Learned characteristics.
Learned behaviour is the result of life experiences, nurture rather than nature. An acquired behaviour is a type of attribute which cannot be passed on genetically; language, religion, and the ability to read and write are all learnt behaviours. Another instance of where behaviour is learnt could be when pain is experienced due to a particular action; for example, if someone touches a small flame and gets burnt, after this experience the victim will learn to be cautious around fire and be much less likely to repeat that action in future. Sociologists tend to agree that a baby’s mind at birth is like a blank page and all future experiences will affect how baby learns how to behave. Therefore environment has a direct effect on an individual’s behaviour.
Feral children
Throughout history there have been several very rare instances where children have spent a significant amount of their developmental years in the wild, devoid of all human contact. As appallingly tragic as these cases are, from an educational and scientific point of view, they do go some way to helping us establish what aspects of human nature are inherited and what are learnt.
A few of the case studies of socially deprived feral children that have arisen over the years include
- John Ssabunnya (found 1991) - A boy that had spent between two to three years of his life early life in the wild jungles of Uganda after the death of his father and disappearance of his mother. During his time in the he had been living and scavenging for food with a pack of monkeys. When found, his nails were very long and curled round, he had no language, hopped around on all fours, and wasn’t house-trained.
- Oxana Malaya (found 1991) - was found as an 8-year-old feral child in Ukraine, having lived most of her life in the company of dogs due to neglect from her alcoholic parents. Oxana survived in a dog kennel behind her house where she was cared for by the dogs and learned their behaviours and mannerisms. When finally discovered she growled, barked and crouched like a wild dog, sniffed at her food before she ate it, and was found to have acquired extremely acute senses of hearing, smell, and sight.
- ‘The bear girl’ (found 1937) – A young girl who had allegedly been adopted and lived with bears for up to twelve years prior to been found in the mountainous regions of Tukey. Once rescued by local hunters they reported that she had become bear-like in her voice, habits, and posture. When taken into care she refused all cooked food and slept on a mattress in a dark corner of her room.
- ‘The wild girl of Champagne’ (found early 1800’s) - A rare example of a feral child being able to talk coherently when discovered. It is argued however, that she probably learnt to speak before being abandoned. When she was found her diet consisted of birds, frogs, fish, leaves, branches, and roots. Given a rabbit, she immediately skinned and devoured it. She is said to have used her thumbs to dig out roots and swing from tree to tree like a monkey. She was a very fast runner and had remarkably sharp eyesight, when she was taken hunting she was reported as being able to outrun and kill rabbits.
- Kamala and Amala (found 1920) - Two girls who were allegedly captured from a pack of wolves in a wild region of Calcutta, India. The girls were thought to be aged about eight and two. According to their rescuers the girls had misshapen jaws, remained on all fours, enjoyed raw meat, and would bite and attack other children if provoked. Amala died the following year, but Kamala survived until 1929, by which time she had given up eating raw meat, learned to walk upright, and spoke about 50 words.
Nature or Nurture?
Looking at the above cases there is a common theme that children who spend prolonged periods of their formative years in the wild develop behaviour that replicates and adapts to their surroundings. Therefore all of these cases support the notion that behaviour is influenced by the process of nurturing rather than nature.
Besides functions such as ordinary reflexes, breathing, eating, and passing waste, when rescued almost all of the feral children didn’t possess any human traits. They crawled on all fours, ate raw meat, and had no language, social, or reading and writing skills. This proves that in order for a human to become an ordinary human being that we recognise in normal society, behaviour and everything we know must be learnt from our guardians. Behaviours such as learning stand up right, talking, sitting at a table when eating, reading and writing are all learned traits and are not instinctive or passed on genetically. The same applies to social skills such as friendliness, honesty, unselfishness and respect; all of these qualities are not hard wired into a child and must be learnt for in order to lead a happy and positive life.
Conclusion
No human being is entirely composed of either learned behaviour’s or inherited traits. Every person is composed of a combination of traits from each of these categories. Some traits can be link to genetics, whilst others are clearly learned behaviour’s.
The process of learning can be simplified using the ‘traveller theory’. The journey to adulthood can be compared to a traveller who wants to get from one side of the world to another but has no idea how to get there. In order for the traveller to reach his destination he must be assisted and guided throughout the journey and if he receives incorrect directions he will not reach his destination. The same can be said for a child at birth, in order for the child to become a grownup he or she must be constantly educated and guided by adult carers along the path to adulthood. If there is a derailing in this process, as in the cases of the feral children described above, the chances of becoming a fully functioning, mentally developed adult are severely jeopardised.
Bibliography
BBC Bitesize (publication date unknown). Behaviour - Conditioning[Online]. Available at:
(accessed: 5th May 2012).
Bond, M. (April,2010). Nature vs. nurture: hard facts and strong stories. NewScientist, Issue number
2757, p.47.
Encyclopedia Britannica (publication date unknown). learned behaviour. [Online]. Available at:
(accessed: 6th May 2012).
Feral Children (2007). Producer Unknown. [Documentary]. Washington DC, USA: National
Geographic
S-cool. (publication date unknown). Evidence for the evolution of behaviour. [Online]. Available at:
(accessed: 7th May 2012).
Simplypsychology.org, (publication date unknown). Nature Nurture in Psychology. [Online]. Available
at: (accessed: 7th May 2012).
Other:
‘Feral Children’. (A4 hand-out from sociology lesson 22nd March 2012).
‘Feral Children’. (A4 hand-out from sociology lesson 26th April 2012).
Holloway, C. 2012, Class notes, Introduction to sociology, 22nd March 2012.
‘Introduction to sociology. (A4 hand-out from sociology lesson 22nd March 2012).
