Lecture 1 | A dialectical integration of nature and
nurture
Nature vs. nurture
Always an interaction
Initial ideas believed it was one or the other
Nature: any effect that cannot be influenced
Nurture: something that is set by the outside world
Sameroff (2010): A unified Theory of Development
History of nature and nurture
Dialectical yin-yang
Unity of opposites
o Development will not occur without either nature or nurture
Interprenation of opposites
o One’s nature changes one’s nurture and one’s nurture changes one’s nature
(influenced by each-other)
The developmental double helix
Tipping point when people jump from nature to nurture and vice versa
When children learn new skills, it is practices and differentiated and then integrated
into a higher order skill
Helix and not a circle!
o Not only back and forth, but further development on both concepts
Movement back and forward (nature and nurture). He connects that to how children
develop. For example, practice of a skill and that will be integrated to a higher order skill.
1
,Why a helix? Things change and are developing so the points are different and that’s why it’s
not a circle (you don’t come back at the same point).
A unified theory of development
Four models are necessary:
I. Personal change model
II. Contextual model
III. Regulation model
IV. Representation model
I. Personal change model
How any individual moves through time
Development of skills and traits
o Trait and IQ tend to be stable
o Abilities and skills will continuously grow
o Stages in development infancy childhood
adolescence adulthood
Change in several ways:
o No change (temperament, IQ)
o Grows overtime (locomotion skills)
o Stages to development. Can also apply to skills.
II. Contextual model
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems
Individual in the center
Microsystem
o Anything in context that directly influences the child through interaction
o Home, school
Mesosystem
2
, o Systems of influences
o Neighbourhood
o Interactions between microsystems
Exosystem
o Policies, geopolitics
Chronosystem
o These systems change over time
Contextual model as stated in Sameroff (bio + psycho). More emphasise on the parents
(gets his own circle, because it has a different meaning than other parts of your
microsystem, especially in a very young age). Everything is interrelated but can be studied
separately.
III. Regulation model
Child as a dynamic system that constantly regulates
Negative feedback – stability over the long run it will keep itself in check (loop of
homeostasis)
o Example: tiredness and sleep
Positive feedback – change (loop where more leads to more, and less leads to less)
o Example: births and population
Self-regulation became more important. There’s something in the child that’s regulating
because of the contextual influences.
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, IV. Representation model
For many (if not all) aspects we study, our object of study is influenced by representations of
objective reality (different from physics; trying to get closer to understanding how children
develop),
Unified theory (models 1, 2 & 3)
Time dimension, on the left there’s the biopsychological development (bottom of the
cylinder). Self is really small when the child is young and the other is really big. This
changes over time (self gets bigger, other gets smaller). The arrows show that it’s
constantly working on itself.
Self becomes bigger over time
o Physical growth and relative influence both become larger
o Influence of the other systems becomes less as the child’s relative influence
grows larger
Constant regulation between “other” and “self” through interactions
Personal change model
o Self is stable
o Stages of development (infant, childhood, adolescence, adulthood)
o Growth in abilities
Issues with the model
o Overly vague
o Cannot relate to everyone
Cultural differences
Individual differences
o Not easy testable
o Should it be cone?
Environment would usually increase in affecting the self as one age
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