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Hereditary and Environment: Influence on psychological developments

One of the biggest controversies that behavioral psychologists contend with is the evidence of the existence of a possible link between heredity and environment, and their impact on human psychological developments. Sharp criticisms have emerged on the idea that environmental factors have significant impacts on human psychological functioning and development (Rutter, Pickles, Murray & Eaves, 2001). This problem demands research and revisiting to settle the controversy over whether environmental factors have implications on psychological functioning. Furthermore, many researchers have attempted to explain how peer environment work together with genetic variables to influence human’s social developments. Such researches have mostly confined their scope to adults. However, there exists a dearth in knowledge and literature on how peer environment works together with genetic variables to impact young children and teenagers’ social development.

My knowledge on this area of study touches on five distinctive domains of individual differences in behavior: personality, cognitive abilities, social attitudes, psychopathology, as well as psychological interests. This corresponds with the current position held by researchers on the topic. For instance, according Ehrlich and Kennedy (2005) the aforementioned elements greatly determine the interplay between human psychological differences and environmental impact. Nonetheless, I believe that the research topic will give me the opportunity to expand my understanding of the topic. I would like to extend beyond the basic knowledge on social attitudes, cognitive influences, and personality.

I chose this topic because I am greatly interested in the subject of human development. As a psychologist it will be important for me to have adequate knowledge on the subject and understand the factors that influence development. I believe that study on the interplay between heredity and environment will expand my understanding of the various problems experienced by humans as they develop from one stage to another. The other reason why I chose this topic is that I have always longed for a platform and an opportunity to contribute to knowledge and understanding in the field of psychology. I can only do this through research.

References

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Ehrlich, P. & Kennedy, D. (2005). Millennium assessment of human behavior. Science 309, pp. 562–563

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Rutter, M., Pickles, A., Murray, R., & Eaves, L. (2001). Testing hypotheses on specific environmental causal effects on behavior. Psychological bulletin, 127(3), 291.

Shaffer, D., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.