Ultimately, who that individual becomes is a process that takes place over the period of a life time. Simultaneously, the process of evolution takes place in each and every individual, as the period of a lifetime progresses, as well. Human beings are constantly adapting to environments and conditions while acquiring and expanding cognitive skills such as language acquisition. In infancy, there are several factors acting on the developmental process of an individual. Environmental factors such as parent and sibling interaction with the infant, genetic factors, and evolutionary factors.

Based on adaptation, human beings in most parts of the world are in some way exposed to language, within a family unit and furthermore, within a community. One method of adapting to one’s environment is by mimicking and learning that particular language as a means of communication. Children learn at a young age that in order to express basic needs and desires, one must use words and language to communicate those desires in order to achieve one’s needs or wants. As a child develops, memory develops in conjunction with language formation. Lifespan psychology specifically deals with the mechanisms at work between nature and nurture. This means that there is a balance taking place between an individual’s genetic predisposition and their exposure to environmental factors. These elements work together in constructing that particular individual’s ability to communicate through language, in the world around them.

The idea that evolutionary perspective, which dictates that certain traits of mental psychological development are determined by evolutionary factors, and cognitive perspective, which dictates a concept of an individual’s ability to form and communicate rational thought or experience, can coexist as both contribute to lifespan psychology as we know it. Cognitive perspective allows psychologists&nbsp.to place a child’s development into stages, which seem to be appropriate to use as a template for developing humans, as a rule.