When I think of behavior, words and phrases like stimulus-response, environment, shaping etc. come to mind. Behavior is shaped by our environment and experiences. Being Hispanic, living in south Texas and raised in a Catholic home has shaped many of my behaviors, for example. With that said, the important thing to distinguish is that the behaviors that are genetically inherited are those which are the foundation of behaviors. Think of behaviors you have that are similar to your relatives. Behaviors like posture, hand gestures, facial expressions are all examples of behaviors we have inherited genetically. The first video clip helped me see the difference from the behaviors I was at first thinking and those last described.
But what about personality? Does genetics play a role in personality? What I conclude is that behavior is genetic but environment and experiences do play a big role in shaping it beyond genetics. It is the foundation which we inherit but the environment actively plays a role into our behavior. One can be predisposed to obesity and still maintain an active lifestyle to modify the behavior of being overweight. In the second clip (2 min), criminal behavior was discussed on a genetic level which I found intriguing. If genetics shows a predisposition to criminal behavior, should these individuals be held accountable by the law?
3 comments:
Hi Jeanette,
I really enjoyed your post. You have a lot of good points and the videos were very knowledgeable. I agree with you, the first video helped me see the differences as well.
To me I think everything relies on something else. Our behaviors like you said are influenced by how we are raised in our homes, our lifestyles, and other experiences that we when we are children and as we grow are exposed to. For our personalities I think that genetics do play a role, think of those with parents who have schizophrenia and the chances that their offspring will inherit schizophrenia. I also agree with that our environment and experiences play a rather huge role in our personalities.If people are socially rejected by peers as children then that rejection will shape them as they grow older
My answer to your question is yes. They should still be accountable by the law. No matter what plays a role the law is the law, a person breaks it, then justice should be met. If a person has a mental illness then they should seek help in mental hospital and once deemed suitable for release they should be sentenced to prison for the crime they committed.
anyway, good blog! looking forward to your next one. Forgive the horrible grammar mistakes.
-Lisa Wyatt
p.s my blog is already up
Jeanette,
Very well researched. Your videos were relevant to your topic and you clearly stated what you believed and backed it up with valid information. It was very interesting to watch your first video and see things we already know, yet still learn much more information.
I believe our environment is an influence which may surpass even genetics, but that is just my personal opinion. Other factors like education are important as well because that helps us manage the way we want to live.
Personality seems to be a lot of both environment and genetics. Our environment places certain obstacles in our way, but we react differently from other people. Research shows that nervous parents may pass their nervous personalities to their offspring. Every person comes with a certain map of genetic traits, but we can always choose to change them in some way. With various therapies for example.
The second video was extremely interesting and I do believe people who have been shown to have a predisposition to criminal behavior should be held accountable for their crimes. They themselves or their care giver have to do everything possible to stress control. Many mental illnesses require medication and someone needs to make sure those people are being cared for and won't harm themselves or others. If something does occur where they hurt someone or commit a crime they should be punished. If their care giver was at fault then they should be punished as well.
Enjoyed the informative videos and you had very good insight.
You chose an interesting topic and like you said, genetics as well as our environment play a vital role into our way of being. Many people believe that just who we are or how we are depends on our genetic structure, however the environment plays a vital role to this as well.
its interesting to know that the person that we are is based in many ways if not mostly on these two components. good job :)
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