The Role of Constructs in Human Development - Essay Example

? The Role of Constructs in Human Development There are many diverse factors which tend to influence the development of individual human beings to such an extent that they are able to grow from one stage to another. Among the biggest influences that can take place in human development are not only cultural, but genetic or environmental factors (Keller, 2007). There is a diverse number of individuals throughout history who can be considered to have been developed as a result of the latter influences, but the one who stands out the most among them is the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who, despite his relatively humble origins, rose up to become the most powerful ruler in Europe in the XIX century. Napoleon was born in Corsica to a local minor nobleman at a time when the family fortunes had fallen dramatically. Despite the poverty, which assailed his family, Napoleon was among those Corsicans who did not frown upon French rule, and he, in fact, embraced the French way of life in order to further his goals in life. Genetics played a major role in his attaining a French education and being able to attend one of the best schools in France and this was because of the fact that he took advantage of his family’s noble background (Beaver, Wright & DeLisi, 2008). In addition, Napoleon was born with a strong leadership skills and charisma, which helped him in his later career not only in the French army but also in his various positions at the apex of French government. The Corsican environment in which he was raised may have contributed a great deal to the development of his hardy and strict lifestyle which few of his contemporaries could rival. The Corsican environment at the time of Napoleon’s birth has been described as having been extremely clannish with individuals protecting the interests of their own families and kin (American Psychological Association, 2010) and this may have influenced Napoleon in his appointment of all the members of his family to prominent positions in his own empire. Nurture played a significant role in the development of Napoleon into the man he ended up becoming and this can be attributed to his father’s collaboration with the French who had occupied the island of Corsica in the year when Napoleon was born, effectively making it an integral part of France despite stiff resistance from some Corsicans. The death of his father while he was away at a military college, forced Napoleon to take charge of his family despite the fact that he was not the oldest son. This situation may have played a role in ensuring that he developed the necessary leadership skills that played a large role in his career (Stewart, 2011). Unlike his incompetent older brother Joseph, Napoleon was a responsible person and this played a key role not only in his own advancement, but also in that of his own family to the extent of their becoming the first family of France. In conclusion, as seen in the case above, it is a fact that individuals tend to be influenced by how they are raised, their environment, as well as by their natural gifts. The Evolution of Developmental Psychology: History, Research, and Ethics When conducting child developmental research on children, there should be utmost care because of several hypothetical issues that are involved; there are various potential challenges which arise during research activities such as observation without consent, deception, and breaking of confidentiality, forced participation, among others. With the code of ethics, psychologists are able to be held accountable and broad ethical standards that psychologists must adhere to are laid in the code of conduct. Looking at impressionability, there are ethical concerns about children who possess adequate functioning and are able to voluntarily assent to and understand their roles as research participants in a legitimate manner. A child is required to have an understanding of conditions put in place for participants in developmental psychology research. Ethical principles assist in ensuring the entire research process is explained in a developmental language that is appropriate and easy to understand by the child (Decety & Meyer, 2008). The capability of a child to make available its consent voluntarily is determined by the individual and factors of the environment surrounding the child. Environmental factors include family factors, pressure, content seeker, etc; most researchers have control over content seeker constrains and this is an ethical issue when conducting developmental psychology research. It is important for the researcher to consider the position of consent seeker carefully in order not to influence the child to give assent. Ethically it is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure all sources of influence that may compel a child to give voluntary assent are scrutinized and minimized to prevent coercion of children to participating, which eventually breaks ethical principles of research. Cross-sectional research method will be used when conducting developmental psychology research based on the fact that it utilizes different groups of people whose variable interests vary even though they share other characteristics which include socioeconomic status, ethnicity, among others. Group of people who are selected will be remarkably similar in various areas except the age; the differences that are noted will be attributed to their age difference and not other variables. This form of study is mostly observational therefore it will be descriptive form of research; the researcher will record information present in a population without manipulating variables. The research will give descriptions of characters that exist in population under study without determining the cause-and-effect relationship that may be present between variables. Developmental psychology has often dealt with development on human throughout the human’s life; this field is diverse and vibrant (Pinker, 2004). Some of developmental research conducted includes Children’s understanding of emotions which had its main focus on a child’s understanding of emotions. Evaluation of Education Programs is another developmental research conducted and it aimed to improve students’ chances of succeeding in education; another research is on how environmental affect education, emotional attachment, children who translate for their parents which was a research conducted on children of immigrants who translate to their parents who are Spanish, and children’s memories in court which was done in order to explore various conditions that affect a child’s testimony in court. References American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct with the 2010 amendments. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx Beaver, K. M., Wright, J. P., DeLisi, M. (2008). Delinquent peer group formation: Evidence of a gene x environment correlation. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 169(3), 227–244. Decety, J., & Meyer, M. (2008). From emotion resonance to empathic understanding: A social developmental neuroscience account. Development and Psychopathology, 20(4), 1053-80. Keller, H. (2007). Developmental psychology I: Prenatal to adolescence. The International Handbook of Psychology. Pinker, S. (2004). Why nature & nurture won't go away. Daedalus, 133(4), 5–13. Stewart, R. B., J. (2011). The impact of attachment: Developmental neuroaffective psychology. Choice, 48(9), 1787. Read More