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Nature vs nurture pros and cons debate
Good communication skills in early childhood
Importance of moral decision making
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Recommended: Nature vs nurture pros and cons debate
Children are born with an ability to communicate their immediate needs to their mothers, nurses or caregivers by crying or displays of other emotions. As they develop more knowledge of language they are able to point, look at objects and smile to acknowledge they are pleased with, or otherwise, what they are receiving. Just as children are born with the ability to communicate needs and emotions, and a desire to seek out new things and master them, it only makes sense that they have many other unexplained desires including the desire to please and to love and feel empathy for others. Many studies have been done on infants in nurseries who cry at the sound of other infants crying. Some would argue this crying reaction is really a warning sound, so to speak that lets the other babies know there may be something to fear coming. If a warning was the case it would seem the babies would not cry over a dirty diaper or hunger. I like to image that the other infants actually do feel a sort of empathy for the original crier and display it through their concerning cries. This is a type of display created by nature that is seen also with smaller animals. In a litter of puppies, when one starts to cry all the others start to cry as well. Apes display a consolation behavior, “which is defined as providing reassuring body contacts to distressed others” to show empathy (De Waal). Studies have shown that body contact has an effect on calming others in distress. Perhaps this body contact also benefits the ape offering it by lowering its own pain caused by seeing the other in distress. Our emotions greatly influence how we process information and make moral judgments. We take these emotional feelings and turn them into information about our situatio... ... middle of paper ... ...themselves in other ways though he is not a murderer. He displays poor sympathy towards others, has sublimated aggression, and enjoys making other people mad. There are many psychopaths and sociopaths who display these obstructive behaviors who do not go on to be murderers and criminals. Some of the best lawyers, CEOs, surgeons, clergymen, and policemen are fully functioning, law abiding citizens. The Nature versus Nurture debate has been one of longest most withstanding debates of our world. Despite all the differences in beliefs, I believe significant evidence suggests that there is a reason to believe that our morality is not simply learned from imitation, coached ethics, or social cues (though those do play a part in growing it), but that it, like so many other natural abilities of the body, is a part of us beginning with the development of our brains in utero.
As told by professor Sapolsky, when a chimpanzee for example has become a victim of a pummeling by a higher-ranking chimp, other chimps will empathize with him by grooming. An example that I think humans would partake in is feeling sorry for children in third world countries. We see televised images of children and for some people sympathy for is felt for them. Now, for others a greater level is felt known as empathy in which they may even volunteer to go those countries to make a difference. The ability to make the lives of someone better provides them with a sense of
... another thing to be convicted to the death penalty and feel no fear. Merseault may not have been dangerous at all until that point in his life, but a jail sentence is not enough to stop a person with no conscience. “Psychopaths don't feel guilty. They don't feel sorry for what they've done. They go through life taking what they want and giving nothing back. They manipulate and deceive and convincingly lie without the slightest second thought” (Khan). Researchers say that approximately one percent of the general population are psychopaths; others say about three or four percent. The reason that the estimates vary is because not everyone has been tested, but also because psychopathy is a sliding scale. A person can be very psychopathic or only slightly, and anywhere in between. How psychopathic does someone have to be before they can be classified a psychopath (Khan)?
The media generally portrays the prototypical serial killer through the lens of two extremes. They can either have an incapacitating mental illness or be brilliant, but severely troubled, geniuses. Yet, neither of these two stereotypes are accurate, as serial killers generally display signs of psychopathy, which is not considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Despite the erroneousness of Hollywood’s movies and television shows, many psychologists and lawmakers are still considering the degree to which psychopaths can be considered responsible for their actions. In “Psychopathy and Culpability: How Responsible Is the Psychopath for Criminal Wrongdoing?” researchers Adam R. Fox, Trevor H. Kvaran, and Reid Griffith Fontaine attempt to draw conclusions from evidence on whether or not psychopaths meet the criteria for full criminal responsibility. Other researchers, such as Scott E. Culhane, Sage M. Hilstad, Adrienne Greng, and Matt J. Gray, use a case study to demonstrate that psychopathy is not synonymous with serial killers and that mental illness cannot necessarily be used in criminal cases to justify murder in their research paper titled “Self-Reported Psychopathology in a Convicted Serial Killer.” In the remaining two articles
Cunning, seductive, and ruthless represent the enigma in the mind of a psychopath. Unlike common murderers, psychopath feels no guilt, remorse, or shame after committing an inhuman act.
