Nature Vs. Nurture

NATURE VS. NURTURE

Dwight A. Taylor

PSYCH/1000 Introduction To Psychology

Language Development

Capella University

August 2013

Nature Vs. Nurture

Nature vs. nurture, has been a topic of debate in psychology for centuries, depending on the argument, the individuals and the evidence and research involved, it is certain to continue for years to come. This holds true in regard to “Language Acquisition,” which is the process of ascertaining ones native or a second language, according to the online dictionary. Although there are many researchers who agree that both nature and nurture play a part in Language development, there are still some researchers that stress the effectiveness of learning language acquisition, whereas others stress the biological influence.

One of the first theories, or explanation of language acquisition was furnished by B.F. Skinner (1957). Skinner was one of the fore-fathers of Behaviorism, he claimed that language development was based on environmental influences. Some would say that Skinner’s theory on behaviorism is pivotal to his theory of language development. According to skinner, a person’s manifestation of what is right and wrong, is related to his or her experiences of pain and pleasure. Meaning, different behaviors those that result in pain, will always be avoided, Those behaviors that result in a pleasurable outcome, are considered good. For example, when a child Is born, they have no ability to speak words, he or she just coo and babble none of the words make any sense, there is no recognition or praise from the parent, according to skinner. Once the child begins to copy the words he or she hears from their parents and others who are around him or her , he or she receive more attention from those individuals he or she is trying to copy, which encourages more of the positive behavior. There were other theories that emerged during the 1950s, one that coincides with Skinner, is that of Ludwig Wittgenstein, a late nineteenth century Austrian philosopher, His theoretic framework is based on children playing different games involving language the rules and object of the games is to learn how to correlate certain objects with significance, and the purpose has commonality to all instead of just internalizing. “The primacy of both Wittgenstein’s and Skinner’s theories is of language acquisition as it occurs within the social context. According to both, meaning is found in such a context, and language is then the association of the terms and the objects, with a large part of basic speech development resting on training.” Dani Hathcock( 2000).

Language development is one of three