Post 1 Week 1

     Throughout reading this chapter I often found myself really enjoying the stories, experiments, and quotes that were throughout. I quite a few times I found myself completely agreeing with what our author (Berger) was saying. Everything he outlined was very clear, concise, agreeable, understandable, and interesting. Berger made excellent points about why developmental science is a science but also why there are some theoretical aspects that cannot be avoided. For example the text said, "Science is needed because our lives depend on answers. ... Subjective opinions arise from emotions and upbringing, not necessarily from evidence. Scientists seek to progress from opinion to truth, from subjective to objective, from wishes to outcomes (page 4). ... [However] science cannot devise the purpose of life; we need [other things] for that. As you will learn throughout this chapter, statistics, research methods, and ethics have both scientific validity and notable limitations. Don't idealize science, and don't trash it- use it well. (page 7)". In my opinion, this is the best explanation to why we use science as much as we can while also stressing why other methods outside scientific methods are used at the limits of science.

     As I continued my reading through Chapter 1 I was very intrigued by some of the experiments that were mentioned. Specifically the work Susan Beal did on SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and the benefits of "back sleeping"(page 5).  I also found the experiment Brody did in 2009 involving mothers and infants from China and the U.S and picture books extremely intriguing. It would be so interesting to examine the results from that experiment. I wonder the effect of what the mothers pointed out to the infants had on their perception and thinking as they grew up (page 14). The final experiment mentioned that I found interesting was the experiment with Cheryl. Cheryl had brain damage to the part of the brain that controls balance due to an overdose. She had hardly enough balance to stand but scientists, therapists, and more specialists helped her to relearn to balance using another part of her brain (page 17). I plan to do more research on all of these interesting experiments and include them in my next blog this week. 

     How the book differentiated race, ethnic groups, and cultures was also interesting to me. I did not think of all those aspects as separate things before reading this chapter. I somewhat assumed that they were the same thing and each race had the same culture and were considered the same ethnic group. It shocked me that some of the terms referred to biological factors and others referred to some region, language, and religion (page 14-15).

     Overall, I really did enjoy reading this chapter. I can honestly say I learned a lot of information, enjoyed the authors writing styles and opinions, and can apply what I have learned.

Citation: Kathleen, Berger. The Developing Person Through the Life Span. Eighth. New York, NY: Worth Publishers, 2011. 4-17. Print.