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Although it is difficult to know for sure, it appears that at least some of the children of the repository are indeed
outstanding. But can the talents, characteristics, and skills of this small repository sample be attributed to genetics
alone? After all, consider the parents of these children: Plotz reported that the parents, particularly the mothers, were
highly involved in their children’s development and took their parental roles very seriously. Most of the parents
studied child care manuals, coached their children’s sports teams, practiced reading with their kids, and either home-
schooled them or sent them to the best schools in their areas. And the families were financially well-off. Furthermore,
the mothers approached the repository at a relatively older child-bearing age, when all other options were exhausted.
These children were desperately wanted and very well loved. It is undeniable that, in addition to their genetic
backgrounds, all this excellent nurturing played a significant role in the development of the repository children.
Although the existence of the repository provides interesting insight into the potential importance of genetics on child
development, the results of Graham’s experiment are inconclusive. The offspring interviewed are definitely smart and
talented, but only one of them was considered a true genius and child prodigy. And nurture may have played as much
a role as nature in their outcomes (Olding, 2006; Plotz, 2001). [4]
The goal of this chapter is to investigate the fundamental, complex, and essential process of
human development. Development refers to the physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social
changes that occur throughout human life, which are guided by both genetic predispositions
(nature) and by environmental influences (nurture). We will begin our study of development at
the moment of conception, when the father’s sperm unites with the mother’s egg, and then
consider prenatal development in the womb. Next we will focus on infancy, the developmental
stage that begins at birth and continues to one year of age, and childhood, the period between
infancy and the onset of puberty. Finally, we will consider the developmental changes that occur
during adolescence—the years between the onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood; the
stages of adulthood itself, including emerging, early, middle, and older adulthood; and finally,
the preparations for and eventual facing of death.
Each of the stages of development has its unique physical, cognitive, and emotional changes that
define the stage and that make each stage unique, one from the other. The psychologist and
psychoanalyst Erik Erikson (1963, p. 202)[5] proposed a model of life-span development that
provides a useful guideline for thinking about the changes we experience throughout life. As you
can see inTable 6.1 "Challenges of Development as Proposed by Erik Erikson", Erikson believed