INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Unit 3: Human Development

Subtopics:

3.1 The Nature of Human Development

3.2 Themes in Human Development

3.3 Issues in Human Development

3.4 Prenatal Development

3.5 Theories of Human Development

I. Introduction

Human development refers to the psychological and biological growth of a human

being throughout life. It starts from infancy all the way to adulthood. The scientific study of
the development of a human being, psychologically, is referred to as Developmental
psychology.
According to psychology, human development is a branch that studies-and strives to
optimize- the elements that help people live healthy and fulfilling lives. This field aims to
understand the various changes individuals and their relationships go through as they
continue to learn and grow. The study of human development came to prominence in the
1970s. The human development index was created as an alternative to measuring nations by
their GDP.
The main focus of human development or the developmental approach is expanding
the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human
beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices.
The study of developmental psychology is essential to understanding how humans learn,
mature and adapt. Throughout their lives, humans go through various stages of development.
Developmental psychologists study how people grow, develop and adapt at different life
stages. They conduct research designed to help people reach their full potential.
Human Development has 4 types namely: physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional
growth and change.

The Nature and Principles of Growth, Maturation and Development

Most people use the terms „growth‟ and „development‟ interchangeably and accept
them as synonymous. But in reality, the meanings of these two terms are different. According
to Kelly (1965), 3growth is the progressive increase and continuous advancement of the child
from birth to maturity. Growth involves both 1structural and functional changes.
Structural Change – sometimes referred to as physical change, involves changes in size and
proportion in relation to height, weight, and breadth and to the different parts and organs of
the body.
 Functional Change – involves a slowing down of mental processes like the ability to
perceive things, the ability to reason, the increase in vocabulary, agility.
Maturation according to Harmon (1951) is the process of attaining a level of development at
which some specified mental function or type of behavior ordinarily appears. It is the
unfolding of traits potentially present in the individual because of heredity.
Developmental psychologists believe that knowledge of an accurate pattern of development
is fundamental to an understanding of children. There are several basic principles that
characterize the pattern and process of growth and development. These principles describe
typical development as a predictable and orderly process.

1. Development involves change. The human being is undergoing changes from the moment
of conception to the time of death.
2. Development is a continuous process: - Development continues throughout the life of an
individual.
3. Development follows a direction and uniform pattern in an orderly manner:
• proximodistal development
• cephalocaudal principle

4. Individual Differences in the Development Process: - Even though the pattern of

development is similar for all children but the rate of development varies among children.
5. Development depends on maturation and learning: - The biological changes occur in
sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes in the brain and nervous system
account largely for maturation. An enriched environment and varied experiences help the
child to develop his/her potential.
6. Development is predictable: - All children generally grow following the periods like
prenatal period and postnatal period. The postnatal period includes infancy, babyhood,
childhood, puberty and so on.
7. Early development is more critical than later development: - Different researchers view that
the pre-school years age are most important years of development as basic foundation is laid
down during this period which is difficult to change.
8. Development involves Social expectations: - Development is determined by social norms
and expectations of behaviors form the individuals. Children learn customs, traditions and
values of the society and also what behaviors are expected from them. They realize from the
approval or disapproval of their behavior.

Social expectations are otherwise known as “developmental tasks”. Havinghurst defines

developmental task as a “task which arises at or about a certain period in the life of an individual.
Developmental tasks arise mainly
(a) as a result of physical maturation,
(b) form the cultural pressures of society,
(c) out of the personal values and aspirations of the individual.
9. Development has potential hazards: - Hazards may be of physical, environmental or
psychological type. These hazards may be originated from the environment in which the child
grows or due to hereditary factors.
10. Happiness varies at different periods of development: - Childhood is the happiest period
of life and puberty is the unhappy. The patterns of happiness vary from child to child and it
is influenced by the rearing process of the child.
Paul B. Baltes stated six principles of development of life span approach. The six principles
of development are mentioned below:
1) Development is a lifelong process- Development is a process which continues throughout life. It
begins at birth and ends in death of an individual.
2) Development includes both gain and loss during life span. The child may develop in one area and
lose in another area.
3) Development is influenced by the biological factor and environmental situations- The human
development is influenced by biological and environmental factors. For example, the body strength of
the child develops in the early period but may deteriorate during old age.
4) Development involves changing allocation of resources. It states that during different developmental
periods, resources such as; time, money, social support etc. are used differently. For example, during
old age people require more money to maintain their proper health.

