There are many different ways to approach human development, which is even evident in our introductory text Notable Selections in Human Development.
I'm not just talking about schools of thought within psychology, like the difference between a Freudian psychosexual stages approach and a Paiget cognitive-developmental stage model.
I'm thinking a bit broader. I'm going to use categories that come to mind and give them my own names, although there may be a much better way to say the same thing.(This is tricky, so please excuse the rough outline. Maybe some of these are subcategories of others.)
For example:
Genetic model - Development as a function of genetic programming. We unfold within the set capacities of our specific biology.
Social model - We develop according to what the society we grow up in values and demands.
Environmental model - We develop according to how the environment has acted upon us, both individually and as a species. (An example? Nutrition.)
Self Determination model - We develop according to our choices. We are what we choose to be. These choices occur on both a conscious and unconscious level.
Spiritual model - We develop according to our soul and the moral/ethical choices that we make. (This is an attempt to describe something that isn't necessarily religious in nature, it could be a purely self-imposed and self-taught ethical/moral system or sense of self that is not merely mortal in nature.)
I'm sure there are more. Which ones can you think of? Are there important subcategories that you can think of?
I find that while I'm personally interested in how individuals come to be who they are, I'm even more interested in how individuals come to be different than they are now. The process, for the lack of a better word, of actively becoming.
I'm also personally interested in the interaction of all these elements within each individual and society, rather than looking at a singular model of "explanation" or description. So, this list is to help me to remember elements that go into making a person (rather than looking for a "right" one).
Patty
