Intro
A person’s behavior is determined by a combination of inherited traits, experience, and the environment. Some are innate and some are learned. Inherited traits can control or manipulate one’s behavior. For example, a person who is born to parents who had anger issues may act highly violent/aggressive in a stressful situation. People don’t think of them as controlling our behavior because most of our behaviors are learned, rather than inherited. However, some behaviors are so beneficial to the human species, that the ancient ancestors that mastered them are the ones that survived long enough to pass those traits down to their offspring and so on. These are inherited behaviors. While most scientists agree that some behaviors are controlled by genetics, which ones and to what degrees is an ongoing debate (Jon jaehnig, 2019).
Research Methods
One of the major research methods on Inherited behavior is Quantitative behavioral genetics method. This is a very controversial research approach to the field of genetics and behaviors, its a study of phenotypic variation in a population which aims to distinguish the biologically heritable portion of the non-heritable/non-biological portion of a person. It involves decomposing the observed variance of a trait into genetic and environmental variance components (Saudino,2005) and then evaluating them.
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There is also another method known as Behavioral Genetics studies of temperament method. It is by far the most dominating study in the field, no single theory dominates it. It’s not as controversial as Quantitative behavioral genetics method but both their goals are slightly similar. The goal of using the Behavioral Genetics studies of temperament is to estimate the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to behavioral variability in the population (Saudino, 2005).
Significance
Genetical Inheritance research is important because it helps to answer some of the major questions in the field of medical science, “how does genes affect human-body creation” and “what happens when they go wrong”. Scientists use these information hoping to diagnose, treat and cure illness which is currently impossible. Genetics can uncover instructions on how to make a cure 'tailor made’ for a person. By identifying and understanding each protein in genes as well as their usage, scientists try to understand the human body and behavior better. In short, Genetical inheritance is important because it helps to treat medical illness.
Personal discussion
In my understanding, genetics is a really big topic which requires a lot of research to get a good understanding of genetic and inherited behavior. If we know how genetical behavior works, we might be able to create people with really high intellectual abilities and can improve our goal as humans. Genetics combined with psychology can be used to discover MORE solutions to unidentified/uncured psychological problems.
In my understanding, Genetics is a really big topic which requires a lot of research to get a good understanding of genetic and inherited behavior. However, Understanding our genes and its codes of usage is not easy and we are nowhere near understanding. As a personal thought, I don't think scientists consider genetics as a controversial topic anymore due to its complexity. I think scientists are not ready to devote their time and energy into something, which might create a revolution in our society. Our ways of living could be impacted in a good way that our future will be saved and extended that what it is now. We need to focus more on genetics rather than, for example, space travel which has no impact on the development of the human race.
Application
Genetics affects us all in many ways. It helps us to understand why people look the way they do and why some people are more prone to certain diseases than others, to identify certain conditions in babies before they are born using techniques such as prenatal testing and etc. In addition to its use in health care, genetics has a range of other applications. For example, the police can use genetic fingerprinting to catch criminals. Genetic fingerprinting was invented and developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in 1984. This technique can identify individuals on the basis of their genetic information. Criminals often leave evidence of their identity at a crime scene: for example, hair follicles, blood or skin cells. The police can use the genetic information to demonstrate whether or not an individual was present at the scene of a crime. Genetic information can prove innocence and help to identify and convict the guilty
Previously known
It is already known that it requires two different people’s DNA to make a new person with a mix of both of their traits, include both physically and mentally. Moreover, behavior works the same way as physical traits. They both are equally inheritable. The difference is that behaviors can be influenced by both heredity and environment, when physical traits can only be affected by heredity. For example: if both parents of a person have blue eyes, the person (offspring) has a higher chance of having blue eyes than brown eyes. It won't be the same case if both parents are “GOOD” at a certain thing. Suppose both parents of a person are good at a sport, their offspring is likely to be good at it. However, environmental influence can result you being not likely too.
Limitations
One of the major limitations in Inherited behavior research is that there is no satisfactory explanation on the biochemical mechanisms of genetics. Scientists won’t have a better understanding of anything in genetics until we are able to identify how DNA works and how it is coded. There's a major doubt on how actions is affected by genes in fairly generalized ways. Some individuals who are born to introverted families are born with a propensity to be outgoing, happy, emotionally reactive, sociable, creative, or intelligent and some are the opposite. Although it is hard to deny the genetic influence on human behavior, anyone who tries to explain what a person does in terms of simple biochemical differences is likely to be disappointed.
Relevance
In the early days of psychology, debate over nature v .nurture motivated theorists to determine personality and the combination of each other. So scientists came up with genetic psychology. Genetic psychology, also known as behavioral psychology, is a field of studying and exploring how genes influence personality. People in this field work to advance understanding of how genes affect personality and behavior. Researchers don’t believe genes directly determine behavior, instead they agree that genes influence the brain functions and cognitive process.
Understanding how genetics and cognitive ability works will open doors for many mental problems and disorders. It can also be used to improve lives and communities. For instance, scientists say understanding how genetics and cognitive ability works can be used to determine what kind of environment a person needs to thrive in to make that person more successful in life, this applies to improving communities with low productiveness.
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