Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Nature and Nurture? Explanations and examples?for my psychology class

"Nature" refers to behaviors that people do out of
instinct.  Behaviors that are based on nature may lie within one's genes.  "Nurture," on
the other hand, are behaviors that are guided by social practices.  Behaviors that are
based on nurture have been taught to individuals by others in their social circles.  The
"nature vs. nurture" argument is prevalent in issues dealing with discrimination.  A
classic example is the study and documentary titled Eye of the
Storm
in which third-grade teacher Jane Elliot subjected her students to a
powerful lesson on racism and learned behavior.  With the permission of the students'
parents, Elliot told the children that all the brown-eyed people were inferior and
proceeded to treat them in such a way.  Soon, the blue-eyed children began acting like
they were in fact superior.  Then Elliot told the class that she had made a mistake and
that the blue-eyed children were in fact the inferior ones.  Soon, the brown-eyed
children assumed the superior stance.  In the end, Elliot told her students that she
made it all up and guided them in a discussion about discrimination.  Her goal was to
show that prejudice is a learned behavior guided by "nurture" and not an instinctive
behavior guided by "nature."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment on the setting and character of "The Fall of the House of Usher."How does setting act as a character?

Excellent observation, as it identifies how the settings of Poe's stories reflect the characters of their protagonists. Whet...