2. Erik Erikson (1902–1994) was a stage theorist who took
Freud’s controversial psychosexual theory and modified it into
an eight-stage psychosocial theory of development.
• Social rather than cognitive
• Suggests human beings pass thorough a certain stage or
phases of development
• two conflicting ideas must be resolved successfully in order
for a person to become a confident, contributing member
of society. Failure to master these tasks leads to feelings of
inadequacy.Once negotiated well they continue to develop
normal
4 childhood, 1 adoloscenes, 3 adulthood
3.
4. Heredity & Enviroment
• Heredity is the sum total of the traits potentially present in the fertilized
ovum. All the qualities that a child has inherited from the parents is called
heredity. After knowing the mean ing one must know about the
mechanism of heredity. How is child biologically born? Life starts as a
single cell.
• The union of male and female germ cells causes fertilization of the ovum.
The fertilized egg is known as zygote.
• Zygote 46 chromosomes 23 from Female and 23 from Male
• Each chromosome contains about 40 to 100 genes. The genes are
responsible for the development of particular traits. In the words of
Peterson Heredity may be defined as “what gets from his ancestral stock
through his parents”. Douglas and Holland says “Heredity consists of all
the structures, physical characteristics, functions or capacities derived
from parents and other ancestors”.F.L. Ruch considers the heredity as the
totality of biologically transmitted factors that influence the structure of
the body.
5. • Mechanism of Heredity:
• (i) Mating:
• Mating is the 1st step for reproduction. The union of male sperm with
female ovum the results is zygote.
• (ii) Growth:
• It involves repeated division of the fertilized cell or zygote.
• (iii) Chromosomes:
• Every woman and man receives 23 chromosomes from each parent or 46
in all.
• (iv) Genes:
• Each chromosomes consists of small particles numbering 40 to 100 which
are called genes.
• (v) Chance factor:
• Both ovum and sperm before fertilization contains 23 pairs of
chromosomes each. At the time of conception, the genes in the
chromosomes of the sperm, pair the genes of ovum and determines the
potential characteristics and qualities of the off spring.
• The result of the union of the genes is called heredity.
6. • Meaning of Environment:
• Environment is nothing but the sum total of the surroundings in
which an individual has to live. Psychologically an individual’s
environment is related to all those stimuli which he faces from the
moment of fertilization till death. Environment is generally divided
into two categories-natural and social. Natural environment refers
to all those things and forces on and around the earth that
influence a person.
• Social environment we mean the environment which the person
sees around himself on acquiring consciousness in the society, i.e.,
language, religion, custom, tradition, means of communication,
means of luxury, family, school, social groups etc.
• By human society we mean those institutions or organizations
which human beings have established for their own protection and
security. Psychologists like Freud, Havelock, Eills have accepted the
fact that social environment is very much responsible for changing
in human behaviour and its personality.
7. • ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF HEREDITY
• Kinds of twins: There are two kinds of twins i) identical and ii) fraternal twins. Identical twins
develop from one ovum’s. Fraternal twins arise from germination of two separate ova. Identical
twins resemble each other and are always of same sex while the fraternal twins mostly just
brothers and sisters at the same time. Thorndike, Newman, Freeman, David Winfield and many
others have made studies on twins and they come to the conclusion that heredity is an important
factor in causing individual difference. Another study was conducted by David Winfield and the
following conclusions were drawn.
All the above studies point out that the heredity is an important factor in the life of an
individual. Identical twins reared apart since infancy differ somewhat more than
identical twins reared together. But still they remain more alike than the fraternal
twins either reared apart or together. Fraternal twins are more alike in intelligence
than ordinary siblings. It means that closer the relationship, the higher is the
correlation of score on intelligence.
8. • ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF ENVIRONMENT
• Freeman has proved that 71 children who were removed
from a poor environment and placed in a good
environment showed an increase in Benet’s mental rating
upto 10 points. This justifies the role of environment in the
life of an individual. Study of James –Reace: There were
two twins reared in a hill and a village respectively when
their intelligence was marked, the difference of 19 points
was found, this is clearly an indication of environmental
effect on intelligence. Now: Is the characteristics of the
child and individual differences are due to a) heredity b)
environment c) or both
• If so, to what extent, what is the relative role of heredity
and environment in the development of the child and in
causing individual differences? That is, both heredity and
environment are equally responsible for the development
of child and in causing individual difference
9. • Importance of Heredity
• As a consequence of heredity a person has different features; which become obvious with the
process of development. On the basis of these differences, a teacher can plan his teaching.
