Social Learning Theory: The Nature, Nurture Affect Behavior

The nature-nurture debate is one of the oldest arguments in psychology, dating back to Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. While Socrates and Plato believed that knowledge is innate, Aristotle thought that knowledge is not preexisting and grows with experience. Even today, people ask whether nature (genetics/inherited characteristics) or nurture (environment and experiences) has a larger effect on one’s personality and behavior. Both nature and nurture have influenced everybody’s lives, including my own. Everything from the color of someone’s eyes to their temper can be explained by nature, nurture, or a combination of both. My genetics explain many of my traits and make me similar to my parents and the environments I have grown

This most closely related to the behaviorist perspective of psychology that assumes that all behavior is learned from the environment and is only linked to observable behavior (McLeod). John Watson, a behaviorist, said that he could "train a baby randomly chosen in a group of 12 infants, to become any type of specialist Watson [wanted]" (Sincero). Parents, peers, and culture are all variables that can lead to different acquired characteristics. People's personalities and beliefs can vary widely from family to family and culture to culture. Albert Bandura's social learning theory shows how nurture can shape and alter behavior. "In his famous Bobo doll experiment [where children watched someone being violent towards a Bobo doll], Bandura demonstrated that children could learn aggressive behaviors simply by observing another person acting aggressively" (Cherry). In this case, nurture affected the children's behavior and caused them to be aggressive towards the doll. The environment that children (including myself) grow up in and their experiences can shape their personality. My parents moved from South Korea to Minnesota right before I was born. Before I entered high school, my family moved from state to state (on the eastern side of the U.S.) about every two years for my dad's work. This meant that I was living in new environments very often, forcing me to adapt to new apartments and schools. After moving for the

My nature explains my overall school performance and my attention to detail and organization. My environment and life experiences have made me good at making friends and have impacted my interests. As a result of nature, I am similar to my parents, but my personality and behavior cannot be explained as a mixture of my parent's personalities. I think that nurture has had a larger impact on my life. Although I recognize that many of my traits are inherited, without my experiences and environments, I would be a very different