Monkey See Monkey Do free essay sample

The brain development of a child is more simplistic than it is complex. Much of how a child’s brain is developed is not only by what he or she may hear, but also by what he or she observes. Many studies have been conducted to prove that a child is more than likely going to imitate who he or she sees and implement that particular observation into action and will not but those actions through a conductive reasoning process until he or she develops the skill to reason, which does not develop until â€Å"3 or 4 years old,† according to scholastic. com. A specific study was held by Standford University using 33 boys, and 33 girls ranging from the ages 42-71 months. Each child was taken into a dimly lit room, and as he or she sat in the room a program began to play. This particular program was shown of a woman who was placed in a room with a Bo-Bo Doll (a blow-up doll with a weight in the bottom of it). We will write a custom essay sample on Monkey See Monkey Do or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As the woman entered the room, she began to mess around with the doll by hitting, punching, taking objects from around the room to wallop the doll, she took a toy gun and pretended to shoot the doll, and at one point she sat on the doll and began to rapidly punch the doll. When the program ended, the children were asked to move to another room. This room was full of toys, and the Bo-Bo Doll. Behind a two-sided mirror psychologists observed each child’s behavior and how they interacted with the Bo-Bo Doll. Long explanation short, there was not one child that did not beat on, or demonstrate one or more of the actions that he or she observed while watching the program prior to being placed in the room with the Bo-Bo Doll. Nonetheless, even scientists have found that not only children are influenced by observation, but also how influential each person’s, no matter what age, actions can be through the eyes of the observer. The way in which a person develops his or her worldview is not primarily based off of what he or she will hear, but rather by what he or she observes. Much like the idea, or the cliche, that â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder,† the way in which each individual has conducted his or her reality is through his or her own perception of that reality, which then stems from his or her observations to conduct and form a given reality. Though the idea of perception being at the core of one’s reality, it is possible that perception has also, like reality, been formed through pure observations and imitations. As an adult, you can see that the very behavior of observation and the perception of reality infiltrating its way into our culture, every day. Take the world of reality TV for example; you’re a tan, blonde 23 year old and you’re sitting in your Lazy-Boy, kicking back with a bag of Doritos. As you pick up the remote control, point it at the television set and press the on button, on comes the 52† flat screen TV. Beginning to flip vicariously through the channels, while flipping though any infomercial and commercial that you find yourself stumbling upon, until you find The Hills. Eating your Doritos you find yourself completely immersed in the reality, or lack thereof, of the The Hills. Living in luxury, taking note of the emphasis on the outward appearance and materialistic lifestyle, slowly but surely your perception of their reality (on The Hills) is slowly developing into what you believe that reality should look like. Then, after 140 episodes of The Hills you find yourself visiting the tanning bed 4-5 per week, maxing credit cards out for Gucci Italian leather handbags and other designer materials, an STD, and loans that you aren’t able to pay off because you decided that you wanted a BMW Sport like one of the main characters on The Hills. Nonetheless, your perception of reality was distorted, or better yet created, through a world that you solely observed. Of course this analogy is much too the extreme, but it was created to prove a point, â€Å"monkey see, monkey do. Much of what an individual does says, or how a person perceives is observed through his or her upbringing. Nonetheless, brain development, and the sensation of perception only continues to form each and every day. This may be one of the reasons why Gandhi said, â€Å"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. † Whatever a person puts into his or her mind is essentially what he or she becomes. The perception of reality forms a reality that it custom to a particular perception. Aristotle said, â€Å"The energy of the mind is the essence of life. †