Animals have feelings and show emotion, unlike many of the scientists who experiment on them. Animals have emotions and have the ability to show empathy towards other animals. Chandna reports, “In one notoriously cruel experiment, macaque monkeys were given food only if they pulled a chain that electrically shocked another monkey. Nearly all the monkeys preferred to go hungry, and one macaque went without food for 12 days rather than cause pain to another” (Chandna). This undoubtedly demonstrates the ability of an animal to show feelings and empathy towards another, even if the outcome is the animal itself suffering. Many humans would react the same way in a similar situation. In a different experiment rats would be offered a treat for themselves while another rat was confined, but instead of eating the reward they would free the other rat and share the treat with them (Chandna). It is not surprising that the rat would share their treat due to them being extremely social animals who “become emotionally ...
Sentiments such as beauty, revenge, pleasure, pain, create moral motivation, and action, and are immune to falsity and truth. They are the foundation for which morals are built, and exist apart from any reasoning. Thesis: In moral motivation, the role of sentiment is to drive an intrinsically instilled presence within us to examine what we would deem a moral act or an immoral act, and act accordingly, and accurately upon the sentiments that apply. These sentiments may be assisted by reasons, but the reason alone does not drive us to do what we feel is necessary.
This would typically be provided by the care giver or parents. These types of interactions help develop a very simplistic version of social development, though only through a need and want based interest in the other person. It is incredibly important for babies to be spoken too often, as it develops their thinking and speech.
Berne discusses the role of social intercourse as a primitive form of behavior. As infants, humans learn to beckon the attention of others by engaging in attention engaging behaviors (i.e., crying). Once we have gained the attention of others, more often than not our basic human needs are satisfied and the cycle repeats when necessary. Biologically speaking, this type of distress response served an evolutionary purpose; the needs of a growing infant are met, thus ensuring the infant’s healthy development. Having a healthy infant usually translates into having a healthy adult which will in turn procreate and preserve the existence of the species.
Although not all sociopaths are violent, they do tend to be born with a thirst for power that can lead to violence and impulsive behavior. (Stout, 2015)Everyone has the ability to manipulate their peers
Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg is widely known for his proposed stages of moral development; he argued that the development of moral reasoning “is a continual process that occurs throughout the lifespan.” (Cherry). Moreover, Kohlberg’s stages of moral development involve three levels, namely: the preconventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning and postconventional moral reasoning. Each of these levels consists of two stages. Furthermore, we will examine Kohlberg’s stages of moral development by creating a character named Ciara. Ciara is a mischievous, temperamental and aggressive 11-year old who studies at a christian school. Throughout this essay we will see how Ciara’s moral reasoning will evolve.
Throughout the history of human existence, there have always been questions that have plagued man for centuries. Some of these questions are “what is the meaning of life” and “which came first, the chicken or the egg”. Within the past 400 years a new question has surfaced which takes our minds to much further levels. The question asked is whether nature or nurture has more of an impact on the growing development of people. It is a fact that a combination of nature and nurture play important roles in how humans behave socially. However, I believe that nature has a more domineering role in the development of how people behave in society with regards to sexual orientation, crimes and violence and mental disorders.
...been determined that some creatures do certainly display signs of empathic behaviour. In a study conducted by Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal et al it was determined that rats exhibit pro social behaviour when placed in a situation wherein another rat was in distress. Adult chimpanzees were also shown to display emphatic behaviour; in a study by Anderson et al, contagious yawning was found to prevalent in the chimpanzees. Inconclusive evidence was also found in chickens when experiments were conducted to test pro social behaviour . Which raises the question whether empathy can be classified as being only a mammalian trait. A major pitfall to all the studies being done was the real definition of the word empathy. Each of studies that were reviewed measured empathy in different contexts, making it difficult to generalize the results. However it is possible to conclude that
One recent headline in the news showed an extraordinary event on film. When a three-year-old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the zoo, and was knocked unconscious. A female Gorilla named Binti Jua picked up the boy, and cradled him in her arms as if he was her own. The gorilla then gently carried the boy over to the caretaker’s door and set him down. Did the gorilla feel empathy for the boy? By watching the film alone the gorilla seemed to show emotions for the boy, but without studying the animal neurobiologically scientists cannot understand how her emotions and cognitions were linked.
The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been going on for many years, and a
As human beings, our natural instinct causes us to impulsively respond to emotional situations and triggers behavior that becomes learned, a reaction chemically part of us that is deeply rooted in our brains and bodies. The learned behavior and resulting outcome have the ability motivate future behavior. However, the decision and fulfillment of such action relies heavily on self-determination, a product of our nurturing that gives us moral accountability when making tough or emotional choices. As we grow and mature, moral precedents are set when our natural instincts, emotional reactions, and conscious decisions intersect, however, a constant internal battle exists, as we fight back and forth between our instincts, free-will, and moral responsibilities. What we make of this is what arises as our distinct morality.