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J Youth Adolescence (2015) 44:229231 DOI 10.1007/s10964-014-0217-5
BOOK REVIEW
Jerome Kagan: The Human Spark: The Science of Human Development
Basic Books, New York, 2013, 333 pp, ISBN: 9780465029822
Jordan Schutz
Received: 1 November 2014 / Accepted: 3 November 2014 / Published online: 9 November 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
The Human Spark: The Science of Human Development, by Harvard Professor Jerome Kagan, delves into what makes a human a human. He compares the early development of human beings to that of chimpanzees. Kagan argues that chimpanzees and humans progress in development at a similar rate and in the same ways throughout the rst 2 years of life, up until the second birthday. This is the time when the environment, socioeconomic background and parenting styles begin to play a role in growth and development of a child. The central idea of Kagans book is to decipher all of the aspects that contribute to the human spark, or how humans become who they are based on genetics and environmental factors present throughout the period of adolescence. This book is tailored to various audiences, parents, developmental psychologist, social psychologists and those who had not made up their minds about the dening features of human nature and the forces that transform (Kagan 2013, p. xiii). Despite these claims, the book is largely written for psychologists that interpret child and adolescent development.
Kagan began this book as a revision of his The Nature of Childhood. But after the completion of many chapters, he decided that The Human Spark discussed issues that were much more advanced at this time, such as the inborn characteristics of a human that are to develop through adolescence (cognitive and motor skills, emotions, beliefs and moral ideals) and how these characteristics vary due to environmental differences. He cites data and information from studies conducted at various institutions around the country to provide data for his conclusions concerning the beliefs about modern adolescent development.
As the rst chapter states in the title, it is Setting the Stage for what is to come in terms of child development. That chapter discusses the environmental effects on an individuals development, such as the experiences that are had, even those that occur right after birth. Humans have the capacity to develop into complex individuals with many talents, emotions and values. As Kagan emphasizes, deciphering how an infant will develop remains a major concern of developmental psychologists today. He also discusses differences in how historical events have shaped the development of children.
Chapters 2 and 3 assess the cognitive development of infants and children in early childhood based on their biology and environmental interactions. Brain and cognitive development are a major focus of this section, as brain development is vital to the normal functioning of an individual. Brain development is very important for the understanding and production of language, for grasping the meaning of emotions and to develop morally. In both of these chapters, Kagan stresses the impact of the environment on brain development, though he attributes temperament development after the rst year of life to genetics because of the large number of genes that inuence the way in which the child develops. This view goes against his intertwining nature and nurture perspective that is held throughout the novel.
Chapter 4 of The Human Spark discusses the effect of parents, peer groups, siblings and community on development. In this chapter, Kagan reveals the importance of social class of parents on the development of children. He claims that, more often than not, the child will remain in the same economic class their entire life, which could be positive or negative. The overarching theme throughout this chapter is that middle class to higher class families will produce children who will be the most successful because
J. Schutz (&)
Indiana University, Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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of the chosen parenting styles, access to education and less susceptibility to illness. He offers many reasons for these conclusions. Parenting styles in this case are often authoritative. The stress that accompanies lower class families makes individuals more susceptible to disease because, for example, worry can compromise the immune system. Kagan goes on to discuss that individuals are likely to associate with peers that are similar to them; they have the same interests and similar backgrounds. Children are always comparing themselves to peers within their community, is one the same or different from the children present around them?
In chapter 5, What is Preservedfor How Long?, Kagan investigates behavior characteristic to specic stages in development and whether these behaviors will continue throughout an individuals lifetime. It may appear that a behavior may disappear or change over time but the behavior or experience is displayed in a different way as an individual develops. For example, Kagan states that a child with a highly irritable temperament will often develop into an anxious adult. Though childrens brains are highly malleable, extreme behaviors or events in a childs life will most likely remain with them to some degree, especially if the occurrence or the behavior or event began after the age of 67 years.
