Human Development: Nature vs Nurture

Understanding Human Development

• Human development studies how individuals change throughout their lives, considering various ages and conditions.

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature: Involves genetic influences inherited at conception.
• Nurture: Environmental factors impacting development, including personal experiences.
• Epigenetics: Refers to environmental factors affecting genetic expressions.
• Differential susceptibility: Highlights how experiences vary based on genetic predispositions.

Heredity & Environment

• Human characteristics are influenced by epigenetics, representing the interaction between environmental factors and genetic inheritance.

Life Span Perspective

• Development is multi-directional, changing in numerous ways over time; characterized by both gains and losses.
• Variations in the pace of change exist; development is not strictly linear and can include continuity and discontinuity.

Critical and Sensitive Periods

• Critical periods: Specific times where particular developments are essential for normal growth.
• Sensitive periods: Times when certain developments occur most effectively.

Contextual Influences on Development

• Multi-contextual: Development is impacted by various social contexts - individuals are influenced by their immediate environment and historical background.
• Cohorts: Groups of individuals born within a few years, sharing similar experiences.

Normative Influences

• Normative age-graded: Biological or environmental events affecting groups similarly, like puberty or social events.
• Normative history-graded: Historical events impacting attitudes of those who experience them, such as wars and social movements.

Non-Normative Influences

• Unusual events that influence individual lives, like atypical life experiences occurring at unexpected times (e.g., late puberty, winning the lottery).

Socioeconomic Context

• Socioeconomic status (SES): Influences development through income, education, and neighborhood, intertwined with age and cohort factors.

Cultural Context

• Culture: Shapes behavior and expectations through shared beliefs and social norms.
• Social construction: Understanding based on collective perceptions rather than objective realities.
• Challenges inherent in viewing differences as deficits; promotes respect for various cultures and groups.

Plasticity in Development

• Plasticity: Humans are capable of change; traits can adapt and evolve over time.
• Dynamic systems: Development is a continuous interplay between physical and emotional aspects, and individual environments, including family and society.

Research Methods in Development

• Cross-sectional research: Comparison of different age groups at a single point in time.
• Longitudinal research: Collecting data on the same individuals repeatedly over time.
• Cross-sequential research: Combines both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods to study various age groups over a period.