Effect of external environment to child after birth?

Answer 1

I will assume you mean in terms of development, and answer from there. This is a debate that has raged in the fields of psychology and child development for decades. Here is what we know: The first three years of a child's life, in terms of brain development (as it relates to both cognition and interpersonal, or social, skills) is critical. This is the time when children's brains are developing the essential neuropathways, and the functioning of critical neurotransmission is stabilizing, as well as development of the areas of the brain integral to motor skills and speech/semantic recognition and skill. There is a small window (of those first three years) whereupon it is essential for children to be able to develop the skills needed to later speak and learn language. Once that time has passed, if a child has not been able to develop those skills properly, they very likely never will. Some years ago, a series of studies were done on orphans in Romania who were severely emotionally neglected--having been fed, changed, etc. but otherwise totally deprived of human interaction and touch, and it was discovered that irreparable damage was done in terms of brain development. The vast majority of the children were functioning in the lowest percentiles of development compared to their age groups. Most could not speak or establish social contact with others, many were incontinent (unable to become toilet trained), violent, self-abusing, etc. Children, in their earliest ages, are also very susceptible to the outside influences of their environments. The brain wants to learn, naturally, and ANY social cues a child is exposed to will be imprinted. This is the age where children learn to mimic and model behavior. Thus, if they are treated poorly, or are witness to violence or abuse, they will in turn learn to behave violently. There have been numerous studies to support this finding; one of the most "popular" involving the use of a blow-up clown doll called "BoBo" in the 1960s. All in all, it is evident that environment plays a critical role in child development, and the onus is on parents to ensure the environment they raise their children in is a nurturing one, with lots of love and support, as well as being safe and free of violence or mistreatment.