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QUESTION
In this assignment, you will take a retrospective look at your life history. First, choose an area of the brain and explain what it does, as well as how it would impact an activity from your daily life. Then, analyze the roles of nature and nurture in shaping the person you are today. Next, describe the influences of culture, environment, and biology on your gender-role behavior. Subsequently, discuss possible sources of inaccuracy and bias in any retrospective analysis. Finally, discuss the reasons why systematic scientific studies are considered more valuable than individual accounts
Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:
Section 1 (1-2 paragraphs):
· Choose one of the following areas of your brain and explain what it does:
-
- Thalamus
- Reticular formation
- Brain stem (pons and medulla)
- Cerebellum
- Limbic system
- One of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex
Explain how the area you described contributes to a specific activity from your everyday life. (Example: During horseback riding, the cerebellum integrates information from the motor systems and balance system.)
Section 2 (1-2 paragraphs):
All of us have been shaped by both nature (biology) and nurture (environment), making us the persons we are today. In most cases, it is difficult to completely disentangle the separate effects of nature vs. nurture with much certainty. However, we can make some educated guesses based on our knowledge of familial tendencies that we may have inherited, as well as knowledge of our environment and experiences. In this section, we ask for you to make some educated guesses about the roles of nature and nurture in your life.
·Describe the role of nature (biology) in shaping what kind of person you are today. Provide a specific example of the role of nature.
·Describe the role of nurture (environment) in shaping what kind of person you are today. Provide a specific example of the role of nurture.
Section 3 (1-2 paragraphs):
·Describe the influences of culture, your environment, and biology on your gender role behavior.
·Use specific examples from your own life to explain your answers.
Section 4 (1-2 paragraphs):
·Discuss the fallibility of memory in terms of bias and inaccuracy when you reflect on your past.
·Identify specific memory biases that could affect how you remember your past. Include factors related to cognition.
·Use specific examples from your own life.
Section 5 (1 paragraph):
·Describe why the science of psychology places more emphasis on results based on scientific studies than it does on personal experiences and anecdotes.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
·Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
·To keep this essay short and manageable, your only sources for your paper should be your own experience and the Webtext. For this reason, APA citations and references are not required for this assignment.
·Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
·Relate psychological concepts to real-world situations.
·Describe the major theories of personality development, learning, memory, cognition, consciousness, development and social psychology.
·Use technology and information resources to research issues in psychology.
·Write clearly and concisely about psychology using proper writing mechanics.
ANSWER
Functions of the Cerebellum
The cerebellum is a part of the brain that is found behind the brain stem, consisting of two halves. It is located at the meeting point of the spine and the brain. The cerebellum is not a large section of the brain (it is only approximately 10 percent of the brain’s weight). However, it contains most of the neurons in the brain. The function of neurons is to coordinate transmission of information through electric signals. The cerebellum, therefore, carries out the function of receiving information through the many neurons (information coming from the various body sensory structures, the spinal system or cord, and the various brain sections), then controls and regulates body movements.
The cerebellum is responsible for controlling movements that are voluntary, such as speech, posture, body balance, muscular movements, and coordination. It is also crucial for the learning and control of motor behavior. Any slight interruption or damage occurring in the cerebellum section of the brain will result in challenges such as extremely slow movements, body tremors, and lack of body balance. During a bicycle riding trip, the cerebellum is responsible for coordinating information from the balance systems and the motor system, to ensure that I am able to move my legs while maintaining balance on the bicycle.
The Roles of Nature and Nurture in the Human Life
Nature can be simply explained as the genetic constitution that an individual acquires from his or her parents during conception, and continues to possess throughout his or her lifetime. There are many traits that an offspring inherits from its parents, gender, the color of the eyes, some diseases, height, etc. Nature, therefore, has a very crucial role in the development of human beings. Biological systems affect our day to day activities in many ways. Moreover, biology (genetics) is responsible for almost all the characteristics of anyone’s personality, an individual’s physical traits, their behavior, and general intelligence. It is nature that enables a person to develop from the embryo stage into a grown adult. Traits such as sex and hair are also acquired through biological processes. In many cases, it is easy to observe a similarity in the personality of an individual and that of his parents. Intelligence and smart decision making in an individual may be attributed to their parents. We hear statements such as ‘he was born a leader’ and ‘she is smart, just like her mother’ in everyday situations. A good example of the role of biology in the human life is height. I am taller than most of my colleagues at school. This is always attributed to my father being a tall man. This trait must have been inherited from him.
