William James

        Which has a greater impact on your behavior, the way in which you were raised or the genetic code that was given to you at birth?  This “nature v. nurture” debate is one of the foundations of psychology and if you have a hard time choosing a side, you are not alone.  The debate itself causes the great diversity of opinion that exists in the world of psychology.  It, in many ways, led to the great schools of thought which now permeate the field.  We discuss those schools of thought in this class.  As a result of our discussion, students will inevitably lean toward one of the perspectives. That is normal.

          What is also normal is to kind of take a middle of the road approach because the issues in psychology are often so controversial.  Sometimes psychology students are like plinko disks.  They kind of regress to the mean.  My job is to shake things up every once in a while and make my students think.  I thinks that it is good for the brain.  I hope that you enjoy taking my psychology class as much as I do teaching it.