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Developmental Psychology
Several changes take place in children throughout their childhood stage. Common changes and development in children revolve around psychological processes such as language acquisition, cognitive development, emotional development and identity formation. Developmental psychological examines the degree to which development is a result of nature and nurture. In this case, nature refers to the innateness of an attribute, while nurture refers to the environmental effects of that attribute. The two concepts provide controversial arguments about the natural behaviours of a child. Nativists (nature) argue that children psychological processes are influenced by an organism’s genes, while empiricists nurture explain that psychological processes are influenced by the interaction with the environment (Plomin). This assignment, therefore, ascertains that nature and nurture have a significant impact on children development.
Firstly, nature dramatically contributes to the kind of behaviour a child holds. This is because of Biological factors present in a child such as genetic code. Children are usually born with certain genetic traits which they often inherit from their parents. Some of the personality traits the children have are similar to those of their parents. On the other hand, as children interact with the environment, culture, peers, and parents have the potential to provoke changes in the brain chemistry of a child. Interaction with the environment can make a child develop stress which eventually leads to depression in a child (Plomin).
In conclusion, it is evident that both nature and nurture significantly shape the behaviour of children. There is a deep interaction between the environment and gene regarding child development. For instance, the environment determines how a given gene is expressed while genes determine how children interact with the environment. However, the debate is on the degree of contribution each has to the development of children. In this case, nurture seems to have significant contribution to child development more than nature.
Works Cited
Plomin, Robert. Genetics and experience: The interplay between nature and nurture. Sage Publications, Inc, 1994.