Jerome Kagan: The Human Spark: The Science of Human Development

Excerpt

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 first 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 Kagan’s 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 defining 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. …