Chapter 1 Post #1

While reading Chapter 1, I found the concept of plasticity to be interesting. The chapter discusses how human development is plastic in two complementary aspects. The first aspect deals with the idea that humans can be molded just as plastic can. The second aspect suggests that just as plastic remains a certain way, so does a person's traits and identity to a certain extent. This provides the notion that change is possible, but also that development has its foundation in a person's previous experiences. I think this applies to many aspects in a person's development, from their personality traits to their habits. For example, let's say a child has had a tendency of being a lazy student. Then they are put into a prestigious school where everyone is hard-working. They will most likely be molded into being a hard worker as well. This illustrates one aspect of plasticity. However, this is not to say that they will not revert back to their previous experience of being a lazy student.

I thought that the scenarios with Cheryl and David were very interesting. It is great that plasticity allows for someone to come such a long way from either physical or mental disabilities. This shows that many aspects of a person's development can be influenced and changed. It is important to remember that plasticity does not necessarily mean that any change is possible. These changes can also have the possibility of being negative changes rather than positive changes. It is also essential to remember that plasticity cannot change nor fix genetics, childhood experiences, and other permanent damages.