Nature vs Nurture PDF

# Nature vs Nurture - Dr. D Raj kiran - Senior Resident - Dept of Psychiatry - KIMSRF ## Charles Darwin "Through natural selection, organisms pass on their genes to subsequent generations, certain abilities become inbuilt into the genetic code. So many abilities that develop in humans are biologic...

# Nature vs Nurture - Dr. D Raj kiran - Senior Resident - Dept of Psychiatry - KIMSRF ## Charles Darwin "Through natural selection, organisms pass on their genes to subsequent generations, certain abilities become inbuilt into the genetic code. So many abilities that develop in humans are biologically based rather than purely products of learning." ## John B Watson "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors." ## Nature - Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics: Physiological/ Biological characteristics. - All behaviours are present from conception. - Genes provide the blueprint for all behaviours, some present from birth, others pre-programmed to emerge with age. - Is a developmental approach. ## Nurture - Behaviour is determined by the environment; the things people teach, things they observe. - Behaviour is the result of interactions with the environment. - Born an empty vessel; waiting to be filled up by experiences gained from environmental interaction. - Can become anything provided the environment is right. - Behaviourist theories are nurture theories. ## Nature vs Nurture - Degree to which human behaviour is determined by genetics/biology or learned through interacting with the environment. ## Who created? - Initial use of the Nature vs. Nurture Theory was credited to psychologist Sir Francis Galton. - Hippocrates described human behaviours as being biological, the result of four different body fluid types called humors: - Blood - Yellow Bile - Black Bile - Phlegm - Later, Philosophers thought that people are born as blank slates (i.e. "Tabula Rasa"), and that eventual individual differences develop solely due to the result of environmental influences. - 20th century psychologist John Watson shared a similar perspective, events that take place during early childhood have more influence on what kind of adults we become compared to the effects of our genes. ## Support for Nature - Piaget: Children's thought processes change at predetermined age-related stages. - Freud's theory of aggression: Innate drive (called Thanatos). (Eros - pleasure drive) - Language Acquisition: Chomsky maintained language is the result of innate cognitive structures in the mind. - Children are predisposed to make sounds and understand grammar. - Does not happen from birth but language skills develop rapidly after a certain period of time. - Language acquisition follows the same sequence in all children, an inbuilt genetic mechanism is responsible. ## Support for Nurture - Little Albert: Classical conditioning of fear, phobia acquisition. Provides evidence that the environment can be manipulated to create a phobic response & behavioural change. - Zimbardo (1973) Stanford Prison Experiment: 24 participants - randomly assigned to the role of 'prisoner' or 'guard'. The behaviour of the 'normal' students was affected by the assigned role; seemed to believe in their allocated position. - Bandura's social learning theory: Aggression is learned from the environment through observation and imitation. Bobo doll experiment. - Skinner: Believed that language is learnt from other people via behavior shaping techniques. ## Nature-Nurture Interaction - Behaviour is often a result of interaction between nature and nurture. - An individual's characteristics may elicit particular responses in other people. - Temperament: how active, responsive or emotional an infant is influenced in part determines their caregiver's responses. - Gender: people tend to react differently to boys and girls due to expectations of masculine and feminine characteristics. - Rutter and Rutter (1993) Aggression hostility: Described how aggressive children think and behave in ways that lead other children to respond to them in a hostile manner. This then reinforces the antisocial child's view of the world. Thus, aggressive children tend to experience aggressive environments partly because they elicit aggressive responses. - Maguire et al. (2000) - Taxi driver study: Structural MRI scans of the brains of London taxi drivers compared with controls who did not drive taxis. Hippocampal volume correlated with the amount of time spent as a taxi driver. Posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects. It stores spatial representation of the environment and can expand regionally in people with a high dependence on navigational skills. ## Applications ### Nature - Drug therapies can be developed to treat behavioural or psychological problems that have a physiological origin. - Eg: SSRI's can be used to treat depression. ### Nurture - If behaviour is susceptible to environmental influences we can consider to adapt our environment. - Eg: promote helping behaviour, enhance learning, reduce aggression, decrease criminality etc. # Periods/Stages of Development ## 1. Development "Systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception and death or from womb to tomb." - Change and improvements in bodily functions - Continuous process throughout the life - The end of development means the end of the life ## Five Stages of Development 1. Prenatal 2. Infancy 3. Childhood 4. Adolescence 5. Adulthood ## 2. Stages of Development ### 1. Prenatal Stage - The word prenatal is composed of two words, "Pre" means before, "natal" means birth. - Whatever changes, transformation and modification occur before the birth of a child is called the Prenatal period. - The stage starts at the time of fusion of ovum and sperm. - Then this fusion of two cells creates a human being