Reply to Discussion | Human Behavior and Learning

Running head: REPLY TO DISCUSSION POST
REPLY TO DISCUSSION POST
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REPLY TO DISCUSSION1
Introduction
Taking insights from the interesting findings highlighted by Blessing, I truly believe that
culture shapes our biological evolution and not the other way around. The following sections will
briefly expound this point of view by drawing insights from current literature as well as age old
theoretical perspectives of human behavior and learning.
Discussion
One of the most prominent aspects influencing human behavior and reflective of
evolutionary changes is human cognition, or the process of understanding, perceiving,
interpreting and learning from surroundings (Pathan et al., 2018). Traditional developmental
theories of learning, such as the social learning theory by Vygotsky, emphasized the role of
culture on the behavior of individuals within the zone of proximal development which in turn, is
acquired and imitated by children (Marginson & Dang, 2017). The influence of culture in
learning and behavior of an individual can further be observed in real life in the form of cultural
differences observed between Asian and Western cultures. While Asian cultures since traditional
times have relied upon collectivism and valued activities involving the family or community,
Western cultures continue to emphasize upon behaviors and activities associated with
independence and individualism (Roland, 2016). To further understand the role of culture upon
human behavior, the eye tracking study by Xu, Scott and Gao (2017) can be considered which
aimed to assess how culture influenced understanding of tourism advertisements between
Australian and Chinese tourists. Using eye tracking methodology and a survey, participants were
required to look through tourism advertisements with one reflecting families and another
reflecting an individual sand tobogganing. It was observed that 61.8% of Australians self-