Psychology- is the science of human behavior and mental processes.

Tools in Understanding the

Self
FOR FILIPINO COLLEGE STUDENTS
Orientation
Omartony B. Llave | Social Sciences Department | 
 College is a journey. To some of you, a small happy journey is called a “road trip” or
a “joyride”. Before we ride our bikes or cars, we make sure that our vehicle can last the long
road and that our driving skills will keep us safe on the road. Just like a joyride, college life
requires you to have the right positioning or orientation about your trip even as you are yet to
discover the exciting things along the way. Let us take a 360-roadtrip in the world of college, a
joyride for your future.

As a college student, you must know that entering the university means choosing a
course which will train you to master the knowledge and the skills required to realize your
professional dreams and lifelong plans. While there are various courses and subjects taught
in the university, remember that the approaches of education in dealing with knowledge and
skills can be categorized into four major disciplines. When we say discipline, that means a
teaching by which a student or a follower live by; as in disciples which means followers. You,
as a student of the university, shall follow the instructions of the school and the teachings of
your course in order to master the tasks of your industry. If you are an engineering student,
for example, you shall live by the skills and standards you learn from the science of
engineering in order to be recognized and registered as a professional engineer.

Most often, having a discipline means an adherence to the teachings as a way of life.

The Disciplines of Knowledge in Education

Let us understand now which discipline your chosen course belongs to. The four
major disciplines of knowledge are Arts, Religion, Philosophy, and Science. All these
disciplines are “bodies of knowledge” or organized collection and presentation of information.
They have their own principles and approaches in dealing with knowledge and reality.

Arts is an expression of human experiences projected or told in creative ways like

painting, sculpture, architecture, designs, acting, dance act, storytelling, etc. It requires from
its students the skills in what the human body and intellect can do to express or immortalize
the human spirit and imagination. The purpose of artistic expression is to show an idea or
experience in a way that is unique, pleasing, and appreciable to oneself or to other people.
Literature, Fine Arts, Interior Design, and Creative Writing are examples of Arts courses in
college.

Philosophy literally means love of wisdom. Based from observation and speculation
about things and events, philosophers were able to explain human experiences and beliefs
with the use of reason. To them, the knowledge of reality is validated by our innate ability to
grasp the truth. (Although not anymore under Philosophy and now an independent discipline,
Mathematics or our mathematical ability is one of the functions of reason that is abstract—a
reality that is purely intellectual and immaterial.) Logic and Ethics are some of the subjects in
college that are under the discipline of Philosophy.

Religion is the human attempt to reconnect to the divine or the Creator. It uses faith,
or a strong belief that is supported by reason, in grasping the idea of the unseen power.
(Religious subjects are taught in some private and sectarian schools. Public schools and
State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) are legally bound by the principle of the Separation of
Church and State contained in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines so they do not offer
religious courses.)

Science is the systematized body of knowledge based on observation and

experimentation. It is the discipline that separated from Philosophy and Religion in order to
establish a definite understanding of reality based on experience acquired and verified
by the human senses. A student of Science must be able to explain or prove the reality of a

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matter or an event based on observable evidences and from the scientific laws already
established in the field of Science.

As a discipline, Science aims to describe, explain, predict, and modify the matters
and events of the universe, living or non-living, in promoting progress. It uses the Scientific
Method as the only process of investigating matters and phenomena (natural or social
events). Most courses in college belong to Science like engineering, nursing, biology,
technical-vocational or technological courses, economics, political science, etc.

For this particular subject, Understanding the Self, using the book “Tools in
Understanding the Self”, our approach will mostly use the discipline of Science and some
teachings from Arts and Philosophy in enriching your knowledge of your “Self” and, therefore,
in developing yourself into the person you want to be.

Tools in Understanding the Self

The topics in this book are designed according to the developmental characteristics
of late adolescence, or the college age. They are presented in an order that will help you
discover your “Self”. We start by understanding the concept of the “Self” and then delve into
the basic knowledge of the characteristic traits of adolescence, or what you are today, and
later we advance to learning the skills in improving or “reinventing” yourself.

Our main objective is to know our strengths and weaknesses, and to find
opportunities to learn from them and improve. Simply put, you must aim to have a more
effective control of your thoughts, emotions, and actions to bring yourself into a personal
transformation leading to success, happiness, and wholeness.

Here in this book, we emphasize the importance of tools. When what the human body
can do reached its limits, we humans invented tools. Unable to see the tiniest living organism,
Leeuwenhoek created his own microscope and discovered bacteria. Unable to see the
farthest object, Galileo used the telescope to explore the stellar and planetary movements of
the universe.

In this book, each module is labeled as a tool so that we remember that what we
learn from each module must be utilized or applied in real life. You may be the best surgeon
in town, but without your medical tools, you can do nothing. You may be a good sculptor, but
without your hammer and chisel, you can do nothing.

