Nature Vs. Nurture: The Four Stages Of Normal Development

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Normal development can be described as having a child who reaches various milestones at an average estimated time in their lives as they develop. Normal development or growth consists of the stages of infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. All these four stages contain milestones that an average child should reach under normal circumstances. However, there is no definite setting as to how and what a normal household should be, so having a “normal” development can be different for every child depending on their circumstances. The nature versus nurture debate is the foundation for having a normal development. the ongoing argument of which aspect is greater than the other helps to define what a normal development should be. Nature is the biological components that a child is born with such as genes, diseases …show more content…

This includes, the support and attention from parents or caregivers, nutritional diet and protection. Nurture overrides nature when it comes to having a normal development. Without the correct nurturing, a child may not be encouraged or stimulated to reach milestones due to neglect or isolation. The behaviourist theory by B.F Skinner is an example of how important a good nurturing environment is for a normal development. The Behaviourist theory claims that we acquire language from the environment we are in. The documentary on Genie, the story of the wild child, reinforces Skinner’s statement. Genie was left in isolation for 13 years and never received the nurturing an average child would receive. Genie thus suffered from psychological damage and never truly reached her milestones. She is unable to speak because she wasn’t exposed to any language to acquire, her walking ability is stunted as she was not taught how to walk. With this in mind, Genie’s development was far from being normal, which shows that in extreme cases of neglect and isolation, normal development is a far

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