Development is something happens across the lifespan, from infancy to old age. The constant debate within developmental psychology is what influences a person’s development more: their environment (nurture) or their genes (nature). Although it is easier to pick a side, it is important that one realize that both areas affect a person’s development. This paper will focus on the how both environment and genes work together to influence an infant’s development. Even before a baby is born, the environment and genes are important in development. Prenatal development is greatly influenced by genetics, serving as a baseline for development (Boundless, n.d.). These genetics can be simple things like hair color and eye color, but also to …show more content…
An important example of this is about a baby’s temperament (Pfaff, 2014). Some babies are naturally shy and quiet or energetic and extroverted when they are born (Pfaff, 2014). However, their environment can also affect this (Pfaff, 2014). Parents can help their shy baby grow more comfortable with others by making play dates with other babies and get-togethers with family and friends (Pfaff, 2014). Conversely, forcing a shy baby to interact with people can make the opposite occur; they can become even more wary of unknown people and situations because of this coercing (Pfaff, …show more content…
A critical period is defined as an important period where a body part is vulnerable to the absence of environmental influence and stimulation (Gable & Hunting, 2000). A child can be born with perfect vision but if not exposed to light during the first six month of life, the nerves connect to the visual cortex that process light dies, which most likely leads to poor eyesight or even blindness (Gable & Hunting, 2000). An infant not being exposed to light is most likely due to the environment they were currently living; this stresses the point of environmental effects being very important to a baby’s development. A more drastic example of this was the case a Genie, a feral child who was locked in her room for the first thirteen years of her life and was never spoken to (Brogaard, 2017). Because of never being spoken to, Genie never learned to speak (Brogaard, 2017). When linguist Susan Curtiss began teaching Genie English, the girl began to develop a large vocabulary but could not produce proper grammatical sentences (Brogaard, 2017). This proved that she missed the critical period to learn grammar because of her neglectful environment (Brogaard, 2017). Genie did not suffer brain damage when she was born that would have inhibited her from speaking properly but because of the influence of her neglectful environment, she could never learn to speak properly. This is important to realize how the
The five environmental influences that I would use to publicize in a campaign to promote healthy prenatal development would be: the effects of the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, some medications, and diseases. These environmental influences are the most common problems that women who are pregnant face today. Most lack the knowledge of how and why these influences are harmful to their unborn child, and if needed how they can seek treatment.
Years ago, premature birth almost always meant death for the baby. Today, however, we have the technology to nurture these infants’ development, and many of them survive to lead normal, healthy lives. Although, very premature infants (that is, those born before about the fifth month) are still not likely to survive, many born at five months and older will thrive. Some preterm babies, however, do have many obstacles to overcome. There are a variety of medical problems that affect some of them, they may have impaired mental or physical conditions, and they may be looked upon by others in their environment as slow, or they might be treated differently because they were premature. All of these factors, plus a few more that will be discussed, affect the development of preterm infants into their adolescent years, and sometimes beyond.
“The term “nature versus nurture” is used to refer to a long-running scientific debate. The source of debate is the question of which has a greater influence on development: someone's innate characteristics provided by genetics, or someone's environment. In fact, the nature versus nurture debate has been largely termed obsolete by many researchers, because both innate characteristics and environment play a huge role in development, and they often intersect”. (Smith, 2010 p. 1)
The early stages of a child’s lifespan is the most crucial part of their overall development. “Brain and biological development during this time is influenced by an infant's environment”(Statistics
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.
Berger, K. S. (1980). 4: Prenatal Development and Birth. The developing person (pp. 93-121). New York, N.Y.: Worth Publishers.
Especially nurture which means to care for someone. Everyone needs to feel nurture in his or her life in order to have some full potential. With nurture, it is how we develop our behaviors, personalities, and our intelligences. Genie didn’t have anyone to care for her or love her; everything was taken away from her. For a proper development and attention a parent gives to their child, it was all absent in Genies childhood. At the age of 13 after she was discovered, she could barely say a word yet alone understand one word, but was so eager to learn some new words to start speaking again. The test she had taken of her brain at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles showed that her left side of the brain was not working and that’s where the language takes place in the brain. Her brain looked similar to some of the children that had their left hemisphere removed. The reason why it looked like this was because she didn’t start to use her left side of the brain until she was 13 years old. It is the reason why she couldn’t fully talk and make conversations with others. Critical period hypothesis basically means that a human have a window to master learning their first language. If that window is passed than the opportunity is gone to fully function. “This indicates that although certain cognitive and behavioral skills are hardwired (nature), they must be enriched through the practice of loving and caring nurture” (St. Rosemary). “On broader levels Genie followed some of the normal patterns of young children acquiring a first language, but researchers noted many marked differences with her linguistic development” (Wikipedia). She missed the most sensitive years for her functional development but slowly working to get some of that
Bronfenbrenner theorised that there are many different influences that affect a child’s development, forming 5 systems to categorise certain events, or environments into. This theory helps me to understand the theme of Nature Vs Nurture, as it gives some context as to what environments can affect a child's development. From this, we can work out solutions for each child's situation, to ensure that their development is still progressing.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
This essay covers information over the course of prenatal development. I will also discuss teratology and hazards to the prenatal development, those such as, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and opioids. Additionally, I will discuss how maternal factors such as maternal diet and nutrition, maternal age, emotional states and stress, and paternal factors, may influence prenatal development.
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 critical period hypothesis for language acquisition was popularized by neurologist Eric Lenneberg. The hypothesis suggests that if an individual is not exposed to language during a specific period in their childhood then they will have great difficulties acquiring language later in life (Redmond, 1993). I believe the two “wild children” cases of Genie and Victor provides evidence to support the critical period hypothesis. Genie’s case supports the hypothesis because although she developed a vocabulary and despite all of her intense therapy sessions, she still was not able to create meaningful and grammatically correct sentences (Garmon, 1994). Genie’s inability to create real sentences may indicate that she endured the extreme deprivation during her critical period and it prevented her from acquiring language. Victor’s case also supports the critical period hypothesis. The professionals in the documentary The Secret of The Wild Child stated: “While Victor knew how to read simple words, he never learned how to talk” (Garmon, 1994). This quote implicates that similar to Genie, Victor developed a vocabulary,
In conclusion, genetics play an important role in the development of a child in light of the transfer of genes from parents to offspring. Even though a child inherits several genes from the two parents, his/her ability to express these factors is dependent on gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Therefore, a child’s growth and development is not only influenced by hereditary factors but also determined by environmental influences.
In the study of child development, nature and nurture are two essential concepts that immensely influence future abilities and characteristics of developing children. Nature refers to the genetically obtained characteristics and abilities that influence development while nurture refers to the surrounding environmental conditions that influence development. Without one or the other, a child may not develop some important skills, such as communication and walking. The roles of physiological and psychological needs in a person’s life are also crucial for developing children. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that humans don’t only aim towards survival, but also aim towards self-actualization (Rathus, P. 94).
Developmental Psychology is an area which studies how we as humans change over the period of our life span. The majority of the focus is broken into three categories: cognitive, physical and social change. The creation of who we are today comes down to the everlasting debate of nature versus nurture. This ongoing debate of what makes us who we are and which one is the driving force in development may be so simple that it’s complex. Rather than it being a conflict of nature “versus” nurture, it is very well possible both play an equal part in the development of us as humans. In the beginning, we start off as single cell in the form of a zygote. In that moment, where the DNA begin to form and the first seconds of life take place, the zygote is already experiencing interaction with the womb. In the process of determining why we are who are it is better to look more at the interactions of nature and nurture, analyzing how both have shaped us.