further. - All the alteration that occurs in zygote and embryo within the womb of the mother comes in the category of the Prenatal period. ### 2. Infancy (Birth to 2 years) - Best feeding age - A child is completely dependant on mother or caregiver. - Trust and mistrust is developed at this stage in a child. - Autonomy and self-independency is at the peak. - Physical, cognitive and social developments are at the height. ### 3. Childhood Period - Childhood covers the time period from 3 to 12 years. - The whole period before puberty is termed as the childhood period. - The best age in the life of a child, where a child forms personality, behaviour and attitude. - This age leads immense effect on the upcoming ages. - The age is further divided into three sub stages: - Early childhood (3 to 6 years) - Middle childhood (7 to 10 years) - Late childhood (8 to 12 years) #### Early Childhood Period (3 to 6 years) - Pre-school age - Initiative level - Rapid growth in a child - Interaction with friends is increased - A child gives more importance to play at this stage in order to explore and seek new internal skills and abilities. - Good environment and boosting enhances confident of a child and lack of appreciation and demotivation leads towards guilt and shame. #### Middle Childhood (7 to 10) - More hard work and diligence is done by a child. - The sense of pride and success is developed within a child. - A child wants to compete others and win the success. #### Late Childhood (8 to 12) - Intellectual capability is high. - Slower rate of physical development. - Most of the time is spent out of the home in friends' circle ### 4. Adolescence Period (13 to 19) - The age is termed as the Teen age. - Self-identity makers. - Usually, the age is called as the devil and emotional age. - Children seem more powerful and energetic. - The quality of curiosity, eagerness and raising questions is developed. - The end of the adolescence age means an individual is legally and socially matured ### 5. Adulthood Period (20 to 40 years) - More mature is an individual. - Closeness is transferred from friends to belongings and family members at the home. - More responsible and duty bound becomes a person. ## Conclusion - All ages are interrelated and dependant on each other. - If earlier periods of a child's life are spent in a good manner then ultimately affects positively on the latter ages. - Hence, each and every age of a child ought to given importance and value by parents. So that a good human being can be produced. # Psychology ## Havighurst’s Theory of Developmental Tasks ### What is a developmental task? - The term "developmental task" was introduced by Robert Havighurst in the 1950s. - A developmental task is one that arises predictably and consistently at or about a certain period in the life time of the individual. - Successful achievement of these tasks leads to the person's happiness and increases the probability of competence in the following tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness in the individual, disapproval by society and difficulty in later tasks. - Some tasks are the same for everyone, regardless of where you live, as they are about human biology. (e.g. Learning to crawl and walk) - Some tasks are different in different societies. (e.g. The task of getting an occupation is different in different cultures, in some cultures an individual gets his job while the person is very young while in other culture the person may get a job after long education and training) ### Havighurst's Six Stages of Development in Human Life - Infancy & early childhood (0-5 years) - Middle childhood (6-12 years) - Adolescence (13-18 years) - Early Adulthood (19-29 years) - Middle age (30-60 years) - Later Maturity (61 years and above) ### Developmental Tasks #### Infancy & Early Childhood (0-5 years) - Learning to: - Walk - Talk - Control the elimination of body wastes. - Form relationships with family members - Getting ready to read #### Middle Childhood (6-12 years) - Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games. - Learning to get along with age-mates. - Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and counting. - Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values. - Achieving personal independence. - Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions. #### Adolescence (13-18 years) - Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes. - Achieving emotional independence of parents and other adults. - Equipping self with skills needed for productive occupation. - Acquiring a set of values. - Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior. #### Early Adulthood (19-29 years) - Establishing a career. - Choosing a life partner. - Learning to live with the life partner. - Starting a family. - Managing home and responsibilities. #### Middle Age (30-60 years) - Maintaining economic standard living. - Adjusting to physiological changes. - Adjusting to aging parents. - Performing civic and social responsibilities. - Assisting teenage children to become responsible and happy adults. #### Later Maturity (60 years and above) - Adjusting to deteriorating physical strength and health. - Adjusting to retirement. - Adjusting to death of a spouse. - Meeting social and civil obligations. ### Havighurst's Developmental Tasks Theory - The assertions and principles presented by Havighurst are quite easily understandable and clear. - The applications of Havighurst's Developmental Tasks Theory extend to the field of education and have asserted influence over educators and psychologists worldwide. - Havighurst's developmental tasks have explained about how the problems are faced by us in all stages of life and he explains them really well. - We can all relate that biology has some kind of effects in our development, as well as psychology