Viva Brighton Issue #58 December 2017

CHILD DEVELOPMENT
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Nature v nurture
Professor Alison Pike
“We shouldn’t take credit for
all the good stuff, but we don’t
need to take the blame for all
the bad stuff either.”
Parents ever anxious to do
right by their children – and
often feeling as though they
have failed – may take some
comfort from the advice of
child development expert
Professor Alison Pike.
The University of Sussex psychologist
and former science
advisor for Channel 4’s The
Secret Lives of Siblings points
out that how our offspring turn out has just as much
to do with their genes as their home life.
While it has been long established that our looks, our
intelligence and our susceptibility to certain diseases
is determined by our DNA, it is likely that our
personalities are also to a certain degree hardwired in
the womb.
As Alison explains: “I am convinced that some of
the individual differences that we see for things like
anti-social behaviour are genetically influenced.
“For instance, we know that if a mum smacks or
shouts at her child, the child is more likely to have
behaviour problems. The typical interpretation is
that that environmental or nurturing experience of
parenting is what’s causing the increase in problem
behaviour.
“But if you have a child who is genetically prone to
being smiley and easy to soothe, that will also elicit
more positive parenting.
“In addition, it seems to be the case that an easy child
is less likely to experience depressive symptoms or
problem behaviour, which again is down to their
genetic propensities.”
Teasing apart the nature v nurture debate has been
the focus of Alison’s work for the past two decades.
A child of a blended family
herself (she was brought up
with several half-siblings), she
has long been fascinated by
the interplay of biology and
environment in shaping who
we are.
What has become evident, she
says, is that both are equally
important: “there are dramatic
studies of twins adopted apart
and yet they act so similar,
almost the same as identical
twins raised together,” she
points out. “There is also
evidence that adopted children have similar cognitive
ability to their birth mothers, even if they are not in
contact with them.”
Further support for the nature argument becomes
obvious when parents discover that, despite trying
to be consistent with their children, what works with
one child may not work with another. “It’s about
being responsive to individual temperaments and
understanding they have different needs.”
But blaming genetics doesn’t entirely let us off the
hook, says Alison: “As parents, we are the responsible
adults. The thing that we have the most influence
over is our relationship with our child. We can try to
make that as positive as possible by taking the heat
out of expectations around academic achievement
and behaviour. It’s good to find things that you can
do together and enjoy one another’s company.”
Ultimately, she says it’s best for parents to remind
themselves that their role, to echo the metaphor first
suggested by American psychologist Alison Gopnik,
is to be gardeners rather than carpenters.
“Children are like seeds. You can help them to flourish,
but they have come into the world with certain
characteristics. You cannot turn a sunflower into an
orchid.” Jacqui Bealing
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