Developmental psychology is known for engaging in multiple debates over theories regarding human development. The textbook definition of human development is, “scientific study of processes of change and stability throughout the human lifespan” (Papalia & Feldman, 2012, p. 4). Every human being constantly changes from the moment of their conception through their last days on Earth. Human development is constantly evolving which brings new topics to evaluate and discuss. Those who study human development, developmentalists, evaluate different theories in the hopes of expanding their knowledge on the subject. This allows them to use their findings to impact people’s lives for the better. Their findings deal with multiple subjects including education, one’s physical and mental health, social policies, and child upbringings. A debate that is often brought up in human development is whether or not each individual is active or reactive in their own development?
Controversies can always be found in topics surrounding psychology, and the debate over whether development is active or reactive is no exception. One is active in their own development by initiating events, not just reacting to them. Being reactive in your development involves responding automatically to the events in your life. Dating back to the eighteenth century, two well known philosophers developed their own opinions towards the debate. The English philosopher John Locke firmly believed that the mind is a blank state which society marks on. He used the term tabula rasa to define a blank state. The opposing viewpoint was led by the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau believed that every individual develops according to their natural tendencies. John Locke’...
... middle of paper ...
...nismic model describes human development the best. We are always progressing and changing. That can not be done if we just let our surroundings guide us. Every individual has to be instrumental in their own development. Viewing human development this way changes your entire outlook on life itself. You realize that to live up to your full potential, you have to be in charge. For example, you are in a situation where your friends offer you a drink even though you are under age. Do you accept the drink just because you are in that environment or do you make your own choices based on what you believe? If you choose the second option, you most likely agree with the organismic model. Believing that human development is active allows you to fully flourish in life. The organismic model truly wants development to be growing and active, not behaving like a machine.
Schuster, C. S., and Ashburn, S. S., (1980). The Process of Human Development: A Holistic Approach. Boston: Little, Brown and Company Inc.
Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development.
nurture argument. Theorists have wondered how much of development is affected by genetics and the environment. Ultimately, nature and nurture intertwine to shape the lives of children. Nature may predispose children to certain behaviors if placed in specific environments, however the timing of the environmental exposure and the child’s natural tendencies also play a role. Theorists have also discussed the extent to which development is universal and how much of it is unique to individuals. There are consistencies that have been noted universally yet; theorists have observed variations in their competency in different tasks and way of life that may be contributed to genetics or the environment. Lastly, theorists debate about whether changes in development can be portrayed as qualitative where it involves dramatic changes or quantitative in which development is a steady progression. These debates have merits independently but require each other for a better understanding of child
...stically present the three overarching perspectives that guide today's researchers and practitioners of developmental psychology, David Bjorklund and Carlos Hern? CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT: AN IINTEGRATED APPROACH shows how the major perspectives on human development must be integrated? Rather than presented as contrasting and sometimes contradictory ways of looking at development? In order to meaningfully understand infants, children, and adolescents as well as how they develop.
Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my development that will support theorist such as Erikson, Vygotsky, Berk, Piaget and other theorist. The age stages of prenatal will display physical and emotional domain, Infancy (0-2) will portray social and emotional domain, young children (2-6) will show cognitive and social domain, middle childhood (6-12) will display socio-cultural and moral domain and adolescence will portray nature vs. nurture and cultural domain. Development is crucial for a healthy wellbeing. As a physiotherapist it is significant to understand development in age stages, as it will aid knowing how young children will react compared to an adolescence who is more development mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and culturally.
I believe that a child’s growth is developmental, and each child needs a secure caring and motivating atmosphere in which to grow and developed emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. I believe nature and nurture are the two aspects that influence in child development. Nature and nurture are different in several ways, but they both play an important role in child development. I believe that the environment that a person grows up in has the most influence on child development because children reflect what they are taught and what they learn from the people around them.
Development is defined as the process of change, a pattern that occurs from birth throughout the lifespan of the individual (Keenan and Evans, 2009). In the UK it is usual to cover child development between birth and nineteen years. Development is often categorised into different areas of development; physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social. Smidt (2006) suggested that all areas of development are interrelated. Therefore development has to be approached with a holistic view; whilst looking at one area of development all areas of development need to be considered. "The holistic ideology values the whole child understanding the young child as an individual within the context of his or her family, community and culture” Wood (1998). With this in mind practitioners need to be aware of a child’s background. Children usually progress through a set pattern of stages, unless a child has additi...
Individuals’ life and personal experiences play an important role in one’s development. As a matter of fact, the path from infancy to adulthood can be shaped by many factors that happen during the individual’s life. According to Drewery and Claiborne (2010), human development is an area of study that seeks to analyse and understand how ongoing changes affect people’s life and their development. There are many theories around human development, yet all of them share the notion that there are several universal stages that take place in every individual’s development: childhood, adolescence and adulthood (Drewery & Claiborne, 2010). This current essay aims to explore and analyse one of the three life stages that characterised human development:
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a
Development is the process of growing, forming or creating into something slightly more advanced than before. Development starts during conception and ends during death. Development consists of three developmental domains which are, physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial development. Each of which involve some form of growing or changing including the changes of moods throughout the lifespan. The Nature versus Nurture concept are issues that are found in stages of development as well. Nature which relates to the behavior that is inherited by genetics, and Nurture which relates to the behavior that is inherited or learned from the environment. With every developmental change or growth in a person’s life the mood of the
Developmental psychology is an area of research devoted to explaining the continuing growth and change that occurs over the course of one’s life. Throughout history many varying theories have been used to attempt to explain the complex process of childhood experiences altering who individuals become as an adult.
Personality involves a blend of characteristics that make one unique. In reviewing personality, we consider the influence of the interactions that one is engaged in, the nature or the environment of one's upbringing and genetics. The characteristic traits may change over time while some of them becoming a lasting part of a person’s personality. In this essay will analyze the theories that relate to the character and the various stages that children undergo during development. We will use the same theories and developmental stages in analysis my progress from childhood up to date.
In this report I will be discussing the development issues about prenatal development, and the newborn. Developmental psychology is basically a psychology study that focuses on the cognitive, physical, and social change throughout our life span. In prenatal development we learn about nature and nurture, continuity and stages, and stability and change. Prenatal Development is the process in which babies develop from one single cell after making a baby into an Embryo and later on a fetus . An Embryo is the process of a human organism for about approximately 2 weeks after the fertilization though the second month.
The purpose of this essay will be to discuss whether human nature is good, or evil, or both good and evil, or neither good nor evil. To facilitate the following discussion, human nature here would be defined as the distinguishing characteristics we born with, that we tend to have naturally without the influence of external factors. The definition agrees to Xunzi’s, that nature is what is given by Heaven: one cannot learn it; one cannot acquire it by effort. This essay will explain that the deepest essence of human nature is self-preservation and reproduction, which cannot be truly classified into good or evil. It is followed by how we are diverged to behave goodly or badly, argument against the “good nature theory” and different between self-preservation with greed and aggression.
Adulthood marks the largest component of lifespan defining the period when a person has attained maturity. Typically, development process manifests new trend in adulthood since it no longer centers on cognitive and physical growth spurts, but considerably characterized by psychosocial gains coupled with consistent but gradual physical declination (aging) prompted by primary determinants like decline or loss in cellular function, oxidative damage, tissue damage, natural selection, DNA modification, and secondary accelerators like general unhealthy lifestyles inclusive of poor diet and absence of physical exercises (Cavanaugh et al., 2010; Steinberg, 2010). In tandem, this essay implores advancing