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The concept maturation does not imply merely a process of structural and functional growth under specific genetic determinants. Maturation connotes growth and differentiation, both of which, from a very early age, are also dependent to a certain degree on all the stimulative influences impinging on the maturing organism from its environment.
Development is therefore a process of constant interaction among innate, maturational, and experiential factors (Schneirla, 1957; Spitz, 1959). The range, the tempo, and the over-all direction of development are species specific. For example, the innate endowment of man predestines him—given an average expectable environment—to go through the process of what Hartmann calls internalization and the parallel development of mental structures. The best example of these is the development of the memory apparatus and of thought processes.
An important feature of development is the self-propelling stimulation which is operative at every stage of maturation. The tempo and range of development will depend on the ability to integrate neurally the results of such maturation.
We must keep in mind that these aspects of development, which biopsychologists call “spiral,” result not only in an “improvement” of function but in what we usually refer to as a hierarchical development (Spitz, 1959).