Babies

I saw a great documentary entitled Babies at the Nickelodeon in Columbia yesterday. The film chronicles the birth and development of four babies through the first year or so of life. What intrigued me so about this film was the fact that the babies were being raised in four different countries and totally different cultures.  Despite the variety in diet, daily activities, stimulation, toys (or lack thereof) all four of them developed right on schedule. Plus, they all seemed happy, curious, and healthy.

One of the major issues in psychology is nature/nurture, and in this film, one can’t help but see the importance of nurture. Mari in Japan is wide-eyed as she rides on her mother’s back through a giant department store. There’s so much to see and hear, and she’s trying hard to take it all in. Then there’s the precious baby Ponijao in Namibia, Africa who’s never seen a “toy” in his life, much less a department store. Hattie in America bounces up and down in what I call a “Jumping Jack” while Bayarjargal in Mongolia lies motionless on a bed, his legs swaddled tightly in a wrap of some type. He stares intently at a rooster who walks all around him on the bed while Hattie watches her mother who’s working in a sunlit modern kitchen.  Ponijao’s mother shaves his head with a knife, Bayarjargal bathes in a big washtub sitting by an open window, Mari gets an “attitude” when playing with a roomful of toys (too much stimulation?), and Hattie listens as her parents read to her.

My grandson (above) loves bananas and has been gumming them for as long as I can remember. Ponijao gnaws on bones and sits in the dirt a lot while flies buzz about. Neither little boy seems happier or healthier than the other.  Could the primary factor in development be as simple as love and nurturance? Could it be that whether babies play with expensive toys or cavort with yaks (Bayarjargal) is not nearly as important as whether their parents provide love and a secure attachment?

Check out the movie if you get a chance. If not, you can at least watch the trailer on Google. And if you can’t do that, you can still throw in your two cents’ worth about what you believae is more important, nature or nurture.

Who Am I?

As the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes, psychology usually focuses on the individual. However, each individual is influenced by a host of sources, one of which is his or her heritage. We’re  unique, and yet we’re a composite of nature and nurture, heritage and environment.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days in New York City, and I was more impressed than ever with the diversity of people living in America. In fact, while on the ferry to Liberty Island, I felt a bit like a minority since no one around me was speaking English. While on Ellis Island, I snapped the above photograph of an exhibit in the museum. These images represent snapshots of America’s citizens, and I found myself wondering, “Where am I? Who am I like? Where did I come from?” While I’m different from millions of others, I’m just like them in many ways too.

Take a few seconds to study the above snapshots and ponder the differences and similarities between people. Can you spot someone like you? Are there those who are totally different? In what way? Are those with different noses and eye color like you in some way? I’m hoping that looking at the picture gives more meaning to the following quote and that you’ll respond to at least one line of it:

Every person is like every other person.
Every person is like some other person.
Every person is like no other person.