...changes or challenges associated with the following stages: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Stage of Development | Physical Development | Cognitive Development | Social Development | Childhood | This is when a child begins to grow, crawl, walk, talk. They begin to develop gross and fine motor skills. | Their play will move from simple make-believe to plots involving more characters and scenarios, and games with sophisticated rules. | Children at this age can be very possessive and have difficulty sharing. Toddlers tend to have rapid mood swings. While their emotions can be very intense, these feelings also tend to be quite short-lived. | Adolescence | This is normally when a child hits puberty. Also, this is when a child’s body has what are referred to as “growth spurts”. Interestingly, the child’s hands and feet tend to grow before the torso. | The brain is still developing during the adolescence stage of life. A child in this stage tends to have more immature and impulsive behaviors. | A child tends to look at their parents for influence during this stage of life, but peer pressures are still a factor. Romantic and sexual relationships become very important in this stage of life. | Adulthood | During early adulthood a person may continue to add a bit of height and weight. Hormonal changes also continue to occur, but the effects are less pronounced than they were during adolescence. During middle adulthood the most noticeable changes is the loss of skin elasticity...
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...Name: Tutor: Task: Date: Developmental psychology Infancy and Childhood Physical development During early childhood stage, infants begin to drop their roundish baby like display. Their bones grow more proportionate with the lengthening of their legs and arms. They start to obtain fine motor skills. The newfound skills enable them to grip a pencil in a more functional way. This is a good time to provide them with puzzles and blocks, as well as to supervise them while they use paper and scissors as objects (Stern 245). Although it is normal for boys than girls to be more physically active, they will acquire more control over their motor skills allowing for the advancement of new activities such as swinging, jumping, running, and climbing. Children will start to change themselves away from taking a daily nap, but it is vital to give periods to rest. Cognitive development According to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development; the first being the sensory motor stage, It is considered to extend from birth to the age of two years. The development of reflexes, motor abilities as well as senses is rapid. Throughout the initial development stages, infants only perceive and interact with their immediate surrounding through their actions and observations. The preoperational stage stretches from the age of two to seven where the child is not yet able to think logically. With the acquisition of language, the child can express to the world via mental images and symbols. The third...
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...birth to death. Human development spans a broad range of human endeavor that has attempted to understand why human beings to the things they do, grow the way they do, and the potential of human beings. There has been an ongoing debate whether human development is impacted by nature or nurture. If the growth of the individual were to be guided by nature, the individual would take the position that all or most of its behaviors and characteristics are the result of genetics inherited from their parents (Colella, 2013). Meaning that they were fully equipped with all the skills they need in their lives when they are born. On the other hand, if an individual’s growth were guided by nurture only, the individual would think and behave in a certain manner because that is how the individual was taught to do so or from experience (Colella, 2013). In this case the individual is also impacted by the environment surrounding them. Although nature has some impact on human development on an individual, nurture has a greater impact on an individual’s development. It has a bigger affect on human development due to early childhood experiences, acquired intelligences and socialization throughout their life. Early childhood is the most and rapid period of development in a human life. The experiences gained from birth to the four years of age are critical to the complete and healthy cognitive, emotional and physical growth of children (Collins, 2012). The conditions in the house greatly impact...
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...The Nature Versus Nurture of Cognitive Development The brain is the central control for the human body; it receives, organizes, and responds to all stimuli that are detected outside and within the body. However, what makes the human brain superior to all other organisms is its ability to carry out cognitive processes of which less complex organisms are not capable. As Myer states, “cognition refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating” (176). In order for the brain to achieve the ability of cognition, its development must begin in the prenatal stage of life. The anatomy of the brain, environmental influences, and genetics are crucial factors that influence cognitive development. The brain has been classified not only as the control for physical processes but also the control center of the mind. As neuroscientists continue to make discoveries about how the brain develops and how it works, they have begun to understand the effect the brain has on cognitive development (Meadows 316). The brain is made up of neurons. These neurons are the part of the brain that is responsible for cognition. As Meadows states, “neurons are large as body cells go, with a cell body that has many filaments of tissue protruding from it, called the dendrites. One protrusion is longer that the others, and this is called the axon (328). The brain is composed of a network of neurons made of thousands of fibers that join up with each other to...
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...importance of the terms applied and interdisciplinary as they help to define the field of child development. Interdisciplinary is when it has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields of the combined efforts of people from many fields of study. When it comes to applied it is added to an experiment or study theory and it can be changed. 2. List the age periods researchers use to study child development, and cite and describe the three domains in which development is often divided. There are six periods researchers use to study child development. The first is the prenatal which is conception to birth. Next is the infancy and toddlerhood which is from birth to two years. Early childhood is next and that stage is two to six years old. Then it’s the middle childhood which is from six to eleven years old. Adolescence follows after which is from ages eleven to eighteen. Next is the emerging adulthood which is eighteen to twenty five years old. With age periods there is also three domains in which development is divided. First is physical which includes change in health, functioning of the body system, perceptual and motor capacities, body size proportion and appearance. Next is cognitive which describes changes in intellectual abilities. Last is emotional and social, which are changes in emotional communication, interpersonal skills and relationship, moral reasoning and behavior, self-understanding, and knowledge about others. 3. Explain the role of theories...
