ISSUES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Some of The Big Questions About How People Develop

(By Kendra Cherry - updated on October 04, 2020)
 
 
There are a number of important issues that have been debated throughout the history of
Developmental Psychology.

The major questions include the following:

 Is development due more to genetics or environment?
 Does development occur slowly and smoothly, or do changes happen in stages?
 Do early childhood experiences have the greatest impact on development or are later
events equally important?

Here are some of the basic questions within the realm of developmental psychology and
what many psychologists today believe about these issues.
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE

•The debate over the relative contributions of inheritance and the environment usually
referred to as the nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in both
philosophy and psychology.
 
•Philosophers such as Plato and Descartes supported the idea that some ideas are inborn.
On the other hand, thinkers such as John Locke argued for the concept of tabula rasa—a
belief that the mind is a blank slate at birth, with experience determining our knowledge.
 
•Today, most psychologists believe that it is an interaction between these two forces that
causes development.
 
•Some aspects of development are distinctly biological, such as puberty. However, the
onset of puberty can be affected by environmental factors such as diet and nutrition.
EARLY EXPERIENCE VERSUS LATER EXPERIENCE

•A second important consideration in developmental psychology involves the relative

importance of early experiences versus those that occur later in life. Are we more affected
by events that occur in early childhood, or do later events play an equally important role?
 
•Psychoanalytic theorists tend to focus on events that occur in early childhood. According
to Freud, much of a child's personality is completely established by the age of five. If this is
indeed the case, those who have experienced deprived or abusive childhoods might never
adjust or develop normally.
 
•In contrast to this view, researchers have found that the influence of childhood events does
not necessarily have a dominating effect over behavior throughout life, however there is
evidence that childhood adversity may correlate to greater levels of stress in adulthood.
Many people with less-than-perfect childhoods go on to develop normally into well-
adjusted adults.
CONTINUITY VERSUS DISCONTINUITY

•A third major issue in developmental psychology is that of continuity. Does change

occur smoothly over time, or through a series of predetermined steps?
 
•Some theories of development argue that changes are simply a matter of quantity;
children display more of certain skills as they grow older.
 
•Other theories outline a series of sequential stages in which skills emerge at certain
points of development. Most theories of development fall under three broad areas.
Psychoanalytic theories
Psychoanalytic theories are those influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud, who
believed in the importance of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences.

Freud's contribution to developmental theory was his proposal that development

occurs through a series of psychosexual stages.

Theorist Erik Erikson expanded upon Freud's ideas by proposing a 

stage theory of psychosocial development. 

Erikson's theory focused on conflicts that arise at different stages of development and,
unlike Freud's theory, Erikson described development throughout the lifespan.
Learning theories

•Learning theories focus on how the environment impacts behavior. Important

learning processes include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social
learning.

•In each case, behavior is shaped by the interaction between the individual and the
environment.
COGNITIVE THEORIES

Cognitive theories focus on the development of mental processes, skills, and

abilities. Examples of cognitive theories include 
Piaget's theory of cognitive development
ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR VERSUS DIFFERENCES
•One of the biggest concerns of many parents is whether or not their child is developing
normally. Developmental milestones offer guidelines for the ages at which certain skills
and abilities typically emerge, but can create concern when a child falls slightly behind
the norm.

•While developmental theories have historically focused upon deficits in behavior,

focus on individual differences in development is becoming more common.
 
•Psychoanalytic theories are traditionally focused upon abnormal behavior, so
developmental theories in this area tend to describe deficits in behavior.

•Learning theories rely more on the environment's unique impact on an individual, so

individual differences are an important component of these theories. Today,
psychologists look at both norms and individual differences when describing child
development.