Do humans enter the world with basic human function, or do they develop these functions as a result of those around them? Are we inclines to be more intelligent, artistic and social because our parents are? Many sociologists, biologists, and scientists have examined these questions and many more concerning what it actually is that forms our talents, habits and personalities resulting in the “nature vs. nurture” debate. The “Nature vs. Nurture” Debate Sir Francis Galton is the 18th century English anthropologist who coined the phrase “Nature vs. Nurture”. His book, Hereditary Genius was the first social scientific attempt to study intelligence and prominence.
However the unreliability of the results makes the claim an ongoing discussion and an open debate. The theory of evolution, first proposed by Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) implies that all species are derived from common ancestors through natural selection (Phoenix, 2007 p.118-121). Natural selection is thought to be the main factor resulting in the diversity of species: it has been defined as a natural process, whereby only the variants best adapted to their environment develop the ability of a longer survival and pass on the best characteristics to future generations. Natural selection in species leads to 'adaptation' which is a change in behaviour as a consequence of surrounding modification. Within humans many adaptations have happened through Darwin’s theory of natural selection, one of these adaptations is called Theory of Mind.
Nature vs. Nurture From the mid to late 1800s to the early 1900s nature was the zeitgeist: This was the era of Mendel and Darwinism. Francis Galton argued that intelligence, or lack of, ran in families. He introduced “eugenics”, which will be spoken about by Denise, to speed up the process of natural selection. 1920s – 1930s Intelligence tests were re-analyzed and validity questioned. There was a great deal of backlash regarding the social consequences of eugenics.
I found the article about Watson and Rayner to be very interesting and it most definitely caught my attention. I have read quite a bit about conditioned emotional responses and know that all people are conditioned to react a certain way to one specific subject or event. Now, these responses do vary among cultures, age difference, and countries of origin. It was very interesting to see that scientists did conduct such a study, on an abnormal infant in such a controlled setting to condition this child the way they wanted him to respond. I cannot help but wonder if there were any repercussion from this study that the infant, Albert, has to deal with now.
This bias would cause him to manipulate research data to “support” both his personal belief and his theory of inherited intelligence. Burt’s research included intelligence test scores of monozygotic (“identical”) twins who were reared separately. The suspicious consistency of the correlation coefficients for the intelligence test scores of the monozygotic, or identical, twins in his studies (0.770, 0.771, and 0.771 for studies done in 1943, 1955, and 1966 respectively) provides one example of manipulation. High correlation coefficients indicate strong support for his hereditary theory. His critics expected to see a greater degree of variability in his coefficients as the numbers of sets of twins increased.
Although the modern day public may dismiss some of his ideas as backward or non-progressive, Galton was a genius among men; Galton published many works that introduced the scientific world to never-before conceived ideas and concepts. Francis Galton traveled extensively and studied many other fields including geography and meteorology before moving onto the study of heredity and the new field of “eugenics” (Gillham, 2011). This shift was due to Charles Darwin’s extremely influential arguments in The Origin of Species, which had one section on variations in human populations that provided a spark of proof to Galton that the human race could be advanced by means of selective breeding. Darwin heavily influenced many including Galton, largely due to the impact of
The followers of behaviorism theories believe that all individuals are the same at birth, and based upon various life experiences are what makes them different (Morrison et al., 2004). These learning theories, like behaviorism and cognitivism, are seen as more than just that. These are the basic models of how the whole way the mind is built. This is important because these two models both see the mental processes in relation to learning. This being so, means that as the person is aging, he is also learning to live.
Behavior learned through the interaction of others is viewed as the Behavioral Theory. Theorists believe that children model their ways after the act of surrounding adults. This results in violent behavior, thinking that it is right. There are a number of different influences that can trigger violent behavior: verbal abuse and threats; feeling direct pain; ECT. Social learning theorists are very determined to find out if entertainment media are an influence of violence.
Juvenile delinquency describes the antisocial behavior of many different types of youth who are in trouble, or who are on the brink of trouble with the law. In general terms juvenile delinquency means different things to different people. By law, a juvenile delinquent is a person under the age of eighteen who is found guilty in a court of law for committing some sort of crime. Children are not just born delinquents; they are products of circumstances, chance, culture and environment. A youth named a delinquent by circumstance and chance is a youth who has been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Several secondary sources have been cited to bring forth an understanding and to draw awareness to the broad spectrum of human behavior. This paper concludes that operant conditioning and reinforcement can be used to examine human behavior. Human behavior has played a pivotal role in psychology and it continues to draw interest in psychologists around the world. BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS 3 Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1904; He was born to William and Grace Skinner. William was an educated lawyer with a goal of becoming a politician and Grace stayed at home to instill value into their two boys (Feist & Feist, 2009).