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...INTRODUCTION The human brain is a complex organ that begins to grow and develop at just four weeks prenatal and continues on changing and developing until a person’s death (Boyd & Bee, 2012). A person’s heredity and genes play a part in this development however a person’s experience also shapes the development of the brain. The age old debate of nature verse nurture can be applied to brain development. The following discussion will take the reader on a journey through the development of the brain from its prenatal development to its development in old age. The reader will see that it is the combination of both genes and the environment which shapes the brain. The report will show that both nature and nurture are required to develop a healthy brain. DISCUSSION The human brain is set apart from other animal in its ability relay thoughts and mental states including desires, ideas, and intentions to other individuals. This concept is referred to as theory of mind and to date has not been seen in any other animal (Harmony, 2008). The question is what shapes the brain? Is it shaped by a person’s genes or is it the environment that person lives in. The answer is both. The human brain needs both genes and experience in order to develop healthily and to its fullest potential. Brain Development Prenatal The human brain begins to development well before birth. By the sixth week of pregnancy, an embryo’s brain is able to move in response to stimuli and by week eight the brain connects...
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...paper will include many views of the lifespan perspective followed by an explanation of how nature and nurture effect human development. Developmental theory can be defined as a conglomeration of ideas about achieving a good change in one’s society. Such theories draw on a variety of science disciplines and approaches that can provide a framework to understand how and why people evolve throughout their lifespan. Theorists in an attempt to make sense out of their observations try and design concepts that can outline a person’s development throughout life from one’s start as an infant all the way through adulthood (Berger, 2010). The influential theorists in this paper that I will discuss are: Sigmund Freud, John Watson, and Jean Piaget. Psychoanalytic theory is a theory of personality organization and the dynamics of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior (Berger, 2010 p. 17). (Berger, 2010) According to Freud, development occurs over three stages during the first six years of life, each stage being characterized by sexual pleasure centered on a particular part of the body (p. 18). Infants experience the oral stage, early childhood experience the anal stage, followed by preschool years in experience with the phallic stage. In middle childhood, Freud stated the latency stage takes effect, when this silent period ends that person then enters the genital stage at puberty. The most...
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...separately, with no knowledge of their twinship. Neubauer also recognized the exceptional research possibilities such a separation offered. Studies of twins reared apart are one of the most powerful tools that scholars have to analyze the relative contributions of heredity and environment to the makeup of individual human natures. Identical twins are rare, however, and twins who have been separated and brought up in different families are particularly unusual. Neubauer was aware of a mere handful of studies examining twins reared apart, and in most cases the twins being studied had been separated for only part of their childhoods and were reunited at some point long before the study began. Here was an opportunity to look at twins from the moment they were separated, and to trace them through childhood, observing at each stage of development the parallel or diverging courses of their lives. Because the sisters shared the same genetic makeup, one could evaluate the environmental effects on the twins' personalities, their behavior, their health, their intelligence. Such a study might not set to rest the ancient quarrel over the relative importance of nature versus nurture, but there were few other experiments...
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...NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE Nature or Nurture: The Case of the Boy Who Became a Girl by Keith K. Schillo Biology Department SUNY College at Oneonta Part I – A Tragic Error In 1965, Janet Reimer of Winnepeg gave birth to twin boys named Bruce and Brian (Colapinto, 2004; CBC, 2004). Both infants were normal and healthy, but because they had difficulty urinating doctors recommended that they undergo circumcision (i.e., surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis) at six months of age. Although this is a routine operation, the doctors who performed this procedure used an unconventional method that resulted in the destruction of Bruce’s penis. Mr. and Mrs. Reimer sought the advice of numerous specialists, but all agreed that Bruce would have to live without a penis. At the time that the Reimers were coping with the mutilation of their son’s genitalia, a Johns Hopkins University psychologist was receiving considerable attention for his ideas on the biology of gender and sexuality. He promoted the theory that a child’s gender identity (i.e., the identification of the self as male or female) was determined by environmental variables such as the social conditions in which the child is raised. This idea is a form of the “nurture theory” of development. A competing view is the so-called “nature theory”; that is, the idea that a person’s innate qualities are determined solely by biological mechanisms. The psychologist was essentially advocating...
