Behavior is not just an assertion of self, it is a common
thread upon which all human beings sit and observe each other. Along this
thread every child looked to its elder as a model for behavior. Partially out
of need for an image of what it means to be a human and partially out of an
established connection with their parents these children built a sense of self
upon the building blocks of the cumulative behaviors of their parent. In this
way every action casts a stone across a child’s sense of self and behaviors.
In
1961 and 1963 Albert Bandura conducted experiments that empirically
demonstrated the effects of observational learning in children. In the Bo Bo
Doll experiments, after watching an adult act aggressively towards a five-foot
tall blow up doll the child is sent into the room with the doll and their
behavior is recorded and studied. Before the children witnessed the adult’s
aggressive acts they exhibited zero hostility towards the Bo Bo Doll, some
child even hugging the doll. After exposure to the either simulated or
real-life images of the aggressive acts, when re-introduced to the doll the
child exhibited actions similar to those of the adults. Here is the video of
the experiment with an introduction by Bandura:
Perhaps
it is only through seeing that we can learn to be an animal. Through
observation we learn so much of what we know. Bandura’s experiments certainly
show the malleability of a child’s behaviors, the ability to change from the
loving innocence of a child to the aggressive assaults of an adult. Can the
same be applied to a child’s adaptability to animal behaviors? Would it be
possible for a child’s behaviors, when only exposed to the presence of an
animal such as a wolf, to resemble that of a wolf rather than a human?
I believe that human is animal and the animality exist within everybody. But humans have better conscious then any animals and are able to learn from what we experience or see. From that we act accordingly to the situation.
ReplyDeleteWe learn from the environment that we grew up in and our ways of thinking depends of kind of environment you grew up in. So if a child is more exposed to violent, he/she can be more violent in nature, because it is what they learn from their environment or society. Humans are animals because we behave like animals. We are animals with higher conscious level. Way we behave depends on way we see things, which is influenced by way we grew and the environment that we grew up in.