8 Unit 1 Children and Families in Today’s World
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
that involve children. These stages are described in
Figure 1.2.
Factors That Infl uence
Growth and Development
Why is each child different? Two main factors
infl uence growth and development. First, each
child has unique, inborn traits. Heredity includes
all the traits that are passed to a child from blood
relatives. Sometimes heredity is called nature.
Second, a child’s surroundings also play a large
role. Environment includes all the conditions and
situations that surround and affect a child. Some-
times environment is called nurture.
The way these two factors combine also makes
children different from one another. Experts are
studying how these two factors affect children’s
growth and development. They continue to learn,
but unanswered questions remain.
Heredity
You have many traits in common with all the
other members of your family. These traits pass to
you in complex ways through your parents’ genes
at the moment of conception. Babies inherit about
23,000 genes from their parents. Genes are sections
of the DNA molecule found in a person’s cells that
determine his or her individual traits. Genes carry
the inborn instructions that help make you who you
are. A person’s genes are called the structural genome
(JEE-nohm). Like computer hardware, this genome
determines the boundaries of what is possible.
Child development researchers have long been
interested in the effects of heredity. They noted
Figure 1.1
Child Development Domains
• How children’s bodies
grow and mature.
• How children’s large and
small muscles develop
and aid movement.
• How children’s motor skills
aid perception and vice
versa (called perceptual-
motor development).
• How children
learn.
• What children
learn.
• How language
skills develop.
• How children
develop and sustain
relationships with
others.
• How children develop
a sense of self.
• How children become
dependable.
• How children develop
morals and character.
• How children identify
and understand their
feelings.
• How accurately children
can read the emotional
states of others.
• How children manage
strong emotions and
express their feelings
in constructive ways
(called self-regulation).
Emotional development
Intellectual development Physical growth and development
Social development