Nurture can be explained as all the various factors of the environment that an individual experiences from the time they are born until they die. Nurture includes both the physical part, such as nutrition and the social part, such as peer pressure. Many people believe that the major contributor towards the development of a person is the various people and social occurrences and events which that person goes through in his lifetime. For instance, while many people attribute a person’s intelligence to their parents, another group of thinkers will attribute it to the individual’s educational background and the method of upbringing his or her parents administered. Another illustration would be the reason for a person being a homosexual. Many people believe that homosexuality is as a result of a negative experience, such as sexual molestation, occurring in the life of an individual. In my own life, the ability to make good decisions and show entrepreneurship traits has always been attributed to my education life, with many believing that I could not possess these skills if I had not gone to school.
The Influence of Culture, the Environment, and Biology on Gender Roles
Gender, the recognition of an individual as being male or female, is based on an integration of the psychological, social and biological conditions and characteristics that a person portrays. Gender roles are mostly dictated by how an individual was brought up, and are not mostly dictated by the gender identity of the individual. Culture is largely to blame for our gender roles. Maxims such as ‘women are the weaker sex and need to be protected’ and ‘big boys don’t cry’ show how culture influences our beliefs about gender, and how these beliefs dictate what roles we play in our society. We cannot prove how these beliefs are true, but it is evident that these beliefs influence our day to day activities. For instance, in many societies, especially traditional cultures, women stay at home and are tasked with keeping the household clean, raising children, and being submissive to their husbands. Men, on the other hand, are required to go to work and provide for their wives and families.
Nature and nurture also influence gender role. Nature (biology) ensures that women are not as strong or masculine as men. The different traits men and women have are mostly acquired through genetics and inheritance from parents. As a result of this difference, women are looked at as inferior beings in the society and are only tasked with roles that are inferior to those done by men. Nurture may also be blamed for the gender roles in today’s society. All the lessons we learn from the day we are born, through school and work life contribute to how we view gender and the various roles that we perceive to belong to us. During initiation in African cultures, for example, boys are taught how to provide food for their families, while girls are taught how to take care of their husbands and families. Even in my own life, I am expected to study and excel in my work life, to be able to provide for my future family.
Fallibility of Memory (Bias and Inaccuracy)
The human memory is not perfect. Our brains sometimes fail to remember occurrences and things as a result of improper encoding or storage of information. We sometimes are unable to retrieve information that is stored in our memory. Memory is also affected by the environment in which an event occurs, or the occurrences following an event. The cognitive processes which our brains use to enable us to remember also affect memory. Cognition may sometimes distort information, resulting in errors in judgment and personal behavior. It also may result in a memory bias, according to the situations that followed a certain event. An example is the ability to correctly determine the source of a memory. Any uncertainty will result in mistaken decisions and judgment.
The bias of confirmation is another common cognition problem. In our day to day life, we acquire a tendency to confirm the memories we already possess, instead of challenging them (disconfirming), when new events occur. We, therefore, develop beliefs, which become very difficult to challenge or change. When I was growing up, I witnessed a teacher beating a student without showing any mercy, in preschool. The memory of that event has led me to believe that preschool teachers are violent. Suppose I find myself in a lawsuit against an individual who coincidentally teaches in preschool, my testimony is likely to be falsified to ensure that the teacher is punished because my memory makes me believe that all preschool teachers are violent individuals.
Why Psychology Depends on Scientific Evidence
Evidence which is derived from a person’s experiences is mostly dependent on the individual’s feelings, past experiences, and beliefs. Personal judgment is biased almost all the time. Even the properly educated and experienced scientific experts cannot avoid the effect of cognitive and perceptual biases when it comes to analyzing personal experiences. Most of our personal convictions and beliefs are directed by bias, and come from their value of comfort, disregarding the truth in them. Anecdotes usually rely on a person’s memory and experience. They are therefore very difficult to prove correct. It is for these reasons that scientists, especially with involved in psychology, depend on results achieved from scientific tests and experiments, rather than personal experiences and personal anecdotes. Scientific results give proper justification and reasonable solutions, supported by evidence of the tests carried out.
