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lfrontino's picture

Learned vs. Acquired

Submitted by lfrontino on Sat, 03/20/2010 - 8:46am.

In class, we discussed how behaviors are either learned or acquired through genetics. It's interesting to think that something perceived as such a critical learning process in our lives is really not learned at all, but would be reached eventually anyway. What other processes are actually inborn in us? 

It is also interesting to me from a developmental perspective. Humans are not able to walk until a certain point in their lives, usually around the one year mark. When horses are born, they can walk right away. What developmental differences exist between these two species that allows one to walk right away but the other to grow and change before walking? Are there brain connections that need to be made in humans after birth before they are able to implement the process of walking?  

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