Republic of the Philippines

Western Mindanao State University

Pagadian External Campus
Bulatok, Pagadian City

PED 101- The Child and Adolescent Learner and the Learning Principle

Lesson 4: Key Issues in Human Development

Key Issues in Human Development

There are many different theoretical approaches regarding human development.

As we evaluate them in this course, recall that development focuses on how people
change, and the approaches address the nature of change in different ways:

 Are changes an active or passive process?

 Is the change smooth or uneven (continuous versus discontinuous)?
 Is this pattern of change the same for everyone, or are there different patterns of
change (one course of development versus many courses)?
 Are there prescribed periods in which change must occur (critical and sensitive
periods)?
 How do genetics and environment interact to influence development (nature
versus nurture)?

Is Development Active or Passive?

How much does one play a role in their developmental path? Are we at the whim
of our genetic inheritance or the environment that surrounds you, or are we able to
decide and steer our development? Some theorists believe that humans play a much
more active role in their development. Piaget, for instance, believed that children
actively explore their world and construct new ways of thinking to explain the things they
experience. Humanist theorists forward that people have self-determination. In contrast,
many behaviorists view humans as being more passive in the developmental process,
with outcomes being determined by their experiences. Evolutionary psychologists
emphasize the role of heredity in determining development. As we explore various
theories, ask yourself whether each approach considers development to be an active or
passive process.

Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous? (Continuity versus Discontinuity)

Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process, or as one

of more abrupt change? The answer to that question often depends on which
developmental theorist you ask and which topic is being studied. Continuous

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development theories view development as a cumulative process, gradually improving
on existing skills (see figure below). With this type of development, there is a gradual
change. Consider, for example, a child’s physical growth: adding inches to their height
year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as discontinuous believe
that development takes place in unique stages and that it occurs at specific times or
ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant’s
ability to demonstrate awareness of object permanence (which is a cognitive skill that
develops toward the end of infancy, according to Piaget’s cognitive theory—more on
that theory in the next module).

Figure 1.5.1. Visualizations of continuous and discontinuous development.

Is There One Course of Development or Many?

Is development essentially the same, or universal, for all children (i.e., there is
one course of development) or does development follow a different course for each
child, depending on the child’s specific genetics and environment (i.e., there are many
courses of development)? Do people across the world share more similarities or more
differences in their development? How much do culture and genetics influence a child’s
behavior?

Stage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal. For example,
in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach
language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman & Newport, 1995). Infants in all
cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter
their first word around 12 months old. Yet we live in diverse contexts that have a unique
effect on each of us. For example, researchers once believed that motor development
followed one course for all children regardless of culture. However, childcare practices
vary by culture, and different practices have been found to accelerate or inhibit the
achievement of developmental milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking
(Karasik, Adolph, Tamis-LeMonda, & Bornstein, 2010).

For instance, let’s look at the Aché society in Paraguay. They spend a significant
amount of time foraging in forests. While foraging, Aché mothers carry their young
children, rarely putting them down to protect them from getting hurt in the forest.
Consequently, their children walk much later: They walk around 23–25 months old, in

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comparison to infants in Western cultures who begin to walk around 12 months old.
However, as Aché children become older, they are allowed more freedom to move
about, and by about age 9, their motor skills surpass those of U.S. children of the same
age: Aché children can climb trees up to 25 feet tall and use machetes to chop their way
through the forest (Kaplan & Dove, 1987). As you can see, our development is
influenced by multiple contexts, so the timing of basic motor functions may vary across
cultures. However, the functions are present in all societies.

Figure 1.5.2. All children across the world love to play. Whether in (a) Florida or (b)
South Africa, children enjoy exploring sand, sunshine, and the sea.

Are there Critical or sensitive periods of development?

Various developmental milestones are universal in timing.  For example, most

children begin learning and expressing language during their first year. However, what
happens if a person misses that window of typical experience? What if the child were
not exposed to language early in life, could they learn language in later years? Does the
timing of experience influence development, and can it be corrected later?

Psychologists believe that there are time spans in which a person is biologically
ready for certain developments, but successful progress is reliant on the person having
essential experiences during that time. If these experiences fail to occur or occur after
the time span ends, then the person will not develop normally or may not fully recover,
even with later intervention.

