Compare and contrast the nativist versus empiricist (nature vs nurture) view of perceptual development. Is one more important than the other? Why or why not?

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
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ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
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Chapter1: The Science Of Psychology
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  1. Compare and contrast the nativist versus empiricist (nature vs nurture) view of perceptual development.
  2. Is one more important than the other? Why or why not?
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1. Nativist approach of human perceptual development refers to the biological components which affect the personality of an individual. This may include the genetic makeup of the individual, the traits they carried over through their genes and inherited from their parents. The nature perspective believes that biological factors play most of the part in deciding the intelligence, behavior and personality of the individual. Thus, nativists believe that all the perceptual development of the child occurs due to the biological components such as the heredity. 

Nurture or the empiricist approach, on the other hand, talks about the influence of one's culture, environment and other external factors on the personality of the individual. As per empiricists such as John Locke, the mind of a new born is a 'tabula rasa', that is a blank slate, and all the perceptual abilities that one acquires are acquired through learning and experiences. Thus, empiricists believe that the sense experiences are solely responsible for an individual's psychological and physiological makeup. The nurture perspective believes that the environment an individual grows up in plays a major role in their personality development. For example, an individual who has grown up in a family of wrestlers will be more likely to become a wrestler as well.

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