Another psychological approach studied the physical basis for emotion. LeDoux (1995, p. 209+) noted, "Scientists concerned with human nature have not been able to reach a consensus about what emotion is and what place emotion should have in a theory of mind and behavior." He proposed, however, that "findings about the neural basis of emotion might also suggest new insights into the functional organization of emotion that were not apparent from psychological findings alone. The brain, in other words, can constrain and inform our ideas about the nature of emotion." This would seem to play into any discussion of genetics vs. culture as emotion is viewed, accurately or not, as a construct of societal norms in large part. Because fear is a common part of human life, LeDoux uses it to investigate his theories. "The expression of fear is conserved to a large extent across human cultures and at least to some extent across human and nonhuman mammalian species, and possibly across other vertebrates as well" he notes, which would indicate that fear is not cultural, in fact, but physical, gene-based rather than a product of society. On the other hand, he also encompasses the familiar Pavlovian model in his thinking.
Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian (classical) conditioning. Pavlov is best remembered for his studies of alimentary conditioning, in which he elicited salivation in dogs by presenting stimuli that had been associated with the delivery of food (Pavlov 1927). He also determined that animals will exhibit conditioned reflexes that allow them to protect themselves against harmful stimuli by responding to warning signals. Pavlov referred to the latter as defense conditioning (LeDoux, 1995, p. 209+).
Again, this seems to argue for genotype as being less important than phenotype; on the other hand, while there is obviously a physical basis for fear to occur, the experience of fear -- when, where, why and how -- would seem to depend upon environmental -- that is, conditioning -- factors.
Writing in the same journal, Annual Review of Psychology, Suh (2002) seems to arrive at a different conclusion. Suh noted that "Ecologies shape cultures; cultures influence the development of personalities" (2002). In short, he accepts a priori that culture shaped personality; it would be a short leap from there to conclude that personality determined behavior. Thus, in that equation, phenotype does indeed determine behavior. However, does nature, then determine the characteristics of an individual separate from personality/behavior? Suh seems to regard the entire question of nature vs. nurture as somewhat absurd, or at least, given to explanation in more mechanistic terms than otherwise. He refers to a book that vigorously defends "the utility of culture and personality studies, summarized the history of this topic, and provided chapters about Mexican, Chinese, African, German, Indian, and Japanese personality, as well as studies for the improvement of interaction across cultures" (2002). In a conclusion that arguably might parallel one that might be drawn thus far from the evidence in the nature/nurture debate, Suh wrote, "it is worth noting that even if the taxonomies of personality are universal, it does not guarantee their identical usage" a finding he further attributed to Atran 1993, and Choi et al. 1997 (Suh, 2002).
It is not startling that some remarkable variation exists between the great apes as well as humans with regard to mental capabilities. Humans possess a lot higher intricate types of verbal communications compared to any other primates. Humans are the sole animal to make and apply symbols as a way to communicate with each other. Humans also have diverse as well as complex forms of social organizations compared to
This postmodern view of culture is applicable in the 20th century analyses and discussions introduced by Boyd and Richerson. In effect, the first assumption explicates how culture brings forth history, and in history, "qualitative different trajectories" occur: "...the dynamics of the system must be path dependent; isolated populations or societies must tend to diverge even when they start from the same initial condition and evolve in similar environments" (186). After
The roles that males and females may also vary -- although a woman biologically gives birth to a child, a man may assume more or less care for the child, depending upon the situation of a couple. A man who loses his job and has a wife who must support the family temporarily may care for his child, even though a biological explanation for human behavior might theorize that
While there are some commonalities among people of certain races that are seen as differences from people of other races, there is nothing at all to suggest that there are anthropological differences. This type of anthropology was popular for a time, and it mostly involved individuals who were trying to prove that one race was superior to another back in the nineteenth century. The data that helped them make their
Human Intelligence Twin Studies and the Acquisition of Human Intelligence The question of nature vs. nurture has been a topic of conversation, a hotly debated issue and reason for researchers to gather copious amounts of material for thousands of years. Philosophers discussed whether a child was mainly constructed of inborn (nature) or learned/observed traits (nurture) before Alexander the Great had conquered anything. Nature refers what is commonly called genetics today; nurture, conversely,
Human Behavior Theories Application There are several factors that have been used to explain human behavior in the past and there have been accurate instances that these theories have proven to be applicable and true. The subject of this human behavior study application will be a close friend with whom we study in college. Vincent (not real name) has been a friend from the mid childhood years and we have been
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