Nature and Nurture, Age and Happiness
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Topic 1: Nature and Nurture, Textbook p.17
The development of a person takes place in periods sequencing from prenatal period, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood. The process proceeds to adolescence, early, intermediate and late adulthood with each period having estimated age range with a general idea on when a period onsets and offsets. According to the textbook, development changes are the result of a biological, cognitive and socio-emotional process that interweaves as a person develops. The perinatal is like a stage of non-existence occupying the period of conception to birth with infancy period covering early months from birth until the age of one depending on the measure and development of the infant.
From the age of 1 to 5, an individual is in early childhood with the childhood stage having ranges of five years until the onset of adolescence. Adolescence stage characterized by dramatic general developmental changes ends at around the age of 20 with the early adulthood depicting particular establishment and stability. Old age is also distinguishable by the phases of a person depending on ability and advancement in age with people describing the former period in middle stages. The adulthood, and possibly the old age has the longest span compared to other development stages with the adulthood stage being more active even as the development process beginning to slow down. The interplay of the development processes defines the stages of the human lifespan.
Topic 2: Age and Happiness Textbook p.15
People grow differently in other aspects other than the chronological age, with their difference exhibiting in persons of similar age. However, defining an age or a period in which a person can be said to be happier may be difficult. According to the book, a study in Europe could not establish findings on the difference of individuals who were satisfied with their life at their age with a similarity being generated by people who felt that they were not very happy with their lives. It is clear that no individual will report that he/she is more content with their lives in their age more than the rest, basing on those who are fully conscious of their life and their situation.
It is arguable that every stage in life has its experiences and people passing through those stages undergo different stresses that take the better part of their life. Even as the pressures people suffer may be different, the stresses have the ability to shift happiness in each’s life differently having an almost similar effect on the level of satisfaction. The adolescents, for instance, have the pressure of establishing competence and identity as majority develop positive perceptions and develop stronger supportive relationships with an optimistic view of the future. The elderly on their side is maybe expected to be calm and happy with the achievements in their lives no matter how little it is; they have reduced income, energy and skills to concerns about death pre-occupying them.
Topic 3: Genetic imprinting – Textbook p.55
A gene can get regulation and restricted to one parental allele through an epigenetic mechanism of transcriptional regulation. Imprinting dictates the inheritance of only one gene from either side with no possibility of gaining both copies of inheritance from the parental alleles while the other is silenced epigenetically. Genetics experts design process of the introduction of methyl groups during the egg or sperm formation with the tags that silence or activate genes being stripped from the DNA. According to the book, more than a thousand characteristics follow dominant-recessive and co-dominant inheritance with the genes contributed for heredity responding in a similar normal way.
In genomic imprinting, genes are imprinted or rather tagged in such a way that one pair from either side of the parent gets activation irrespective of the makeup. The temporary imprinting can undergo resetting in the dynamic generation or in some cases, it may not occur at all. The imprinting technique brings out a clear understanding of the processes of child heredity and the bias of risks from the characteristics of either parent. It is presumable that certain conditions deactivate a pair of the gene while allowing the dominance of one pair that depicts certain characteristic that may puzzle scientists. The defective gene can be activated in the next generation giving the child the characteristics attached to it.
Topic 4: Bonding Textbook p.97
Bonding is the concept of the formation of a close connection between newborns and their parents in the periods after birth especially in the physical sense. The establishment of a link between the mother and the child at that stage is critical for a lasting parent-child relation in the future with which if it lacks existence, the relationship will be compromised. There is established desire for a strong bond by a child for security and stability of the relationship throughout life. The relationship built between the parent and a child in earlier stages has varied consequences depending on the extent of its development.
According to the book, many aspects of the social behavior are influenced by the relationship that was created by the initial bonding depending on their extent and distinctiveness. While the parent gives a response to the expression of the general distress of the child, the child grows with stronger emotional capacity advanced by the stronger biological roots. As a child develops capacity, a new bond influenced by the cognitive and emotional capacity is developed that is real than the initial one that was developed due to signals and response. The earlier bonds created between the mother and the child is often so high that any other cannot equate it, and an attempt to develop a new relationship with a child is often ineffective.
Topic 5: Kangaroo Care Textbook p.93
There is the treatment of the preterm infants that involve the skin-to-skin contact that is like massage within the first six weeks after birth. The period gives the child and the mother necessary adjustments to come to the normal conditions and adapt to the environment. According to the book, the premature baby is only clothed in a diaper and placed against the skin of the parent’s child. The process involves the mother wrapping warm clothing around the child and holding for several minutes. This concept helps the preterm develop more fully at a well-maintained temperature and calms more quickly.
Nursing and caregivers orient parents on how to perform kangaroo care to make the parents feel more close to the child and appreciate the skin contact. Kangaroo care is an option to incubation and can be used for both preterm and full-term infants, as its development came about in response to the shortage of incubators. The practice stabilizes the body functions of the baby while at the same time improving bonding between the infant and the parent. The chest cells of the mother change the temperature to accommodate the temperature needs of the baby, with the baby falling asleep to conserve energy and redirect the calories to growth and development.