Critically discuss the assertion that the principles of transactional models of development help us to understand the causes o
Critically discuss the assertion that the principles of transactional models of development help us to understand the causes of disturbing behaviour in young children.
A dynamic interactionist - or transactional - model attempts to reconcile the nature vs. nurture dichotomy in regard to the relative importance of 'temperamental characteristics' on the one hand, and 'environment' (in its very broadest sense) on the other, for the cognitive and behavioural development of the individual from birth. Such a transactional model is the dialectical synthesis of earlier, conflicting development theories which in their purest and most extreme forms either viewed the child as arriving in the world with all the basic elements of his/her personality already innate or preformed, requiring only self-regulation to arrive at spontaneous maturation; or, in complete contrast, as a blank slate (tabula rasa) upon which society (in the guise of parents, teachers, siblings, etc.) might make whatever marks it would in the form of socialisation and behavioural modification. Instead, the transactional model proposes that development is "a product of the continuous dynamic interactions of the child and the experience provided by his or her family model and social context.1 (My italics) The child in this case is not merely a product of the environment and its constituent elements, such as her relationship with her mother and/or broader family group, and the socio-economic and cultural milieu within which these relationships occur. Rather, through her interaction with these multiple environmental components, she has an effect on this environment which in turn helps to shape and determine her subsequent experiences, encounters and reactions in an endless, complex and multifaceted reciprocal cause and effect process.
One example of this type of developmental transaction given in the literature2 would be when a young mother experiences complications in pregnancy, such as might result in the birth of a premature and physically under-developed baby. The premature baby could well spend her first few days, weeks or even months in an incubator, prohibiting the initial and immediate post-natal bonding (or imprinting) process that invariably occurs between mother and child and seems quite an important event in laying the foundations for the subsequent mother/child attachment relationship. The anxiety that the troublesome birth and early life of the infant might induce in the mother could in turn cause her to be unsure, insecure and hesitant in her feeding, handling and general interactions with the child, affecting the child's ability and willingness to settle into a consistent eating and sleeping pattern, and causing her to cry frequently. Again in turn, the child may be thus perceived and described by the mother as possessing an 'irritable' or 'difficult' temperament, diminishing the pleasure that the new mother would derive from spending time with her baby, and causing her to interact with, speak to and generally stimulate the child considerably less than she otherwise may have done with a full-term child born with no complications. The outcome of this lack of attention over the early years - particularly in a low income, single parent family unit where the mother is the sole carer with no other existent adults or older siblings (and no resources to fund childminders or a private nursery place) - is quite likely to be that the child in question fails to develop the language and communication skills considered appropriate to the various stages of his/her early childhood development. As a consequence, the child may come to be considered by the mother as being 'not very bright' or even as 'stupid', again reinforcing the mother's negative feelings and disappointment and lowering her expectations of what the child is likely to be able to achieve. The child consistently so-labelled would begin to perceive herself in such terms, developing a correspondingly lower sense of self-esteem and self-worth, and could begin to respond 'to type' at home and later in primary school, where her teachers would also begin to form an opinion of her capabilities based in part on what the mother says about her child and in part on how the child herself behaves through her confidence in play and study and her ability to relate well with other children in the social environment. Problems in these areas can lead to a child being labelled 'difficult', the prelude to a pattern of negative perception and limited expectations that could have repercussions for the entire life of the child. The scenario presented here is obviously a considerably oversimplified and partial view of a much more complex transactional process, but it is intended to illustrate the point that the child's development is subject to a process in which her own behaviour is a major determining factor.
A dynamic interactionist - or transactional - model attempts to reconcile the nature vs. nurture dichotomy in regard to the relative importance of 'temperamental characteristics' on the one hand, and 'environment' (in its very broadest sense) on the other, for the cognitive and behavioural development of the individual from birth. Such a transactional model is the dialectical synthesis of earlier, conflicting development theories which in their purest and most extreme forms either viewed the child as arriving in the world with all the basic elements of his/her personality already innate or preformed, requiring only self-regulation to arrive at spontaneous maturation; or, in complete contrast, as a blank slate (tabula rasa) upon which society (in the guise of parents, teachers, siblings, etc.) might make whatever marks it would in the form of socialisation and behavioural modification. Instead, the transactional model proposes that development is "a product of the continuous dynamic interactions of the child and the experience provided by his or her family model and social context.1 (My italics) The child in this case is not merely a product of the environment and its constituent elements, such as her relationship with her mother and/or broader family group, and the socio-economic and cultural milieu within which these relationships occur. Rather, through her interaction with these multiple environmental components, she has an effect on this environment which in turn helps to shape and determine her subsequent experiences, encounters and reactions in an endless, complex and multifaceted reciprocal cause and effect process.
One example of this type of developmental transaction given in the literature2 would be when a young mother experiences complications in pregnancy, such as might result in the birth of a premature and physically under-developed baby. The premature baby could well spend her first few days, weeks or even months in an incubator, prohibiting the initial and immediate post-natal bonding (or imprinting) process that invariably occurs between mother and child and seems quite an important event in laying the foundations for the subsequent mother/child attachment relationship. The anxiety that the troublesome birth and early life of the infant might induce in the mother could in turn cause her to be unsure, insecure and hesitant in her feeding, handling and general interactions with the child, affecting the child's ability and willingness to settle into a consistent eating and sleeping pattern, and causing her to cry frequently. Again in turn, the child may be thus perceived and described by the mother as possessing an 'irritable' or 'difficult' temperament, diminishing the pleasure that the new mother would derive from spending time with her baby, and causing her to interact with, speak to and generally stimulate the child considerably less than she otherwise may have done with a full-term child born with no complications. The outcome of this lack of attention over the early years - particularly in a low income, single parent family unit where the mother is the sole carer with no other existent adults or older siblings (and no resources to fund childminders or a private nursery place) - is quite likely to be that the child in question fails to develop the language and communication skills considered appropriate to the various stages of his/her early childhood development. As a consequence, the child may come to be considered by the mother as being 'not very bright' or even as 'stupid', again reinforcing the mother's negative feelings and disappointment and lowering her expectations of what the child is likely to be able to achieve. The child consistently so-labelled would begin to perceive herself in such terms, developing a correspondingly lower sense of self-esteem and self-worth, and could begin to respond 'to type' at home and later in primary school, where her teachers would also begin to form an opinion of her capabilities based in part on what the mother says about her child and in part on how the child herself behaves through her confidence in play and study and her ability to relate well with other children in the social environment. Problems in these areas can lead to a child being labelled 'difficult', the prelude to a pattern of negative perception and limited expectations that could have repercussions for the entire life of the child. The scenario presented here is obviously a considerably oversimplified and partial view of a much more complex transactional process, but it is intended to illustrate the point that the child's development is subject to a process in which her own behaviour is a major determining factor.
