ISSUE ON

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

GROUP 5

RESEARCHERS
Aba-a, Princess Danielle

Ancheta, Jasha

Bareng, Ma. Louiza

Campos, Mae Lannie

Eraya, Charmae

Escudero, Trixie

De Vera, Hazel

Fabellar, Jhon Denvher

Marañan, Jea

Marquez, Leirna

Olguera, Lilio Tabuquilde

TOPIC: Module 3: ISSUE ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT – Brenda B. Corpuz, Phd

OBJECTIVES:

 Definition of human development

 Know the issues of human development
 Explain every issues of human development
 Justify and advocate the human development

What is Human Development?

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT is the continuous process of growth and transformation that

individuals undergo throughout their lives. It includes changes in physical, cognitive, and
psychosocial domains from early childhood to late adulthood. The field of human development
seeks to understand how individuals evolve and adapt, the factors that drives these changes, and
the various patterns and stages of development they experience (Lumen Learning).

ISSUE ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Each of us has his/her own way of looking at our own and other people’s development. These
paradigms of human development while obviously lacking in scholastic vigor, provide us with a
conceptual framework for understanding ourselves and others. Scholars have come up with their
won models of human development. Back up solid research, they take stand on issues on human
development.

The interaction of heredity and environment is so extensive that to ask which is more important,
nature or nurture, is like asking which is more important to rectangle, height or width. – William
Greenough

THREE ISSUES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. Nature versus Nurture

2. Continuity versus Discontinuity
3. Stability versus Change
 NATURE VERSUS NURTURE
(human development)
The degree to which human behaviour is determined by genetics / behaviour (nature) or learned
through interacting with the environment (nurture)

NATURE

- Genes or Heredity Factor (inheritance or biological inheritance)

- Nature refers largely to our genetics. It includes the genes we are born with and other
hereditary factors that can impact how our personality is formed and influence the way
that we develop from childhood through adulthood (Cherry, 2022).

THEORIES about nature (human development)

CHARLES DARWIN

According to Darwin (1809-1882) and the logic of evolution, humans are described as
another form of primate. Human life, like any animal's, is experienced as a series of
problems to be addressed and resolved. Some traits become part of our nature through
natural selection: they help us survive long enough to pass the traits to the next
generation.

PLATO

Plato thought that humans were rational, social animals, and he connected our nature with
our souls and ability to reason rather than our bodies. Ideas such as “the good” and
“beauty” are inborn.

NURTURE

- Nurture refers to environmental experiences – the things people teach them, the things
they observe, and because of the different situations they are in.
- Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception, the
product of exposure, life experiences and learning on an individual human.
- Nurture encompasses the environmental factors that impact who we are. This includes
our early childhood experiences, the way we were raised, our social relationships, and the
surrounding culture (Cherry, 2022)
 THEORIES about nurture (human development)

ARISTOTLE

Aristotle introduced the idea to us of empiricism, or nurture. He described this as

knowledge is gained through experience (senses). Our thoughts and ways are not because
of our genetic make-up, but because of how we were raised and brought up by our
parents and overall lifestyle. (Amy Louise Wein, n.d.).

JOH LOCKE

English philosopher John Locke compared the mind at birth to a tabula rasa, or blank
slate, upon which our experiences imbue reason and knowledge. This is “nurture,” the
idea that a child’s environment determines whom they turn out to be. (The University of
Texas Permian Basin, 2024).

JEAN PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive framework that

describes how children’s thinking evolves as they grow. It focuses on how children
actively construct their understanding of the world through interaction with their
environment and innate cognitive structures (Piaget, 1952).

INTERACTION BETWEEN NATURE AND NURTURE

 Behaviour is often a result of the interaction between nature and nurture.

 An individual’s characteristics may elicit particular responses in other people.
o Temperament
 How active, responsive or emotional an infant is influences in part
determines their caregivers responses.
o Gender
 People tend to react differently to boys and girls due to expectations of
masculine and feminine characteristics.
o Aggression
 Displaying aggressive behaviour create particular responses from other
people.
 There are two main ways genes and environments interact:
o 1. Genotype-Environment (GE) Correlation
 This refers to the idea that people's genetic traits can influence the
environments they are exposed to. For instance, a child's genetic
predisposition might affect the way they are parented. It involves
correlations between genetic propensities and exposures to the
environment (Bouchard et al. 1996).
 o 2. Genotype-Environment (GE) Interaction: This refers to differential sensitivity
to experiences, in contrast to GE correlation, which denotes differential exposure
to experiences. This involves how individuals with different genetic makeups
respond differently to the same environmental conditions. For example, some
people may be more sensitive to stress due to their genetic makeup.

o Recent research has shown that about half of the correlation between
environmental factors and behaviors can be traced back to genetic influences.
This challenges the idea that environments solely impact behavior and highlights
the active role individuals play in shaping their own experiences based on their
genetics (Plomin, 2018).

