Threats To Optimal Development

8	Development, Plasticity, and Risk: Commentary on Huttenlocher, Pollitt and Gorman, and Gottesman and Goldsmith

Michelle de Haan

Monica Luciana

Stephen M. Malone

Laura S. Matheny

Moira L. M. Richards

University of Minnesota

The concept of developmental risk has recently expanded to focus on the nature of adverse circumstances that, by virtue of their severity, may result in physiological damage or the loss of behavioral function (Garmezy, this volume). These adverse circumstances may sometimes be determined by the individual’s specific biology. Studying the biological processes contributing to abnormal development is necessary for improving our treatment of individuals who are at risk; it may also permit us to better understand normal ...