To What Extent Is Human Behaviour Shaped or Controlled by External Forces

494 Words2 Pages
Human behavior is the collection of behaviors exhibited by human beings and influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, and genetics. The behaviour of people falls within a range with some behaviors being socially acceptable (norm), and some outside acceptable limits. There have been many controversial debates, such as nature vs. nurture debate which attempt to explain human behaviour in the form of genetics and environment. Is our behaviour controlled through the effect of genes or the environment? Many research studies have been carried out that support both sides of the arguments so it’s difficult to decide which one is a better explanation. Behavioural psychologists believe that our behavioural aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our nurture. So according to nurture debate genes do not control our behaviour but the environment. All behaviours are the result of learning through classical or operant conditioning and social learning. A famous case study on aggression by Bandura (1963) explains that behaviour is learnt by observing others and then imitating it. Bandura’s study was a lab experiment. He carried out the experiment using a life sized bobo doll. Children were showed two video clips. 1) An adult acting aggressively towards the doll, hitting and punching it. 2) An adult acting aggressively towards the bobo doll and being awarded. After watching the video, children were left alone with a bobo doll in a room. Children who watched the second video, in which the adult is awarded, acted more aggressively towards the doll. Children who watched the first one acted aggressively as well. This suggests that behaviour is learnt through vicarious reinforcement or direct experience. However, behaviour only becomes part of an individual’s behaviour when it is directly reinforced. Although behavioural debate focuses on learning,

More about To What Extent Is Human Behaviour Shaped or Controlled by External Forces

Open Document