3.2 Influences on Development

Nature and nurture interact

Development is shaped by both heredity (nature) and environment (nurture). Genes set a range of possibilities, but experiences — family, culture, peers, and environment — determine where within that range a person ends up. Most psychologists now favor an interactionist view rather than picking one side.

Key influences across the lifespan

Temperament (inborn personality style) appears early and stays fairly stable. Attachment styles (secure, avoidant, ambivalent) formed with caregivers shape later relationships. Parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, uninvolved) affect self-esteem and behavior. Culture and peer relationships also strongly influence identity, values, and social development.

Resilience and critical/sensitive periods

Resilience is the ability to adapt well despite adversity, stress, or trauma, often supported by strong relationships. Critical periods are windows when specific experiences are necessary for normal development (e.g., language exposure); sensitive periods are optimal but more flexible windows for development to occur.

Key terms

Interactionism

The view that nature (genetics) and nurture (environment) work together to shape development.

Temperament

An innate, biologically based style of emotional and behavioral reactivity present from infancy.

Attachment styles

Patterns of relating to caregivers (secure, avoidant, ambivalent) that influence later relationships.

Authoritative parenting

A parenting style with high warmth and reasonable, consistent expectations; linked to positive outcomes.

Resilience

The ability to adapt and recover well in the face of adversity, stress, or trauma.

Try an AP-style question

Which did the infants prefer?

1. The wire mother
2. The cloth mother
3. Whichever was closer
4. Neither