PSY 244 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Cultural-Historical Psychology, Theoretical Ecology, Child Development
Document Summary
Some themes pertaining to child development are the origins of human behavior, the patterns of developmental change over time, and the individual and contextual forces that define and direct child development. Origins of behavior: biological versus environmental influences (page 5) Maturation: genetic or biologically determined process of growth that unfolds over a period of time. John watson was a nurture dude and claimed that biological factors placed no restrictions on the ways that the environment can shape the course of development. Modern developmentalists explore how biological and environmental factors, or nature and nurture, interact/work together to produce developmental variations in different children. The interaction between biology and environment is an active, dynamic process in which the child also contributes to the process. Pattern of developmental change: continuity versus discontinuity (page 5) Developmental changes add to or build on earlier abilities in a cumulative/quantitative way without abrupt shifts from one change to the next.
