Introduction
There is no doubt that early childhood experiences have a tremendous effect on all aspects of development of a person. This essay looks at the role of nature and nurture in the cognitive development of individuals using case studies of two feral children and the psychological impact of the Holocaust for the children who survived it.
1. Examination of the role of nature and nurture in cognitive development of a child using Isabelle and Genie case studies
It is generally agreed that the development of a child is influenced by both nature and nurture. What is less agreed upon, however, is which of these two exerts the most influence (Kail 2015). This essay looks at this age-old debate using the cases of Isabelle and Genie.
Lenneberg …show more content…
When she was found she understood very few words and could say just two. This confirms that there is a role nature plays in learning. When she was subjected to training and socialization she mastered non-verbal communication and rapidly built her vocabulary. Despite these improvements she was unable to fully master language. According to Chomsky, language mastery requires complete understanding of sentence structure and grammar (Guasti 2017). It is these two elements that separate the language of human beings and that of other animals. Genie failed to master these two aspects of language despite the best efforts of language and psychology experts that were handling her. The main explanation for this failure is that she was found when the critical period had ended (Curtiss 2014). This seriously impaired her ability to learn language. Thus Genie’s case proves that nurture is the main influence of language learning and other aspects of cognitive development among children. The fact that she managed to learn so many other things such as vocabulary very fast proves that she was not mentally impaired. The doctors dealing with her made a similar conclusion.
These cases of Isabelle and Genie prove two things. The first one is that nature plays the most important role in the cognitive development of a child. This is especially true in the case of Isabelle who only began learning after being subjected to intense socialization …show more content…
Millions were killed and those who survived were left with deep physical and psychological scars. Survivor children in particular experienced terrible psychological effects that afflicted them into adulthood. The case study of Childhood Survivors of the Holocaust shows the extent to which the experience of the Holocaust and years following it had on the development of the children that had survived it. The fate of the children can be explained using Erik Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development and Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs.
Eric Eriksson’s psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development argues that a person’s life is divided into various stages. At each stage there is a crisis that needs to be solved. If the crisis is successfully solved the person develops a positive quality and if the crisis is not solved successfully the person develops a negative quality. Failure to successfully solve a five crisis may also prevent the person from successfully solving the crises of the following stages (Feldman
There is no doubt that early childhood experiences have a tremendous effect on all aspects of development of a person. This essay looks at the role of nature and nurture in the cognitive development of individuals using case studies of two feral children and the psychological impact of the Holocaust for the children who survived it.
1. Examination of the role of nature and nurture in cognitive development of a child using Isabelle and Genie case studies
It is generally agreed that the development of a child is influenced by both nature and nurture. What is less agreed upon, however, is which of these two exerts the most influence (Kail 2015). This essay looks at this age-old debate using the cases of Isabelle and Genie.
Lenneberg …show more content…
When she was found she understood very few words and could say just two. This confirms that there is a role nature plays in learning. When she was subjected to training and socialization she mastered non-verbal communication and rapidly built her vocabulary. Despite these improvements she was unable to fully master language. According to Chomsky, language mastery requires complete understanding of sentence structure and grammar (Guasti 2017). It is these two elements that separate the language of human beings and that of other animals. Genie failed to master these two aspects of language despite the best efforts of language and psychology experts that were handling her. The main explanation for this failure is that she was found when the critical period had ended (Curtiss 2014). This seriously impaired her ability to learn language. Thus Genie’s case proves that nurture is the main influence of language learning and other aspects of cognitive development among children. The fact that she managed to learn so many other things such as vocabulary very fast proves that she was not mentally impaired. The doctors dealing with her made a similar conclusion.
These cases of Isabelle and Genie prove two things. The first one is that nature plays the most important role in the cognitive development of a child. This is especially true in the case of Isabelle who only began learning after being subjected to intense socialization …show more content…
Millions were killed and those who survived were left with deep physical and psychological scars. Survivor children in particular experienced terrible psychological effects that afflicted them into adulthood. The case study of Childhood Survivors of the Holocaust shows the extent to which the experience of the Holocaust and years following it had on the development of the children that had survived it. The fate of the children can be explained using Erik Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development and Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs.
Eric Eriksson’s psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development argues that a person’s life is divided into various stages. At each stage there is a crisis that needs to be solved. If the crisis is successfully solved the person develops a positive quality and if the crisis is not solved successfully the person develops a negative quality. Failure to successfully solve a five crisis may also prevent the person from successfully solving the crises of the following stages (Feldman