• Heredity tells about the in-born abilities of a child which helps a teacher while making a teaching
plan.
• Heredity tells about the difference in learning process.
• Heredity provides basic instincts.
• Heredity makes sexual differences between boy and a girl.
• Heredity creates physical differences.
• Importance of Environment
• Environment guides in the development process of a child.
• A teacher can understand the environment and then can create such an environment which makes
expression possible.
• Teacher can create cultural environment so that students follow the ideals.
• Teacher can create an environment according to the interests, instincts and capabilities of the
students.
• A student spends his maximum time in family, neighbourhood and playground. Teacher can give
attention to environment and can guide the students.
• Students, emotions also affect the environment of the school. After controlling the environment
the school. After controlling the environment controlled emotions can be created among the
students. Thus Heredity and Environment has great importance in educating child. Teacher should
have knowledge about both of them.
• Importance or Need of Heredity and Environment for a Teacher or in the Child’s Education or Role
of a Teacher.
10. • The nature versus nurture debate is one of the
oldest philosophical issues within psychology.
So what exactly is it all about?
• Nature refers to all of the genes and
hereditary factors that influence who we
are—from our physical appearance to our
personality characteristics.
• Nurture refers to all the environmental
variables that impact who we are, including
our early childhood experiences, how we were
raised, our social relationships, and our
surrounding culture.
11. • A Closer Look at the Nature vs. Nurture Debate
• Do genetic or environmental factors have a greater influence on your behavior? Do
inherited traits or life experiences play a greater role in shaping your personality?
The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The
debate centers on the relative contributions of genetic
inheritance and environmental factors to human development.
• Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are
inborn, or that they occur naturally regardless of environmental influences.
Nativists take the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the
results of inheritance.
• Advocates of this point of view believe that all of our characteristics and behaviors
are the result of evolution. Genetic traits handed down from parents influence the
individual differences that make each person unique.
• Other well-known thinkers such as John Locke believed in what is known as tabula
rasa, which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate. According to this
notion, everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our
experience.
• Empiricists take the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics result
from learning. Behaviorism is a good example of a theory rooted in empiricism.
The behaviorists believe that all actions and behaviors are the results of
conditioning. Theorists such as John B. Watson believed that people could be
trained to do and become anything, regardless of their genetic background.
12. • Examples of Nature vs. Nurture
• For example, when a person achieves tremendous academic success, did
they do so because they are genetically predisposed to be successful or is
it a result of an enriched environment? If a man abuses his wife and kids,
is it because he was born with violent tendencies or is it something he
learned by observing his own parent's behavior?
• A few examples of biologically determined characteristics (nature) include
certain genetic diseases, eye color, hair color, and skin color. Other things
like life expectancy and height have a strong biological component, but
they are also influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle.
• An example of a nativist theory within psychology is Chomsky's concept of
a language acquisition device (or LAD). According to this theory, all
children are born with an instinctive mental capacity that allows them to
both learn and produce language.
• Some characteristics are tied to environmental influences. How a person
behaves can be linked to influences such as parenting styles and learned
experiences. For example, a child might learn through observation and
reinforcement to say 'please' and 'thank you.' Another child might learn to
behave aggressively by observing older children engage in violent behavior
on the playground.
13. • How Nature and Nurture Interact
• What researchers do know is that the interaction between heredity
and environment is often the most important factor of all. Kevin
Davies of PBS's Nova described one fascinating example of this
phenomenon.
• Perfect pitch is the ability to detect the pitch of a musical tone
without any reference. Researchers have found that this ability
tends to run in families and believe that it might be tied to a single
gene. However, they've also discovered that possessing the gene
alone is not enough to develop this ability. Instead, musical training
during early childhood is necessary to allow this inherited ability to
manifest itself.
• Height is another example of a trait that is influenced by nature and
nurture interaction. A child might come from a family where
everyone is tall, and he may have inherited these genes for height.
However, if he grows up in a deprived environment where he does
not receive proper nourishment, he might never attain the height
he might have had he grown up in a healthier environment.
