Biology, Context, and Developmental Inquiry

Abstract

This chapter summarizes some of the conceptual changes in developmental research over the last half-century. These advances include an acknowledgment of the role of maturation; also recognized have been the need for positing distinct psychological structures, the influence of temperament, the malleability of the infant, the role of the local context, and the dynamic nature of the categories describing human psychological types.

The Early Development of Gender Differences

“…However, the possibility that sex segregation is driven partly by sex differences in play preferences provides an opportunity for biological sex differences to influ-ence gender development in subtler ways. The construct of temperament (Kagan 2003, Rothbart 1989) might be one avenue for biological influences.…”

Personality Traits in Dumpling Squid (Euprymna tasmanica) : Context-Specific Traits and Their Correlation With Biological Characteristics.

“…Context-specific versus domain-general expression of personality traits has recently received greater attention in human (Kagan, 2003) and nonhuman (Coleman & Wilson, 1998) studies. Personality traits are considered domain-general if expression levels of a trait are similar for an individual across a range of contexts.…”

Children and the Principles of Learning: Implications for Multicultural Development

“…Cortical changes as a result of neural development appear to be associated with learning (Amso, Davidson, Johnson, Glover, & Casey, 2005;Epstein, 1980). Thus, changes in brain organization correspond to the refinement of specialized brain regions and enhancement of memory structures and processes, as well as programmed neuronal anatomical modifications (Kagan, 2003). Amso and Casey (2006) explain that "development and learning correspond to a fine-tuning of neural systems with enhanced recruitment of task-relevant regions and suppression of less task-relevant regions" (p. 28).…”

“…Whether the sensory experiences are provided by caregivers or individually sought out by infants, processing of sensory information is facilitated through neural pathways that link sensory input with memory structures. As a result of the associations made between sensory input and memory structures, the brain facilitates a process by which cognitive representations of events, called schemata, are created (Kagan, 2003). Schemata are organizational structures that allow for the categorization of information.…”

“…Schemata are organizational structures that allow for the categorization of information. Perception is a cognitive process highly reliant upon context that involves the selection, organization, and interpretation of perceptual schemata (Kagan, 2003;Mandler, 2004;Sigelman & Rider, 2006). Advances in working memory and retrieval strategies provide the apparatus on which basic perception relies.…”