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St. Vincent de Ferrer College of Camarin, Inc.

SVFC Compound, San Vicente Ferrer St., Area D, Brgy. 178, Camarin, Caloocan City
Tel. No.: 6682575; Email address: st.vincentdeferrercollegeofccc@yahoo.com Website: stvfc.com
___________________________________________________________________________________
Name: JOAN JECIL M. PAREJA Subject Title: The Child and Adolescent Learners
Course / Yr. & Sec. BEED 1ST YR SEC. 2 Subject Code: Educ. 101
AY: 1st Sem., 2020-2021 Professor: Dr. Peter G. Young Jr.
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Module 3: Issues on Human Development 1

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The interaction of heredity and environment is so extensive that to ask which is more important, nature or
nurture, is like asking which is more important to a rectangle, height or width.

- William Greenought

Each of us has his/her own informal way of looking at our own and other people’s development. These
paradigms of human development while obviously lacking in scholastic vigor, provide us with a conceptual
framework for understanding ourselves and others. Scholars have come up with their own models of human
development. Back up by solid research, they take stand on issues on human development.
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Activity: Developmental Issues

1. Nature versus Nurture – Which has a more significant influence on human development? Nature or
nurture? Nature refers to an individual’s biological inheritance. Nurture refers to environmental
experiences.
Ans. For me, human behaviour or human development is a social perspective and hence nurturing has a
pivotal role in shaping the character of a human being. Nature however is more prominent in shaping
physical characteristics of an individual.

2. Continuity versus Discontinuity – Does development involve gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or
distinct changes (discontinuity). To make it more concrete, here is a question: Is our development like that
of a seedling gradually growing into an acacia tree? Or is it more like that of a caterpillar becoming a
butterfly?
Ans. I think, it is more like that of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, because as a caterpillar changes into
a butterfly, it becomes a different kind of organism. Its development is discontinuous. Similarly, at
some point in development a student becomes capable of writing a meaningful sentence,
which the student could not have done before. This is qualitative, discontinuous change.

3. Stability versus Change – Is development best described as involving stability or as involving change? Are
we what our first experiences have made of us or do we develop into someone different from who we were
at an earlier point in development?
Ans. The latest study tracked personality changes over five decades, and the results suggest that while
certain personality elements remain stable over time, others change in distinct ways. In other
words, personality is both relatively stable and changeable, and the degree of change is specific to
each person.

The issues presented can be translated into questions that have sparked animated debate among
developmentalists.

1. Are girls less likely to do well in match because of their ‘feminine’ nature or because of society’s
‘masculine’ bias?
Ans. Women and girls are less likely to be seen as suited to brainy tasks, researchers have found, in the
latest study to shed light on gender biases. Female students do better at school and are more likely to
go to university than their male peers.
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2. How extensively can the elderly be trained to reason more effectively? How much, if at all, does our
memory decline in old age?
Ans. Sleep plays an important role in helping you consolidate your memories, so you can recall them down
the road. Make getting enough sleep a priority. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a day.
3. Can techniques be used to prevent or reduce the decline?
Ans. Can be used to prevent.

4. For children who experienced a world of poverty, neglect by parents, and poor schooling in childhood, can
enriched experiences in adolescence remove the ‘deficits’ that they encountered earlier in their
development?
Ans. No, abuse or neglect may stunt physical development of the child's brain and lead to psychological
problems, such as low self- esteem, which could later lead to high-risk behaviors, such as substance
use.

Each one has his/her own explanations for his/her stand on the developmental issues. What is the right
answer? Up to this time, the debate continues. Researches are on-going. Most life-span developmentalists
recognize that extreme positions on these issues are unwise. Development is not all nature or all nurture, not
all continuity or discontinuity and not all stability or all change. Both nature and nurture, continuity and
discontinuity, stability and change characterize our life-span development. The key to development is the
interaction or nature and nurture rather than either factor alone. In other words, it is a matter of “both-and”
not “either-or.” Just go back to the quote beneath the title of this lesson and the message gets crystal clear.
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St. Vincent de Ferrer College of Camarin, Inc.

SVFC Compound, San Vicente Ferrer St., Area D, Brgy. 178, Camarin, Caloocan City
Tel. No.: 6682575; Email address: st.vincentdeferrercollegeofccc@yahoo.com Website: stvfc.com
___________________________________________________________________________________
Name: JOAN JECIL M. PAREJA Subject Title: The Child and Adolescent Learners
Course / Yr. & Sec. BEED 1ST YR SEC. 2 Subject Code: Educ. 101
AY: 1st Sem., 2020-2021 Professor: Dr. Peter G. Young Jr.

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Module 3: Issues on Human Development 2

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To summarize, both genes and environment are necessary for a person even to exist. Without genes,
there is no person; without environment, there is no person. Heredity and environment operate together – or
cooperate and interact – to produce a person’s intelligence, temperament, height, weight… ability to read and
so on.

If heredity and environment interact, which one has a greater influence or contribution, heredity or
environment? The relative contributions of heredity and environment are not additive. So we can’t say 50% is
a contribution of heredity and 50% of environment. Neither is it correct to say that full genetic expression
happens once, around conception or birth, after which we take our genetic legacy into the world to see how far
it gets us. Genes produce proteins throughout the life span, in many different environments. Or they don’t
produce these proteins, depending on how harsh or nourishing those environments are.

Guide Questions:

Answer the following:

1. Answer the four (4) activity questions.

2. Are you pro-nature? or pro-nurture? Give additional reasons in favor of your answer.
Ans. For me, I am Pro-nurture we all know that nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors
after conception so, the environment around us impacts the way our personalities and preferences. Nurture
and environment refer to the home and city we live in, and how we are raised by our parents, teachers, and
friends.

3. Do you go for continuity? or discontinuity? Give additional arguments to defend your answer.
Ans. For me, continuity because the development of the child is relatively smooth process, without sharp, or
distinct stages. It is a matter of quantity, the older the child is the more skills they develop.

4. Is stability more correct than change?

Ans. Yes, because no, people can change. But you can't just snap your fingers and say goodbye to well-
established patterns, even when those patterns result in bad consequences. Sure, you wish it could be easier.

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