NATURE

NATURE

1. NURTURE

   • Environmental shaping of behaviour
     • "There is no such thing as an inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament and behavioural characteristics." Watson 1925
     • INTERACTION
       • Contemporary researchers nw believe attributes such as intelligence, temperament & personality are the result of an interaction between biological predisposition & environmental forces.
       • "Biology + environment are as inseparable as conjoined twins who share a common heart." Halpern 1997
       • Timing of Experience
         • Internal models of experience interacts with maturation
           • eg: critical periods for attachment formation (Bowlby 1969).
       • Behaviour Genetics influence on Social Systems
         • Individual's genetic heritage may affect their environment & behaviour shown towards them.
           • eg: born with high IQ = more stimulating environment
       • Vulnerability & Resilience
         • Same environment can have different outcomes on different children due to different inherited characteristics
           • eg: some children in disadvantaged circumstances show no adverse effects.
         • Some characteristics act as vulnerabilities + others protective factors
           • eg; high IQ = protective factor Irritable = vulnerability
       • Psychoanalytic theory
         • Originated with Freud's Psychosexual Theory. Uncnscious motives usually repressed.
         • Inborn instincts
         • Parental child rearing practices
       • Infants perception is limited + both maturational processes + experience contribute to perceptual awareness
         • Smith + Katz 1996
   • Internal Models of Experience
     • Create schemes to interpret events based on previous experiences
     • Universal process that is unique to each individual
   • Social Systems
     • eg: Family, community, culture
     • how they interact to affect development.
   • Learning Theory
     • Behaviourism Watson believes children are tabula rasa
     • Skinner belives that development is a reflection of operant conditioning as children are passively shaped by reinforcers & punishments.
     • Children are molded by their environments
       • Bandura Bobo Doll - modelling
     • Observational learning
   • Empiricist philosophers believed that infants = tabula rasa who learns to interpret sensations.

2. Inborn developmental plan

   • eg; milestones, norms
   • "Differences among people are due to differences in germ cells with which they were born." Wiggam 1923.

3. Maturation

   • Genetically programmed, sequential patterns of change
     • eg: walking, talking
   • Universal
   • Immune to environment influence

4. Developmental Constraints

   • Response patterns that constrain possible developmental pathways
     • eg: sucking, tracking objects
   • Universal
   • Inbuilt/pre-wired

5. Behavioural Genetics

   • Genetics contribute to inter-individual behavioural differences
     • eg; intelligence, depression, sociability
   • Universal

6. Evolutionary Theory

   • Born with biologically programmed behaviours that promote adaptive developments
     • Evolved through natural selection. Certain adaptive characteristics have sensitive periods.
   • Appropriate environment is necessary for successful adaption

7. Nativist philosophers believed that basic perceptual abilities are innate.