Nativists believe that certain behaviours are innate, that is we are born with them and they cannot be changed. They mainly involve reflexes and instinct e.g. when a bird hatches from its egg it does so instinctively or when a puppy drinks milk from its mother they are not taught to do this.
Another example is when a person makes a loud noise in front of a new-born infant they are likely to startle them this is considered a reflex and it comes naturally without any control. Other reflexes include coughing and swallowing and without these a baby would not survive for e.g. a baby would not be able to live if they could not swallow food or if food got stuck in there windpipe they would choke if they were not able to cough it up.
Cohen’s research in (1967) found that when babies were hungry and crying for a feed they became quicker at recognising their mother’s nipple, therefore, some believe that this behaviour can be learned. When speaking to one mother I found that with her first two children they took to the breast instantly but with her third child it took a lot longer for them to latch on.
Empiricists believe that certain behaviours can be taught or learned through their environment or by the people who look after them. Therefore they believe that these certain behaviours can be changed or adapted. An example of this would be bad behaviour or tantrums as a child will only display this if they have seen someone else behave in this way. We as adults can teach a child that displaying bad behaviour is inappropriate therefore it is a learned behaviour.
The Essay on Sex Education Baby Mother Abortion
Abortion has been recently brought back to our attention with all the hype that the subject is receiving from the media. Because of the good record keeping, we can tell that abortion has been around for many years. In long ago times, if the abuse that women received in her abdomen did not kill the unborn child, then a long, grueling ride on horse back would cause the death of the unborn fetus. ...
Children and infants also mimic the behaviour of adults and other children such as the way they speak to others or the way they walk. In contrast Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory states that aggression is learnt from the environment through observation and imitation. On speaking to another mother she informed me that her daughter had picked up certain behaviours which were the same as hers such as the way she dressed.
Some people would argue that walking is instinct while others say it is a learned behaviour. An example of this is when a foal is born their instinct is to get up and walk however, although, a child’s instinct is to walk they still need help and encouragement when learning how to walk.
There are some concerns to viewing behaviour as either innate or learned. People who believe it to be innate are less likely to change the ways of children’s behaviour as they believe ‘they were born that way’, while people who believe in learned behaviour would not see the genetic fault in some people’s behaviour. I believe that both behaviours are equal for e.g. a person may inherit bad behaviours and grow up to commit criminal offences but often these people are rehabilitated and learn that what they have done is wrong, therefore, changing the way they behave.
