The early child period is considered to be the crucial in the human life-span development. Healthy and normal early development of a child, including his/her physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development, strongly influences the subsequent personal and social functioning, well-being and life success. Behavioral development, and in particular social/behavioral development, is a crucial tool for survival and adaptation. In this article, three mechanisms that work in an interrelated and cooperative way in determining behavioral development will be discussed in more detail. Given the purpose and design of this paper, we will focus on some of the latest studies of the environmental factors considered to have the power to influence ontogenetic behavioral development and in particular, social/behavioral development.
Social-behavioral development