The Argument
Shenk’s GxE model explains the
importance of how the environment interacts with our genetic factors. When there
are positive environmental triggers such as parental speaking, the appropriate response
is not to caution against their possible irrelevance, but to embrace the
influence on our genes and our lives. Some other known triggers on page 47
include speaking to children early and often, nurturance and encouragement, and
reading early and often. All of these environmental factors all revolve around
the concepts of communication, behavior, culture, and the social aspects of
humans. Because of our capacity for learning and versatility, human behavior is
more plastic than that of any other animal and has contributed strongly to
human evolution. Explain how human communication differs and compares to those
of animals using chapter 51 in the Campbell book. Also, how do genetic makeup
and the environment contribute to the development of behaviors in both humans
and animals? Lastly, use page 1142 in the Campbell book and the concept of
sociobiology to relate evolution and human culture to Shenk’s GxE model.
Incorporate the themes of evolution and interdependence in nature in your
response.
(Kirk Chiu- krkpchiu@gmail.com)
Animals and humans have many similarities in terms of development and communication. Hart and Risleys’ experiment with the children is really an examination of human imprinting and the human sensitive period (Campbell 1126). The sensitive period is before the children turn three, and the constant encouragement and use of words is almost like imprinting. The words and encouragement affect the child for the rest of his or hers life. Humans also develop associative learning, both classical conditioning and operant conditioning. With associative learning, the child learns cause and effect; with operant conditioning, the child begins to experiment on its own (Campbell 1128). Perhaps most important is cognition, or “the process of knowing represented by awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment” (Campbell 1128). Cognition brings about problem solving and critical thinking. Although all of these traits are shared by animals, humans are unique in that they make cognizant choices that may be completely in the contrary to what is predicted. Humans change by interacting and evolving according to these interactions.
ReplyDeleteSociobiology is the premise that “certain behavioral characteristics exist because they are expressions of genes that have been perpetuated by natural selection” (Campbell 1142). Shenk argues that genes are like “finished blueprints” that are “more like volume knobs and switches”, like a “giant control board inside every cell of your body” that “can be turned up/down/on/off at any time” (19). This overall “process of gene-environment interaction drives a unique developmental path for every unique individual” (19). In this way, sociobiology is a study of Shenk’s point that every little interaction causes certain genes to turn on or off. When William Walter Gruelich measured the heights of Japanese children in America and in Japan, he found that Japanese children living in America were taller, not due to genes but due to “better nourishment and medical care” (26). Overall, sociobiology affects both physical and mental growth in a human.
Annie Lee (xxannie.leexx@yahoo.com)