5) Development can be modified- This principle reveals that through proper training development can
be modified. For example, an individual can maintain his proper health by doing different exercises even
in old age.
6) Development is based upon historical and cultural environment- The child grows, develops, and
acquires knowledge about the traditions, rules, and regulations of society according to his historical and
cultural environment.

Development as defined by Hurlock (1975) is a progressive series of changes that occur in an

orderly, predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience. The goal of development
is to enable the individual to adapt to the environment in which he lives.

ISSUES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

There are a number of important issues that have been debated throughout the history
of developmental psychology. The major questions include the following:
Is development due more to genetics or environment?
Does development occur slowly and smoothly, or do changes happen in stages?
Do early childhood experiences have the greatest impact on development or are later events
equally important?

Developmental Psychology Issues and Debates

Here are some of the basic questions within the realm of developmental psychology and what
many psychologists today believe about these issues.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate over the relative contributions of inheritance and the environment usually
referred to as the nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in both philosophy
and psychology. Philosophers such as Plato and Descartes supported the idea that some ideas
are inborn. On the other hand, thinkers such as John Locke argued for the concept of tabula
rasa—a belief that the mind is a blank slate at birth, with experience determining our
knowledge
.
Early Experience vs. Later Experience
A second important consideration in developmental psychology involves the relative
importance of early experiences versus those that occur later in life. Are we more affected by
events that occur in early childhood, or do later events play an equally important role?
Psychoanalytic theorists tend to focus on events that occur in early childhood.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

A third major issue in developmental psychology is that of continuity. Does change
occur smoothly over time, or through a series of predetermined steps? Some theories of
development argue that changes are simply a matter of quantity; children display more of
certain skills as they grow older. Other theories outline a series of sequential stages in which
skills emerge at certain points of development. Most theories of development fall under three
broad areas: psychoanalytic, learning and cognitive theories.

Abnormal Behavior vs. Individual Differences

One of the biggest concerns of many parents is whether or not their child is developing
normally. 16Developmental milestones offer guidelines for the ages at which certain skills and
abilities typically emerge, but can create concern when a child falls slightly behind the norm.
While developmental theories have historically focused upon deficits in behavior, focus on
individual differences in development is becoming more common.

Prenatal Development
The prenatal period is also considered an important part of the developmental process.
Prenatal development is a time of remarkable change that helps set the stage for future
psychological development. The first two weeks after conception are known as the germinal
stage, the third through the eighth week is known as the embryonic period, and the time from
the ninth week until birth is known as the fetal period.

Germinal Stage
The germinal stage begins at conception when the sperm and egg cell unite in one of the two
fallopian tubes. The fertilized egg, known as a zygote, then moves toward the uterus, a
journey that can take up to a week to complete. Cell division begins approximately 24 to 36
hours after conception.

Embryonic Stage
The beginning of the third week after conception marks the start of the embryonic
period, a time when the mass of cells becomes distinct as a human. The embryo begins to
divide into three layers each of which will become an important body system. Approximately
four weeks after conception, the neural tube forms. This tube will later develop into the
central nervous system including the spinal cord and brain. By the end of the embryonic
period, the basic structures of the brain and central nervous system have been established.

Fetal Stage
The fetal period of prenatal develop marks more important changes in the brain. This
period of development begins during the ninth week and lasts until birth. It is during the
period between the 9th and 12th week at the earliest reflexes begin to emerge and the fetus
begins to make reflexive motions with his arms and legs.

The Ten Stages in the Life Span (According to Hurlock’s Classification)

1. Prenatal period – Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures
of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern.
2. Infancy – The first year and a half to two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and
change.
3. Babyhood – end of the second week to the end of the second year
4. Early childhood – This stage ranges from 18 months to 3 years. By second year of life, the
muscular and nervous systems have developed markedly, and the child is eager to acquire
new skills, is no longer content to sit and watch. The child moves around and examines its
environment, but judgment develops more slowly.
5. Late childhood – This period ranges from 5-12 years. During this period the child develops
greater attention span, needs less sleep, and gains rapidly in strength; therefore, the child can
expend much more effort in acquiring skills, and needs accomplishment, regardless of ability.
6. Puberty or pre-adolescence – ten or twelve to thirteen of fourteen years
7. Adolescence – This is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood which extends
from 12-20 years. During this period the individual attains puberty leading to many changes.
These changes have enormous implications for the individual’s sexual, social, emotional and
vocational life; that is why Stanley Hall has rightly described this period as a “period of storm
and stress”.
8. Early adulthood – This stage extends from 20-30 years. As an adult, the individual takes a
firmer place in society, usually holding a job, contributing to community and maintaining a
family and care of offspring. These new responsibilities can create tensions and frustrations,
and one solution involves is, an intimate relationship with family.
9. Middle age – This period ranges from 30-65 years. It is otherwise called middle age. During
this stage of life, the crisis encountered is generativity v/s stagnation. This requires expanding
one’s interests beyond oneself to include the next generation.
10. Old age or senescence – sixty to death

