Activity One
June 9, 2013
Dev. Psych Online
One of the biggest debates in the science world is over cloning. Is it morally and or ethically right? Is it “playing” God? Other questions pertain to legal issues like is the clone “human”? Some people wonder will it be just like me or not? I believe my clone would be like me due to the fact that we would share exact genetic map just like identical twins. Physically we would look and sound the same. On the other hand I do not think that we would be the same cognitively or psychologically abilities due to environmental factors supported by the contextual perspective and the bioecological approach by Bronfenbrenner.
Clones are made from genetic material, DNA, from the host. Deoxyribonucleic acid molecules are what all of a person’s genes are made up off. They are exact copies of the master person. We would be the same as monozygotic twins or “identical” twins. Monozygotic twins originate from the same zygote(Feldman 44). My clone would have the same DNA or genetic map as me. This would make us physically identical from the color of hair to the shape of our eyes. Genetics are genetics. You cannot really change them. Some people have “good” genetics and others have “bad”. They are the one thing that really cannot be altered at this time. Just give scientists time though, they are working on it.
Cognitively and psychologically I do not believe that we would be the exact same. Environment and genetics play a big role in how we develop mentally. The contextual perspective supports this. It is a theory that considers the intertwined relationship between an individual and their social, physical, cognitive and personality(Feldman 20). The contextual perspective has two major theories that fall under it. One is the bioecological approach proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. It suggests the different levels of the environment influence a person at the same time(Feldman 20). The other theory is the...