ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS
Acquired characteristics are those we develop as a result of our experience, as compared with those with which we are born. The term "acquired characteristics" is used in connection with the age-old controversy of heredity vs. environment.
The language we speak, for example, is an acquired characteristics. Our ability to speak is inherited. All people, no matter where they are born, no matter what their experiences may be have the capacity to learn to speak a particular language-that is, unless they are born with some physical defect. The language they do speak, however, is the result of their experience in a particular country.
Although musical talent may be in large measure inherited, the ability to play a particular instrument is another acquired characteristic. A person, for example, who inherited to tonal sensitivity, or no ability to discriminate among various tones, would have enormous difficulty in learning to play a musical instrument well. Yet, on the other hand, a person born with great musical talent might never learn either to compose or play music if his life did not provide him with the experience necessary to add acquired characteristics to his hereditary potential.
At the present time, although there are still many people who believe that much of our personality is hereditary, the best evidence to date suggests that all of our personality is acquired rather than inherited, We believe this despite the fact that there is frequently a marked personality resemblance between children and their parents. The reason for this similarity, we feel, is largely the result of learning, or the acquisition of characteristics through the imitation of our parents.
Acquired characteristics are those we develop as a result of our experience, as compared with those with which we are born. The term "acquired characteristics" is used in connection with the age-old controversy of heredity vs. environment.
The language we speak, for example, is an acquired characteristics. Our ability to speak is inherited. All people, no matter where they are born, no matter what their experiences may be have the capacity to learn to speak a particular language-that is, unless they are born with some physical defect. The language they do speak, however, is the result of their experience in a particular country.
Although musical talent may be in large measure inherited, the ability to play a particular instrument is another acquired characteristic. A person, for example, who inherited to tonal sensitivity, or no ability to discriminate among various tones, would have enormous difficulty in learning to play a musical instrument well. Yet, on the other hand, a person born with great musical talent might never learn either to compose or play music if his life did not provide him with the experience necessary to add acquired characteristics to his hereditary potential.
At the present time, although there are still many people who believe that much of our personality is hereditary, the best evidence to date suggests that all of our personality is acquired rather than inherited, We believe this despite the fact that there is frequently a marked personality resemblance between children and their parents. The reason for this similarity, we feel, is largely the result of learning, or the acquisition of characteristics through the imitation of our parents.
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