Читать книгу Infants and Children in Context - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 41

Children’s development is influenced by their genes and environment, but children also play an active role in guiding their own development. For example, Baby Joey smiles at each adult he passes by as his mother pushes his stroller in the park. Adults often respond with smiles, use “baby talk,” and make faces. Baby Joey’s actions, even simple smiles, influence adults, bringing them into close contact, making one-on-one interactions, and creating opportunities for learning. By engaging the world around them, thinking, being curious, and interacting with people and objects, infants and children are “manufacturers of their own development” (Flavell, 1992, p. 998).

The prevailing view among developmental scientists is that individuals are active contributors to their own development (Lerner, Agans, DeSouza, & Hershberg, 2014). Children are influenced by the physical and social contexts in which they live, but they also play a role in influencing their development by interacting with and changing those contexts (Elder, Shanahan, & Jennings, 2016). Children interact with and influence the people and things around them, creating experiences that influence their physical, cognitive, and emotional development. That is, they play an active role in influencing their own development.

Infants influence their own development by smiling at adults, making adults more likely to smile, use “baby talk,” and play with them in response.

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