What are the intellectual tools we need in order to understand and change our lives?
Remember, tools are extensions of our capabilities and, in life, we have to use tools to make
things work.

UNIT 1

The Self in Different Perspectives

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 This Unit introduces concept, definition, and processes of self-understanding
encompassing the scientific and philosophical explanations about the Self and Identity. The
module also broadly introduces the factors that contribute to one’s being and identity. It
covers the different factors that contribute to one’s being, the philosophical and theoretical
explanations about the self across generations of philosophers and theorists.

Philosophy of the self has been defined through two distinct philosophical lenses:
rationalism and empiricism which will be discussed in tool number 1. The scientific study of
the self is also a central topic in Psychology and Sociology which will be tackled in tool
number 2. These sciences associated self and personality as influence and conditioned by
the different factors that surrounds an individual. Natural and biological science and social
sciences encompass a number of disciplines that have deliberated on the nature of the Self.
Such discourses will be tackled in the tool number 3. Domains of human development that
generally influences our sense of self are likewise presented in tool number 4.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, the students must be able to:
o Define, differentiate and synthesize the two major philosophical traditions of
knowledge;
o Define, describe and synthesize the different psychological perspectives in
understanding the self; and
o Describe the three domains of human learning and development.

Pre-test
Multiple Choice: Select the best answer for the questions below.

1. Which of the following statements is true?

a. Science and art have little in common.
b. Youngsters who are good at science or math cannot be proficient.
c. While scientist have great curiosity about nature, artists have little or
none.
d. Science and art have a great deal in common.
2. What is meant by the term “dualism”?
a. The notion that the mind and body are separate entities
b. The notion that the mind and body are intrinsically one and the same
entity
c. The notion that people have two minds
d. The notion that psychological life is a by-product of psychological
function
3. What is meant by the term “materialism”?
a. The notion that reality consists only of our perceptions
b. The notion that reality consists only our ideas
c. The notion that reality, per se, doesn’t exist
d. The notion that reality is grounded in physical objects

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4. Philosophical approach to knowledge whose true value can only verified by
the senses.
a. Rationalism c. Empiricism
b. Humanism d. Naturalism
5. Understanding or knowing the world through observation of real events is
called ____?
a. Tenacity c. Intuition
b. Rationalism d. Empiricism
6. He insisted that “no one can learn anything at all in the absence of sense”?
a. Plato c. Socrates
b. Aristotle d. Descartes
7. Who among the following have been noted for their strident criticisms of
behaviorism?
a. B.F. Skinner c. Noam Chomsky
b. John Watson d. Edward Thorndike
8. Which two disciplines did Kant weave together into a single cohesive
philosophy?
a. Rationalism and Logic
b. Empiricism and aesthetics
c. Rationalism and empiricism
d. Aesthetic and logic
9. “I think therefore I am” served Descartes as_________?
a. A truth he cannot doubt
b. A merely grammatical remark
c. An aeschylean point from which to attack the sciences
d. A logical but not epistemological truth
e. The foundation of all skepticism
10. John Locke argued that a child is born as what?
a. Containing innate knowledge
b. Genetically predisposed towards language
c. Driven solely by innate drives
d. Tabula Rasa (blank slate)
e. Genetically predisposed towards language
11. Which of these factors contribute towards the nurturing of the child?
a. Parenting style c. Education
b. Socio-economic status d. All of these
12. Which of these factors would not be a contributor in the nature side of the
nature-nurture debate?
a. Genes c. Culture
b. Hormones d. Physiology
13. what conflict is experienced during early adulthood?
a. Autonomy versus shame c. Initiative versus Guilt
b. Intimacy versus isolation d. Identity versus Role Confusion
14. What are the different domain that Human Development have?
a. Physical, Cognitive, Psychosocial Development
b. Affective, Psychomotor, Cognitive Domain
c. Physical, Mental, Spiritual Development
d. Spiritual, Cognitive, Psychological Development
15. It is the biological changes that occur in the body and brain, including
changes in size and strength, integration of sensory and motor activities and
development of fine and gross motor skills.

