ABSTRACT
The belief that childhood experience determines adult behavior is so widespread that it has become an integral part of every major developmental paradigm. Theoretical considerations about particular childhood experience and subsequent sequelae, however, have greatly changed during the past decades. Researchers in the 60s challenged the prevailing view that a single event—such as primal scene observation or punitive toilet training—could have an unvarying effect on behavior; rather, overall parental style was considered more significant than the occurrence of a specific event unless the event was perceived as traumatic enough to derail the child from the path of normal development.
