is no wonder psychologists continually struggle between the two hypotheses. .
The psychologists that accept nature as the more accurate of the two believe that "interaction with peers rather than with parents play the key role in shaping a child's personality," (LeDoux, screen 1). For instance, in an excerpt titled "Research on Child Development: What We Can Learn from Medical Research," from Judith Rich Harris's book entitled The Nurture Assumption: Why children Turn Out the Way They Do, Harris states that adoption studies more accurately support the nature theory. .
Adoption studies usually focus on identical twins separated at birth. "Because the twins have identical genes, differences between them with respect to various aspects of behavior can reasonably be attributed to environmental factors," (Baron, 69). This established adoption study shows that although identical twins may be separated at birth with obviously distinct environments, as adults they "show remarkable degrees of similarity in everything from various aspects of their personality to attitudes and values, hobbies, career choices, and even job satisfaction (Baron, 69).