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 a. Cognitive Development c. Psychological Development
b. Spiritual Development d. Physical Development
16. At which age would a child be categorized as preoperational according to
Piaget?
a. 0-2 years c. 6-9 months
b. 2-7 years d. 7-11 years
17. It means learning about one’s own conscious thoughts or recent mental
process.
a. Introspection c. Mechanism
b. Metaphysical Concept d. Determinism
18. It claims that we are equipped with innate ability to know what is or is not true,
real, or right.
a. Empiricism c. Behaviorism
b. Rationalism d. Humanism
19. State of awareness of what is happening in or around oneself.
a. Unconscious c. Conscious
b. Subconscious d. None of the above
20. It defines the self by how you are shaped by your behaviors and their
consequences which are either rewarding or punishing.
a. Humanism c. Behaviorism
b. Mentalism d. Naturalism

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TOOL No. 1: Rationalism and Empiricism

Philosophy offers us two distinct approaches in examining what we know and how we
M
know it; namely, rationalism and empiricism. These two major approaches are used in our
attempt to understand an object, event, or idea. Rationalism uses reason while Empiricism
O
uses the senses as tools of knowledge. The two philosophical approaches (also called the
“isms” of knowledge) deal with “the known, the knowable, and the unknowable,” (Acuña,
D
2001)
U
L
TOOL BOX
E Rationalism
To know your “Self”, you must use your
vs.
Map reason and your senses.
Empericism

Domains
Mentalism
of Human
Behavioris
Develop- SELF m
ment
Humanism

Nature
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vs.
Nurture
Rationalism
Rationalism claims that we are equipped with innate ability to know what is (or, is
not) true, real, or right. This innate ability is reason, the chief source and test of knowledge in
rationalism. Reason gives a person a deeper understanding of life and the matters of the
universe. Reason does not only give us an understanding of what we can observe with the
use of the senses but also of the things our minds can think about, such as soul, God, and
mathematical solutions—things which cannot be found in the physical world but significantly
affect how humans live and progress. The reality of the soul, God, and good and evil cannot
be proven by material evidences; however, with the use of reason, they can be found to be an
essential part of the truth. These ideas are called metaphysical concept—a reality which
cannot be proven by the human senses but can be intelligible and meaningful with the use of
reason.

Socrates (470-399 BCE) is one of the great philosophers who taught about the virtue
of knowing oneself. He learned his philosophy from his seven great sages (or great thinkers
ahead of his time) and adhered to the message written on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi:
“Know thyself,” (Plato, Protagoras. Translated by: Lamb, W.R.M., 1967. Retrieved from
perseus.tufts.edu). The maxim means that man must know himself first before he can make
good decisions and deal rightly with himself and other people. It is important that you know
yourself well by examining your thoughts, judgments, and purpose in life. It is hard to be a
good person or to be good at something if you do not know yourself.

The story of Socrates and his teachings was written by his great student named Plato
(427-347 BCE). Plato founded the first higher learning institution called the Academy about
2,400 years ago. The Academy can be considered as the origin of the public education we
have today. Plato made a discussion on the nature of man through his books. He used the
method of introspection as was used by Socrates and other philosophers.

Introspection is a means of learning about one’s own conscious thoughts or recent

mental processes (Schwitzgebel, 2019. Retrieved from plato.standford.edu). It is a process
that generates knowledge, judgments, or beliefs about one’s own mental events or
processes. Introspection can roughly be translated into the Filipino language as pagmumuni-
muni or pagbubulay-bulay or pagninilay-nilay or pagsisiyasat ng sarili.

The most important aspect of introspection is that it is about monitoring and

examining your own thoughts and thinking process, and not about someone else’s. When
you examine your thoughts, you evaluate the reasons behind them if they will bring about
either good or harm to yourself and to people around you.

Plato postulated that man is not purely a physical object that often changes. The
essence of man, according to Plato, is its pure form which can be discovered only through
reason. Reason reveals the ideal form of man which is the eternal soul. By reason man is
able to know the virtues or good qualities that he must possess. This can be achieved by
doing introspection.

The belief in the twofold nature of man as body and soul is called dualism, or the
philosophical belief that man is made up of body and soul (a teaching that originated from
ancient religions and expounded by Philosophy using reason). The body is the physical or
material aspect which can be observed by the senses while the soul reveals its nature
through reason. The body is imperfect and mortal, and therefore, prone to mistakes.
However, the enduring characteristics of a person in making good judgments and decisions
may signify a deep connection to the pure and eternal nature of the soul.

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Empiricism
While Socrates and Plato taught that man should pursue the ideal and use reason to
know the truth and the good conducts of the self, Aristotle (384-322 BCE), who was a student
of Plato, on the other hand, focused on seeking the truth by observing nature. He insisted that
“no one can learn anything at all in the absence of sense,” (Dawes, G.W., 2017. Retrieved
from plato.standford.edu). This means that knowledge is gained through sensory experience.
The tradition that claims that sensory experience is the only source of knowledge is called
empiricism.

Empiricism is the philosophical approach to knowledge whose truth value can only
be verified by the senses. Reality, according to empiricists, are the things which can be
observed or experienced by the senses. If a person claims that something exists but that
thing cannot be proven by using any of the senses, then it is not real. Reality then relies only
on what can be observed or experienced by the senses.

