Psychology- Human Development - Essay Example

Learning Theorists developed the first approach to speech development. Albet Bendur’s “observational learning” s that children imitate what theyhear; or they learn by listening or imitating older companions.(Albert Bandur,1971).B.F Skinner (1957) and others emphasized the role of reinforcement. As children achieve better approximation of adult language, parents and other adults praise meaningful speech and correct errors. Children are also reinforced by getting what they want when they speak correctly.

In general, learning theorists consider the child’s social development is critical to what and how much she learns.The second approach, “The native perspective” unlike learning theorists minimize the role of the language environment and maximize the role of child’s biologically programmed capacities in explaining language development. The third approach known as “The Interactionist Perspective” believes that both learning theorists (nurture) and nativists (nature) are correct: Childrens biologically based competencies and their language environment interact to shape the course of language development (Bloom, 1998; Bohannon & Bonvillian, 2005).

They emphasize that acquisition of language skills depends on and is related to the acquisition of many other capacities: perceptual, cognitive, motor, social, and emotional. Obviously, there is no doubt that males and females differ biologically. Yet we have to ask ourselves one question, do we form our ideas of gender roles according the influence of our society, or does biological predisposition outweigh the cultural influence? Gender refers to the cultural and social definition of feminine and masculine, it bears no relevance to the biological sex.

Rather, it is the socially constructed expectations placed on a person because of their sex. Socialization is defined as the process by which we learn the ways of a given society or social group so that we can function within it. We are born either male or female, but not boy or girl. Femininity and masculinity do not bubble up from our genetic makeup. The distinction between boy and girl is taught. Therefore, gender is a learned identity. From the moment a child is born, (s)he begins the process of gender socialization.

There is no nation where men and women are not gendered. The gender system organizes society in such a way that boys and girls are treated differently, and the expectations for boys and girls differ. Family and peer relationships, schools and religious institutions, and media exposure all play major definitive roles in gender socialization.Attachment theory, as developed by Bowlby and elaborated by Ainsworth, claims that (I) the capacity to form attachments is part of our evolutionary heritage; (2) attachments unfold through an interaction of biological and environmental forces during a sensitive period early in life; (3) the first attachment relationship, the one between infant and caregiver, shapes later development and the quality of later relationships; and (4) internal working models of self and other serve as the mechanism through which early experience affects later development.

From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense to think that humans evolved to live as members of groups, just as they evolved to form close one-on-one attachments to parents. . Parenting matters and that intervening to change how parents treat children can alter the course of development. James Marcia (1966) classified adolescents into one of four identity statuses based on crisis and commitment. At “Diffusion status”, the individual has not yet thought or resolved identity issues and has failed to chart decisions in life.

For example, he/she would say, “I haven’t really thought much about religion, and I guess I don’t know what I believe exactly.” At “Foreclosure Status” the individual seems to know who he or she is but has latched onto an identity prematurely with little thought. He or she would say, “My parents are Baptists and I’m a Baptist; it’s just the Way I grew up.” At the third stage, “Moratorium Status” the individual is experiencing an identity crisis, actively raising questions and seeking answers.

Example: “I’m in the middle of evaluating my beliefs and hope that I’ll be able to figure out what’s right for me. I’ve become skeptical about some of what I have been taught and am looking into other faiths for answers.”Lastly, at “The identity Achievement Status”, the individual has resolved his/her identity crisis and made commitments to particular goals, believes and values. Example: “I really did some soul-searching about my religion and other religions, too, and finally know what I believe and what I don’t.

” Bereavement is a state of loss. It can initiate many losses such as developmental loss, material loss, relationship loss, functional loss, Role loss, and systemic loss. For instance, Let’s look at the “relationship loss” because of the death of spouse. The first thing is to get rid of some myths like “I can never recover from a major loss, such as death of my spouse”; “Nobody can help me with my grief’”.Secondly, choose to live again and say, “It is okay to grieve. This event, this person was important in my life of course I miss him/her.

” Moreover, certain relaxation techniques such as journaling, talking, music, drawing, walking, programmed cries, programmed worries and writing a letter can help you to process such a loss healthfully. As Parkes (2006) notes, "love and loss are two sides of the same coin. We cannot have one without risking the other" (p. I).Works citedAssociatedcontent. “Gender-is it a social construct or a biological inevitability?” I. G., 29th July 2006. Web. 6th June. 2010.Sigelman, C. K. & Rider, E.A. (2006).

Life-span human development (5thEd.).  Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.