Developmental psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developmental psychology - Essay Example This viewpoint leaves no room for the nature part of the debate because if the mind is blank at birth, this means that there has been no role of genetics or heredity. According to him, it is only the nurture that shapes and stimulates the mind because at the time of our birth, we do not own any already developed personality traits. This points to the fact that a child can be made to develop any kind of personality through nurture which includes his social interactions, surroundings, experiences, cultural aspects, religion, and etcetera. Hence, according to Locke, a child’s mind depends upon the society for its formulation. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s views on nature versus nurture debate The French philosopher, Rousseau, believed that the nature is responsible for the development of behavioral characteristics of an individual and contrary to what Locke’s believed, Rousseau stated that human mind is somewhat developed when a child is born and it does show behavior tha t the child has inherited from its parents (Crain). That means genes are responsible for the makeup of the human mind. Rousseau believed that no one of us knows what our nature wants us to become. We are helpless because whatever our nature, inherited to us through biological factors, has intended for us will come our way.