z

HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
 MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT

 Development is the pattern of progressive, orderly, and predictable

changes that begin at conception and continue throughout life.

 Development is influenced by an interplay of biological, cognitive,

and socio-emotional processes.
Life-Span Perspective on Development
1) Development is lifelong.
2) Various processes of human development are interwoven.
3) Development is multidirectional.
4) Development is highly plastic.
5) Development is influenced by historical conditions.
6) Development is the concern of a number of disciplines.
7) An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was
inherited, the physical environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts.
 Development
Process by which an individual
Growth grows and changes throughout the
Increase in the size of body parts or life cycle. The changes have a
of the organism as a whole. It can be direction and hold definite
measured or quantified. relationship with what precedes it,
and in turn, will determine what will
come after.

Maturation
Changes that follow an orderly
sequence and are largely dictated by Evolution
the genetic blueprint which produces Refers to species-specific changes.
commonalities in our growth and
development.
 What causes us to be different from each other but at the same time
more like each other?

 If your class monitor is selected on the basis of being academically

bright and a popular student, do you think it is because of her/his genes
or the influence of the environment?

 If a child from a rural area who is very intelligent, is not able to get a job
because of her/his inability to express herself/ himself fluently or handle
computers, do you think - it is because of genes or environment?
 FACTORS INFLUENCING DEVELOPMENT

 The actual genetic material or a person’s genetic heritage is known as

genotype.

 Phenotype is the way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable

and measurable characteristics.

 Sandra Scarr (1992) believes that the environment parents provide for their
children depends to some extent on their own genetic predisposition.

 Children themselves choose certain environments based on their genotype.

CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT
 Durganand Sinha (1977) has presented an ecological model for
understanding the development of children in Indian context.

 Ecology of the child could be viewed in terms of two concentric layers.

The “upper and the more visible layers” consist of home, school,
peer groups, and so on.

 Since these are also embedded in a larger and a more pervasive

setting, the “surrounding layers” of the child’s ecology constantly
influence the “upper layer” factors.
 CLASS ACTIVITY

What would your life be if you lived in a rural area or a small

town, devoid of all amenities, which you are used to in a city
(or vice-versa)? Discuss keeping in mind factors like poverty,
illiteracy, pollution, population, etc.
 DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

 Developmental stages are assumed to be temporary and are often

characterized by a dominant feature or a leading characteristic, which
gives each period its uniqueness.
 During a particular stage, individual progresses towards an assumed goal -
a state or ability that s/he must achieve in the same order as other
persons before progressing to the next stage in the sequence.
 These accomplishments of a person become the social expectations of
that stage of development and are known as Developmental Tasks.
 Pre-Natal Stage
 The period from conception to birth is known as the prenatal period. Typically
lasts for about 40 weeks.
 Both genetic and environmental factors affect our development during
different periods of prenatal stage.
 Prenatal development is also affected by maternal characteristics, which
include mother’s age, nutrition, and emotional state.
 Another source of threat to prenatal development is teratogens -
environmental agents that cause deviations in normal development that
can lead to serious abnormalities or death.
 Infancy
 The activities needed to sustain life functions are present in the newborn — it breathes,
sucks, swallows, and discharges the bodily wastes.
 The newborns in their first week of life are able to indicate what direction a sound is
coming from, can distinguish their mother’s voice from the voices of other women, and
can imitate simple gestures like tongue protrusion and mouth opening.

Motor Development
 The newborn’s movements are governed by reflexes — which are automatic, built-in
responses to stimuli.
 They are genetically-carried survival mechanisms, and are the building blocks for
subsequent motor development.
 Some reflexes present in the newborn — coughing, blinking, and yawning persist
throughout their lives. Others disappear as the brain functions mature and voluntary
control over behavior starts developing
 As the infant grows, the muscles and nervous system mature which lead to the
development of finer skills.
 The sequence of physical (motor) development is universal, with minor exceptions.