Factors Governing Development

Human development is determined by a continuous interaction between two factors –
heredity and environment.
1.) Heredity – often referred to as “nature”, is the transmission of genetic characteristics from
parents to offspring. More specifically, heredity involves organic resemblance based on
descent and it also provides the biological predispositions.
2.) Environment – sometimes referred to as “nurture” is the descriptive term applied to the
factors, surroundings conditions, influences, and forces which modify and exert an influence
on growth and development from the instant conception (Kelly, 1965).

Major Developmental (Theorists) Theories

Psychosexual Development Theory
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is probably the most well know theorist when it comes to the
development of personality. Freud believed that we develop through stages based upon a
particular 30 erogenous zone. During each stage, an unsuccessful completion mans that a
child becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone and either over- or under-indulges
once he or she becomes an adult.
• Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months)
During the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little
gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a
preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to
smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails.
• Anal Stage (18 months to three years)
The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through
society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. In
terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession
with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum,
they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).

• Phallic Stage (ages three to six)

The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develop
unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father
and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection.
During this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings,
such as by castrating them. This group of feelings is known as 32Oedipus Complex (after the
Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother).

• Latency Stage (age six to puberty)

It is during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly
with same sex peers.

• Genital Stage (puberty on)

The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges
are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages,
adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of
pleasure in the genitals.

Psychosocial Development Theory

Theorist Erik H. Erikson (June 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994) contented that each stage of
life has its own “psychosocial” task, a crisis that needs resolution. Each of these eight stages
is a polarity, with a positive pole representing successful development at that stage and a
negative pole representing unsuccessful development.

Cognitive Development Theory

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the first development psychologists to examine how
children think and reason. He asked whether children perceive and make sense of the world
the way adults do and created a theory that explores how children’s thought processes change
with development.

First Stage: Sensorimotor Reasoning

During the sensorimotor stage, from birth to around 18-24 months, infants are not yet
able to use symbols or images to represent objects in the external world. To think about an
object they must act on it with their senses and motor abilities. The major advance of this stage
is object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist outside of sensory
awareness.

Second Stage: Preoperational Reasoning

From 2 to about 7, the child is in the preoperational stage of development. Now they
can use mental representation to think. They begin to use pretend play. Children are now
capable of symbolic representation – using a symbol to represent an object. Because of this,
children learn language, a system of symbols. One pervasive limitation of children’s reasoning
during the preoperational period is egocentrism, the inability to take the perspective of
another person. A child may assume that everyone has the same knowledge, experiences, and
perspective that he or she has.

Third Stage: Concrete Operational Reasoning

The concrete operational stage lasts from about age 7 to 11. Now children can engage in mental
representation and think logically about the world around them. Specially, children are able
to manipulate their mental representations to think and solve problems. Thought becomes
logical, overcoming the limitations of the preoperational stage of reasoning. Now children are
capable of understanding conservation, that a change in the size of shape of a substance (like
clay) does not change its mass.

Fourth Stage: Formal Operational Reasoning

During early adolescence, individuals enter Piaget’s period of formal operations. Now
cognitive development reaches its peak. Teenagers become capable of using and manipulating
their symbolic representations in abstract thought. They can create and logically think through
hypothetical situations. Scientific and deductive reasoning become possible. The individual is
cognitively mature.

Moral Development Theory (Morality)

Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist Jean Piaget to explain
the moral development of children. Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive
development, follows a series of stages. He used the idea of moral dilemmas—stories that
present conflicting ideas about two moral values—to teach 10 to 16 year-old boys about
morality and values. The best known moral dilemma created by Kohlberg is the “Heinz”
dilemma, which discusses the idea of obeying the law versus saving a life. Kohlberg.

