Yolliya ge Instructor: Yilong Kuo

United International College

【分類號】G613.7

This paper claims how the behavior pattern changing during personal behavior development in Thorndikes theory comparing with how species survive in evolution theory. The standing point of this paper is the law of exercise should be applied on individual behavior development. It means the Thorndikes law is useful in personal behavior-changing as the Neo-Lamarckism theory in evolution aspect. Hereditary substance is fundamental for physical existence but not for behavior change. However, the factors control genes perform process is an essential thing in behavior. In advance, there existing two methodology of how individual changing their behaviors during their own development. One is biological advance through exercise strengthening, another is environmental and surroundings influence. Comparing with animals, human was influenced by surroundings most because human has tendency to approach to collectivlism.

Why and how behavior change even in the same situation.

First, how we estimate the change should on the basis of the tendency from beforetime to today. The elements include genes, environment, and surrounding influence. The law of exercise is rebutted in human evolution by Darwins natural selection though it not fades out completely. Exercise in this paper refers to the procedure of repeated of behaviors , like Thorndikes practice, it will strength fastly and deeply if the exercise paring meaningfulness.

There comes famous wild child, as know as victor. (Fran?ois Truffaut. 1970) They found wild he has fast speed, good sight of wolf child. He thinks like animals, behaviors like animals. (National Geographic Channel, 2008).

Are their behavior change attriibuted to genes change? We know genes cannot change postnatally. The information reveal something does some positive impact on our body, which means the process of expressing of genes is changed. What make this happen is exercise. People reinforce their behavior by environment and learning their behavior by modeling on surroundings acts. The example of the former one is the different speed between normal people and wild children because they had to ran faster to survival. “Genes are not fixed blueprints; their expression depends on the environment.”(David, 2009) A child growing up with animals will exhibit substantial similarity to the animals behavior. “Such behavior proves difficult to eradicate once it has become firmly established. Subsequent educational efforts are inadequate to undo the effects of early nurture.”(Anastasi & Foley, 1951)endprint

The example of latter one is formed by our surroundings. The wild child like eating raw meat rather than well done one. This kind differences also can be detected in social psychology. The experiment of people who is the major life stress-experienced and genes problem type tend easy to depress also can back this point up. (Caspi & others,2003)

Therefore, the exercise during the expressing process of our genes plays an essential role.

The further question is how law of exercise apply on individual?

The adapted behavior has been selected by environment,but not like genes, behavior can be changed by exercise.

The epigenetics means the order of the DNA do not change but hereditary substances expression was heritable changes. (Neo-Lamarckism view) The debate against Darwin are Neo-Lamarckism, and Modern Darwin s theory by the stella experiments of mouse(Nakamura,Ar ai etal & Reik 2007) and plants evidence(Chong and Whitelaw 2004).Thats means the hereditary substance expression could be opened and closed by something, which is influenced by exercise. “some of these environmental effects seem to be passed on through subsequent generations.” (Randy L. Jirtle & Michael K. Skinner) In evolution way, the epigenetics explained the why people share the same behavior who live together. People assimilated by exercise of molding and being educated by nearers. During the exercise, people arouse the same hereditary substance and make it express.

Houk believes that “practice a task over and over again, you can export knowledge from the basal ganglia and the cerebellum up into the cerebral cortex for automatic calculation”(Houk, 2007) it also called muscle memory or procedural memory. (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009) From classical conditioning point,the pairs of behavior and stimulus will strengthen. Condition taste aversion is an typical experiment of it. (Garcia & Koelling, 1996)

Well, “simple disuse does not weaken a connection to any large extent” (Thorndike, 1932) it depends on the meaningfulness, in Thorndike word, it is “l(fā)arge extent”.

The main limit of these behavior psychologists is they use animals instead of human due to ethical problem. Therefore evolution aspect invokes the human beings behavior changing but it cannot elicited by direct experiments.

In conclusion, the change of behavior is substantially influenced by exercise. The hereditary substance controls our physical existence, but what we are impacted by environment and surrounding will box how we behavior though exercise of an special life style. In general, the exercise is a kind of reinforcement of the life style as the practice of a specific behavior.endprint