Overview

"This title offers an insightful exploration into how our ability to learn makes humans and human nature unique. What makes us human? In recent decades, researchers have focused on innate tendencies and inherited traits as explanations for human behaviour. Renowned psychologist Arthur Staats thinks this trend is misleading - he suggests that what makes our species unique is our marvelous ability to learn. ""The Marvelous Learning Animal"" first explores how evolution has endowed us with extremely versatile bodies and a brain of 100 billion neurons, making us especially suited for a wide range of sophisticated learning. It then moves on to present a new way of understanding humanness - in human evolution, in the behavioural nature of the human body, in child development, in personality, and in abnormal behaviour - a unified conception that provides new ways of solving human problems, and that lays the foundations for new areas of science."

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9781616145972

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Reviews

The nature-nurture debate represents one of the fundamental questions in the field of psychology: Is human behavior wired into our genes or are we shaped by our learning histories and situational pressures? In recent years, advances in evolutionary theories, genomics, and neuroscience have focused considerable attention on 'nature.' In lucid and accessible prose, Arthur W. Staats makes the case for 'nurture, ' arguing that human uniqueness derives from our capacity to learn. Not everyone will agree with Staats's conclusions, but all will find that his book represents a significant and compelling contribution to a critical debate. -Peter Salovey, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, Yale University Staats has thrown down a challenge to the currently fashionable biological and genetic determinism. Here he places our breathtaking capacity to learn front and center in theunderstanding of human nature in his forcefully argued account. -Frank Farley, PhD, Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia; former president, American Psychological Association; former president, American Educational Research Association In this exciting book, Staats challenges the biological focus that has come to dominate the study of human behavior and makes a compelling case for the central role of humankind's inimitable learning ability in making us the unique species we have become. The importance of this insight cannot be overestimated. It creates the basis for a new paradigm, providing a new way of conceptualizing human nature and a framework for uniting many disparate fields of study and applications of scientific knowledge with real-world social and behavioral problems. The implications for the future development of the science of human nature are profound. -Karl Minke, Long-term department chair and associate professor (retired), Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

The nature-nurture debate represents one of the fundamental questions in the field of psychology: Is human behavior wired into our genes or are we shaped by our learning histories and situational pressures? In recent years, advances in evolutionary theories, genomics, and neuroscience have focused considerable attention on 'nature.' In lucid and accessible prose, Arthur W. Staats makes the case for 'nurture, ' arguing that human uniqueness derives from our capacity to learn. Not everyone will agree with Staats's conclusions, but all will find that his book represents a significant and compelling contribution to a critical debate. <br>-Peter Salovey, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, Yale University <br><br> Staats has thrown down a challenge to the currently fashionable biological and genetic determinism. Here he places our breathtaking capacity to learn front and center in theunderstanding of human nature in his forcefully argued account. <br>-Frank Farley, PhD, Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia; former president, American Psychological Association; former president, American Educational Research Association<br><br> In this exciting book, Staats challenges the biological focus that has come to dominate the study of human behavior and makes a compelling case for the central role of humankind's inimitable learning ability in making us the unique species we have become. The importance of this insight cannot be overestimated. It creates the basis for a new paradigm, providing a new way of conceptualizing human nature and a framework for uniting many disparate fields of study and applications of scientific knowledge with real-world social and behavioral problems. The implications for the future development of the science of human nature are profound. <br>-Karl Minke, Long-term department chair and associate professor (retired), Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

"""""The nature-nurture debate represents one of the fundamental questions in the field of psychology: Is human behavior wired into our genes or are we shaped by our learning histories and situational pressures? In recent years, advances in evolutionary theories, genomics, and neuroscience have focused considerable attention on 'nature.' In lucid and accessible prose, Arthur W. Staats makes the case for 'nurture, ' arguing that human uniqueness derives from our capacity to learn. Not everyone will agree with Staats's conclusions, but all will find that his book represents a significant and compelling contribution to a critical debate."" -Peter Salovey, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, Yale University ""Staats has thrown down a challenge to the currently fashionable biological and genetic determinism. Here he places our breathtaking capacity to learn front and center in theunderstanding of human nature in his forcefully argued account."" -Frank Farley, PhD, Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia; former president, American Psychological Association; former president, American Educational Research Association ""In this exciting book, Staats challenges the biological focus that has come to dominate the study of human behavior and makes a compelling case for the central role of humankind's inimitable learning ability in making us the unique species we have become. The importance of this insight cannot be overestimated. It creates the basis for a new paradigm, providing a new way of conceptualizing human nature and a framework for uniting many disparate fields of study and applications of scientific knowledge with real-world social and behavioral problems. The implications for the future development of the science of human nature are profound."" -Karl Minke, Long-term department chair and associate professor (retired), Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa"

Author Information

Arthur W. Staats is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaii.

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