The development of a child does not completely depend on physical capability, with that said it is necessary that we look at this topic with a psychological viewpoint. Nurture is defined as environment and outside causes that may affect development. Nature is classified as something one is born with, something that was programmed into one's DNA in the womb. Now that we understand the two different categories, our mission is to clarify which category has the largest impact on a child's social, emotional and cognitive development. Does our environment as a child ultimately influence our personality and decision making skills? Or are those traits already determined for you by your genetic code? Although both factors are essential in the development of a child, nurture ultimately overpowers nurture and causes that kid to develop under the influence of their environment.
A nurturing environment allows children to flourish off of all the positive influences that are being presented in their lives. Although some children may be born with an extremely high academic capacity, however that potential could never be sustained without it being properly developed in a supportive environment. Cognition is a tricky road because everyone is born with a designated maximum capacity of cognition, that ability can be hindered if it is not properly influenced. Cognition is defined as a name for varying brain processes and capabilities. As Catherine Doss has stated "Examples of cognition include problem solving, attention, and memory, just to name three." In order to ensure cognition is utilized, allow children to take part in activities that create academic learning opportunities for the children, such as memory games or even strategic games.
When a negative environment is present in the developmental stages of a child's life, various harmful outcomes may occur. Horrible temperament, decision making and cognitive ability may occur and make life rougher on the child as they mature. Also, by providing a stable and nurturing environment, emotional and mental stability are encouraged as well. Mellissa Gagnon stated in her article that "Emotions and cognitive ability in young children both influence the child's decisions, memory, attention span and ability to learn." As you can see allowing children to develop control over their emotions provides opportunities to increase other cognitive processes. Cognition and emotion are linked in the brain and complement one another. In Mellissa Gagnon's study she found that "Feelings and thinking patterns affect the brain's development, and therefore emotional and cognitive development is not independent of one another." With all this information, it is exceedingly clear that all the processes of development ultimately coincide with one another in the brain and encourage healthy development. Although these processes are not in the same region, they are found close together in the brain. The way that one of these regions develops will directly affect the development of the other region and vice versa. Sonya Howard found that "It is hypothesized that any change in one system will have a concomitant or subsequent effect on the other." With that said is important for all systems to develop adequately because if one is thrown off then it can affect the homeostasis within the body.
With all this topic of needing a healthy environment, there are some things that their environment must have. One extremely important factor in development is the importance of play in a child's everyday life. By allowing the factor of playful stimulation to come into their life, you are encouraging imagination and cognitive advancement. David Elkind explains the importance of play in his article, "Decades of research has shown that play is cru-cial to phys-i-cal, intel-lec-tual, and social-emotional devel-op-ment at all ages. This is espe-cially true of the purest form of play: the unstruc-tured, self-motivated, imag-i-na-tive, inde-pen-dent kind, where chil-dren ini-ti-ate their own games and even invent their own rules." Basically he is saying that a playful environment allows for advancement in every single form of development, physical, mental, social and emotional. Not only does play help a child emotionally and socially, it encourages a fun and cute way to learn language! Usually when a child plays they make noises out of their mouths because they are exploring the new language they have been learning! David Elkind expounds upon the influence of play on language in the next quote, "In early child-hood, play helps chil-dren develop skills they can not get in any other way. Bab-bling, for exam-ple, is a self-initiated form of play through which infants cre-ate the sounds they need to learn the lan-guage of their par-ents." In order to provide an environment that encourages the different types of developments, positive reinforcement and playfulness must be present.
In the last paragraph we touched base on the influence of language on development, and it is now time to explain in depth. Language is the bridge to the world and without this basic ability, you can go nowhere in life. Language not only sparks the mind and gets it thinking, it also gives our species a means of communication and expression. Since language is a form of expression, it allows both children and adults to show their emotions. All of these processes create a ladder affect, in order to have language you must have a playful environment, and in order to have playfulness you must have a healthy and encouraging environment. Angela Oswalt stated "As children's abstract thinking and language skills increase, they become better able to label and discuss their emotions with others." As you can see, Language and emotion directly influence one another and therefore expressing the need for a healthy environment once again. Language also encourages proper emotional control, by allowing children to share their emotions instead of it all being bottled up with no way to express those feelings. Angela Oswalt backs up this statement by sharing that "Language can also allow children to better regulate their feelings, self-soothe in response to negative feelings, and exert some control over emotion-provoking situations." Emotion and language fall closely together and directly affect one another; it is hard to have strong emotional stability without language.
