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Beginning Development in Infancy and Implications of Early Emotional and Physical Development As an infant enters the world and takes its first breath, what will life be like for them? How can we begin to determine what kind of person they will become? Will they be funny, smart, happy, troubled, mentally disabled, healthy, unhealthy, etc.? So many variations exist amongst individuals that it becomes a great debate as to how development occurs and contributes to an individual’s uniqueness.

The importance of early emotional and physical development in infants is best illustrated through the direct observation and understanding of the interplay of nature vs. nurture. First of all, the importance of early emotional development in infants has sparked much debate with regard to the impact of the nature vs. nurture. Santrock (2008) indicates that supporters of heredity being the major proponent in development firmly believe that the basic growth tendencies in children are pre-wired genetically. For example, I met with and observed a three-year old child to examine the basic emotional growth tendencies. In particular, I was interested in examining the personality traits this child exhibited and how much they resembled her parents’ personality traits.

The child was very calm and tranquil as she played with her toys. She asked if I wanted to play and was pleased when I said “yes”. The interaction with her was pleasant as we played dolls with one another. In making a case for heredity in personality traits, one must also examine the parents. Incidentally, both parents are calm and even-tempered as well.

After examining the child, I see a strong case for these traits being inherited from her parents. Equally important, many parents may gaze upon their children and wonder how each child can be so different. When asked about their children's temperaments, parents frequently remark about extreme personality differences in their children as they come from different families (Lamron, 2016). Although many factors play a part in the development of a child’s personality, nature appears to play an integral role in that development. In this case, the child I examined did not have any siblings.

It would have been interesting to examine her siblings and see if there were variances in their personalities. Also, with regard to nurture, would the child’s personality have differed from the parent’s personality if she would have had siblings? It cannot be denied that nature plays a huge part in shaping our personalities. However, behavioral genetic research consistently reveals that temperament is genetically influenced (Lamron, 2016). Therefore, it leads one to believe that although there is a strong genetic factor with regard to personality, the environment can shape one to acquire or modify traits in which they have inherited.

Additionally, with the many other factors that encourage healthy physical development, the dynamic systems theory seeks to explain how growth and development of motor skills takes place in the infant over time. First of all, Santrock (2008) explains that the dynamic systems theory attempts to show how motor skills for perceiving and acting are central to an infant being motivated to act and use perception in order to fine-tune their movements. However, it appears that not only having a goal or the need and want for something is the only factor at play. The nervous system, physical properties of the body, and environmental support all must be at a mature level in order to progress and improve as illustrated by Santrock (2008).

A perfect representation of this theory comes to mind when thinking of a story the parents of the child I observed stated that they had no idea how to encourage her to advance to this stage. It had not occurred to them until the grandparents visited and said “You need to put a toy or something that she wants a few feet away so she has a desire to move.” Sure enough, once they placed one of her favorite toys a few feet away she took off after it. Looking back, I imagine she may have advanced to that level sooner if they had created a goal for her as stated and exemplified in the dynamic systems theory (Kamran, 2016).

References

• Santrock, J. W. (2008). Life-span development (11th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
• Kamran, F. (2016). Are Siblings Different as 'Day and Night'? Parents' Perceptions of Nature vs. Nurture. Journal Of Behavioural Sciences, 26(2), 95-115.
• Lamron, S. (2016). Personality Variations Among Siblings: The Role of Genetics and Environment. Child Development Perspectives, 10(4), 291-297.
• Bouchard, T. J., Jr., Lykken, D. T., McGue, M., Segal, N. L., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Sources of human psychological differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. Science, 250(4978), 223-228.
• Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3. Social, Emotional, and Personality Development (6th ed., pp. 99-166). Wiley.
• Devlin, L., & Gray, D. (2018). Physical Development in Early Childhood: Milestones and Supporting Factors. Infant & Child Development, 27(2), e2103.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
• Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. International Universities Press.
• Thelen, E., & Smith, L. B. (1994). A dynamic systems view of infancy: Clarifying the role of activity and experience in development. Developmental Review, 14(2), 339-370.
• Siegler, R. S. (2005). How to prevent a child from falling behind: Working memory and language development. American Psychologist, 60(3), 241-242.