Aristotle, an empiricist himself, claimed that the body and the soul are inseparable
whole, not two entities that work together or against each other. Aristotle may be meaning
that the soul is a functional part of the body. This philosophical belief is called monism.
Monism is the view that man is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts
(Merriam-Webster Inc., 2020). In modern philosophy, Rene Descartes, whose philosophy was
grounded in both reason and senses, extended this belief by claiming that the body is a
mechanical system composed of tiny fibers that activate the muscles.

Owing to the philosophy of empiricism, Science emerged as an independent

discipline of knowledge. The scientific method has its roots in Aristotle’s curiosity about
nature, along with his works on logic called Organon, and later in the systematic process
proposed by Francis Bacon in his book Novum Organum. Science claims that man is a
natural creature (naturalism), a material being (materialism), a mechanical system
(mechanism), and his actions are caused by other natural, material and mechanistic events
found inside and outside the body (determinism). Scientists regard reason as a function of
the brain or the mind. Reason is the processes of the mind in making decisions.

Since the soul cannot be proven by the senses, modern empiricists rejected the belief
that it is eternal and an independent part of the Self. In empirical science, the Self is your
body whose mechanisms work in order to adapt to the environment. Our ability to recognize
ourselves and everything we do, feel, or think is controlled by the master organ which is the
brain. The brain is a part of the body, while the mind is the function of the brain.

Reason and knowledge as innate in us did not impress one of the modern
philosophers named John Locke. He theorized that the mind at birth is a blank page, or the
concept of “tabula rasa”, Latin term which means blank slate or blank page. Popularizing the
term tabula rasa, Locke explained that an infant’s mind is empty or devoid of knowledge and
reason at birth. It is only when the infant interacts with the world that it gains knowledge. Your
knowledge of your “Self” depends on the experiences that you’ve had since you were born,
and continuously improves as you learn from your community, your school, and from your
wider interactions with other people or the society.

We can apply empiricism to ourselves by understanding that we gain knowledge

through experience. If we do not involve ourselves in social, community, or school activities,
we will have less chances of learning in life. If we are exposed to a harmful environment, our
development will be negatively affected resulting to a poor regard to the self. However, if we
engage in meaningful activities and are exposed to a rich learning environment, we will be
better off in life.

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EXERCISE 1A: How Do I See MySelf?
Instructions: For each statement, indicate whether you agree or disagree by encircling your
choice.

1. My life choices are based on what I have actually

experienced. Agree Disagree

2. My views about the world are dependent on what I have

actually witnessed. Agree Disagree

3. I am likely to buy a brand that I have already use and not

Agree Disagree
based on referrals.
4. I would rather remain in my comfort zone than try
Agree Disagree
something new.
5. Most of the time, I make choices based on the present
Agree Disagree
rather than the future.
6. I am likely to hold on to what I have now, even if there is a
Agree Disagree
greater option in the future.
7. For me, happiness is tangible. Agree Disagree

Scoring Key:
If majority of your answers is “agree”, then you are an empiricist. If majority of your answers is
“disagree”, then you are a rationalist.

Process questions:
1. How do you differentiate empiricism and rationalism?
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2. Do you agree with your classification? Why or why not?

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EXERCISE 1B: How Do I See MySelf?

Instructions: Read the different statements below and answer the succeeding questions. In
answering, take note of the three discerning points between empiricism and rationalism.

Rationalism Empiricism

The primary and most superior source of The only source of genuine knowledge
knowledge about reality is reason. about the world is sense experience.

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 Reason is unreliable and inadequate route
Sense experience is unreliable and
to knowledge unless it is grounded in the
inadequate route to knowledge.
solid bedrock of sense experience.

There is no such thing as innate knowledge

The fundamental truths about the world can
because knowledge is derived from
be known a priori: either innate or self-
experience. The mind before experience is
evident to our minds.
a tabula rasa, a blank state.

1. When you are studying or reviewing lessons, are you more likely to take the rationalist
viewpoint or empiricist viewpoint? Why?
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2. How do you apply empiricism and/or rationalism in studying your lessons? Be specific
and concrete. Try to remember your habits and how you make sense of the lessons.
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3. Is it possible to make use of both philosophical approaches? Why or why not?

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TOOL No. 2: Mentalism, Behaviorism, and Humanism

The scientific study of the self is a central topic in Psychology and Sociology.
Psychology is the science of human behavior and mental processes. Sociology, on the
other hand, is the science of social behavior or group interactions in a given culture. Let us
now understand the Self in the perspective of science.

Mentalism
Psychology started by using Introspection as a tool applied to the study of
consciousness (or the awareness of what is happening in or around oneself). Through
introspection, one is able to understand his behavior by being aware of what he is
experiencing with the senses and how he interprets these experiences in his mind. However,
Dr. Sigmund Freud proposed that an individual does not just behave according to his

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consciousness. He likened the mind to an iceberg floating in the middle of the ocean. At the
surface of the ocean is the tip of the iceberg which is just a small portion of the entire iceberg.
Underneath the water is a much larger portion of the iceberg. The tip of the iceberg, according
to Freud, is the conscious part of the mind which comprises the things one is aware of; while
the much bigger part below the surface of the water is the unconscious which contains the
childhood memories and the mental processes away from awareness that significantly affect
human behavior.