Sensory Abilities
 They can recognise their mother’s voice just a few hours after birth and have other
sensory capabilities.
 The newborn’s vision is estimated to be lower than the adult vision. By 6 months it
improves and by about the first year, vision is almost the same as that of an adult
(20/20).
 They might be able to distinguish between red and white colours but in general they
are colour deficient and full colour vision develops by 3 months of age.
 Newborns respond to touch and they can even feel pain.
 Both smell and taste capacities are also present in the newborn.
 Cognitive Development
 Jean Piaget stressed that children actively construct their understanding of the
world. Information does not simply enter their minds from the environment.
 As children grow, additional information is acquired and they adapt their
thinking to include new ideas
 Piaget believed that a child’s mind passes through a series of stages of
thought from infancy to adolescence. Each stage is characterised by a distinct
way of thinking and is age related.
 It is the different way of thinking which makes one stage more advanced than
the other and not the amount of information.
 The child during infancy, i.e. the first two years of life, experiences the world
through senses and interactions with objects — through looking, hearing,
touching, mouthing, and grasping.
 According to Piaget, children at this stage do not go beyond their immediate
sensory experience, i.e. lack object permanence.
 Gradually by 8 months of age the child starts pursuing the object partially
covered in her/his presence.
 Vocalisation begins with the infant’s babbling, sometime between 3 to 6
months of age.
 Socio-Emotional Development
 An infant starts preferring familiar faces and responds to parent’s presence by cooing and
gurgling.
 They become more mobile by 6 to 8 months of age and start showing a preference for their
mother’s company.
 When frightened by a new face or when separated from their mother, they cry or show
distress. On being reunited with the parent or caregiver they reciprocate with smiles or hugs.
 The close emotional bond of affection that develop between infants and their parents
(caregivers) is called attachment.
 Human babies also form an attachment with their parents or caregivers who consistently and
appropriately reciprocate to their signals of love and affection.
 According to Erik Erikson (1968), the first year of life is the key time for the development of
attachment. It represents the stage of developing trust or mistrust.
 Childhood
 The child’s growth slows down during early childhood as compared to infancy.
 The child develops physically, gains height and weight, learns to walk, runs, jumps, and
plays with a ball.
 Socially, the child’s world expands from the parents to the family and adults near home and
at school.
 The child also begins to acquire the concepts of good and bad, i.e. develops a sense of
morality.
 During childhood, children have increased physical capacities, can perform tasks
independently, can set goals, and meet adult expectations.
 The increasing maturation of the brain along with opportunities to experience the world,
contribute to development of children’s cognitive abilities.
 Physical Development

Early development follows to principles:

1) Cephalocaudally (from the cephalic or head region to the caudal
or tail region).
2) Proximodistal (growth proceeds from the centre of body and
moves towards the extremities or more distal regions).
 As children grow older, they look slimmer as the trunk part of
their bodies lengthens and body fat decreases.
 The brain and the head grow more rapidly than any other part of
the body.
 During middle and late childhood years, children increase
significantly in size and strength; increase in weight is mainly due
to increase in the size of the skeletal and muscular systems, as
well as size of some body organs.
 Motor Development
 Gross motor skills during the early childhood years involve the use of arms and
legs, and moving around with confidence and more purposefully in the
environment.
 Fine motor skills — finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination — improve
substantially during early childhood.
 During these years the child’s preference for left or right hand also develops.
Age in Years Gross Motor Skills Fine Motor Skills
3 years Hopping, jumping, running Build blocks, pick objects with
forefinger and thumb
4 years Climb up and downstairs with Fit jigsaw puzzle precisely
one foot on each step
5 years Run hard, enjoy races Hand, arm and body all
coordinate with eye movement.
Cognitive Development

and reversability

Animism and centration is present.

