TY - CHAP

T1 - Tracing the untraceable

T2 - The nature-nurture controversy in cultural-historical psychology

AU - Grigorenko, Elena L.

PY - 2014/1/1

Y1 - 2014/1/1

N2 - The “nature-nurture controversy,” or, in other words, the discussion about what forces operate most influentially in the development of a human being, from the beginning of life to his/her very last moment, has been pertinent to the field of psychology since its inception. And, moreover, it predates this inception, as this controversy arose in the pre-psychology universe and was discussed in philosophy, literature, religion, and other ancient domains of human thought. Any branch of science has its controversies (as the desire to resolve controversies is what often ensures the development of science), including psychology. Interestingly, however, not every controversy that exists in science at large (e.g. the nature-nurture controversy in psychology) is present or expected to be present in every theory within this science. Theories are free to take on or not any particular controversy if at least one controversy is addressed; as long as they take that single controversy on, they can ignore, bypass, comment, or just take a position without delivering an argument on others. So, when asked to make a contribution to this volume, I was given the assignment of commenting on the treatment of the nature-nurture controversy in cultural-historical psychology. As a graduate of the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University, I, like all the other undergraduates in the Department, was served cultural-historical psychology, in its classical and derivative versions, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yet, I could not remember any particular discussion on the controversy in question. Did I miss it? (Of course it was possible! I was in my twenties and many things were happening in the country, in my life, and the lives of my peers then.) Or was it not there (i.e. not the discussion of nature and nurture, but the controversy itself)? Intrigued, I took on this assignment and ventured into the classical and modern literature, feeling a bit guilty for not being such a diligent student then, but with gratitude to the editors of the book for a chance to re-explore the literature that I have not read closely since I received my BA, a long time ago.

AB - The “nature-nurture controversy,” or, in other words, the discussion about what forces operate most influentially in the development of a human being, from the beginning of life to his/her very last moment, has been pertinent to the field of psychology since its inception. And, moreover, it predates this inception, as this controversy arose in the pre-psychology universe and was discussed in philosophy, literature, religion, and other ancient domains of human thought. Any branch of science has its controversies (as the desire to resolve controversies is what often ensures the development of science), including psychology. Interestingly, however, not every controversy that exists in science at large (e.g. the nature-nurture controversy in psychology) is present or expected to be present in every theory within this science. Theories are free to take on or not any particular controversy if at least one controversy is addressed; as long as they take that single controversy on, they can ignore, bypass, comment, or just take a position without delivering an argument on others. So, when asked to make a contribution to this volume, I was given the assignment of commenting on the treatment of the nature-nurture controversy in cultural-historical psychology. As a graduate of the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University, I, like all the other undergraduates in the Department, was served cultural-historical psychology, in its classical and derivative versions, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yet, I could not remember any particular discussion on the controversy in question. Did I miss it? (Of course it was possible! I was in my twenties and many things were happening in the country, in my life, and the lives of my peers then.) Or was it not there (i.e. not the discussion of nature and nurture, but the controversy itself)? Intrigued, I took on this assignment and ventured into the classical and modern literature, feeling a bit guilty for not being such a diligent student then, but with gratitude to the editors of the book for a chance to re-explore the literature that I have not read closely since I received my BA, a long time ago.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84954200022&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/CBO9781139028097.012

DO - 10.1017/CBO9781139028097.012

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:84954200022

SN - 9780521762694

SP - 203

EP - 216

BT - The Cambridge Handbook of Cultural-Historical Psychology

PB - Cambridge University Press

ER -