Inferring from his analyses of the patients in his psychiatric clinic, Dr. Freud explained
that our actions, the way we respond to situations, and our individual personalities are very
much influenced by our own past experiences, especially early childhood memories that were
buried—or forgotten but not erased from—the deep recesses of the mind. This simply means
that what you have become today is the result of your childhood experiences, painful,
traumatic, curious, happy or otherwise. Unaware of their effects in our present life, we are
significantly affected by the memories of our past which we have long forgotten. The
unpleasant or painful experiences which made much damage in our lives may have been long
forgotten but still have an influence for unstable emotions in some of us. The unstable
emotions and maladaptive behavior caused by traumatic early childhood experiences are
manifestations of what Freud called neurosis. A person suffering from neurosis can still
function normally but consistently shows maladaptive or ineffective behavior and
inappropriate emotional reactions to certain situations especially when challenges in
relationships or tasks arise.

If you think you have some neurotic tendency in you, do not lose hope. Dr. Freud
offered a remedy to this by having an insight of your past. When you are able to examine your
past and have an understanding of the events leading to other events of your life, you would
be able to forgive yourself and form a more stable and effective personality. If it is difficult for
you to handle the pain and the trauma in recalling your past, you may need a professional
counselor or psychologist who knows how to help you.

Behaviorism
Another way to understand yourself is by knowing the mechanisms of how
observable behavior leads to results. American psychologist John B. Watson applied a
physiology experiment on animal to humans. He used the dog experiment conducted by
Russian Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov. In his laboratory experiment on the salivation of
dogs, Pavlov paired the sound of the metronome to feeding the dog. His experiment shows
that initially the dog normally salivates to food but not to the sound of the metronome, as if the
sound is meaningless and does not create any reaction from the dog. When the sound is
paired to the food in several repetitions, the dog learns to associate the sound to the food and
reacts by salivating. Eventually, even without the food, the dog salivates upon hearing the
sound of the metronome. This experiment inspired American behaviorist J. B. Watson to
believe that behavior is not the result of mentalistic processes but by association of
observable actions. He applied the experiment to a child named Little Albert with the purpose
of teaching him fear of a furry animal. Little Albert used to be fond of bunnies but later on
became fearful of them when Watson paired a loud sound whenever a bunny was presented
to the child. Watson explained that our behaviors which constitute the Self are learned by
associating them to pleasant or unpleasant events. In the same way, learning happens when
a behavior either results to a reward or a punishment. Behaviors that lead to pleasant
consequences (reward) tend to be repeated; while behaviors that result to unpleasant
consequences (punishment) tend to be avoided.

In the practical sense of behaviorism, when your parents or your teachers reward or
praise you for doing good at school, you tend to be consistent with your academic

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performance. A student who fails in an exam may want to stop idling and start studying so
that he will not get a failing grade again and scolded by his parents!

Behaviorism defines the self by how it is shaped by our behaviors that lead to either
reward or punishment. We do good in our studies and tasks so that we are successful and
happy. We do not want to experience hunger and poverty so we avoid laziness. We define
ourselves by the success and effectiveness of our actions.

Humanism
The humanistic perspective in understanding the Self gives emphasis on the value of
human beings as creative and possessed with great potentials. It emphasizes the value of
self-exploration in your attempt to live freely and to realize your potentials. In humanistic
stance, you consider yourself as a goal-oriented person with freedom and creativity to shape
or define yourself not by your past or by your failures but by your possibilities. You are the
one who makes choices for yourself so you are responsible for your life.

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers were two of the prominent pioneers of humanistic
psychology. Maslow emphasized that a human individual must attain his basic needs before
he can go up to the next level. He proposed that human needs form a hierarchy from the most
basic to the highest: namely, (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) love/belonging, (4) esteem and
(5) self-actualization.

Maslow described self-actualization by stating, “What a man can be, he must be.” In
other words, self-actualization can generally be thought of as the potential realization of one’s
creative, intellectual and social potentials as driven by the love of it rather than by material or
external rewards. Man’s ultimate goal is to maximize the use of his abilities and resources for
the good of the Self and the community he belongs to.

TOOL BOX No. 2

The Self is composed of your conscious and
unconscious thoughts, your observable behaviors and
your drive to realize your full potentials.

In psychotherapy, Rogers proposed that helping a person to grow must require a

non-judgmental, accepting environment that provides unconditional positive regard, or
showing support and acceptance that is free from judgment and that motivates self-discovery.