An example of a child that has not been able to develop correctly due to a harmful environment is feral children. A feral child is classified as a human that has grown up in the wild without a strong resource of human contact. These individuals do not know language or human customs; they are completely bizarre to what we know. They did not have a healthy environment with human contact to grow up in and unfortunately mental retardation has occurred. There was a lack of affection between caregiver and child and that impacted the child crucially. Family life is the single most important factor in development; environment affects a child deeply and permanently. Genevieve Van Wyden made an interesting comment in her article about the impact of family life, "If parents are consistent, reliable and loving, their children will develop mentally, socially and emotionally into strong, productive members of society." Genevive is trying to prove that having nurturing relationships is the most important part to aiding healthy development. Without a sense of love and affection the child will be left alone on their developmental journey, ultimately resulting in unhealthy growth.
The last topic that deeply influences cognitive and social development is the presence of education in a young child's life. Without education and training cognition can never advance. Also, in order to develop socially, one must be in the presence of other people their age. I have found evidence from the guidelines and procedures of schools in California, that emotional and social development is absolutely necessary in an educational environment. In California they emphasize the importance of emotion, "Social-emotional development includes the child's experience, expression and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others." Even the government understands the importance of development and strives to provide positive experiences for their students.
In conclusion, nurture has a much deeper impact on children that nature does. Even though they are both important when it comes to cognitive, emotional and social ability; nurture ultimately trumps nature. A healthy and encouraging environment must be provided in order for a child to correctly develop. This is proven in many cases that deal with feral children who have grown up in harmful environments, these children do not mature as normal human beings. These cases support the idea that nurture can really change your life, whether it is positively or negatively.
Sources:
Doss, Catherine. "Cognition and Emotion Development Connected." Virginia Tech Research Magazine Summer 2007 Story. Virginia Tech, 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Elkind, David. "Cognitive and Emotional Development Through Play | SharpBrains."SharpBrains RSS. Greater Good Magazine, 9 June 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Wyden, Genevieve V. "About Cognitive Social Emotional Development." EHow. Demand Media, 26 June 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Gagnon, Melissa. "Relationship Between Cognitive and Emotional Development In Toddlers." Preschooler. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Case, Robbie, Sonya Hayward, Marc Lewis, and Paul Hurst. "Download PDFs." Toward a Neo-Piagetian Theory of Cognitive and Emotional Development. Science Direct, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Oswalt, Angela. "Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding - Child Development and Parenting: Early Childhood." Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding - Child Development and Parenting: Early Childhood. Betty Hardwick Center, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
"Social-Emotional Development Domain." - Child Development (CA Dept of Education). California Department of Education, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
for reviewing purposes, Please state a few areas of weakness or the general idea of the paper that you obtained! Thank you!
A nurturing environment allows children to flourish off of all the positive influences that are being presented in their lives. Although some children may be born with an extremely high academic capacity, however that potential could never be sustained without it being properly developed in a supportive environment. Cognition is a tricky road because everyone is born with a designated maximum capacity of cognition, that ability can be hindered if it is not properly influenced. Cognition is defined as a name for varying brain processes and capabilities. As Catherine Doss has stated "Examples of cognition include problem solving, attention, and memory, just to name three." In order to ensure cognition is utilized, allow children to take part in activities that create academic learning opportunities for the children, such as memory games or even strategic games.
When a negative environment is present in the developmental stages of a child's life, various harmful outcomes may occur. Horrible temperament, decision making and cognitive ability may occur and make life rougher on the child as they mature. Also, by providing a stable and nurturing environment, emotional and mental stability are encouraged as well. Mellissa Gagnon stated in her article that "Emotions and cognitive ability in young children both influence the child's decisions, memory, attention span and ability to learn." As you can see allowing children to develop control over their emotions provides opportunities to increase other cognitive processes. Cognition and emotion are linked in the brain and complement one another. In Mellissa Gagnon's study she found that "Feelings and thinking patterns affect the brain's development, and therefore emotional and cognitive development is not independent of one another." With all this information, it is exceedingly clear that all the processes of development ultimately coincide with one another in the brain and encourage healthy development. Although these processes are not in the same region, they are found close together in the brain. The way that one of these regions develops will directly affect the development of the other region and vice versa. Sonya Howard found that "It is hypothesized that any change in one system will have a concomitant or subsequent effect on the other." With that said is important for all systems to develop adequately because if one is thrown off then it can affect the homeostasis within the body.