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

 Socio-emotional Development
 The child due to socialisation has developed a sense of who s/he is and whom s/he
wants to be identified with.
 According to Erikson, the way parents respond to their self-initiated activities leads to
developing a sense of initiative or sense of guilt.
 Self understanding in early childhood is limited to defining oneself through physical
characteristics: I am tall, she has black hair, I am a girl etc.
 During middle and late childhood, the child is likely to define oneself through internal
characteristics such as, “I am smart and I am popular” or “I feel proud when teachers
assign me responsibility in school”
 Children’s self understanding also includes social comparison. Children are likely to
think about what they can do or cannot do in comparison with others.
 The increased time that children spend with their peers shapes their development.
Moral Development

The way children come to distinguish right from wrong, to feel guilty,
to put themselves in other people’s position, and to help others
when they are in trouble, are all components of moral development.
 Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Stages of Moral Development

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

Preconventional morality is the earliest period of moral development. It
lasts until around the age of 9. At this age, children's decisions are
primarily shaped by the expectations of adults and the consequences for
breaking the rules.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

The next period of moral development is marked by the acceptance of
social rules regarding what is good and moral. During this time,
adolescents and adults internalize the moral standards they have learned
from their role models and from society. This period also focuses on the
acceptance of authority and conforming to the norms of the group.

Level 3: Postconventional Morality

People develop an understanding of abstract principles of morality.
They develop a personal moral code.
 Adolescence
 Adolescence derives from the Latin word adolescere, meaning “to grow into maturity”.
 Adolescence is commonly defined as the stage of life that begins at the onset of puberty,
when sexual maturity, or the ability to reproduce is attained.

Physical Development
 Puberty or sexual maturity marks the end of childhood and signifies the beginning of
adolescence, which is characterized by dramatic physical changes in both, growth rate,
and sexual characteristics.
 Around puberty adolescents show an increase in interest in members of the opposite
sex and in sexual matters and a new awareness of sexual feelings develops.
 The development of a sexual identity defines the sexual orientation and guides sexual
behaviour. As such it becomes an important developmental task for adolescents.
 Another important developmental tasks during adolescence is accepting one’s physical
self/ maturity. Adolescents need to develop a realistic image of their physical
appearance, which is acceptable to them.

Cognitive Development
 Adolescents’ thought becomes more abstract, logical, and idealistic; they become more
capable of examining their own thoughts, others’ thoughts, and what others are thinking
about them.
 Adolescent thought is also idealistic.
 In contrast to trial and error approach used by children in earlier stages of development,
adolescent thinking becomes more systematic in solving problems – hypothetical deductive
reasoning.
 Logical thought also influences the development of moral reasoning. Social rules are
not considered as absolute standards and moral thinking shows some flexibility.
 Adolescents also develop a special kind of egocentrism. According to David Elkind,
imaginary audience and personal fable are two components of adolescents’
egocentrism.
 During adolescence a detachment process enables the individual to develop a
personalised set of beliefs that are uniquely her or his own
 Stage of identity vs role confusion – Erikson.
 Rapid fluctuations between self-confidence and insecurity are typical of this stage.
 Peers and parents are dual forces having major influences on adolescents
 Vocational commitment is another factor influencing adolescent identity formation.
Some Major Concerns
 CLASS ACTIVITY

Think of your experiences during the last 2-3 years and answer the
following :
 Did you have confrontations with your parents? What were the
main problems?
 How did you solve your problems, and whose help did you seek?
Compare your list with your classmates. Are there any similarities?
Can you now think of better ways of solving the problems faced by
you?
 Adulthood
 Who is an adult?
 Assumption of adult roles is directed by an individual’s social context.
 Physical changes during middle ages.
 Old Age
 Traditionally, the age of retirement was linked to old age.
 The experience of old age also depends on the socio-economic conditions, availability
of health care, attitude of people, expectations of society and the available support
system.
 What do you understand by successful aging?
 Older adults also need to adjust to changes in the family structure and new roles (grand
parenting) that have to be learnt.
 HOME WORK

Interview people from three different stages of life, for example,

20-35, 35-60 and over 60 years of age. Talk to them about:
 Major transitions that have taken place in their lives.
 How they feel these transitions have affected them?
 Compare the events considered important in different groups.