Human Growth and Development

• Lifespan Development


  Studies the growth and changes that occur in an individual across the lifespan – from Birth to Death
• Areas of Development


  • Physical/ Motor Development
  • Social Development
  • Cognitive Development
  • Emotional Development
  • Personality Development
• Development


  A series of progressive, sequential changes that occur over a period of time. It may refer to both quantitative and qualitative changes.
• Cephalo-caudal principle


  Development spreads over the body from head to foot. Changes in structure and function can first be observed in the head, then trunk and finally, the legs.
• Proximodistal principle


  Development proceeds from near to far, from the midpoint of the body to the extremities.
• Growth


  An increase in physical dimensions as size, height, weight, etc.
• Maturation


  Changes which primarily reveal on unfolding of genetically endowed physical capacities of the organism.
• Plato: '"And the first step, as you know, is always what matters most, particularly when we are dealing with those who are young and tender."'
• Bible, Proverbs 26:22: '"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."'
• Alexander Pope: '"As the twig is bent the tree's inclined."'
• William Wordsworth: '"The Child is father of the Man."'
• The essence of all these sayings is that the early years not only lay the foundations of the person; they also shape every aspect of that person, making him or her what he or she will become.
• Factors in Development


  • Heredity
  • Environment
• Nature vs Nurture


  Debate involves whether human behavior is determined by the environment, either prenatal or during a person's life, or by a person's genes. Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual.
• Prenatal


  Life inside the womb. The process of growth and development within the womb, in which a single-cell zygote (the cell formed by the combination of a sperm and an egg) becomes an embryo, a fetus, and then a baby.
• Stages of Prenatal Development

  • Ovum/germinal stage – Fertilization – 2 weeks
  • Embryo/Zygote stage - 2 weeks to 2 months
  • Fetus/Fetal stage – 2 months to birth
• Factors in Prenatal Development

  • Nutrition
  • Maternal stress
  • Attitude of significant others
• Fertilization


  One ovum meets one sperm cell.
• Prenatal Stages


  • Ovum or Germinal stage – Fertilization to two (2) weeks. The fertilized ovum attaches to the uterus and Cell division occurs.
  • Embryo or Zygote Stage – Two (2) weeks t0 two (2) months. Cell differentiation takes place, that is, from one cell, different types of cells arise. External features such as head, face, hands, fingers, legs can be clearly seen and interior organs such as heart lungs and brain are formed.
  • Fetus or the Fetal stage – Two (2) months to birth. The body proportions increase as growth continues. Activity of the fetus can be felt. All the internal organs are formed and by 5"' month they assume actual proportions. Between 2-4 month the nervous system develops.
• Stages of Development in the Life span

  • Prenatal Stages
  • Infancy (0-2 months)
  • Babyhood (2 months – 2 years)
  • Early childhood (2 years – 6 years)
  • Late childhood (6 years – 12 years)
  • Adolescence/ Puberty (12 – 18 years)
  • Early Adulthood (18 years – 40 years)
  • Middle Adulthood (40 years – 60 years)
  • Old age – (60 years and above)
• Charles Darwin's detailed baby biography, published in 'A biographical sketch of an infant', detailed his son Doddy's birth and reflected on possible reasons for his behavior.
• In 1891 G. Stanley Hall (Father of Developmental Psychology) published his 'Notes on the study of infants', and he recorded 'the contents of children's minds' by asking children numerous questions. Thus began the systematic study of infancy and childhood.
• Developmental psychology


  Enables us to find out what is normal, establish norms for development within a particular culture, and assess the truth about a range of common assertions/misconceptions about people.
• Common assertions/misconceptions about people


  • Leave her to cry – if you pick her up you'll only spoil her.
  • "Children need their mothers more than anyone; a father can never provide the special care that a mother can."
  • "There is no substitute for stable family life; children from broken homes are bound to suffer."
  • "Boys are more boisterous and aggressive than girls: it's in their nature."
  • "There is no harm in the occasional smack if a child has been naughty."
  • "He's always been bad-tempered, you'll never change him."
  • "Second children are always more competitive."
  • "Children grow up too quickly these days; it's not good for them."
  • "Childhood is the happiest time of life. Children don't have problems."
• Developmental psychology has a key role to play if we are to understand ourselves and others better.
• Developmental theories


  Present systematic ways of thinking about how human beings grow from babies to adolescents to adults to elderly people, and the various changes they undergo as they make this passage. Different developmental theories describe different types of changes.

  
• Developmental stage theories


  Theories that divide child development into distinct stages which are characterized by qualitative differences in behaviour.
• Erikson's theory


  Each stage builds on the preceding stages and paves the way for following periods of development. In each stage, Erikson believed people experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in development. Each stage is concerned with becoming competent in an area of life. If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery, which is sometimes referred to as ego strength or ego quality. If the stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy in that aspect of life.

  
• Schema


  Describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
• Assimilation


  The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas.
• Accommodation


  Changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information.
• Equilibration


  Maintaining a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). Helps explain how children can move from one stage of thought to the next.