Development of Babies from Different Environments and Cultures

Developmental Psychology
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Developmental Psychology
The documentary for this assignment explores the development of four babies raised in different environments and cultures. In this task, I have selected Mari and Hattie. Mari was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, while Hattie in San Francisco, USA.
The two infants are featured in the documentary right from their birth until they reached a stage when they could walk and talk. Various similarities occur in their respective environments. The two dominant similarities are (1) both infants are born in an urban city set up. Mari was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan`s capital city, and Hattie was born and raised in San Francisco, a sprawling urban town in the USA. The second similarity in their environments is the availability and easy accessibility to social amenities and hospitals. Both infants have been privileged to access prompt medical attention easily and can easily access infants playing grounds like dramatic playing areas, swing and sliding parks, and toys.
Although the two babies were born in an urban environment, there were striking differences in their environmental upbringing. For baby Hattie, she was born and raised in bigger house space. The ample space in the house allowed her to play freely around using various toys, learning to crawl around and wiggle. For baby Mari, she was born and raised in a constrained space. She did not have adequate space to freely interact with her immediate environment and play around without limitations. Another striking difference in their environments was the cultural difference. Hattie`s parents were present most of the time and played with her, teaching her how to read children`s books and even taking her out for swimming. However, baby Mari was without her parents around most of the time and spent most of her time in baby care centers. The main reason is the Japanese working culture of staying at the job for longer hours. The result was workaholic parents who were not present for the baby most of ...