The nature-nurture controversy started in the classical Greek era among philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. The areas debated were;
- Heredity versus environment
- Nature versus nurture
- Maturation versus learning
- Innate behaviour versus acquired behaviour
And so on..
The controversy of nature versus nurture was based on two schools of thought
- the hereditarians
- the environmentalists
The hereditarians favoured nature and claimed that all hereditary traits were transmitted directly through the chromosomes via genes from one generation to another where environment was of little consequence. For example in this case: if your father was a criminal,
you may be a criminal and if your mother's IQ is only 89, then you shouldn't study a course like medicine.
On the other hand,
The environmentalists claimed that the most important thing was how an individual was raised on nurtured,
not based on genetic endowment. They insisted that everyone was born equal and that they differ as a result of environmental opportunities.
The modern stand on nature-nurture dimensions emphasized that behaviour has multiple causes. It is a result of Heredity interacting with the environment that can influence human development