136k views
3 votes
Modern research indicates biology can influence behavior.
A. True
B. False

User Evan Grim
by
8.2k points

1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

The true answer indicates that biological factors, indeed, play a significant role in shaping behavior, according to modern research, with behaviors being influenced by both genetics and environment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question addresses the impact of biology on behavior, which falls within the field of Behavioral Biology. The correct answer to the question is A. True. Modern research has indeed shown that biological factors can influence behavior. Concepts such as sociobiology suggest that some behaviors can be associated with genetic determinants, also known as biological determinism. While these behaviors may be influenced by natural selection, they are also shaped by environmental factors, illustrating an interaction between nature (genetics) and nurture (environment).

Behavioral biology studies the biological and evolutionary bases for changes in behavior in response to stimuli. Fields that overlap with this area include ethology and comparative psychology, both of which consider genetic and environmental components. Moreover, the ongoing controversy over the application of these principles to human behavior reflects the complexity of the subject, where deterministic views often clash with interpretations that emphasize a larger role for environmental shaping of behavior.

Overall, the field has been informed by scientific evidence from various disciplines, including genetics, ethology, psychology, and even mathematics, the last contributing to our understanding of biological evolution. As the study of microbial genomics has shown, genetic tools can also be used to study the psychological behaviors of organisms, providing further evidence for the biological underpinnings of behavior.

User Maraumax
by
8.2k points