Before exploring the four domains, let’s take a moment to review the two major themes of Child Development.

Nature versus Nurture

As you read in Chapter 1, developmental psychologists have gone back and forth about what drives growth and change in children. Is it the environment (nurture) or is it built-in (nature)? A nurture-based perspective would argue that children are wholly influenced by the world around them, including the physical, social, and educational environments. On the other hand, a nature-based theory would state that children grow and change based on their genetic code, and there is little if anything that can be done to change that from the outside world.

By now, you have probably come to realize that both perspectives are correct, in their own way. There are certainly aspects of development that are influenced by the environment, but there are just as many things that are genetically determined. Language is a fantastic example of this: the environment determines which language or languages a child speaks, but there are important biological factors that ensure a child CAN speak a language. For many aspects of child development, nature and nurture cannot be separated.

Continuity versus Discontinuity

In Chapter 1, you also learned that psychologists debate whether development occurs in a continuous or a discontinuous manner. Some theories, such as Erikson’s psychosocial model, explain development in stages; this is an example of a discontinuous theory and is often visually represented as a staircase. A child needs to “step up” to the next stage. Just like when you yourself walk up a set of stairs, it is not your whole body moving – you have to go one leg at a time and that is “discontinuous.” In terms of what discontinuous development actually looks like, imagine the difference between an infant who cannot walk and a toddler who can. These are two distinct stages and you can literally observe when a child moves from one to the other. A baby’s first steps are a huge developmental milestone that moves them from infant to toddler!

On the other hand, continuous development can be seen in models such as Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Continuous theories do not make clear distinctions between stages or phases. Instead of a staircase, you could imagine continuous development like a ramp. Over time, you can tell that a child has moved up along the ramp, but the small changes along the way can be hard to see. A great deal of physical development is continuous; children grow and change over time, but often that change is only easy to see when you look at the difference over months, rather than over days. Going back to Vygotsky’s theory, the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development is an example of continuous development; through interaction with others, children gradually change their level of ability relative to a task.

Universal versus Individual Development

Within each domain of development, there will be things which are universal, meaning they happen to all children and things that are individual, meaning they may or may not happen to any particular child. Very little about child development – or any development for that matter – is universal, but there are a few things that happen to almost all children, regardless of geographical location, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or culture. In each section, there will be an example of something that is universal, to help you think about how little of development is the same for every child!

Development versus Growth

When discussing physical development, it is sometimes difficult to separate the concepts of “development” and “growth.” In everyday language, we typically use the word “develop” to mean the same as grow, improve, or get bigger. However, in psychology we use the word “development” whenever we are talking about change of any kind; it may or may not have to do with an increase, and there are plenty of examples from adult development where the concept actually refers to a decline or loss of something. In this section, and throughout the textbook, we will be discussing child development. Since children are at the beginning of their lifespan, nearly all of their development is a gain of some sort: they grow bigger, they learn language, they improve their social skills. Physical development is no different, but there are a few exceptions, which we will get to. So, as you read this section and move through the textbook learning about physical development in children, keep in mind that some of that development will mean physical growth, but some of it will refer to invisible processes and could include losses and declines.

As you read more about the domains of development, try to pay attention to aspects that may develop continuously or discontinuously; look for aspects of development that may be more or less influenced by nature or nurture.