Some aspects of development have critical periods; finite time spans in which
specific experiences must occur for successful development. Once this period ends,
later experiences would have no impact on this aspect of development. Failure to have
the necessary experiences during the critical period will result in permanent
impairments. For instance, a person that does not receive minimal nutrition during
childhood would not reach their full height potential by adulthood. Even with excellent
nutrition during adulthood, they would never grow taller because their critical period of
growth has ended.

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 More often, developmental aspects are considered to have sensitive periods.
Like critical periods, a sensitive period requires particular experiences during a specific
time for development to occur. However, with sensitive periods, experiences after the
period ends can support developmental gains later in life. It is not to say that post-period
interventions will always be simple or successful. For example, someone that was not
exposed to language

in early childhood, with intervention and great effort, may be able to make some gains in
late childhood, but may not fully recover all language-related skills.

Note : Kindly watch Video 1.5.1. Sensitive vs Critical Periods of Learning explains the

differences between the two using this URL =https://youtu.be/ytRC15vIA24

Stability vs. Change

Stability implies personality traits present during infancy endure throughout the
lifespan. In contrast, change theorists argue that personalities are modified by
interactions with family, experiences at school, and acculturation.
This capacity for change is called plasticity. For example, Rutter (1981)
discovered than somber babies living in understaffed orphanages often become
cheerful and affectionate when placed in socially stimulating adoptive homes.

How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development? (Nature versus Nurture)

Are we who we are because of genetics, or are we who we are because of our
environment? For instance, why do biological children sometimes act like their parents
—is it because of genetics or because of early childhood environment and what the
child has learned from their parents? What about children who are adopted—are they
more like their biological families or more like their adoptive families? And how can
siblings from the same family be so different?

This longstanding question is known in psychology as the nature versus nurture

debate. For any particular aspect of development, those on the side of nature would
argue that heredity plays the most important role in bringing about that feature. While
those on the side of nurture would say that one’s environment is most significant in
shaping the way we develop. However, most scholars agree that there is a constant
interplay between the two forces. It is difficult to isolate the root of any single outcome
as a result solely of nature or nurture.

We are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as
eye color, height, and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however,

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there is a deep interaction between our genes and our environment. Our unique
experiences in our environment influence whether and how particular traits are
expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how we interact with our
environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). There is a reciprocal interaction between
nature and nurture as they both shape who we become, but the debate continues as to
the relative contributions of each.

Note: Kindly watch Video 1.5.2.Gene-Environment Interaction explains how nature and

nurture interact to influence development using thisURL=https://youtu.be/sMyZO9YDlk8

Remember Me

culture: blueprint or guideline shared by a group of people that specifies how to live;

passed down from generation to generation; learned from parents and others.

cycle of poverty: when families with ow social mobility become trapped in poverty for

discontinuous development: idea that development takes place in unique stages and

occurs at specific times or ages

life chances: someone’s access to marketplace resources

lifespan perspective: an approach to studying development which emphasizes that

development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, contextual, and
multidisciplinary

nature: the influences of biology and genetics on behavior

non-normative influences: unpredictable influences not tied to a certain

developmental time, personally or historical period

normative age-graded influences: biological and environmental factors that have a

strong correlation with chronological age

normative history-graded influences: influences associated with a specific time

period that define the broader bio-cultural context in which an individual develops

nurture: environmental, social, and cultural influences of behavior

poverty: the state of not having access to material resources, wealth, or income

social mobility: the ability to change one’s economic status in a society

socioeconomic status: a way to identify families and households based on their

shared levels of education, income, and occupation

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PED 101 -Lesson 4 -Task 3

Name :__________________________ Course&Yr,:____________ Room #:_____

Test your Understanding

1. Which among the issues of human development do you favor? Why?

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2. Relate what you learned in this lesson to your personal development. What has
helped you become the person you are now? Is what you have become a
product of the mere interaction of heredity and environment? Or is what you
have become a product of both heredity and environment interacting and what
you have decided or determined yourself to become?

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Good Luck …Believe in yourself ! ! !

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