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...NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE Nature or Nurture: The Case of the Boy Who Became a Girl by Keith K. Schillo Biology Department SUNY College at Oneonta Part I – A Tragic Error In 1965, Janet Reimer of Winnepeg gave birth to twin boys named Bruce and Brian (Colapinto, 2004; CBC, 2004). Both infants were normal and healthy, but because they had difficulty urinating doctors recommended that they undergo circumcision (i.e., surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis) at six months of age. Although this is a routine operation, the doctors who performed this procedure used an unconventional method that resulted in the destruction of Bruce’s penis. Mr. and Mrs. Reimer sought the advice of numerous specialists, but all agreed that Bruce would have to live without a penis. At the time that the Reimers were coping with the mutilation of their son’s genitalia, a Johns Hopkins University psychologist was receiving considerable attention for his ideas on the biology of gender and sexuality. He promoted the theory that a child’s gender identity (i.e., the identification of the self as male or female) was determined by environmental variables such as the social conditions in which the child is raised. This idea is a form of the “nurture theory” of development. A competing view is the so-called “nature theory”; that is, the idea that a person’s innate qualities are determined solely by biological mechanisms. The psychologist was essentially advocating...
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...they are. Or is an individual born with these qualities? Are cold blooded killers naturally born as killers? The environment where you grew in may have a great effect on you. It influences the way you behave and respond to situations. What shapes us and how we...
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... Lifespan development study of humans involves psychological, behavior, and genetic alterations from birth to the end of one’s life. How one progresses through life is mainly influenced by environmental and hereditary (nature and nurture) factors that involve cognitive, physical, moral, personality, and social development (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). This paper will discuss the influences on physical and cognitive development of middle childhood years (6 – 12 years). As a child progresses into these years, physical, moral, cognitive, personal, and social traits are further developed. All of these traits are imperative in the personality development of humans. Understanding how humans develop traits as physical, moral, and social during the middle childhood years will give insight into lifespan development (Karpov, 2005). Physical Development Factors During childhood years, the physical development stage ranges from gross motor development skills to fine motor development skills. Hereditary factors are an important aspect in characteristic and physical development during childhood years. The physical stage is also witnessed by weight gain, body growth, and physical agility of the body. During the childhood stage, muscular movements and strength development increase. Movements such as running, walking, balance, and jumping also develop (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2001)....
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...Abstract The quest for an answer to what determines human behavior has been going on for many years now, is it nature or nurture? The broad scope of human behavior has compelled researchers across various fields to systematically analyze what compels individuals to act the way they do. Is human behavior encoded in genetics or does it evolve by way of individual experience and environment. Through the review of recent empirical data across these various fields it is clear that both nature and nurture plan an important role in the development of human behavior. Subsequently multidirectional models have emerged with a mounting emphasis on how nature and nurture act independently in addition to collectively each forever shaping the other. Together Nature and Nurture Shape Human Behavior. The discussion concerning the appropriate significance of genetics and environment in human behavior has been around for quite a long while. This topic has generated massive attention, throughout the years, gaining numerous supporters on both sides of the debate. This attention essentially, has lead to some of the most remarkable psychological discoveries in recent years. The terms nature and nurture can be traced back to13th century France, expressed by Francis Galton in 1874 (Nature versus nurture, 2011). The term nurture in refers to the manner in which behavior is shaped by culture and environment. It builds its foundation on John B. Watson's theory of behaviorism...
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...in the progression a person makes, in terms of cognitive and social development which contribute to educational success. Whether the location is one that catalyzes and promotes growth and excellence, or one that decelerates the maturation of a child’s cognitive and social ability, the neighborhoods in which people are raised in have a large impact on children who are moving through the developmental process. Hence, two vastly different locations, in this case the town of Englewood, Chicago and Wicker Park, Chicago, have completely opposite effects on the children in each respective neighborhood. The notorious neighborhood of Englewood has a reputation for being a crime infested, violent area. On the contrary, Wicker Park is known for the numerous artist that inhabit the town, as well the art shows and festivals that take place annually and the location’s successful school system. The issue of these poverty stricken locations and their effect on the development of children is a serious issue, and can be fixed by restoring the communities which struggle with this instability, and observing the safer community. These safer environments are home to the big names stated above, and safer settings can help the cognitive and social progression in children, and allow them to grow into the next famous individual. Cognitive and social development is a topic...
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...Johnson UW Composition Margins and Literature Horner MP 2 The discovery of psychological disorders and their causes is very recent, despite the anguish it has brought to people since the beginning of time. One of the most prevalent disorders is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, as of 2015, “GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population. . .” The causes of this and other anxiety disorders is an ongoing debate between psychologists, known as the nature versus nurture debate. Nature refers to one’s hereditary predisposition, meaning the genes passed down from your parents. Anxiety has been proven to be passed down from parent to child, but some psychologists argue that these genes do not become active until stimulated by some external event, such as the loss of a loved one, or another major life trauma. These external events and how one is raised is referred to as “nurture.” Because of this hand-in-hand relationship, generalized anxiety disorder stems from the coherence of one’s genetic predisposition as well as their environment and traumas they experience in their lifetime. The acceptance of this conclusion between psychologists and physicians will lead to the development of more targeting treatments and will give patients the peace of mind in knowing that their disorder is not because they have done something wrong. Generalized apprehensiveness disorder is characterized by sedulously assiduous...
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