How do genetics and environment affect people at different stages of development

Question

How do genetics and environment affect people at different stages of development?

Identify a typical developmental milestone for a person at a specific stage and explain how achievement of this milestone might be impacted by genetics and environment.
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Explanation / Answer

There is a long standing debate whether the development of an individual is a social subset of training or an innate preference of an individual - i.e. nurture vs nature.

But, veritably, the development of an individual cannot solely be a characteristic of one of the following, that is: either genetic or environment; but it the unification of the two, which shapes the development of an individual.

The various stages of development propagated by Erik Erikson is a psychosocial theory with a natural inclination to the effects of environment on the development of an individual. According to Erik Erikson the experiences faced by an individual within his/her surrounding environment is primarily what helps an individual to develop their sense of being.

For a brief overview, here is a tabular representation of the various psychosocial stages of development according to Erikson:

As experiences are an external force, which are at work to shape an individual, it is natural to essentially give out more credit to them as opposed to their counterpart. Although, the counterpart genetics, is a hidden component at this, as it practially is sheathed from the naked eye, and is given less leverage to by some while explaining the process of development.

If we were to take the example of emotions and reflexes, they are the first signs of behavior demonstration within an infant, some reflexes begin as soon as during the prenatal stages itself. The emotions which are displayed by the infant are the intrinsic basic human responses, which are common as well as innate to the entire species of homo sapiens. Now, the important variation that would occur within those emotions would be owing to the circumscribing/ immediate environment of the individual i.e. the level of emotions is what varies according to person to person owing to their environment.

Anger management, in the later stages of life, might be better in one individual due to an environment that has been made conducive and efficient, but might result in psychopathy in another due to certain integral differences in the manner of nurturing, and the immediate environment.

This is also a major part of the reason why research has proved that their is a higher frequency of mal adaptive behavior and delinquency amongst pre-teen and teens (which has possibilities of spilling over in adult life) in children belonging from lower socio-economic family backgrounds as opposed to their counterparts.

The Fourth and Fifth stage of Eriksons - Industry v Inferiority and Identity v Role Confusion could be pegged down as essential milestones in a person development.    

Industry v Inferiority

This stage is typically marked between the age of 5 to 12 years, wherein the childs peers start capitalizing a major chunk of the, hence, making themselves a source of esteem and confidence for the individual involved. This is where the child breaks through the norms of th family, and proceeds to explore beyond what he/she has been taught before. A child starts questioning and toying with certain emotions and ideas.

And if there exist conflicting values betwixt the two groups of the concerned individual : i.e is the family and the peer group, then the child might start a wholesome journey towards accepting a certain self which he/she resonates more with - which is the innate preference. The last part overlaps with the fifth stage where the child fiddles with the concept of self identity.

Identity v Role confusion

This stage is an important aspect within the development of an individual and take place between the age bracket of 12-18 years. Due to the need and want of acceptance within a social circle to satiate the need for social belonging (according to Maslows hierarchy of needs), the teen proceeds to behave in a certain manner that might be considered as accepted, which might serve as positive reinforcement for the behavior, or it might also lead to the individual rejecting the acceptance norms set by a group.

The experiences and the innate preferences combined work to influence the decisions of the individual as this is an important stage where he/she conceptualizes a self identity and starts developing a sense of direction in life.   

Jean Piaget was also responsible for stages of development theory that concentrated primarily on the cognitive development of an individual.

And if we are to consider Piagets stages of development in terms of the nature and nurture theory, the third stage of development is a milestone : Concrete Operational

During this stage of development the child starts becoming cognizant of the external factors in the environment, paying more heed to the changes around and learning to mould his/her characteristics according to his/her preferences. They start developing an independent thought process, more curious and ready to experiment.

Along the path, the child starts feuding between that which has been acquired from the enviroment (which has been taught) and all that the child him/herself stumbles upon, and, hence proceeds to make a choice between the two : acquired or innate. Note: Of course the acquired learning or preferences could also resonate with that which is already innate.

Psychosocial stages Age Trust v Mistrust Infancy Autonomy v Shame Early Childhood Initiative v Guilt PLay Age Industry v Inferiority School Age Ego identity v Role confusion Adolescence Intimacy v Isolation Adulthood Generativity v Stagnation Late Adulthood Ego integrity v Despair Maturity

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