Behaviour

Posted on September 20, 2020  •  3 minutes  • 595 words

The Curious Explorer decides to talk about The Curious Mystery of Behavior. I shall introduce you to four kinds of behaviours every thinking being posses. Unlike many Psychological forums, let us unravel behaviour by asking a few questions. Ask these questions to yourself and let’s get some answers.

##Are you born skilled or did you learn them? Did you ever notice how skilled you were when you were born?

You knew how and where to get your food as a baby. No one taught you how to suck. You shouted and cried when you were in hunger, distress and pain, only to get parenting. You kept cute, smiling facial expression to tell others that you are happy and that you liked them. You knew how to catch a toy you loved and no one taught you grasping. You are born with enough skills to keep you happy. Nature has selected you these gifts for your survival. These are instincts. The behaviour you show using your instincts is Instinctive behaviour.

##What is love? Why do you link yourself with something which you can never leave?

Your life is meaningless if you can’t associate yourself with something. You saw the person who gave you comfort, and whose presence made you feel fit for survival. You call her mother–The first imprint. Then you imprint particular tradition filled with specific values.

Humans are social beings and imprinting yourself with something that keeps you going. When you truly saw yourself belonging to a caste, creed, society, nation; you become that. Imprints are powerful and irreversible. Goats raised by sheep mature and prefer to mate with sheep. This is the Imprinting Behavior.

##Are your actions under your control? Do you do what you want to do?

A famous psychologist, Skinner said: “I did not direct my life. I didn’t design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That’s what life is.” Your behaviour is guided by the external environment. Most of the times, it is just a reaction for a stimulus. Irrespective of your workload on that day, you feel tired after your working hours. You touch a washroom door, and you feel an urge to enter the washroom. You smell a rose, and you become aesthetic. All these are conditioned responses.

Because you always stood under soft sand when you were playing as a child, feeling a soft carpet under your legs makes you feel happy. In this case, you are conditioned to feel happy under a soft touch. Behaviour guides your actions. Your actions can also manage your thoughts and behaviour. This type of involuntary behaviour is called Conditioning behaviour. You never know what stimuli and responses you are conditioned.

##What is learning? Did you ever wonder what makes you learn? How could you learn effectively?

Your learning started from your infant stage. You learnt how to respond to various objects. You learnt how to talk, how to walk. These are essential for your life. The way you acquired these skills is by imitating others. You imitated physical posture, language, moral ideals and taboos. Yes, you imitated them.

You started to imitate your company, and this became your behaviour. In the words of motivational speaker Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. The behaviour created by Imitation is called Imitation Behavior. Imitation leads to learning. It makes teachers, lawyers, artists, and any profession you could think. Next time you want to learn something new, imitate someone skilled in that. It becomes your behaviour.