EXERCISE 2
A. From the given quotations below, choose one and relate it to either behaviorism,
mentalism or humanism.

“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is a true power.”

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 - Lao Tzu

“You cannot dream yourself into a character, you must hammer and force yourself one.” -

- Henry David Thoreau

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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TOOL No. 3: Nature and Nurture

In understanding human development, we consider the two major influences in a
person’s life: nature and nurture. By nature, we mean heredity or the genetic make-up that
plays a major role in the physiological changes and capacity of a person. By nurture, we
mean the environment or the external resources such as food, physical place, family and
community that influence a person’s physiological growth and psychosocial development.
There is no longer a debate which between the two is a greater factor in human development.
Heredity and environment must go together in order to maximize the development of an
individual.

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 By the way, growth is the quantitative changes that occur in an individual like height,
weight and size while development constitutes the qualitative changes such as agility,
strength and intelligence. Simply, in terms of changes, growth pertains to the body while
development pertains to the functions or capacity of the body. Growth must occur first before
development.

Nature
Heredity is the process and the result of the
process wherein the genetic characteristics of the
parents are handed down to the offspring. This happens
at the cellular level when the chromosomes of the egg
cell from your mother and the chromosomes of the
sperm cell from your father pair or fuse together to form
a new organism which is you. The chromosome contains
the genes of the organism and is made up of
deoxyribose nucleic acid or the DNA. The genes dictate
the shape, size, function, time, growth and development
of the cells, the tissues and the organs. The genes set
the limit for the growth and development of the
organism.

The characteristic time and process by which the genes unfold the traits of an
individual in different stages of development is called maturation. In children, for example,
one of the physical maturations that occurs is when the muscles grow and develop the
capacity to walk, climb, jump and do other motor skills. In adolescence, sexual maturation
occurs rapidly at puberty and slowly declines at late adolescence, showing noticeable
changes in sex characteristics like growth of facial, underarm and pubic hair, increase in
breast size, occurrence of monthly menstrual period, onset of seminal ejaculation, etc.

Nurture
The effects of environment to the organism form
part of the changes in yourself. The food that we eat
contains nutrients that the body uses for growth and
energy. The colorful surroundings enhance the capacity
of the eyes to appreciate what we see. The multiple
shapes, sizes and patterns of the objects around us
stimulate us to manipulate them. The teachings of our
parents or the family shape our personalities. The quality
of our education enhances our intelligence in adapting to
the changes and challenges of our culture. An enriched
environment gives optimum development in a person.
The capacity of the person to behave and make decisions according to his
developmental level or age is called maturity. This means that a mature person (mature not
ending in “d”, since matured means aged or has gone maturation such as wine) or a mature
teenager will not do tantrum when he or she doesn’t get what he or she wants. Tantrum is an
immature attitude which may be understandable for kids but not for teenagers. The mature
way to handle frustration during adolescence is to acknowledge your feelings that you are

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 frustrated and calmly accepting the fact that there are factors or reasons that you are not able
to get what you want.
Maturity depends on the social influence on your behavior, meaning your family,
friends and community have a major impact to your attitude.

Critical Period
In the nature and nurture discussion, it is important that we understand critical period.
Critical period is an early stage in life when an organism is especially open or sensitive to
specific learning, emotional or socializing experiences that occurs as part of normal
development and will not recur at a later stage (APA, 2020). It means that an animal or a
person must experience environmental stimuli at a certain age so that it can achieve optimum
development. For example, cats must be able to see the light for the first three weeks of life
otherwise it will be permanently blind. This shows that development occurs not just by
heredity but by the interaction of heredity and environment – bodily maturation must be
coupled with experience of the external world to maximize development.
In humans, language is learned at the critical period of infancy up until 8 years old.
With less exposure to languages at the early age, beyond 8 years old it will be hard for us to
acquire new language.

TOOL BOX No. 3

Optimum development depends on the
effective interaction between heredity and
environment.

Understanding the self is critical during adolescence. Adolescence is the stage of

forming your identity as a unique person. When you are unable to find a stable and effective
understanding of yourself, you experience confusion as to who you are or will be in life. The
inability to form identity may lead to future difficulties in making and maintaining intimate
relationships and in performing daily tasks.

EXERCISE 3A: My DNA – Diversity, Nature/Nurture and Anatomy

Instruction: Identify from which parent you have inherited the following attributes by checking
the write column.

Attributes Father Mother Both Neither

Height

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 Weight

Shape of face

Eyes

Nose

Ears

Lips

Color of hair

Skin complexion

Feet size

Body size/structure

After accomplishing the table, answer the following questions:

1. In terms of your physical features, who do you resemble more - your father or mother?
How do you say so?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2. In terms of temperament or disposition (quiet/loud, jolly/serious,

impulsive/conscientious), who do you take after – your father or mother? Explain your
answer.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

3. Based on your answers to the preceding questions, do you think that when you reach
your dominant parent’s age, you will also be like him or her? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 3B: My DNA – Diversity, Nature/Nurture and Anatomy

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Instructions: Indicate whether these medical conditions are present or have occurred in your
family (from your grandparents to your own generation), including yourself, by checking the
corresponding line.

