human development

• Stages of Human Development

  • 40 weeks and birth process (Prenatal)
  • 0 to 28 days (The Neonatal Phase)
  • 28 days to 2 years (Infancy)
  • 2 to 5/6 years (Early Childhood)
  • 6 to 11 years (Middle Childhood)
  • 10 /12 years to 18 years (Adolescence)
  • 20 to 39 years old (Early Adulthood)
  • 40 to 59 years of age (Middle Adulthood)
  • 60 to death (Late Adulthood)
• Occupations


  • ADL's
  • iADL's
  • Health Management
  • Rest and Sleep
  • Education
  • Work
  • Play
  • Leisure
  • Social Participation
• Contexts


  • Environmental factors: Natural environment and human made changes to the environment, Products and technology, Support and relationships, Attitudes, Services, systems and policies
  • Personal factors
• Performance patterns


  • Major change in roles
  • Gradual decline client factors in later adulthood
• Occupations in Childhood


  • Play
  • Leisure
  • ADL's
  • IADL's
  • Rest / sleep
  • Social participation
  • Education
• Contexts in Childhood


  • Home and family
  • School
  • Cultural context
  • Social environment
  • Leisure / play environments
  • Community environment
• Performance skills in Childhood

  • Gross motor skills
  • Fine motor skills
  • Perceptual skills
  • Cognitive skills
  • Language
  • Socio-emotional skills
• Occupations in Adulthood


  • Work
  • Education
  • ADL's
  • IADL's
  • Leisure
  • Rest / sleep
• Contexts in Adulthood


  • Studying / school
  • Home and family changes
  • Cultural context
  • Social environment
  • Leisure / play environments
  • Community environment
• Human Development Theories


  • Nature: Vygotsky, Skinner, Bandura, Erikson
  • Nurture: Piaget, Freud, Maslow
• Vygotsky's Social Development Theory

  Social interaction precedes development, Consciousness and cognition are the end product of socialization and social behaviour, "Cultural development", Proximal zone of development
• Skinner's Operant Conditioning


  Rewards and punishment for behaviour, Individual makes association between a particular behaviour and consequence, "Positive reinforcement/ Negative reinforcement/ Punishment"
• Erikson's Psychosocial Development


  Personality develops in a predetermined order, Individual experiences a psychosocial crisis either positive or negative= outcomes for personality development
• Bandura's Social Learning Theory


  People learn from one another via: observation, imitation and modelling, "Bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories", Encompasses: attention, memory and motivation
• Piaget's Cognitive Development


  How a child constructs a mental model of the world, Process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction
• Freud's Psychosexual Stages


  Psychological development in children takes place in a series of fixed psychosexual stages, Fixation of libido/sexual drives/sexual instincts on a different part of the body, Ego and Super Ego
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

  Motivational theory, 5 tier model of human needs, Hierarchal needs lower down must first be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up
• Importance of understanding Human Development for Occupational Therapy
• Criteria for Normal Development


  • Absence of any hereditary or congenital defect at birth

  Absence throughout life of illness of trauma which may result in physical or mental disability or prolonged periods of illness

  Adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter

  Growing up and living within an environment of love and acknowledgement from loved ones in which the individual has a sense of belonging

  Adequate stimulation of normal motor, sensory, perceptual and cognitive development especially in the formative years of childhood (0-7 years) and later

  Adequate exposure to others, during which social interaction can develop and interpersonal skills can be learnt

  Adequate education

  Need for some form of meaningful occupation after education in which the individual can not only earn a living but satisfy his / her need for achievement, self esteem, confidence, social interaction

  Need for some meaningful leisure pursuit, even if this is simply "passing the time of day" with others, in which the need for play, relaxation, fun and enjoyment can be satisfied
• Internal Factors influencing Human Development

  • Hereditary – physical features, intelligence

  Pathology – serious and continuous or permanent physical / mental illness or trauma

  Cultural influences and expectations

  Environmental factors, for example, socioeconomic, geographical, educational
• External Factors influencing Human Development

  • Apartheid: Limited job opportunities, Hopelessness, Resources: health and education system, Lack of decent housing

  Influence of HIV/AIDS: Orphans and Child-headed households, Withdrawal from school early, Lack of education, Lack of opportunity (inequality), Perpetuation of intergenerational poverty

  Violence: Increased disability, Exclusion from participation in society

  Covid-19: Economy, Opportunities for normal developmental activities, Education, Physical activity, Fear, anxiety, stress

