Steven Pinker made a good analogy on the human nature being a blank…

Question Answered step-by-step Steven Pinker made a good analogy on the human nature being a blank… Steven Pinker made a good analogy on the human nature being a blank slate when you are born.  Pinker stated that we are born with certain genes that will only partly shape on lives.  Rather, socialization, culture, peers, and experience will play a role on who we become.   Steven said that children are not shaped by their parents- only in part by their genes.  I do agree with Pinker that our blank canvas is colorfully painted by socialization, culture, and the experiences we encounter.  I don’t see eye to eye on his statement on parents playing only a small role in shaping our behavior.   If behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior of our surroundings, why do studies suggest that “parenting are useless and don’t control for heritability” when the foundation of our behavior starts at home with our parents.  I can tell you that my behavior was also shaped by my parents.  Growing up, my mother was pretty cold, did not showed any emotions and very few times she was affectionate.  My grandmother was also cold, always angry and was very abusive to her children.  I don’t ever remember my grandmother being affectionate to any of her children.  My mother’s father was gone for months at a time working in the mines.  So I don’t think he was much of much of a role in shaping her behavior.  My father was the opposite, he was always optimistic, kind, loving, giving, patient, and understanding.  His mother was the same way with her children as well as the grandchildren.  I always took pride when people would say I had my father’s personality.  I did stride to be like him in so many ways.  I did not realized that I had also learned my mother’s traits until my boyfriend, now husband would complain about my impersonal behavior.  I was not as affectionate as he wanted me to be and that would lead into disagreements.  I did realize that I did not want to be dispassionate or cold-hearted when I had my children.  Through operant-conditioning I would remind myself that I did not want to be like my mother and that would give me the motivation to show affection to my son’s.  I can proudly say I’m no longer the unaffectionate and or unemotional person I used to be.  My point is that I don’t believe that been a cold-hearted person was passed down by genes.  I believe it was a behavior learned by our parents who play a major role in our lives.  To this day, I still try to model my father’s behavior.  Reply to this post with at least Five to Six sentences or more. Also, be nice  Social Science Psychology PSYCHOLOGY 41 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)