On page 47, David Shenk describes
several factors that trigger changes in development such as amount of
encouragement or expectations. He talks about how different parents act out
these factors differently and how this type of “nurture” has a great deal of
influence on a child. Talk about how parents affect their children’s learning
patterns and how they are taught to develop this behavior. Discuss behavior and
forms of learning (Chapter 51.2) in the context of development, and
thematically relate this discussion to either the development of “genius” via
evolution or interdependence in nature of how a human child is dependent on
their parents to learn and will not survive without them. Talk about imprinting
and how even though humans do not have this instinct, we are even more attached
to our parents than animals, or that we have the choice, unlike animals to not
be like our parents. (Liz Gorelick lizgorelick@yahoo.com)
Parents have the biggest affect on the way that their child learns. They start teaching the child techniques for learning and the importance of education from the earliest ages. They start this before the child even learns how to speak or is conscious of the things that their parents are expalining to them. The parents teach their children first by example which is usually unconcious to the parents as well. That is probably one of the reasons that parents and children end up having similar mannerisms and speaking patterns. Children learn by example and are attached to their parents for this reason.
ReplyDeleteHumans both utilize internal fertilization and internal development which means that the parent child connection is esablished so strongly and that instinct to protect the child starts immediately with the mother. Impriniting is not something that humans do not imprint becasue we do not have the ""critical period" between 13–16 hours shortly after hatching" becasue we are already connected to our mothers and do not need to re-establish the connection after being in an egg for the gestation period. We develop inside our mother so that she has to care for us as she cares for herself. That idea of selflessness is established throughout the entire gestation period.
We do however have the choice to not completely turn into our parents through rebellion or disgust by them. This is due to the fact that we are concious of our choices and can work toward not becoming our parents unlike other animals who dont know any better.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_(psychology)#Sexual_imprinting
Hannah Perl (hannahperl94@gmail.com)
Like Hannah stated in her first paragraph, children learn by example. And, whether the children like it or not, usually they are exposed most frequently to the actions and words of their parents. They do live together, after all. Parents can thus greatly affect their child’s learning patterns, either positively by encouraging growth and achievement, or negatively by reprimanding failure, so much so that the child has no more will to learn. Humans can potentially learn by associative learning, which is when an environmental feature is associated with another, or operant conditioning, where a trial-and-error learning takes place (Campbell 1127). To give some examples, a child may associate candy with a sweet taste (associative) or touching a hot plate and learning that it causes pain (operant). Also, as the child’s mind matures they will gradually develop cognitive skills and problem solving skills, for more advanced learning.
ReplyDeleteLike Hannah pointed out, humans, unlike some animals, do not imprint on their parents when they are young. Imprinting is when a long-lasting behavioral response forms to a particular individual or object (Campbell 1126). Instead, humans undergo something called attachment, or a reciprocal relationship between the parent and child, initiated by touch (http://www.appsych ology.com/Book/Developmental/socialdev.htm). When a young animal imprints, they are depending on whatever they imprinted on to learn key behaviors for survival. Although humans do not imprint, it is important to note that a strong bond is still existent between the baby and the parents. The baby still has a very strong dependency on its parents, and like species that imprint, the baby relies on the parents to learn key skills. Also, much like imprinting, in which the animal can imprint really on anything (like Lorenz and the graylag geese), the baby does not necessarily depend on its biological parents. For example, if a baby is given up for adoption, it will still learn the necessary skills from their new, non-biological parents.
Although human babies are very reliant on their parents, as they grow older and mature the bond can weaken or sometimes even sever. Unlike animals, who really have no decision whether or not to follow their parents’ behavior, humans can reason and see if their parents act in accordance with their own principles. Behavior in the animal world is much more stoic—it is learning to fly, how to hunt, whereas for humans it is infinitely more complex, involving emotions and words. They ability to make conscious choices is such a defining feature of what it means to be human, and if it so happens that we do not like our parents’ behavior or advice, then we will simply choose not to follow.
Diane Kuai (dianekuai@gmail.com)