1.3: Issues in Development

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There are some big questions in developmental psychology that scientists have argued about for a while.

Is development the result of genes or environment?
Does development occur in stages or gradually?
Do characteristics of individuals remain fairly stable or do people change as they grow?
Is development universal or culture specific?
Is an individual active in their own destiny or are they pretty much passive recipients of things happening around them?

It might be immediately clear to you that there is significant overlap between these questions but they are also each a slightly different question that many theorists disagree about. Many influential theorists actually fall on opposite ends of each of these basic questions.

Nature and Nurture

Why are people the way they are? I am a pretty disagreeable person, while my husband is very agreeable. I am rather short (I like to say I am 5’ 2” on a good day), while my best friend is almost 6’ tall. Clearly people vary on a number of different characteristics. The nature versus nurture question asks whether we are (primarily) the result of our genes or our environment. At first flush you might think that biological characteristics are genetic while psychological characteristics are environmentally influenced. However, that that is a really narrow view becomes apparent when you consider the following

Prenatal environment is part of environmental influences (or nurture)
There are several biological conditions that are environmentally influenced (certainly many diseases fall in this)
Many psychological disorders are highly heritable (consider Alzheimers, Autism Spectrum and even depression)

There are some theorists who try to explain the genes that underlie such seemingly psychological behaviors like altruism (for example, Thompson, Hurd & Crespi, 2013) while others study the environmental influence on diabetes as seen in the Tamashiro et al (2019) study that showed that the stress that pregnant female rats were exposed to increased susceptibility in those fetuses to diabetes in adulthood. Most theorists today accept that there is always an interplay of genes and environment –and that they are inextricably connected. In fact, there are many who think that this question – whether genes or environment has a greater part to play in some characteristic – is like asking whether a piece of music you are listening to is coming more from the musical instrument or the musician playing it!

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process, or is it best viewed as one of more abrupt changes? Of course, a child who is two is different from the one who is twelve. The question is whether the changes that occurred in the interim were gradual or stage-like. Some theorists like Freud, Piaget and Erikson believe that change occurs in stages and that certain traits characterize children at a particular stage and that they are qualitatively different at each stage from those individuals in a different stage. For example, Piaget asserts that children are not merely smaller adults, they think in different ways than how adults do. Thus, stage theorists assume development is more discontinuous.

On the other hand Vygotsky, behaviorists and information processing theorists believe that cognitive change occurs gradually, and quantitatively. In contrast to Piaget for example, information processing theorists believe that the differences between a 2 and 12 year old are that the 2year old has less, not different, capacity for attention, memory and problem solving.

The continuous growth of a tree. versus the four distinct stages of development in the life cycle of a ladybug. — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Development can be continuous or quantitative as shown in the graph to the left depicting the growth of a seedling into a tree, or it can be discontinuous or qualitative as in the graph on the right, likened to the stages of development of a ladybug.[1]

Stability versus Change

Do individuals’ traits and characteristics remain relatively stable throughout their lifespans? Some theorists see life as ever changing and our personalities and traits as reflecting those differences. For example, behaviorists consider learning through environmental factors as primary to everything we do and are. Therefore, they believe that it is possible to always change behaviors that have been learned and learn more adaptive ones in their place – no matter your age. On the other hand, more deterministic approaches like Freud’s see behavior and particularly personality as more stable. Freud suggested that the root of all adult characteristics can be found in events that occurred in the first five years of life.

shy girl with fingers in her mouth — Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Traits such as shyness portrayed by this girl, have been found to be relatively stable across childhood.

Universal versus Culture-specific

Is development universal in some ways or does the trajectory of development differ in different cultures? Certainly, it is clear that there are some things that happen in the same way everywhere. All humans are born alive and all people die. But do our circumstances differ substantially such that in between there are many things that are influenced largely by cultural values and circumstances? For example, Ainsworth’s theory holds that the relationship between mother and child formed in the first year of life provides a blueprint for all future relationships and that being securely attached to mom in the first year brings positive socioemotional and even cognitive outcomes. However, there are other researchers (for example, Keller, 2013) who hold that to ignore the contextual differences that are built into other cultures takes a highly individualistic view that does not apply to many cultures of the world where children are brought up with much more community, and many older people play an important caregiving role.

Active versus Passive

How much do you play a role in your own developmental path? Are you at the whim of your genetic inheritance or the environment that surrounds you? This is almost a metaphysical question, but developmental theorists certainly take different views on this question. Some theorists see humans as playing a much more active role in their own development. Piaget, for instance believed that children actively explore their world and construct new ways of thinking to explain the things they experience. In contrast, many behaviorists view humans as being more passive in the developmental process.[2] For example, the title of Skinner’s book “Beyond Freedom and Dignity” shows how behaviorists believe that we are all way more a product of our circumstances than we might think.