With all this topic of needing a healthy environment, there are some things that their environment must have. One extremely important factor in development is the importance of play in a child's everyday life. By allowing the factor of playful stimulation to come into their life, you are encouraging imagination and cognitive advancement. David Elkind explains the importance of play in his article, "Decades of research has shown that play is cru-cial to phys-i-cal, intel-lec-tual, and social-emotional devel-op-ment at all ages. This is espe-cially true of the purest form of play: the unstruc-tured, self-motivated, imag-i-na-tive, inde-pen-dent kind, where chil-dren ini-ti-ate their own games and even invent their own rules." Basically he is saying that a playful environment allows for advancement in every single form of development, physical, mental, social and emotional. Not only does play help a child emotionally and socially, it encourages a fun and cute way to learn language! Usually when a child plays they make noises out of their mouths because they are exploring the new language they have been learning! David Elkind expounds upon the influence of play on language in the next quote, "In early child-hood, play helps chil-dren develop skills they can not get in any other way. Bab-bling, for exam-ple, is a self-initiated form of play through which infants cre-ate the sounds they need to learn the lan-guage of their par-ents." In order to provide an environment that encourages the different types of developments, positive reinforcement and playfulness must be present.
In the last paragraph we touched base on the influence of language on development, and it is now time to explain in depth. Language is the bridge to the world and without this basic ability, you can go nowhere in life. Language not only sparks the mind and gets it thinking, it also gives our species a means of communication and expression. Since language is a form of expression, it allows both children and adults to show their emotions. All of these processes create a ladder affect, in order to have language you must have a playful environment, and in order to have playfulness you must have a healthy and encouraging environment. Angela Oswalt stated "As children's abstract thinking and language skills increase, they become better able to label and discuss their emotions with others." As you can see, Language and emotion directly influence one another and therefore expressing the need for a healthy environment once again. Language also encourages proper emotional control, by allowing children to share their emotions instead of it all being bottled up with no way to express those feelings. Angela Oswalt backs up this statement by sharing that "Language can also allow children to better regulate their feelings, self-soothe in response to negative feelings, and exert some control over emotion-provoking situations." Emotion and language fall closely together and directly affect one another; it is hard to have strong emotional stability without language.
An example of a child that has not been able to develop correctly due to a harmful environment is feral children. A feral child is classified as a human that has grown up in the wild without a strong resource of human contact. These individuals do not know language or human customs; they are completely bizarre to what we know. They did not have a healthy environment with human contact to grow up in and unfortunately mental retardation has occurred. There was a lack of affection between caregiver and child and that impacted the child crucially. Family life is the single most important factor in development; environment affects a child deeply and permanently. Genevieve Van Wyden made an interesting comment in her article about the impact of family life, "If parents are consistent, reliable and loving, their children will develop mentally, socially and emotionally into strong, productive members of society." Genevive is trying to prove that having nurturing relationships is the most important part to aiding healthy development. Without a sense of love and affection the child will be left alone on their developmental journey, ultimately resulting in unhealthy growth.
The last topic that deeply influences cognitive and social development is the presence of education in a young child's life. Without education and training cognition can never advance. Also, in order to develop socially, one must be in the presence of other people their age. I have found evidence from the guidelines and procedures of schools in California, that emotional and social development is absolutely necessary in an educational environment. In California they emphasize the importance of emotion, "Social-emotional development includes the child's experience, expression and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others." Even the government understands the importance of development and strives to provide positive experiences for their students.
In conclusion, nurture has a much deeper impact on children that nature does. Even though they are both important when it comes to cognitive, emotional and social ability; nurture ultimately trumps nature. A healthy and encouraging environment must be provided in order for a child to correctly develop. This is proven in many cases that deal with feral children who have grown up in harmful environments, these children do not mature as normal human beings. These cases support the idea that nurture can really change your life, whether it is positively or negatively.
Sources:
Doss, Catherine. "Cognition and Emotion Development Connected." Virginia Tech Research Magazine Summer 2007 Story. Virginia Tech, 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Elkind, David. "Cognitive and Emotional Development Through Play | SharpBrains."SharpBrains RSS. Greater Good Magazine, 9 June 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Wyden, Genevieve V. "About Cognitive Social Emotional Development." EHow. Demand Media, 26 June 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Gagnon, Melissa. "Relationship Between Cognitive and Emotional Development In Toddlers." Preschooler. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Case, Robbie, Sonya Hayward, Marc Lewis, and Paul Hurst. "Download PDFs." Toward a Neo-Piagetian Theory of Cognitive and Emotional Development. Science Direct, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Oswalt, Angela. "Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding - Child Development and Parenting: Early Childhood." Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding - Child Development and Parenting: Early Childhood. Betty Hardwick Center, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
"Social-Emotional Development Domain." - Child Development (CA Dept of Education). California Department of Education, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
for reviewing purposes, Please state a few areas of weakness or the general idea of the paper that you obtained! Thank you!
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