Genetic and environmental influence in human development.…. Discuss.

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Genetic and environmental influence in human development.…. Discuss

Meyers adopted the analogy of a tree in an attempt to explain human differences. According to him the trunk signifies the species, which then divides into branches. The branches represent our shared characteristics and beliefs. At the end of the branches are leaves, which Meyers claimed stood for the individual person, genetically and environmentally like no other.

        Every human being is differentially sound. We all have our own genetic makeup with the exception of identical twins. In this case environmental factors will have caused differences in their development and behaviour in the same way they do for everyone else.        When a child progresses through the early stages of its life, every aspect of his or her emotional, mental and physical abilities develops.

        In terms of the nature debate, evolutionary/biological/genetic psychologists believe our development relies heavily on our genetic make up. They believe we have no control over how we develop, but are merely the main actor in a play written and directed by our genes. These genes will hold information about our ancestors as well as the broader, evolutionary information that will allow us to ‘survive’ in the most effective way. Evidence has been provided to suggest that certain psychological problems or types of development are hereditary. Many studies show a high concordance rate of a certain behaviour or illness in families, especially the nuclear families, of the sufferer.

With regards to the nurture debate, psychologists who argue that environmental factors influence development have produced results supporting the view that human variation across cultures and over time show how differing norms or expectations guide a child’s development and that anything from peer pressure to mother-baby interaction can affect how well a child develops.

When a criminal psychologist tries to find the reason why a human being has taken away another’s life, they will examine the life events that took place during childhood. They will look at the effect of such experiences on the way the individual perceives themselves and the world around them and will ultimately try to find the reasons behind the crime. This is exactly the same as when a sufferer of schizophrenia has bouts of serious depression or violence, or a fear of spiders is analysed. It is strongly believed that the heart of these problems lie in events that occurred during childhood development and that to help the sufferer deal with the trauma will lead to some form of recovery or even an eradication of the symptoms.

 As part of this theory, cross-cultural studies allow us to draw conclusions about the universal standards of our development. They can also help by leading us to appreciate both our cultural diversity and our human kinship. Studies have shown that regardless of our culture we share the same life cycle, learn to talk, walk, etc at around that same time in our lives. (Bernstein et al ’92). Rowe ‘94/’95 found that cultural differences on the surface may have very similar foundations. A major criticism of cross-cultural studies is that of researcher bias. It is claimed to be very difficult for an American researcher to compare his/her own country to another and remain unbiased and objective.

        A relatively new theory has adopted both the evidence for the nature and the nurture debate to investigate individual differences. This is the theory of behavioural genetics.

        All three of these approaches attempt to find out how a child progresses through a broad range of developments including social, cognitive, intelligence and moral development.  

        To allow a deeper and more detailed explanation of each theory, it is easier to study them in context – within a particular area of development. Depression and aggression are suitable characteristics as much research has been conducted on them.

Depression is an affective mood disorder, which is usually characterised by feelings of sadness and withdrawal from those around us. The degree of this impairment can vary enormously. It can cover a range between mild depression, which is barely noticeable, to severe depression, which is debilitating in the extreme, often leaving a person unable to do basic tasks such as dressing and washing. At worst it can lead to suicide.

It is quite normal to feel depressed from time to time. Every individual knows what it is to feel ‘under the weather’ or ‘a bit down’. These feelings are a part of human life. They are usually short-lived and do not effect every-day functioning to any great extent. However, problems arise when the depression becomes clinical, in a psychological and medical sense.

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There are two main causes of depression. The first is ‘reactive’ depression, which derives from an outside stimulus. The second is ‘endogenous’ depression, the causes of this lie internally and can arise independent of external events.

When an individual experiences either reactive or endogenous depression and remains in this state the depression is known as unipolar. When the depressive states associated with unipolar depression are combined with periods of mania and hyperactivity, the depression is referred to as bipolar (or manic) depression. A manic-depressive will express characteristics such as making reckless decisions, delusions, hallucinations and an increased sexual desire.

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