Download Unit 4 * Development through the Life Stages

Understanding the potential effects of life factors
and events on the development of the individual
Lesson 7
Learning Outcomes of Unit 4
 You will be able to:
1. Identify and define the stages of growth and
development through the human lifespan,
2. Identify, define and apply the potential effects of
life factors and events on the development of the
individual,
3. Identify and define the physical and psychological
changes of ageing.
Case study
Read through the case study
on page 146 b1 and answer
the three questions asked
Nature versus nurture debate
 The nature versus nurture debate focuses on the
argument on whether:
 We are born the way we are i.e. People are born evil
hence why they commit crime,
 Or
 The way we are brought up and our surroundings
make us the way we are i.e. This child is aggressive
because he was brought up in an aggressive
environment.
Determinism
 Determinism is the belief that your future is fixed
or determined either by what you have genetically
inherited or by your social environment and
experience,
Choice and interaction
 The alternative to determinism is the belief that
people can take control of their own lives through
the choices they make (free will),
 Some people believe that everything is fixed by
nature or nurture or that everything is a matter of
choice,
 However, you must take into consideration that
human life course involves an interaction of nature,
nurture and the decisions and choices that people
make.
Biological programming
 Genes provide the instructions for structuring
amino acids which in turn influence the proteins
within our body cells thus programming chemical
basis of our biology,
 Our body shape, size as well as our behaviour
depend on the interaction of our biology with
broader environmental,
 A human being is the result of the interaction of
genes (biological programming) and the
environmental influences they are exposed to.
Maturation theory
 Some aspects of development such as the ability to
speak a first language are thought to be due to an
inbuilt genetic process,
 Children naturally become interested in sounds
and signs that they see around them and the
ability to speak unfolds,
 The impact of the environment on this ability is
crucial as the learned language or communication
method is the one used within the environment,
 Thus the environment always interacts with a
person’s genetic inheritance.
Research
In your table groups
create a questionnaire
which you will use to
find out about people’s
assumptions
Feedback
Story-Time
Re-tell today’s lesson as a story.
Ensure you have a beginning, a
middle and an end.