Essentialism as Philosophy of Education believes that objects have a set of characteristics required for them to exist and retain a posture. Essentialism believes that specific categories such as women, racial groups, armies, bands, religions, and original artwork) all contain hidden traits, underlying reality, or fundamental characters that are not visible or visual; instead, it requires a deep understanding of the concept, its history, and specific traits that set them apart from other, awarding their unique identities.
Furthermore, it is essential to understand the importance of these hidden elements or realities responsible for giving objects their identity based on several hidden or not-so-apparent traits. These traits are not common in different groups but are shared or identical in any given group that category members share. As a philosophical system, essentialism has significant flaws as any other philosophical subject may contain. And new psychology research suggests that essentialism is a thinking heuristic that children and adults can use (Richardson, 2011).
Selectionistic behavior explanations are based on the organism’s experiences. Based on that individual’s experiences and the repercussions of their behavior, behavior is chosen to continue or be discontinued. In applied behavior analysis, selectionism is a crucial topic. It explains how people change as individuals and as organizations over time. Through selectionism, the environment can affect living organisms in three different ways.
Phylogenetic selectionism, ontogenetic selectionism, and cultural selectionism are examples. Selectionism alters a person’s physical and behavioral characteristics. Biologists and neuroscientists have frequently discovered that they can measure the influence of behavioral selection. Selectionism can be found in fields like biology, neurology, developmental psychology, and the way selectionism is represented in the discipline of behavior analysis. Behavioral selection is frequently carried out in the presence of other people. A social experience enhances or weakens a behavior (Zięba, 2021).
Linguistics, neurology, philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, and anthropology contribute to the interdisciplinary study of the mind on scientific grounds and its operations. The study above is known as cognitive science. Cognitive scientists comprehend these faculties, and they found the basis of their studies by objecting or employing them as their foundational building blocks. According to behavioral science, human activity frequently strives to generalize human behavior related to society and its direct or indirect impact on society.
The essentials of genetics are a belief in reductionist genetic makeup that accounts for immutable characteristics. And these characteristics determine aspects of human genetic or hereditary character and behavior, potentially leading to biased thinking, stereotyping, and extending beliefs that a person will have a specific outcome if he has a specific genetic predisposition, makeup, or abnormality. People come to conceive genes as having the same characteristics as essences. The many flaws in the natural selection concept are discussed, notably the difficulty of extrapolating generalizations from limited artificial selection research to macroevolution. Emotions play a fundamental part in human thought, yet cognitive science ignores this (Berryessa, 2016)
Essentialism is the belief that specific categories have a more profound truth or actual nature that can’t be seen directly. It is believed that each entity has a set of characteristics required for its identity and function. A theory or system based on natural, artificial, or social selection ideology is known as selectionism. Cognitive science is a branch of psychology that studies the mind, learning, and mental organization and incorporates linguistics, computer modeling, and philosophy elements.
Artificial intelligence, linguistics, anthropology, and neuroscience are all examples of cognitive science. Behavioral science is a branch of research that studies the behavior of humans and animals. Anthropology, psychology, and psychobiology are examples of behavioral science. Observing human behavior and dealing with the fact that human test participants are always aware they are being examined and can change their conduct are problems linked with behavioral research.
2. a. Description: private events are a minor concept that has no bearing on behavior accounts. Neural events, secret stimuli, and hidden behavior are some of the examples.
b. For example, when we walk, our bodies produce proprioceptive stimulation, which influences our posture and maintains balance, and any disturbance can lead to imbalance or complete paralysis. The stimuli produced in the human body regulates excretory responses, excluding excretions in human bodies on various occasions such as love, patience, anger, etc. However, keep in mind that we’re dealing with private stimuli in this case. We are still not dealing with the behavioral occurrences that lead to the formulation of the idea of private events, i.e., relationships involving feelings and cognitions.
c. Several actions that are not observable and characterized as private stimuli or covert responses play an essential role in behavioral relations. And these relations are complicated phenomena or groups of actions that can be treated as private events, even if they are not fully unobservable or ancillary results of contingencies. A behavioral relation, or, more commonly, a set of behavioral relations, is an example. Although a recurring response is private, the relationship as a whole is not. Feeling sad, pleased, or afraid can all be interpreted as involving private stimulation, with the unobservable component being the private stimulation.
Preconceptions, personal epistemologies, alternative conceptions, and naive science are all examples of misconceptions. Despite the lack of factual backing, beliefs are an example. “People use a portion of their brains such as 2% or 10% of their brain.” “Most mentally ill people are violent, or illness leads to violence,” and, “Responses to inkblots tell us a great deal about our personalities” are commonly repeated. Misconceptions are based on assumptions rather than facts, or more precisely, misconceptions are a “feeling of gut or instinct.” Misinformation and falsehoods abound in the mythology surrounding behavioral science. Regrettably, the vast majority of them show no signs of abandoning popular culture.
The following are some common misconceptions about behavioral science:
1. Behavioral science is not considered a scientifically proven type of autism therapy.
2 Behavioral therapy is subjected to autistic students only.
3. There are no differences between behavioral regimens whatsoever.
4. Behavioral therapies incorporate tabletop discrete trial training.
5. Robotic behavior is encouraged by behavioral treatment.
b. Instructional Techniques. Given that misunderstandings typically linger after formal training and might obstruct student learning in one way or another, one of the most pressing questions is how to counteract them and eliminate their impact as much as possible. The first phase of research focused on the role of source monitoring (i.e., urging students to examine the sources of their misconceptions closely; Critical thinking, and refutational teaching tactics.
Consider teaching methods: while misunderstandings are typically resistant to correcting through traditional education, refutational readings, essays, lectures, or a combination of the three effectively eradicate them using the same foundational grounds as the misconceptions. Once a pseudoscience is repetitively taught to people using credible resources or mediums of information sharing, the misinformation becomes the right thing. Therefore, the refutation should also be made at the same pace and frequency using credible channels of message sharing.
References
Berryessa, C. M. (2016). Genetic essentialist biases, stigma, and lack of mitigating impact on punishment decisions. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 3(2), 359–364.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsw023
Richardson, A. (2011). Introduction: Essentialism in science and culture. Critical Quarterly, 53(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8705.2011.02018.x
Zięba, P. J. (2021). Selectionism and Diaphaneity. Axiomathes.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-021-09608-w
