Module 11. Infancy and Childhood

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maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

As a flower unfolds in accord with its genetic instructions, so do we. Maturation—the orderly sequence of biological growth—decrees many of our commonalities. We stand before walking. We use nouns before adjectives. Severe deprivation or abuse can slow development, yet genetic growth patterns are inborn. Maturation (nature) sets the basic course of development; experience (nurture) adjusts it. Genes and scenes interact.

“It is a rare privilege to watch the birth, growth, and first feeble struggles of a living human mind.”

Annie Sullivan, in Helen Keller’s
The Story of My Life, 1903