Conditions:
___ Heart disease ___ Measles ___ Autism
___ Asthma ___ Typhoid fever ___ ADHD
___ Tuberculosis ___ Chicken pox ___Learning disability
___ Pneumonia ___ Anemia ___ Polio
___ Cardiovascular ___ Dengue fever ___ Hearing loss
diseases (stroke) ___ UTI ___ Vision loss
___ Organ failure ___ Viral infection ___ Alzheimer’s disease

___ Cancer ___ Obesity ___ Diabetes

Answer the following questions:

1. From whose side of your family did majority of the medical conditions come from – your
father’s side or mother’s side?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

2. Does experiencing any of the above conditions influence your sense of self? If yes, how?
If no, why?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

3. Do you think your parents’ or grandparents’ lingering illnesses will be passed on to you?
Why or why not?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

4. Do you think you can avoid having any of these medical conditions in the future? Why or
why not?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

5. How do you value your health?

PAGE 16
 ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

NOTE:
Your family’s medical history is a vital part of who you are. Your genetic makeup
determines your behavior and self to a significant extent. Health is a major consideration in
making decisions about your life.
However, it is not only your biological makeup that defines and shapes you. Social
factors also play a role in how you will develop .

TOOL No. 4: The 3 Domains of Human Development

Human development is a lifelong process beginning before birth and extending to
death. At each moment in life, every human being is in a state of personal evolution. Human
development refers to the physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of humans
throughout the lifespan. What types of development are involved in each of these three
domains, or areas, of life? Physical development involves growth and changes in the body
and brain, the senses, motor skills and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves
learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning and creativity. Psychosocial
development involves emotions, personality and social relationships. In many ways, these
three domains can be seen as the body, mind and soul of a person.
Physical, cognitive and psychosocial development are often interrelated. Physical
changes largely drive the process, as our cognitive abilities advance and decline in response
to the brain’s growth in childhood and reduced function in old age. Psychosocial development
is also significantly influenced by physical growth, as our changing body and brain, together
with our environment shape our identity and our relationships with other people.

Physical Domain
Physical development is defined as the biological changes that occur in the body and
brain, including changes in size and strength, integration of sensory and motor activities and
development of fine and gross motor skills.

The physical development is the most visibly obvious domain. This is evident in the
bodily changes, the maturation process and outward growth. This domain in human
development is when physical strength is built up, a sense of balance is learned, coordination
evolves and motor skills are developed. The five senses of sight, taste, hearing, touch and
smell also develop within the physical domain. Many changes transpire over the years from
infancy to toddler stages, and teen years to adulthood. Within adulthood, there are more
changes in a slower progression in physical development from young adulthood to middle age
and senior years.

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Cognitive Domain
Cognitive development refers to the acquisition of the ability to reason and solve
problems. The main theory of cognitive development was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss
developmental psychologist. Piaget broke childhood cognitive development into four stages
spanning from birth through adolescence. A child who successfully passes through the stages
progresses from simple sensorimotor responses to the ability to classify and create series of
objects and eventually to engage in hypothetical and deductive reasoning.

The cognitive domain is the mental part of the developmental process that goes on in
the brain. Each person develops at the individual’s own pace so no two people develop at the
exact same pace. This cognitive developmental process incorporates thinking, learning and
language skills. The mind learns to store memory through thoughts and experiences, then to
recall those memories. Cognitive development also includes creativity and imagination. The
ability to perceive the environment and surrounding develops within this domain. A large part
of the development in this domain happens by the age of 11. However, one stage of the
cognitive development continues to evolve through adulthood. The mind grows just like the
body as it never stops learning.

Psychosocial Domain
The psychosocial domain is the development of social skills and emotions. It’s how a
person feels on the inside as reflected on the outside through social connections. This Is
where a person’s personality forms although some temperament traits are innate due to
genetics. Building friendships and relationships as well as learning to interact with others fall
in this category. A person develops feelings, self-esteem and how to get along with others.
The person develops a sense to recognize the feelings of others and to have empathy. Social
skills allow for communication, community involvement and getting along with others in school
and work environments.
The primary theory of psychosocial development was created by Erik Erikson. He
was an ego psychologist who developed one of the most popular and influential theories of
development. While his theory was impacted by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s work,
Erikson’s theory centered on psychosocial development rather than psychosexual
development.
Unlike Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages, however, Erikson’s theory described
the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan. Erikson was interested in how
social interaction and relationships played a role in the development and growth of human
beings.
Each stage in Erikson’s theory
builds on the preceding stages and
paves the way for following periods of
development. In each stage, Erikson
believed people experience a conflict
that serve as a turning point in
development. In Erikson’s view, these
conflicts are centered on either
developing a psychological quality or

PAGE 18
 failing to develop that quality. During these times, the potential for personal growth is high but
so is the potential for failure.
If people successfully deal with the conflict, they emerge from the stage with
psychological strengths that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. If they fail to deal
effectively with these conflicts, they may not develop the essential skills needed for a strong
sense of self.

