Nature Versus Nurture: A New Spin on an Old Debate

Extract

Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change, by Bruce E. Wexler. 2006. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 307 pp., $34.00 (HB).

In Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change, Bruce Wexler takes on the age old debate of “nature versus nurture.” His premise is that neurological and psychological functions are intrinsically tied to one another, that each one drives the development of the other, making it impossible to differentiate the two. In order to make his case, Dr. Wexler adeptly covers an impressive breadth of research from a diverse array of disciplines. He includes seminal works from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, psychoanalysis, experimental psychology, sociology, anthropology, and of course, neuropsychology. Although Dr. Wexler does not present any new research in this book, by juxtaposing information from many disciplines, a new spin on the old debate clearly emerges.