Theory Of Human Development

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a starving people were put into positions where they could either eat a Subway turkey round placed in front of them or just sit there and stare and stare at it, common sense shows that these people would eat. However, it is possible that one person, like an anorexic, would just sit and stare at the sandwich. For that reason, it can be assumed that human beings do have free will, however the choices made are greatly impacted and seemingly determined by inherited basic needs, environment, and learned behaviors.
This leads us into a second assumption, rationalism or irrationalism. Do human beings operate primarily on the basis of intellect, or on the basis of impulses and passions? The answer is the latter theory. Going back to the Subway example, the most likely decision on whether or not to eat the turkey round would be based on an irrational impulse in one's subconscious. The basic physiological need of food has a profound influence on the given choice. However, note that this is ...

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is completely dependent on the social group from which you have adopted most of your learned behaviors. Therefore, good and evil are nonexistent and should be looked upon as terms of social acceptability.
The final assumption to be examined is normally a difficult one to address if one is trying to make a definite choice. It is the question of environment versus heredity. B.F. Skinner would argue faithfully that behavior is based solely on environmental contingencies, while Sigmund Freud would just as strongly maintain that the role of heredity determines the personality of an individual. I, on the other hand, believe that both sides of the debate are equally valid; personality is ...

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