How Genes and the Environment Operate to Influence Child Development Es

How Genes and the Environment Operate to Influence Child DevelopmentThis essay leave behind look firstly at the ideas that have prevailed throughout history, in relation to genes interacting with the environment, and the human developmental implications of this relationship. It will briefly outline the theory of Heritability, Evolution, heritable Determination, Epigenesis, Developmental Plasticity and a transactional model of development. Secondly the theories of Genetic determination, Epigenesis and Developmental Plasticity will be compared. Physical and psychological characteristics of child development will illuminate the differing viewpoints held by these traditions. Anatomical development, temperament and language will be used as illustrators.Since the sixteen hundreds scholars interested in the origins of human formation believed that humans had not changed since the creation of Adam. In essence what was needed to compose a human was there at the point of conception, it just got bigger Hartsoeker, 1694 cited in Richardson, 1994 p51. That every humans go through an unfolding process during development, which is all part of a natural plan this was referred to as Preformationism. These innate processes or stages were referred to as maturation and this has developed from the philosophical position of Rationalism. This position remained until the eighteen hundreds when biological developments challenged this position.Gregory Mendal, 1865 showed that a plants single characteristic such as colour could be inherited or altered though cross-hybridisation. That plants possess individual traits genes that could be altered and passed on to descendents. It wasnt until DeVrise, Corrnens and Tschermak work in the twentieth centaury cited in Sturtevant, 1965 and Weinsten, 1977 showed that single gene inheritance etc was responsible for evolutionary characteristics in humans, an example of single gene effects can be shown in the case of PKU Phenylketonuria which left untreated (not stopping Children with the mutated gene eating phenylalanine in their diet) would cause retarded intellectual development. Plomin, DeFries, and McClern, 1990, cited in Richards, 1994 p214. It appears that Mendels accomplishments on the laws of inheritance were surpassed by the attention that was being given to the questions concerning the mechanism of evo... ...tes, J. 1994 Infant Individuality, in Oates, J (ed.) The foundations of development, Oxford, Blackwell/ The Open University p191.Thelen, E. 1992 Self-organisation in developmental processes can asystems approach work? in Johnson, M. H. (ed.) Brain Development and Cognition, Oxford, Blackwell. Cited in Richardson, K. 1994 Evolution and Development, in Oates, J (ed.) The foundations of development, Oxford, Blackwell/ The Open University p.69.Toulmin, S. 1971 Brain language a commentary, Synthese, 22, pp. 369-95. Cited in Richardson, K. 1994 Interactions in Development, in Oates, J (ed.) The foundations of develo pment, Oxford, Blackwell/ The Open University pp.221.Torrez, T. W. 1971 Morphogenesis of the Vertebrates, New York, Wiley. Cited in Richardson, K. 1994 Evolution and Development, in Oates, J (ed.) The foundations of development, Oxford, Blackwell/ The Open University p.62.Weinstein, A.1977 How Unknown Was Mendels Paper? Journal of the History of Biology 10, 341-364. Weismann, A. 1885 1889. Continuity of the Germ Plasm. In Essays upon heredity and kindred biological problems, ed. E. Poulton et al. Oxford Clarendon Press.