  World-Wide: Change in adolescent behaviour, New demands of: Social media, Screen time, Role-reversal / push for equality, Extremes in politics, Covid – 19, War, Refugees
• Gross Motor Skills Development (birth - 2 years)

  • Prone, Supine, Suspension | Pull to sit, Head control, Sitting, Standing, Puppy position, Hands to feet in supine, Prone on extended arms, Roll prone to supine, Sit unsupported, Take up 4-point kneeling, Stands holding onto furniture, Crawling, Cruising, 1-2 steps, Walks up stairs with hand held, Jump with 2 feet, Attempts to kick ball, Throws ball without falling, Climbs on chair, Bike/tricycle – pushes with feet, Runs well
• Fine Motor Skills Development (birth - 2 years)

  • Large jerky movements, hands mainly closed and thumb inactive, tonic grasp, Involuntary release, Crude reaching, brings hands together, Bilateral reaching, active scratching, voluntary grasp begins, holds objects for 30 seconds, Overshooting reach, holds hands up to be picked up, ulnar scratching and raking, grasp on contact with object, puts toys in mouth, Handles objects one at a time, radial-palmar grasp, crude release, retains and shakes rattle, Transfers objects from one hand to the other, Index poking and prying, Inferior pincer grasp, Thumb and index opposition, Neat pincer grasp with supination, Opposition between thumb and tip of index, may show hand preference, Whole hand palmar grasp with a lot of pronation, Primitive tripod grip or palmar grip on crayon, helps turning pages in a book
• Perceptual Development


  Perception is an interpretation of what is sensed, Visual acuity and color - infants can see and they can differentiate between red and white, Visual preference - infants from 2 days old can look longer at patterned stimuli (e.g. faces, Perceptual constancy - present by 3 months of age (size, shape and brightness), Perceptual constancy allows infant to perceive their world as stable
• Cognitive Development


  According to Piaget, the infant is at a sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about 2 years of age, This stage involves progression in the infant's ability to organize and coordinate sensations with physical movements, Infant recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally, Infant also achieves object permanence, Information processing approach emphasize the importance of cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and thinking
• Language Development (birth - 2 years)


  • Coos, chuckles, Laughs aloud, Polysybalic vowel sounds (da, ka, ga, ba), Babbles, One word with meaning, Two-three words with meaning, 2-6 words, 6-20+ words, Starts joining words, 50+ words, 3 word sentences
• Socioemotional Development (birth - 2 years)


  • Interest, neonatal smile, startled response, distress, disgust (Present at birth), Social smile (4-6 weeks), Anger, surprise, sadness (3-4 months), fear (5-7 months), Shame/shyness (6-8 months), Contempt, guilt (2 years)
• Socioemotional Development - Personality Development

  Trust vs Mistrust, Independence, Levels of Creative Ability
• Characteristics of 2-6 year olds
• Gross Motor Skills Development (2 years)


  • Climbs on chair and gets off, Walks up stairs while holding on, Can't use pedals on bike, Squats to play, Walks backwards, Runs well, Walks to the ball, then
• Characteristics of early childhood (pre-school age)

  • Pre-school age
  • Learning foundations of social behavior
  • Exploratory age
  • Imitative age
  • Creative age
• Exploratory age


  • The child starts to gain control of their environment and wants to know more about it, how it works, feels and their part in it. This is related to people as well as objects. A common way of exploring is by asking questions.
• Imitative age


  • Imitation of speech and action of others is very pronounced.
• Creative age


  • The child shows more creativity in their play in early childhood than any other time.
• Gross motor skills development

  1. 2 years old

  2. 3 years old

  3. 4 years old

  4. 5 years old

  5. 6 years old
• Fine motor skills development

  1. 3 years old

  2. 4 years old

  3. 5 years old
• ADL's (Activities of Daily Living) development

  1. 2 years old

  2. 3 years old

  3. 4 years old

  4. 5 years old

  5. 6 years old
• Perception development


  1. 2 years old

  2. 3 years old

  3. 4 years old

  4. 5 years old

  5. 6 years old
• Preoperational thought (Piaget's stage)


  • Stable concepts are formed, mental reasoning emerges, egocentrism begins strongly and then weakens, and magical beliefs are constructed
  • Preoperational emphasizes that the child does not yet think in an operational way
  • Thought in this stage is flawed and not well organized
  • Subdivided into symbolic function and intuitive thought sub stages
  • Egocentrism is a salient feature
• Information processing in early childhood

  • Attention and memory gradually increase as the child grows
  • Memory span increases as the child learns to use rehearsal