QUESTIONS:

How do genetic inheritance and experience influence our development?

 Development is not all nature or all nurture, not all continuity or discontinuity and not all
stability or all change (Lerner, 1998 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). Both nature and
nurture, continuity and discontinuity, stability and change characterize our life-span
development. The key to development is the interaction of nature and nurture rather than
either factor alone (Rutter, 2001 as quoted by Santrock, 2002). In other words, it is a
matter of “both- and” not “either-or.” Just go back to the quote beneath the title of this
lesson and the message gets crystal clear.

To summarize, both genes and environment are necessary for a person even to exist.
Without genes, there is no person; without environment, there is no person (Scarr and
Weinberg, 1980, quoted by Santrock, 2002). Heredity and environment operate together
or cooperate and interact to produce a person’s intelligence, temperament, height,
weight… ability to read and so on.

 Genes determine certain human characteristics, such as eye and hair color and the
incidence of genetic diseases. However, most human traits, including life expectancy,
height, and weight, have both an environmental and genetic component. For example,
social learning theory states that children learn by observing the behavior of others, so
parenting styles and the child’s learned experiences determine whether they behave
politely or aggressively in specific situations. By contrast, learning’s genetic component
encompasses the biological foundation of cognitive processes, as explained in Frontiers
in Psychology. Genetic and epigenetic contributions to the learning process are
inheritable and interact with behavioral learning such as study habits and the availability
of educational resources.(Nature Vs. Nurture Child Development: Exploring Key
Differences, 2020b)
Which has a more significance influence on human development? (nature or nurture?)

 If heredity and environment interact, which one has a greater influence or contribution,
heredity or environment? The relative contributions of heredity and environment are not
additive. So we can’t say 50% is a contribution of heredity and 50% of environment.
Neither is it correct to say that full genetic expression happens once, around conception
or birth, after which we take our genetic legacy into the world to see how far it gets us.
Genes produce proteins throughout the life span, in many different environments. Or they
don’t produce these proteins, depending on how harsh or nourishing those environments
are. (Santrock, 2002).

CONTINUITY VERSUS DISCONTINUITY

(human development)
CONTINUITY

 These are gradual and increasing changes happening.

 Supported by Skinner’s operant conditioning.
 Continuous development, also known as continuity theory, suggests that growth and
development occur gradually over time (Östman et al., 2015). This means that individuals
typically progress through a set of stages, such as language acquisition or motor skill
proficiency, with little to no fluctuation in between. For instance, when people learn to speak,
their language skills will not increase from zero to fully proficient overnight but will progress
gradually.

DISCONTINUITY

 The change is distinct changes happening

 Supported by Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory of Human Development

 Discontinuity in development occurs in distinct stages or steps, with significant changes

occurring at specific points in time. This view suggests that individuals progress through a
series of separate phases, each characterized by different abilities or ways of thinking. For
instance, Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development illustrate this perspective, where
cognitive abilities change abruptly from one stage to the next. Discontinuous development
often involves external factors like family environment or educational experiences
influencing the transition from one stage to another (Annie et. al., 2023).
JEAN PIAGETS THEORY

According to Piaget, cognitive development occurs in four distinct stages, each characterized by
different ways of thinking and understanding the world (McLeod, 2024).

 Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 10-24 Months)

 They learn about the world through their senses and actions. Key developments in
this stage include object permanence—the understanding that objects continue to
exist even when they are not seen.

 Preopertaional Stage (18-24 Months to Around age 7)

 They develop the ability to engage in symbolic play and use words and images to
represent objects and experiences. However, their thinking is still intuitive and
egocentric, meaning they have difficulty understanding perspectives other than
their own.

 Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 11 years)

 They develop the ability to perform operations mentally and understand concepts
such as conservation (the idea that quantity doesn't change even when its shape
does) and reversibility (the understanding that objects can be changed and then
returned to their original state). Their reasoning is more logical but still tied to
concrete experiences.

