Metaphors for development: how important are experiences early in life?

The many students of development have held rather diverse views on the importance of early experience. Some gave early experiences great prominence (e.g., Freud and his followers, Kuo, 1967), while others largely rejected the pivotal importance of particular early events (e.g., Thorndike), and yet others took a more eclectic tack: Some events in certain species but not all events or in all cases (e.g., Hinde, 1974, Lehrman, 1970). The extremes among the prevailing views are often characterized metaphorically. I propose to do this, then to examine the kinds of situations the metaphors describe, and inquire into their generality and usefulness. Clearly this runs the risk of undue simplification, but there is, I believe merit in occasionally ignoring some of the subtleties that usually must concern us.