A child born at term with normal birth weight is a child that is expected to be healthy. Not given any type of gender or any particular racial background , the child is then put into a more general category. According to philosophers this is where the attempt to explain human development begins. “I imagine the minds of children as easily turned, this or that way, as water.” This suggests that a child is easily influenced and can be influenced by environmental factors. Charles Darwin stated that the human species could be understood through observing a child’s development. “The contents of children’s minds on entering school” represented the first scientific work on child development.
Psychologist John Watson had a some what similar view. Behaviorism was a term used to define his
particular understanding of external influences. He believed that again children could be trained to be or do anything. To further explain his theory Watson performed an experiment which is famous today, known as “Little Albert. The experiment in observes the process of conditioning in which he explained that developmental changes are a result of learning.
The outcome of this child’s life is very difficult to predict. Looking at the various theories that psychologist’s have discovered, I would say that this normal child is going to have to deal with both internal and external factors which are going to play a major role in its development. Yet and still this child is an individual and is unique in his/her own way. This child will experience events throughout life that will affect th
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