Why do we do the
things that we do? Much of the course of
our lives and the paths we inevitably choose to take can be attributed in part
to biopsychosocial interactions. These
interactions are the components that act together to form our paths of
development. Our stage in development,
environment and social interactions all attribute to the choices that we
make. Life span development is
predicated on development being an interaction of biological, psychological and
social environmental factors and processes.
This differs greatly from the epigenetic view of development, which
poses that the ongoing interaction between heredity and environment influences
our paths.
In thinking about
how we change as we age, it is important to evaluate how many of those changes
are a result of our development and how much is a result of our social and
environmental reactions. How much have
our thoughts and mannerisms changed from the time that we were kids? Of course we’d like to think that we have
vastly different beliefs and thoughts, but if we were self-centered children,
and our environment tells us that this was acceptable, is it also likely that
we will become self-centered adults.
Perhaps most self centered children will grow out of this stage of
development once they leave adolescence, but if that behavior is nurtured it
will likely grow and be fueled well into adulthood.
There are
countless studies that try to define and explain our behaviors. Many researchers believe that our development
is discontinuous, meaning that there are clear indicators that serve as
milestones to distinguish when we’ve reached certain points in our
development. Some researchers believe
that we experience developmental continuity, or a slow progression of skills
and changes throughout time. I think an
argument can be made for either. I have
a parent in one of my classes that sucks her thumb. Her son sucked his thumb in
preschool last year, but has stopped sucking his thumb in kindergarten. Should we say that the son has moved beyond
the developmental stages of the mother, or has some environmental or behavioral
factors encouraged the mother’s behavior?
As I explore how different factors change the person I am and how I
behave, I think that I will use this time to be reflective about my own life
and decisions. I think the question that
I will explore throughout this course is how have my own biopsychosocial
interactions affected the person that I am today.
