Issues on Human Development

Nature vs. Nurture --- Heredity vs. Environment

This Controversy pertains to two opposite ideas on

child development.

Nature points to the idea that genetic make-up the parent has
endowed to the child as early as conception is an important
factor in the child’s development.

Nurture is the kind of environment the child is subjected to that

contributes to development.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

Continuity says development is a continuous Process that occurs

gradually in small increments.

Discontinuity says that development is made up of series of

discrete stages that represent major and abrupt transformations
in functioning.

Passivity vs. Activity

Passivity holds the idea that a child is passive organism that is

simply shaped by the genetic composition or by the
environmental influences. (go with the flow)

Activity holds the belief that children are active agents who
shape, control and direct their own development.

Early Experience vs. Later Experience

Early Experience contributes a lot to the development of the

child.
Psychoanalytic theorists give focus on what developed and
established during the early childhood period.
According to Freud, much of a child’s personality is completely
established by the age of 5.

Later Experience researchers found that the influence of

childhood does not necessarily have a dominating effect over
behavior thought out the life of the individual. Improvements
have been observed in those individuals who have not so good
experiences during their childhood. They have developed and
become normally adjusted individuals later in their lives.