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Development Vs. Maturation ( Sources And Ends )

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Development vs. maturation (including sources and ends)

Maturation can be defined as the changes that individuals experience as a result of genetics. As a child gets older, they begin to express different physical characteristics as predestined by their genes. An example of this would be when a fetus is developing in the womb; they go through a specific set of changes as predicated by their genetic makeup. There are few outside influences (with the exception of unfit prenatal care on the mother’s part) that can change or interfere with how the fetus will develop in utero. The sources of maturation are strictly biological and the ends of maturation would be when your body reaches physical adulthood. Although this definition of maturity …show more content…

Development can be fueled by a variety of different things including but not limited to peers, family members, experiences, and broader social contexts. The ends of development really depend of who the individual is and in what type of environment they develop, but two general ends of development would be at a bare minimum, survival and if everything falls into place correctly, fulfillment.

Plasticity:

Plasticity as defined by the book is the “degree to which and the conditions under which development is open to change and intervention” (10). In more simple terms, plasticity is how much development can differ and be impacted in different contexts, environments and cultures. The plasticity of development is what allows people to adapt to so many different environments. The idea of plasticity was heavily influenced by research done on the critical period in non-human species.
The critical period can be defined as a span of time where a development must occur and if it doesn’t, the organism runs the risk of not being able to develop that aspect of their being at all. One example of this is attachment of baby ducks to the first moving they see after birth. During this critical period, babies must attach to their mothers and if they don’t, they can never reattach to her. Although most of the research surround the critical period was performed on

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