Stranger in the Nest: Do Parents Really Shape Their Child's Personality, Intelligence, Or Character?

Description

For decades, millions of parents have been told that they are primarily responsible for things gone wrong with their children. Mothers and fathers have internalized this message, producing an unrealistic and damaging sense of guilt, and even betrayal. Parents do affect their children, but how much? Our children are not born as blank slates. They come to us encrypted with their own predilections, biases, strengths, and weaknesses, many of which are as beyond the control of parents as determining their child's gender or eye color. Here, for the first time, is a scientifically grounded examination of the controversial idea that nature—in the form of genetic blueprints—may have far more influence on how children develop than a particular style of parenting. Parents reeling from the idea that they don't have much impact on how their children think, feel, and behave, will find both surprise and comfort in psychologist David Cohen's riveting account of the importance, and limits, of inborn traits.

Dr. Cohen weaves together a rich tapestry of research in behavioral genetics to illustrate the degree to which biology, rather than parenting, can impact a child's personality, values, and aptitudes. Identical twins separated at birth are reunited in mid-life to discover that they both drive the same car, have held the same jobs, named their sons James, and married women with the same first name not once—but twice. Yet siblings reared together in the same family environment often grow up to have very different interests, abilities, and beliefs. The nurture correlation between good parenting and child development fails to explain how, of two children raised in a loving and supportive home, one grows up to be a pillar of the community, while the other becomes a drug abuser. Parents have been blamed for problems ranging from antisocial behavior to autism to schizophrenia—disorders which Dr. Cohen reveals have a strong genetic component. On the flip side, parents who weren't able to give their offspring a consistently safe and supportive home environment have happily taken the credit when their children grow up to be well-adjusted, hard-working members of society.

The truth of the matter is that, if sufficiently strong, inborn potentials can trump parental influence, no matter how positive or negative. Some traits manifest themselves in such unexpected and uncontrollable ways that, for better or for worse, one's child may indeed seem like a perfect stranger.

Stranger in the Nest puts a human face on the ages—old nature—nurture debate, providing a gripping, scientifically grounded examination of parental influence on children's development. Any parent who has ever questioned what he or she did wrong—or right—must read this book.

PRAISE FOR STRANGER IN THE NEST..."...rich with fascinating facts and excellent examples of how children develop more in obedience to their genetic steersman that to the influence of their parents. Scholarly, yet beautifully written and a joy to read." —David T. Lykken, University of Minnesota and author of Happiness For decades, "... a book that turns its own pages. I could not put it down. Elegantly written, erudite, witty, informative, and bursting with new ideas, it challenges many of the core assumptions of modern psychology." —Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., University of Minnesota.

"A delightfully written book filled with new insights about relations between parents and their children. [Dr.] Cohen has a unique ability to blend new scientific findings with a writing style that deeply engages the reader. No one will come away thinking about families in the same way." —David M. Buss, University of Texas at Austin, — and author of The Evolution of Desire.

"A scientific revolution has begun in our understanding of what makes us what we are. Genes matter more than anyone had thought... Sensitive, intelligent, and provocative, this book will challenge you to reexamine the way you think about yourself and your fellow human beings." —Steven Pinker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of The Language Instinct and How the Mind Works.

"Required reading for all students of the art and science of parenting." —Allan Hobson, Harvard Medical School, and author of The Chemistry of Conscious States: How the Brain Changes its Mind.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  Interviews with William Carlos Williams: "speaking Straight Ahead"

  By William Carlos Williams

  Dr. Williams discusses his own work and that of such contemporaries as Pound and Eliot and reveals his thoughts on a wide variety of twentieth-century concerns

• 

  與諾貝爾獎得主一起穿越時空的十二堂科學課──橫跨物理、化學、生物，啟動自主學習，掌握科學閱讀素養力

  By 巴里•馬歇爾

  絕對不要忽略平凡的事物，那可能是你獲得諾貝爾獎的線索 諾貝爾生醫獎得主巴里•馬歇爾親撰 諾貝爾獎得主親自對話，示範科學素養 建立閱讀理解的最佳讀物 培養自主學習能力 ...

• 

  荷爾蒙

  By 蘭蒂．胡特．艾普斯坦

  科學新聞》雜誌（Science News）2018年度選書 《富比世》（Forbes）雜誌2018年腦科學必讀選書 暢銷書《基因：人類最親密的歷史》作者辛達塔．穆克吉盛讚 我們是怎麼發現荷爾蒙的？ ...

• 

  Encyclopedia of Human Ecology: A-H

  By Julia R. Miller

  Amy Griffin Monica Mouton Sanders M.Angela Casady Jennifer Smith Burden Tom Luster See also: Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention; Prenatal Decision Making by Adolescents; Sexual Abstinence References and Further Reading Child Trends.

• 

  Chemical Creativity: Ideas from the Work of Woodward, Hückel, Meerwein, and Others

  By Jerome A. Berson

  Thus, Turner's study (ref. 83) makes a case that Hitler's accession was by no means inevitable and that ... X as with so much in the mythology of his Third Reich, the belief that January 30”, 1933, marked a seizure of power was spurious ...

• 

  Environment, Energy, and Society: Exemplary Works

  By Craig R. Humphrey, Tammy L. Lewis, Frederick H. Buttel

  We also present the Pearson r coefficient on the same two relationships , which will facilitate the comparison we will make next . In using the Pearson r statistic , these two economic trade - off questions continue to be positively ...

• 

  解密雙螺旋: DNA結構發現者華生的告白

  By 華生 James D. Watson

  我們多次要求資訊與圖片,札里洛有無窮的耐心,無論多麼晦澀難解,他都能迅速回應。在為威爾金斯的論文編目時,倫敦國王學院的奧佛(Christopher Olver)非常幫忙,主管為布洛維爾(Geoff Browell)。克里克的論文保存於維康信託基金會(Wellcome Trust), ...

• 

  Wheat Production and Utilization: Systems, Quality and the Environment

  By Mike J. Gooding, W. Paul Davies

  Newman , G. ( 1992 ) Future prospects for whole - crop cereals in the UK . ... In : Hewitt , H.G. , Tyson , D. , Hollomon , D.W. , Smith , J.M. , Davies , W.P. and Dixon K.R. ( eds ) A Vital Role for Fungicides in Cereal Production .

• 

  The Ecology and Management of Wetlands: Volume 2: Management, Use and Value of Wetlands

  By Donal D. Hook

  Volume 2: Management, Use and Value of Wetlands Donal D. Hook, W. H. Mckee Jr, H. K. Smith, J. Gregory, V. G. Burrell Jr, ... Chapter Thirty - four AQUACULTURE IN MANGROVE WETLANDS : A PERSPECTIVE FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA James P. McVey ...

• 

  African American Firsts in Science & Technology

  By Raymond B. Webster

  ... George W. 318 Neal , Lonnie G. 126 , 312 Nickerson , William J. 11 Nokes , Clarence 121 Page , Lionel F. 356 ... Wanda Anne A. 150 Small , Isadore , III 135 Smart , Brinay 106 Smith , Jonathan S. , II 312 Smith , Morris Leslie 312 ...