 Formal Operational Stage (After Age 11)

 They can consider hypothetical situations, use deductive reasoning, and think
about abstract concepts and ideas. This stage marks the culmination of cognitive
development according to Piaget, and he proposed that individuals reach their full
cognitive potential at this stage.

QUESTIONS:

Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process (seedling to acacia), or

as one of more abrupt change (caterpillar to butterfly)?

Seedling to Acacia Tree: Gradual, steady growth, emphasizing the importance of nurturing and
support over time.

Caterpillar to Butterfly: Sudden, transformative changes, highlighting the potential for radical
personal evolution.
 The answer to that question often depends on which developmental theorist you ask and
which topic is being studied. Continuous development theories view development as a
cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills. With this type of development,
there is a gradual change. Consider, for example, a child’s physical growth: adding inches to
their height year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as discontinuous
believe that development takes place in unique stages and that it occurs at specific times or
ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant’s ability to
demonstrate awareness of object permanence (which is a cognitive skill that develops toward
the end of infancy, according to Piaget’s cognitive theory).

STABILITY VESUS CHANGE

(human development)
STABILITY

 Stability implies personality traits present during infancy endure throughout the lifespan. It
emphasizes the importance of early experiences on future development, suggesting that early
childhood experiences play a significant role in determining adult personality traits and
behaviors (McLeod, 2023).

CHANGE

 Change theorists argue that family interactions, school experiences, and acculturation modify
personalities. It implies that our behaviors, thoughts, and emotions are malleable and can be
influenced by experiences and environments over time. This perspective suggests that it is
equally likely for an introverted child to become an extroverted adult, depending on various
factors such as life experiences, education, or trauma. It implies that our behaviors, thoughts,
and emotions are malleable and can be influenced by experiences and environments over
time. This perspective suggests that it is equally likely for an introverted child to become an
extroverted adult, depending on various factors such as life experiences, education, or trauma
(Simply Psychology, 2023).

 Developmental change is the process of change that occurs in human beings throughout
development. Gene expression, brain function, cognitive processes, behavior, and
environmental factors all involve multiple cross-level interactions, and all are characterized
by dynamic developmental change over time (Stabel et al., 2013).
QUESTIONS:

Do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become different person
answer age?

 The theory of stability says that once we established a personality during our childhood, it is
most likely to have a similar trait once we grow up. However, there are some factors, such as
life experiences and our environment that made our personalities change growing up. It
suggests that it is possible to have a different personality when you are a kid versus when you
become an adult (McLeod, 2023).

Are we what our first experiences have made of us or do we develop into someone different
from who we were at an earlier point in development?

 Up to this point we have highlighted two distinct ways in which Early experiences might be
carried forward over time. However, it Is not our intent to imply that the simplistic ways in
which we have Formalized these perspectives represent the full range of developmental
processes that are discussed in psychology. Indeed, in the Empirical examples that follow, we
expand upon these rudimentary Models by modeling the effects of potential confounds, the
ongoing effects of stability in the environment, and the role of transactional processes. In
summary, depending on the precise assumptions that one is Willing to make about the role of
early experiences in human Development, there are dramatically different patterns of
associations that might be observed over time between early experiences And developmental
outcomes. If one assumes that early experiences have their effects on later outcomes via a
chain of intervening events, then the association between those early experiences And
subsequent outcomes will gradually diminish over time, approaching zero in the limit. If one
assumes instead that, in addition To these indirect effects of early experience, early life
events have Their effects on later outcomes via a relatively consolidated mediator, then those
associations will persist across time (APA PsycNet, n.d.).

 This question of whether early experiences permanently shape us or if we can, at any point of
life, is a debate in human development and to the existing theories. Early experiences do give
a child a lot of traits and personality through childhood events. For instance, a happy
childhood may promote confidence and trust, and the traumatizing and neglectful childhood
experiences leave prints of how we act and think. But people are not fixed to their
experiences at the beginning of life. We continue to learn, adapt, and develop when
encountering new experiences, relationships, and problems. Such continuing forces enable us
to grow and change thus, who we are at any given time in life is not always who we will
remain to be. Moreover, it shows that both can be a factor in human development because
our earliest experiences are crucial because it is our basis and foundation of our human
development, in the other hand, growing up us people are adaptive and possible to change
because of our experiences and even time.
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