and society. # Child Development in Different Domain ## Child Development - **CHILD DEVELOPMENT** refers to change or growth that occurs in a child during the life span from birth to adolescence. - This change occurs in an orderly sequence involving: - **BIOLOGICAL** - **PHYSICAL** - **COGNITIVE** - **EMOTIONAL** development. - It is the individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. - The first 5 years of life are a time of incredible growth and learning. - About 95% of the development is completed before 5 years. - Developmental change is a basic fact of human existence and each person is developmentally unique. ## Difference Between Growth and Development - **Growth** refers to the physical changes in a child's size, height, weight, face, shoe size, length of arms and legs and body shape. - **Development** refers to the continuous progression whereby a child gains more complex knowledge. ## Pediatric Age Group Classification - New Born (0-4 weeks) - Infant (weeks 4-1 year) - Toddler (1-3 years) - Preschool (4-6 years) - School-aged child (6-11 years) - Adolescent (12-19 years) ## Characteristics - **Young infants (six weeks - 12 months)** - Social development, developing trust - Responds interactively to faces, talking, cooing - Standing, walking - **Mobile young toddlers (13 months-23 months)** - Judgement based on perception rather than logic - Expresses feelings through crying, body language - Color by moving the entire arm - **Older active toddlers (24 months- 35 months)** - Working on physical skills, less clumsy. - Empathetic if others hurt - Verbal, rapidly learning words - **Preschoolers (36 months- 5 years 11 months)** - Good vocabulary, application of grammar - Trying to find reasons and meaning - Can jump on foot, walk backwards - **Early elementary (6-11 years)** - Sense of justice, judgement based on reasoning. - Acquiring skills, physical as well as learning. - **Young teens (12-19 years)** - Potentially have strong skills, interest, skills. - Self-conscious; beginning to be emotional. - Can do all physical tasks. ## Developmental Milestones **A diagram is shown with a circle divided into 6 segments.** - Fine motor - Gross motor - Cognitive - Language - Social & Emotional - Spiritual & Moral ## 5 Domains of Development - **PHYSICAL:** Biological growth, acquisition of fine motor (small muscle) skill and gross (large muscle) motor skill. - Gross motor skills: This skills are the use of large muscles in arms, legs. - Fine motor skills: This skills are the use of small muscles as fingers wrists. - **COGNITIVE:** It refers skills such as learning, remembering, thinking, intelligence. - **SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL:** It refers to the abilities to establish positive attitude and maintain relationship with peers and the ability to regulate and express feelings in an appropriate way. - **SPEECH AND LANGUAGE:** It involves gaining skills needed to understand and use a language. - **SELF-HELP & ADAPTIVE:** It refers to the skills used for daily living such as dressing, eating, etc. ## Cognitive Developmental Theory - Piagets constructivist theory explained how children learn by constructing their own knowledge through their experiences. - The schema goes through periods of Adaptation either by Assimilating or Accommodating. ## Social and Emotion Base Developmental Theory - This theory is given by ERIK ERIKSON and its based on social, cultural, experiences shaping development. - This theory emphasizes the impact of the sociocultural environment where a child experiences each stages of the challenge. ## Jean Piaget - Jean Piaget talked about cognitive theory. ## Piagets Theory - **JEAN PIAGET** believed biology affected cognitive development in 4 stages that every child will go through. - Sensorimotor (birth-2) - Preoperational (2-7) - Concrete Operational (7-11) - Formal Operational (11-adult) ## Abraham Maslow - Abraham Maslow presented self-actualization theory. ## Maslows Theory - Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs shows that needs motivates behaviour and goals and his discovered pyramid shows our basic needs and growth needs. - This theory helps us understand how children are motivated. Basic needs of foods, shelter, security and belongings, etc. ## Importance Of Childhood Development - Childhood prepares us for adulthood. - Researchers show that childhood may be the most important developmental stage throughout life. - A child's brain is not fully developed at birth; it is the least developed of all the organs. - By age 3, it has already made trillions of cell connections. - Scientists have found that a baby's brain develops in a direct response to stimulation. - Stimulation is any activity that arouses a baby's sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. - Can improve a baby's curiosity, attention span, memory, and nervous system development. ## Hazards - Motor Development - Social - Speech - Physical - Personality - Associated with Birth - Prenatal Period ## Windows of Opportunity (0-10 age) - Young children’s brains are much more active, connected and flexible than an adults’ brain. - During the early childhood years, the brain is the most receptive and responsive to experiences. - (+) and (-) experiences, especially those most emotionally intense will have lasting effects. ## What should we do? **A diagram is shown with a circle divided into 6 segments.** - Learning through play - Well-Prepared Environment - Enrichment programs - Community Values - Involved parents - Committed teachers ## Effective Parenting Practices - Responding to children in a predictable way. - Showing warmth and sensitivity. - Having households and routine rules. - Sharing books and talking with children. - Supporting health and safety. - Using appropriate discipline without harshness.