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effects of environment on human behavior
effects of environment on human behavior
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The level of genetic influences on a person’s behavior is called the heritability of the behavior. Based on previous research intelligence as measured by IQ scores is thought to be attributed mostly to genetic influences. However it has been suggested by several researchers that genetic influences are moderated by the environment a person grows up in. There have been several studies that have explored the effects of environmental effects on heritability. However these studies have been methodologically limited because they did not have a large enough sample size or they did not measure the zygosity of the twins they use. Other studies measured change in heritability across different birth cohorts. However these studies might have been influenced by the different circumstances that might have been present during the different time periods these people lived in.
Some general reasons why there is a lack of evidence for the moderating effects of the environment is that the studies conducted so far did not use measures environmental variables to detect differences in the environm...
Studies have proven that no human being is born with knowledge or skills; however, every individual’s has a learned behavior that is either influenced or genetic inherited. Therefore, every individual born into a social and cultural environment are more likely to be effected by, family members, other social groups, religion, as well as languages. Most research psychologists study the genetic inheritance of an individual’s behavior while others focus on an individual’s development stage. However, during the process of psychological research, psychologists also focus on examining the influence that a community can have on one social behavior.
Hunt, E., Carlson, J. (2007). Considerations relating to the study of group differences in intelligence.
Kozak, B., Strelau, J., & Miles, J. V. (2005). Genetic determinants of individual differences in
...s may never agree on a conclusive degree to which both nature and nurture play roles in human development, but over the years, more improved studies have shown that both are crucial aspects. With all the knowledge we are gaining from these studies, it would be quite limiting to believe that a criminal and his actions are the sole result of heredity. Even in people who do not commit crimes, genes themselves are affected by the prenatal environment. Undoubtedly, the fetus experiences changes in environment, forcing possible changes in heredity and reactionary response. We are likely to never find the answer to how much or how little either, nature or nurture, impacts our lives, but at least we can agree that they both do, in fact, have major roles. Our development is not the culmination of heredity alone, but of a tangled web of experiences and genetics entwined.
It is difficult to find an issue with greater global implications than environmental change. It sounds simplistic but environment is everywhere. In fact one can correlate everything we do, feel, and experience with our environment. Whether we like it or not or believe it or not our environment has been changed significantly with a likely anthropogenic component, since mankind has been in existence. It is well understood that this man-made influence has primarily been in the past few hundred years, correlating with our desire for scientific knowledge, thirst for industrial expansion and insatiable desire for progress. From history one can point out various events or topics that have some global aspect to them but very few compare to environmental change. Most were regional or national in scope with some connections around the globe. The various twentieth and twenty first century wars were considered global due to the many nations involved but even those left some parts of the world untouched. One commonality exists among all global events; collective and individual fear (Weber and Stern, 2011).
interpreted as being caused by genetic or environmental differences among groups? A strong promoter of the belief that there is undoubtedly a racial difference in intelligence is Phillippe Rushton. As a professor of psychology, he argues that there is irrefutable scientific evidence of difference...
Loehlin, John C., Lindzey Gardner, and J.N. Spuhler. Race Differences in Intelligence. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1975.
Today, realising that genes and environment cooperate and interact synergistically, traditional dichotomy of nature vs. nurture is commonly seen as a false dichotomy. Especially operant conditioning, i.e. the learning of the consequences of one's own behavior can lead to positive feedback loops between genetic predispositions and behavioral consequences that render the question as to cause and effect nonsensical. Positive feedback has the inherent tendency to exponentially amplify any initial small differences. For example, an at birth negligible difference between two brothers in a gene affecting IQ to a small percentage, may lead to one discovering a book the will spark his interest in reading, while the other never gets to see that book. One becomes an avid reader who loves intellectual challenges while the other never finds a real interest in books, but hangs out with his friends more often. Eventually, the reading brother may end up with highly different IQ scores in standardized tests, simply because the book loving brother has had more opportunities to train his brain. Had both brother received identical environmental input, their IQ scores would hardly differ.
While this assumption is accepted by a majority of geneticists and behavioral scientists, there is great disagreement on the degree of influence each contributes. Arguments for environmental influences are compelling; at the same time there is growing evidence that genetic influence on intelligence is significant and substantial (Eyesenck, 1998; Mackintosh, 1998; Plomin, 1994; Steen, 1996). The purpose of this paper is to explore the question: "How is intelligence influenced by heredity and environment?"
The definition of intelligence can be personalized to one’s culture. While some studies look to examine intelligence in an age bracket, an important feature that is not taken into account is how culture influences intelligence and development (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2004). Stereotypes of race state Asians are proficient in mathematical areas, African-Americans are musical and artistic, and European-Americans are skillful in scientific areas. While these stereotypes may hold a small level of truth, they box each culture into a small section of intelligence while leaving out the cultural focus. Our daily behavior has influence over our intelligence, and our daily behavior is based around the culture in which we are raised (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2004). This is the beauty of the cultural context. It allows culture to be incorporated as a major influence in intellectual development (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2004 pp. 369).
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
...pt to the change. Environmental psychology understands that the environment and the quality of human life correspond with one another
As numerous research and studies' findings have shown, both nature and nurture work together. These shouldn't be considered as separate, but instead intertwined, as they both interact and depend on each other. An interaction of genetic and environmental factors are responsible for influencing and determining intelligence levels.
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
Heredity Versus Environment - The Nature-nurture Controversy, Exploring Heredity And Environment: Research Methods, Beyond Heritability