Human beings are the most immature at birth and have the longest period of development before they become capable of all the activities and skill of an adult. Adult behavior and personality characteristics are influenced by events that occur during the early years of life, until maturity. It is a product of continuous interaction between heredity, environment, and experience, or time. The biological predispositions present at birth interact with the experiences encountered in the course of growing up. The question of whether heredity or environment is more important in shaping the personality of a human being has long been a topic of debate. It seems that both are inseparable.
Human Development
How does the human being develop?
How do you will explain your present behavior?
What does the saying “like father, like son” or “like mother, like daughter” mean to you?
Human Development is one traditional focus of psychology. There is a specific course call developmental Psychology where the tedious and yet challenging study of human development throughout the life span is dealt with.
Human Development is generally defined as the progressive and continuous change in the individual from conception up to death. In encompasses changes as a function of maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the appearance of specie- specific behavior like talking and walking. Learning on the other hand refers to changes in behavior as a function of experiences.
Theories of Human Development
Human Development theory has many definitions. But all definitions include changes in the person across time. A human development theory is then defined as a theory that describes changes in a person over time. Miller (1993) said that a development theory has three functions.
1. It describes changes in one or several behavior s or psychological activity over time.
2. A development theory describes the relations among several areas of behavior.