Childhood Development

In the article Skin Deep written by Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin, they discuss and look deeper into the diverse differences in skin color. Our skin color has developed over the years to be dark enough to prevent the damaging sunlight that has been harming our skin and the nutrient folate that it carries. At the same time out skin is light enough to receive vitamin D.

Geographical isolation in the past has caused a variation in skin color; natural selection selected specific skin pigments depending on environmental factors. Early humans who moved to Europe were introduced to a place that had less sunlight than their former place of residence. Overtime, light skin (skin with lower levels of melanin) was selected for since there were not as many UV rays that the skin needed protection from. But, what was wrong with having dark skin in Europe? How is extra melanin a disadvantage in this case? One thing to remember is that even though the sun can provide UV rays, sunlight is also a great source of natural vitamin D (Jablonski; Kirchweger). Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and is particularly essential for developing embryos in pregnant women. The adaptation for lighter skin was important because the skin needed to absorb as much sunlight as it could in order to receive optimal amounts of vitamin D (Kirchweger). However, too much vitamin D can be fatal. So as high amounts of melanin protected the skin from excessive UV rays in Africa, they also protected it from excessive vitamin D (Kirchweger).

In this writing it will be discussing childhood development, as well as some vital issues that might come along during those stages of development. Child development consist of the stage where the child is developing physically, cognitively, socially and spiritually. During these stages of development a child is maturing from infancy to becoming a young adult. For many years theorist such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky’s have researched how children mature from infants to adulthood. Each of the theorist have profound facts to how children develop, but which of the three men are correct on their findings?

Childhood, is a period characterised by significant cognitive, emotional, social and biological development. This discussion will consider the significant aspects of childhood development and experiences that contribute to children’s longer-term well-being, however, its primary focus will be socio-emotional development. Longer-term well-being refers to physical, social and emotional health over a continuous period of time. However, it is important to consider that this a relatively broad definition as well-being may mean different things to different people. To evidence longer-term well-being, this discussion will look at aspects of development over childhood stages; for social development it will examine childhood over three stages: early childhood (0-5 years old), middle childhood (6-11 years old) and adolescence (11-18 years old), whilst for emotional development, it will consider early and middle childhood. Attachment will be used as a key theme and the discussion will demonstrate the importance of attachment and how it contributes to both social and emotional development, and well-being. The second theme that will be considered is emotion, to demonstrate how emotions develop and how the parent, child and environment interact to affect children’s emotional development and well-being. The key issues that will be discussed include, early attachment experiences and how they affect subsequent peer relationships and emotional well-being, emotional development and the risk

Skin color varies widely depending on geographical location and is largely influenced by the environment. The color of our skin is due to a pigment called melanin which is produced in our epidermis. There are 2 types of melanin, pheomelanin and eumelanin; people with light skin have mostly pheomelanin and smaller/less melanin overall while people with dark skin have mostly eumelanin and larger/more melanin overall. Melanin, or eumelanin in particular, is an evolutionary defense against the sun’s damaging radiation and decreases the risk of skin damage and cancer. Unsurprisingly, people who live in places with high amounts of solar radiation, like along the equator in South America and Africa, have a lot of eumelanin which gives them a dark

The linked between the evolution of lighter skin is vitamin D. lighter skin pigmented have Low level of vitamin D when human migrated out of Africa into lighter latitudes. the Vitamin D is obtained through sun exposure UVR has also been linked to several diseases. Darker skin is protected from uv radiation because of the level of vitamin D that they have. Vitamin D help the immune system fights off infection when we get

I’m not really sure how to answer this question about human development being culturally defined. I believe that human development is affected by a cultural aspect. The way we dress, the way we talk, the type of diet we choose, and the relationships we form are aspects in which culture influences the phases of development. Culturally we learn what language to first speak when are growing up. Language is going to vary from child to child by their specific culture. One way culture plays a role during childhood development is if religion is a practice or not. The child attains the religious views their parents have.

Melanin is the darkening pigment in the skin and with its level of concentration it will determine the color of the individual’s skin. (Larsen 117) The higher the amount of melanin in the skin the darker it appears. The melanin serves as a natural barrier allowing us to withstand the sun’s abuse. The amounts of melanin an individual may produce depend of their geographic origin. At the equator is the strongest amount of direct sunlight, and as you move away from the equator the less it becomes. This means that people are originate from near the equator are darker skinned and the more you move away the lighter skin becomes. Darker skinned people therefore have the best ability to endure the ultraviolent radiation. This ability is rated as sun protection factor, which is meaning behind the SPF sunscreens.(Larsen

Phillips, R. (2010). How Firm is Our Foundation? Current Play Therapy research. International Journal of PLay Therapy, 19(1), 13-25.

Perspective Taking (p.338): This concept has to do with understanding how another person thinks and feels. This is important in the development of young children because it determines whether they have prosocial or antisocial mindsets. This type of understanding would not be possible without the executive functions of the brain. I think it is an interesting concept because it requires us to cease our own thoughts for a minute and consider the perspective of another person, which is important in developing deeper relationships with those people. It is difficult to obtain those deeper relationships without taking their perspective into mind.

Childhood development encompasses the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional changes from birth until the end of adolescence (White, Hayes & Livesey, 2013). Throughout childhood, environment and genetics promote or discourage growth and development. This essay will analyse the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional domains in relativity to my own development from the prenatal stage until adolescence. Psychological and environmental theories are used to develop the understanding and connection between each domain and stage of development. Lastly, this essay will address the controversial nature verses nurture debate and its relevance to my childhood development.

Melanin became a natural sunscreen, which filters out UV radiation.that trait was passed down from them to us as people now. It was believed that people with high melanin concentration in their skin tend to come from warmer more tropic areas and it has helped to protect them from skin cancer. After a lot of research, They then asked, “what role melanin might play in human evolution?”. Then they came across a paper written by Richard Branda and John Eaton, in this paper they stated that they believed people with lighter skin that had been exposed to more sunlight had very low levels of vitamin B folate in their blood which is essential. Then they discovered that folate is important in preventing pregnancy defects in women as well as other important processes. In their next stage of research they theorized that dark skin protected the folate in our skin from being damaged by

Skin pigmentation is affected by the way that bodies absorb vitamin D from cholesterol. When a person is in the sun a lot, his or her body is exposed to ultraviolet B light; this is known to convert the sunlight into cholesterol, which then converts into vitamin D (Moalem 51). As a result, the amount of sun exposure that one gets can begin to make him or her a darker color; however, they are the ones who have a healthy level of cholesterol in their bodies. Hence, the darker skin is a compromise in order for humans to have a sufficient cholesterol level. Furthermore, a human's folate levels are also related to the skin pigmentation in their bodies. Folate is an integral part that allows the cells to synthesize in preparation for meiosis. Those

Marcus mother being deployed three times since she had Marcus will affect her emotionally. She will also be worried all the time about Marcus. If care is not taking, she will go into postpartum depression. The reason is because she had not spent quality time together with her baby. She did not develop full attachment since she had Marcus.

The human lifespan can be split into the following four separate developmental periods: prenatal development, infancy and childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Prenatal is the time prior to birth such as conception and the bodily development of the baby up till birth. Infancy and childhood is the time since the individual was born up until about the age of twelve. Adolescence is from twelve till about twenty-five and finally adulthood is everything past the age of twenty-five. Throughout these different stages, different strategies can be given to help optimize each of these stages and to set the individuals up for a more well-rounded life later on. The different strategies that will be stated aren’t the only options that a parent, doctor, teacher, or anyone else can take or must take to achieve a better life.