How might an individual's environment influence their behavior and learning?

An individual's environment has an enormous impact on his or her behavior and learning. One way to examine this subject is by considering the philosophy and life of John Locke (1632–1704). Locke was an extremely important English philosopher whose ideas are still weighty today.
Locke wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this work, he argued that the human mind was a tabula rosa, or blank slate. In other words, a baby's mind contains absolutely no knowledge about the world, so there are no innate ideas. For instance, a baby does not know about God. Knowledge of religion or any subject is imprinted on the brain over time. "No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience," Locke said.
A key part of one's environment is the family into which you are born. For example, Locke was born into a well-connected family, and that gave him the opportunity to obtain a first-rate education. His father, who served on the winning side in a civil war, used his clout to further his son's academic development.
Even today, children born into stable families in safe communities have more opportunities than those who are less privileged. Our behavior is learned from one's environment: "We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those that are around us," according to Locke.