Implications
The importance of physical, cognitive and psychosocial development becomes
apparent when a person does not successfully master one or more of the developmental
stages. For example, a child who fails to achieve basic milestones of physical development
may be diagnosed with a developmental delay.
Similarly, a child with learning disability may fail to master the complex cognitive
processes of a typical adolescent.
A middle-aged adult who does not successfully resolve Erikson’s stage of generativity
versus stagnation may experience “profound personal stagnation, masked by a variety of
escapisms, such as alcohol and drug abuse, and sexual and other infidelities”, as stated by
Nursing Theories. Thus, the stakes are high for all humans as they tackle the developmental
tasks they confront at every stage.

EXERCISE 4: My Self Through the Years

Instructions: Paste a picture of you when you were in elementary, in high school and now that
you are in college. Beside the picture, list down some physical, cognitive and psychosocial
development that takes place through the years of your life. (infant – elementary – high school
– college)

Developmental Changes

My Elementary Self Physical:

Cognitive:

Psychosocial:

My High School Self Physical:

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 Cognitive:

Psychosocial:

My College Self Physical:

Cognitive:

Psychosocial:

Analysis:
1. From the list of changes that took place in your life, what do you think were the possible
reasons for such changes?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

2. Which domain brought a significant impact in your self-development? Why do you say
so?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

References:

PAGE 20
 Alata, Eden Joy P., et al., (2018) Understanding the Self. Manila, Philippines: Rex Book
Store.
Corpuz, R. M., et al., (2019) Understanding the Self. Manila, Philippines: C & E
Publishing, Inc.
Lahey, B. (2009), Psychology: An Introduction, Ney York: McGraw-Hill

Macayan, Jonathan V., (2018) et al., (2019) Understanding the Self. Manila, Philippines:
C & E Publishing, Inc.

UNIT TEST
TEST I. Identification. Write the term that is being referred to by the following statements.

___________________1. It is a means of learning about one’s own conscious thoughts or

recent mental processes.
___________________2. This domain of human development focuses primarily on
personality,
emotions and relationships with others.
___________________3. The belief in the twofold nature of man as body and soul.
___________________4. This maxim means that man must know himself first before he can
make good decisions and deal rightly with himself and other
people.
___________________5. Latin term which means blank state or blank page.
___________________6. A philosophical approach which believes that there is no such thing
as innate knowledge, rather this knowledge is derived from
experiences through our senses.
___________________7. The process of learning to cope and react in an emotionally
appropriate way.
___________________8. It is a view that man is one unitary organic whole with no
independent
parts.
___________________9. A philosophical approach that explains self from the standpoint of
what is ideal and true.
___________________10. This school of thought is based around the study of behavior in
human and animals in response to negative or positive
stimulation.

TEST II. Modified True or False. Write your SURNAME if the statement is true, if it is false,
underline the word/s that make the statement false and write the word/s to make the
statement true.
___________________1. It is possible for a parent to have a child whose appearance or
behavior is completely different from their own.
___________________2. The chief source and test of knowledge in empiricism is reason.
___________________3. John B. Watson theorized that the mind at birth is a blank page.

PAGE 21
___________________4. Self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development
in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
___________________5. Heredity is the process and the result of the process wherein the
genetic characteristics of the parents are handed down to the
offspring
___________________6. Psychosocial development refers to the acquisition of the ability to
reason and solve problems.
___________________7. Maturity depends on the social influence on your behavior.
___________________8. Mentalism emphasizes the value of self-exploration in man’s
attempt
to live freely and to realize his potentials
___________________9. Critical period is an early stage in life when an organism is
especially
open or sensitive to specific learning, emotional or socializing
experiences that occurs as part of normal development and will not
recur at a later stage
__________________10. Your upbringing, your early social interactions, school and peers all
play a role in shaping who you are and how you behave. This
refers
to the nature side of the debate between nature and nurture.

TEST III. Short Essay. Answer the following questions as precisely yet as thoroughly as
possible.
1. If we are product of both nature and nurture, which between the two contributed more to
our self-development. Justify your answer.
2. Do our physical bodies define who we are? Explain your answer.
3. Among the philosophical and psychological perspectives presented in this unit, which
one do you think really contributes in understanding yourself?

My Insights

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