Nature-Nurture and the Two Realms of Development: A Proposed Integration with Respect to Mental Development

MCCALL, ROBERT B. Nature-Nurture and the Two Realms of Development: A Proposed Integration with Respect to Mental Development. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 1-12. It is argued that developmental psychologists need attitudes, methods, and conceptual schemes that integrate the distinctive contributions of nature and nurture to study developmental change as well as consistency in both developmental functions and individual differences in behaviors of interest. A conceptual scheme for early mental development is described that synthesizes these disparate orientations. This theoretical viewpoint deals with 2 sets of seemingly contradictory facts: (1) the early portion of the developmental function is largely maturational, while individual differences are unstable and not highly correlated with either genetic or environmental factors; and (2) as nature's hold on the developmental function declines with age, individual differences correlate more strongly with both genetic and environmental factors.