Nature v nurture
There are two types of behaviour, innate and learned.
Innate behaviour is inborn, inherited in our genes, unchangeable behaviour such as a reflex; a uncontrollable, involuntary movement. For example when an eyelid will automatically close when a puff of wind is blown into it or the palmer grasp, a baby will automatically close its hand and hold any object that stimulates its palm. Babies are born with numerous innate reflexes. These primitive reflexes include, The rooting reflex – when the corner of a babies mouth is stroked it will turn toward the stimulus in order to find the food it needs and will begin to suckle if milk is found. Also there is the Moro reflex - this is when a baby is startled either by sound or motion, its arms will quickly extend out to the side and then will close in back towards the body. Both of these reflexes will disappear by the age of one. Other bodily reflexes such as quickly moving a body part away from the cause of pain or wind blown into an eye and eyelid closing instantly will remain throughout life in order to protect life. A more complex innate instinct behaviour would be; the nesting instinct that a pregnant woman feels, the strong urge to build a perfect clean tidy home for her newborn. Our bodies incorporate such reflexes to protect us- for example a child who may have a piece of food stuck in its windpipe will automatically cough in order to dislodge the food to prevent choking, thus saving life. Learned behaviour is not inherited but is flexible and can be changed – empiricists like John Locke, believe that we are born blank slates and that we learn behaviour through our environmental experience and watching others. Humans learn through watching and practising how to tie shoe laces and how to ride a bike.
There are certain problems with viewing behaviour as either 'innate' or 'learned' – if we say that a child’s bad behaviour is innate, then surely its inborn in them and we cannot change this bad behaviour. This is
Innate behaviour is inborn, inherited in our genes, unchangeable behaviour such as a reflex; a uncontrollable, involuntary movement. For example when an eyelid will automatically close when a puff of wind is blown into it or the palmer grasp, a baby will automatically close its hand and hold any object that stimulates its palm. Babies are born with numerous innate reflexes. These primitive reflexes include, The rooting reflex – when the corner of a babies mouth is stroked it will turn toward the stimulus in order to find the food it needs and will begin to suckle if milk is found. Also there is the Moro reflex - this is when a baby is startled either by sound or motion, its arms will quickly extend out to the side and then will close in back towards the body. Both of these reflexes will disappear by the age of one. Other bodily reflexes such as quickly moving a body part away from the cause of pain or wind blown into an eye and eyelid closing instantly will remain throughout life in order to protect life. A more complex innate instinct behaviour would be; the nesting instinct that a pregnant woman feels, the strong urge to build a perfect clean tidy home for her newborn. Our bodies incorporate such reflexes to protect us- for example a child who may have a piece of food stuck in its windpipe will automatically cough in order to dislodge the food to prevent choking, thus saving life. Learned behaviour is not inherited but is flexible and can be changed – empiricists like John Locke, believe that we are born blank slates and that we learn behaviour through our environmental experience and watching others. Humans learn through watching and practising how to tie shoe laces and how to ride a bike.
There are certain problems with viewing behaviour as either 'innate' or 'learned' – if we say that a child’s bad behaviour is innate, then surely its inborn in them and we cannot change this bad behaviour. This is