Morality is a word that is often used but is hardly ever dened aside from using the word good. The denition of the word good can be very ambiguous. In chapter 6, Kagan discusses the ambiguity of the term moral and the way it affects children. Morality is associated with the word good and the word good is used synonymously in every language. The main reason for the ambiguity is because each individuals denition of good varies; therefore the morality of children often stems from their interaction with parents and the environment. Between the ages of two and three, an individual begins to decipher what is right from what is wrong, according to their caretakers; these conclusions begin to instill in the child the ideals of the adult. As the child ages to 26 years of age, he or she is better apt to determine the actions and behaviors that are morally correct in terms of the ideals that have been taught. Though moral codes will always differ by culture, Kagan claims that having the ideals associated with moral behavior is what makes children follow rules and become well behaved adults, because without morals there would be mass chaos.
Emotion is a word that is very similar to morality in that it becomes problematic when attempting to dene it. As Kagan emphasizes in chapter 7, it is difcult to understand emotion because individuals most often describe a feeling they are having instead of the bodily sensations that are associated with the feeling. Emotions are also difcult to determine because a feeling could go unnoticed by the
individual who harbors it or could be so extreme that it could not go unnoticed. Kagan discusses the effect of oxytocin on the brain, which causes a sense of relaxation when produced. Oxytocin plays a major role in the brain state associated with emotion. This drug, when produced, causes a sense of relaxation. This relaxation is often interpreted incorrectly as a different emotion because oxytocin frequently arises in response to many stimuli. The ability to express emotion holds another different concern when children are involved. Infants and young children cannot speak or do not have a large enough vocabulary to express how they feel. As children develop, they are able to use their working memory to remember what stimuli illicit which feelings and organize these feelings. Emotion, just like morality, is nearly impossible to specically dene because of the vastness of the vocabulary that is associated with feelings.
Kagan states that morality and emotion are both difcult to dene terms and he also groups mental illness into this category as well. He claims in chapter 8 that mental illness diagnoses in children appear much more prevalent in todays society. This appears to be the case because more research has been done in order to dene types of illnesses and to distinguish the illnesses from each other. Kagans main point of this chapter is to discuss that mental illness can stem from many aspects that composed an individual, such as their genetics and environment. He is opposed to the modernism that has become of mental illnesses in that they are diagnosed and an individual is immediately treated for the illness either with therapy or with the use of drugs. Kagan disagrees with the quick and easiness of drugs as treatment because the effect they have on the development of children and these drugs, though they may be helpful for a while, could have even more negative effects on an individual.
The nal chapter of The Human Spark reviews the preceding chapters, reiterating the importance of the biological and environmental effects on the development of children from conception through the period of adolescence, but Kagans main objective in this chapter is to dene the four major barriers to the advancement of social sciences in human development. The social impact on the development is large and complex; however, this aspect is oftentimes hard to exactly measure and differs widely from one individual to the next; therefore attributing developmental outcomes to social causes can be controversial. The barriers Kagan faults are focusing on one cause and one effect rather than multiple causes leading to various outcomes and not giving proper consideration to the impact of social class to the psychological development of individuals and how this impact varies from one social class to the next. The additional two barriers include the way social scientists conduct research studies, which are often abstract
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and provide little to no recognition to the setting or environment, and the unknown contributions by the brain to psychological outcomes, such as emotion, viewpoints and character. All four of these barriers inhibit the full understanding of human development, but Kagan claims that this eld has advanced vastly in its 150 years of existence and will continue to advance as human development continues to be studied and debated.
Kagan effectively reveals what makes a human a human, discussing the widely debated topic of nature and nurture and all the contributing factors that are included, such as biology, environment, parenting styles and socioeconomic background. Kagan is very forward in his writing as he highlights important aspects of modern child
development. He focuses on the biological and cognitive development of children and how morality and emotion are inuenced primarily by the parent role but also by the peers. Though Kagans writing appeals to multiple audiences, parents, teachers and social scientists alike, those in the eld of developmental psychology seem to be his biggest target as he lays out his research and lifelong work in the development of an individual. In conclusion, The Human Spark, written by one of the most eminent developmental psychologists of our time, highlights his research and ndings on the biological and environmental inuences on early development, as well as critiques past scientic claims that together provide a new outlook on human development.
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Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015