Mechanisms of developmental change: Why and by what means does the child’s physical/psychological condition change? What determines the rate? Can the theorist be identified by such traditional labels as preformationist, predeterminist, interactionist, hereditarian, or environmentalist? Preformationist: environment has no influence Predeterminist: environment has little influence Hereditarian: term that describes the preformationist and predeterminist Interactionist: includes both heredity and environment and seeks to answer how wide are the boundaries set by heredity for various aspects of development and what environmental forces influence the way these aspects manifest themselves in the child’s structure and behavior Environmentalist: the child’s experiences are preeminent in determining development Does the theorist see some aspects of development as being more constrained by heredity boundaries than others? Does the theorist see heredity as more constraining for certain growth characteristics at different periods of childhood? Does the theorist describe the process by which the interaction of nature and nurture takes place?