ABSTRACT
This section considers Bronfenbrenner’s unique definition of human development, which takes into account that the person is developing because growth is built into human biology, that the human brain/mind permits the person to remember and learn from experience, the person is experiencing its transactions with a specific environment, and the person is adapting to and trying to understand and be competent within that specific environment. Bronfenbrenner’s definition focuses on the person’s changing understanding of the environment as it is experienced and the person’s increasing motivation and skills to explore and manage the ecosystem as the person adapts to it. The section explores ways the environment shapes biological development while biological characteristics and changes shape the experience the person has in the environment. Bronfenbrenner proposes that development consists of one’s understanding becoming more extended, differentiated, and valid while one becomes more motivated and skilled at exploring, maintaining, and modifying the ecosystem one participates in.
