Human Behavior And The Social Environment Philosophy Essay

gentlemans gentleman being Behavior And The Social Environment Philosophy Essaymule skinner is a radical sortist and predestinationist who proposed that human behavior is controlled by objective observable factors such as environmental conditions and genetic factors. He suggested that human behavior can be categorize into two types respondents and operants. Respondents are behaviors that caused by environmental stimulus while operants are behaviors that act on the environment. He asserted that both respondents and operants are totally controlled by the environment. The main difference of these two kinds of behaviors is the nature of the control. Respondent is elicited by an environmental stimulus while operant occurs before the environmental stimulus. The environmental consequences which imputable to operants will control the behaviors that follows. There are three major ways that the environmental consequences can control behaviors payoff, punishment and extinction.Inner State skinner defined inner state such as feelings and emotions as a predisposition to act which means affecting the probability of occurrence in certain behaviors. He claimed that inner state is the effects of genetic make-up and personal experiences rather than the cause of behaviors.Thinking and Decision MakingSkinner perceived thinking as a kind of behavior which is also affected by our avow past experiences and through new(prenominal)s instructions. A kind of thinking that Skinner mentioned is decision making which is closely colligate to making choices. Skinner asserted that free choices do not exist. Our past experiences, behaviors and behavioral consequences control the decisions or choices that we make.FreedomAccording to Skinner (1971), Freedom is a matter of contingencies of reinforcement, not of the feelings the contingencies generate (p. 38). He defined freedom as a behavioral process but nothing related to the state of learning ability. He believes that freedom can be p artly experienced when we could avoid or escape from aversive elements of the environment. However, we still cant free ourselves from the environment.Self- come acrossAlthough Skinner emphasized that behaviors are entirely controlled, our determined behaviors can modify the physical and social environments which exert different effects on our behavior, thus tyrannical ourselves indirectly.He believed that the behavior which causes aversive consequences can be controlled by negative reinforcement such as avoiding or escaping from the situation in order to ignore the probability of being punished.The Perspective from RogersRogers took the humanistic phenomenology approach (Nye, p. 98) to understand human evolution.Self-ActualizationRogers believed that self-actualization, which admits personal growth and realization of basic potentialities, exists in human. He suggested that we should not snip any absolute limit to the level of actualization as our full potential is always an un known based on our present knowledge.Inner Human ExperiencingTo study human behavior, Roger emphasized the importance of inner human experiencing. This refers to evaluating ourselves subjectively such as our thoughts and feelings and trying to understand others empathetically.The Self TheoryThe subjective cognizance of ourselves and the surrounding environment are the most important determinants of behaviors. The objective reality of the environment is not an important factor that determines behaviors. This means that the realistic self-concept develops a knowledge of the external reality and the circumstance in which we find ourselves, thus affecting behaviors.Unconditional Positive RegardRogers suggested that positive regards are innate needs of humans, which include bang, acceptance and respect. These needs are usually fulfilled by others who are in intimate relationships with us. Unconditional positive regards mean these needs can be fulfilled simply because we, as humans, ar e worthy. When these needs are not given mattely, especially in childhood, then there is a higher chess opening for unfavorable characteristics to be developed. On the contrary, conditioned positive regards refer to regards that are only given when we meet others expectations.The key differences in viewing human development between Skinner and RogersViews on Human NatureIn Rogers approach, he assumed that we naturally realise an actualizing tendency and are growth-motivated persons (Nye, p. 135). On the other hand, Skinner viewed humans as environmentally controlled persons (Nye, p. 135) who are being predisposed and manipulated since birth to perform products of the environment.Views on Personality DevelopmentRegarding personality development, Skinner stressed that it depends principally on the outcomes that our behaviors have. We all have different personalities which make us as unique persons because there are differences in our reinforcement histories. The stronger the hist ory of positive reinforcement is, the more likely for us to well-develop a favorable personality. Differently, Roger believed that humans have the potential to maintain an ever-upward spiraling in development if we are exposed to unconditional positive regards.Views on Human BehaviorAlthough Rogers admitted that there is an influence of the environment on human behaviors, he stressed that the subjective, inner feelings and experiences play the most profound role in determining behaviors. In contrast, Skinner insisted that our behaviors are merely controlled by genetic and environmental factors but not any of our inner states. He believed that we are controlled by the environment in three major ways reinforcement, extinction and punishment.Views on FreedomWhen it comes to freedom, Rogers perceived it as something inner, subjective and existential. As ache as the openness and responsiveness to the totality of our experiencing are developed within us, we could experience a sense of f reedom and choose the way we behave. On the other hand, Skinner argued that freedom is nothing related to the state of mind. Humans are not free to decide our own fates but are determined by the environment.My commentary on Rogers and Skinner PerspectivesI prefer Rogers over Skinner perspective on human development. I think that Skinner over-emphasized on behavior control which is dehumanizing and might indirectly mislead the society to treat persons as objects or machines which to be manipulated.I tried to imagine how my life would have become if Rogers perspective didnt ever existed and my personal beliefs were all based on Skinners approach. All of my behaviors and experiences were predetermined and being controlled which I did not have any choices at all. I couldnt experience the sense of satisfaction from what I endeavored to achieve since i would believe that favorable environment was the only reason which contributed to my success. It would be discouraging and my life would h ave less meaning. On the other hand, Rogers perspective makes me feel optimistic towards life by believing that the potential for growth and actualization reside within myself. despite things are falling apart in times of adversity, I still live with hope and strongly believe that I am equipped with the office to overcome difficulties and live a better life in the future.Rogers perspective fired my self-understanding especially through the concept of unconditional positive regards. According to my own personal experiences, I strongly agree with Rogers that unconditional positive regards are prominent to the development of a healthy, fully functioning person. In my childhood, I had learnt that love and acceptance could only be gained with the condition that I was well-behaved, independent and expressed with favorable feelings and emotions. As a result, I have been experiencing psychological discomforts over the age with the feeling of being broken. I mean there is a large discrep ancy between my actual and ideal self which Rogers called it as incongruence (Nye, 2000, p. 110).Moreover, I apprehended Rogers who had taken an inclusive approach to study human development which involves objective, subjective and empathic perspectives. He paid great attention to the inner state of human while at the same time didnt deny that the environment affects how we behave.All, in all, I think both perspectives have its interest to offer and undoubtedly allowed me to enhance self-understanding, the behaviors of others as well as the effects of the physical and social environment. Although the understanding of theories on human development is important, I believe that we should keep in mind not to overlook each individuals unique personality and experiences nor over-generalize individuals by imposing these theories on them.