Module 50 Parents, Peers, and Early Experiences

LEARNING TARGETS

• 50-1 Describe how early experiences can modify the brain.
• 50-2 Discuss the ways in which parents and peers shape children’s development.

Our genes, when expressed in specific environments, influence our developmental differences. We are like coloring books, with certain lines predisposed and experience filling in the full picture. We are formed by nature and nurture, but what are the most influential components of our nurture? How do our early experiences, our family and peer relationships, and all our other experiences guide our development and contribute to our diversity?

The formative nurture that conspires with nature begins at conception, with the prenatal environment in the womb, where embryos receive differing nutrition and varying levels of exposure to toxic agents. Nurture then continues outside the womb, where our early experiences foster brain development.