Innate vs Learnt Behaviour
Question: In your own words, detail ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments with regard to innate and learned behaviour. Feel free to include your own opinion, but be sure to justify it. Try to include equal amount of information for both sides. Use at least 500 words for your answer.
Answer: The innate verses learnt or nature verses nurture argument is a subject that has been theorized and debated by scientists, psychologists and philosophers for hundreds of years.
It is a question that can be dated back as early as 350 BC where philosophers Plato and Aristotle had different views on whether it was nature or nurture which shaped individual behaviours. Plato believed knowledge and behaviour to be innate. He theorized that all knowledge was present at birth and the environment played a unique part in shaping us. In his opinion the environment did not teach us anything we weren’t born with and that its purpose was merely to remind us of information we already knew.
Aristotle on the other hand theorized that behaviour and knowledge had to be learnt and that we were born as ‘tabula rasa’ or blank slate and our behaviour, thoughts and actions were learnt and acquired through experiences.
Although nether Plato or Aristotle’s theories are supported today it is still debated what shapes us in the people we become. Is nature or is it nurture?
What is innate behaviour or viewed as nature? Innate behaviour is a fixed, unchangeable, unthought-of, natural behaviour, which is instinctive and are born with. Behaviour that is inherited or passed on through genes. Things such as reflexes are innate behaviour; a reflex is an involuntary automatic response to a certain stimulus. Those who believe we are shaped by nature are known as nativists.
Examples of innate behaviour are the moro or falling reflex, the moro reflex is any sudden movement that affect the baby’s neck, giving them the feeling of falling or being dropped. The baby’s innate reaction to this is to open their
Answer: The innate verses learnt or nature verses nurture argument is a subject that has been theorized and debated by scientists, psychologists and philosophers for hundreds of years.
It is a question that can be dated back as early as 350 BC where philosophers Plato and Aristotle had different views on whether it was nature or nurture which shaped individual behaviours. Plato believed knowledge and behaviour to be innate. He theorized that all knowledge was present at birth and the environment played a unique part in shaping us. In his opinion the environment did not teach us anything we weren’t born with and that its purpose was merely to remind us of information we already knew.
Aristotle on the other hand theorized that behaviour and knowledge had to be learnt and that we were born as ‘tabula rasa’ or blank slate and our behaviour, thoughts and actions were learnt and acquired through experiences.
Although nether Plato or Aristotle’s theories are supported today it is still debated what shapes us in the people we become. Is nature or is it nurture?
What is innate behaviour or viewed as nature? Innate behaviour is a fixed, unchangeable, unthought-of, natural behaviour, which is instinctive and are born with. Behaviour that is inherited or passed on through genes. Things such as reflexes are innate behaviour; a reflex is an involuntary automatic response to a certain stimulus. Those who believe we are shaped by nature are known as nativists.
Examples of innate behaviour are the moro or falling reflex, the moro reflex is any sudden movement that affect the baby’s neck, giving them the feeling of falling or being dropped. The baby’s innate reaction to this is to open their