Preconventional Level. At this level, the child is responsive to cultural rules and labels of
good and bad, right or wrong, but he interprets the labels in terms of either the physical
consequences of action (punishment, reward, exchange of favors). The level is divided into
following three stages:
Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences of action
determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human meaning or value of these
consequences. Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are values in
their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral order supported by
punishment and authority.
Stage 2: The instrumental orientation. Right action consists of what instrumentally satisfies
one’s own needs and occasionally the needs of others. Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and
equal sharing are present, but they are always interpreted in a physical way. Reciprocity is a
matter of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch your”, not loyalty, gratitude, or justice.

Conventional Level
At this level, the individual perceives the maintenance of the expectations of his
family, group, or nation as valuable in its own right, regardless of immediate and obvious
consequences. The attitude is not only one of conformity to personal expectations and social
order, but of loyalty to it, of actively maintaining, supporting and justifying the order and
identifying with the persons or group involved in it. The level consists of the following two
stages:
Stage 3: The interpersonal concordance or “good boy-nice girl” orientation. Good behavior is
what pleases or helps others and is approved by them. There is much conformity to
stereotypical images of what is majority or “natural” behavior. One earns approval by being
“nice”.

Stage 4: The “Law and Order’ orientation. The individual is oriented toward authority, fixed
rules, and the maintenance of the social order. Right behavior consists in doing one’s duty,
showing respect for authority, and maintaining the given social order for its own sake.

Post-Conventional, Autonomous or Principled Level

At this level, the individual makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles
that have the validity and application apart from the authority of the groups of persons
holding them and apart from the individual’s own identification with the group. The level has
the two following stages:
Stage 5: The legalistic orientation (generally with utilitarian overtones). The result is an
emphasis upon the “legal point of view”, but with an additional emphasis upon the possibility
of changing the law in terms of rational considerations of social utility (rather than freezing it
in terms of stage 4 “law and order”). Outside the legal realm, free agreement, and contract, is
the binding element of obligation.
Stage 6: The universal ethical-principle orientation. Right is defined by the decision of
conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles that appeal to logical
comprehensiveness, universality and consistency. These principles are abstract and ethical
(the Golden Rule); they are not concrete moral rules like the Ten Commandments. At heart,
these are universal principles of justice, of the reciprocity and equality of the human rights,
and of respect for the dignity of human beings as individual persons.

Motor And Language Development

A motor skill is simply an action that involves your baby using his muscles. Gross
motor skills are larger movements your baby makes with his arms, legs, feet, or his entire
body. So crawling, running, and jumping are gross motor skills.
Fine motor skills are smaller actions. When your baby picks things up between his finger and
thumb, or wriggles his toes in the sand, he’s using his fine motor skills. But it’s not just about
fingers and toes. When your baby uses his lips and tongue to taste and feel objects he’s using
fine motor skills, too.
Development starts at his head, and then moves down his body. So your newborn
baby can control his mouth, face, lips and tongue, with the rest following in time. Baby learns
to control his neck before his shoulders, and his shoulders before his back then controls his
arms before his hands, and control his hands before his fingers.In any area of baby’s body,
gross motor skills develop before his fine motor skills. "Babies begin to vocalize around 1
month," "At 3 months, they should push their head up when they're on their stomach. By 4
months, they chatter in response to you and squeal with laughter."

A developmental delay, on the other hand is when a child does not reach a milestone by the
upper range of normal. Even though babies develop at their own pace, he explains, "every
child should do certain tasks by a certain age." These tasks fall into five main categories:
Gross motor skills, such as crawling and walking
Fine motor skills, such as stacking blocks or coloring
Language skills, including speech and comprehension
Thinking skills
Social interaction
3.3 References
Adolph, K. E., & Berger, S. E. (2011). Physical and motor development. In M. H.
Bornstein & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Cognitive development: An advanced textbook . New
York: Psychology Press.
Feldman, R. S. (2013b). Psychology and Your Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 233.
Gregory J. Feist and Erika L. Rosenberg, Psychology: Perspectives & Connections (2 nd
Edition), The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, 2012
Milagros F. Frando, PhD and Elmerando T. Mores, MA, General Psychology, Simplified,
Revised Edition, 2014
Saundra K. Ciccarelli and J. Noland White, Psychology (3rd Edition), Pearson Education,
Inc., Upper Saddle River, 2012
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