TOPIC TWO: STAGES OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMNET

Objectives
By the end of the topic, learners should be able to:
1. Describe various stages of physical growth and development
2. explain the characteristics of adolescent development
3. Identify the challenges adolescents go through in their stage of development
4. Analyze how a teacher can assist an adolescent develop high self-esteem
5. Explain the importance of a teacher having knowledge on physical development
6. Explain the characteristics of adulthood and aging

a) PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
Prenatal development is typically divided into three distinct periods (zygote, embryo, and
fetus).

In reality, these periods represent continuous phases of development, during which the
organism protected and sustained by the amniotic sac, the placenta, the umbilical cord, and
after the fifth month, the lanugo, undergoes a systematic series of sequential changes to
become increasingly complex and differentiated.
The Zygote
The period of the zygote, which lasts about two weeks, extends from fertilization to
implantation, when the zygote becomes implanted in the wall of the uterus.
The Embryo
The period of the embryo begins at that point and lasts until the eighth week. During this period
of rapid growth, most of the important organs and physiological systems develop, and the
embryo is quite vulnerable to adverse environmental influences.
The Fetus
The period of the fetus extends from the beginning of the third month until birth. Although the
major organ systems are well differentiated by this time, the central nervous system continues
to develop at a rapid pace, reflexes develop, and regulatory processes and the respiratory
system continue to mature. ‘
A danger at this time is respiratory distress syndrome; and if the child is born before the age
of viability, or at 28 weeks, it may not be developed enough to survive.

b) BIRTH AND THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE

Labor and Delivery
• Birth involves a series of changes in the mother that permit the child to move from the
womb to the outside world.

These include uterine contractions during the first stage of labor that allow the cervix to
become large enough for the child's head; the child's descent into the birth canal and
emergence out of the canal during the second stage; and the expulsion of the placenta during
the third stage.

If problems arise before or during the delivery, a cesarean delivery may be performed by
removing the baby through an incision in the mother's abdomen.
Prematurity and Low Birth weight
• Birth complications occur in only about 10 percent of deliveries. Some important birth
factors that are related to developmental deviations and mortality are anoxia, or lack of
oxygen in the brain, prematurity, and low birth weight. ‘
• Premature babies may be preterm or small for date. Anoxia, early birth, and low birth
weight have been associated with physical, neurological, cognitive, and emotional deficits.
• Most of these negative effects diminish with age, except in extreme cases. Stimulation
programs have been successful with low-birth weight babies in combating the effects of
isolation and separation of infant and parents caused by spending the first weeks of life in
an isolate.

c) INFANCY DEVELOPMENT/ EARLY CHILDHOOD PHYSICAL

DEVELOPMENT
In this section we shall explore the newborn’s physical capabilities, growth and development
in the first few years of life;
Brain Development
➢ The brain and other parts of the nervous system grow faster than any other parts of the body
during both pre-natal and the first two years of life.
➢ A newborn’s brain is one - fourth its full adult size and will grow to about 75% of its adult
weight and size by the age of two.
➢ It is generally believed that the newborn’s brain contains most of the neurons it will ever
have.
➢ Further brain development and learning occur primarily because neurons grow in size, and
because the number of axons and dendrites, as well as the extent of their connections
increases.
➢ The brain reaches its full adult weight at about age 16. Myelination however continues until
early adulthood, thus the speed of information processing also continues to increase.
➢ In addition the frontal lobes continues to develop up to the age of 20
➢ Understanding the brain development is crucial to understanding children and adult’s
learning abilities
➢ Also parts of the brain are involved in prolonged attention span and screening out
distracting stimuli becomes increasingly myelinated during adolescence. This may help
explain why infants, toddlers, and school - aged children have short attention span than
older adolescents and adults.
Motor development
➢ This is the physical growth and strengthening of a child’s bones, muscles and ability to
move and touch his/her surroundings. The motor development skills are easily observed
and measured
➢ The infants first motor abilities are limited to reflexes, involuntary responses to stimulation,
for example the rooting reflex occurs when something touches the baby’s cheek; the infant
will automatically turn its head, open and root for a nipple.
➢ In addition to these reflexes, the infant soon begins to show voluntary control over
movements of various body parts.
➢ Motor development seems to be largely the result of maturation
➢ Babies in all known cultures tend to reach the major motor milestones within a few months
of one another, the environment also has an effect’
➢ Cultural differences in infant motor development may reflect on particular child- rearing
practices for example African infants spent more time in bodily contact with their mothers
and frequently massaged by their mothers.
➢ All the parental ethnotheory in Africa strongly supports early motor development ,
believing that infants need practice to sit
SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
➢ It is through the senses that infants discover the world. Humans experience these
sensations through interactions with the environment; interpreting the meaning of these
sensations for actions is called sensory processing.
➢ Sensory development begins during gestation and continues throughout childhood. There
are seven sensory processes: taste, smell, touch, hearing, seeing, body position sense (called
proprioception), and movement sensations (called vestibular input).

Touch

➢ The infant experiences the sense of touch by any direct contact to the skin. The sensory
receptors for touch send messages to the brain, through neurons, concerning temperature,
pain, and the texture and pressure of objects applied to the skin.
➢ The somatosensory system begins to develop during gestation. The nervous system, which
is the message carrier to the brain for the senses, begins to develop at the third week of
gestation. At the ninth week of gestation the sensory nerves have developed and are
touching the skin.
➢ By the twenty-second week of gestation, the fetus is sensitive to touch and temperature. At
birth, the sense of touch can be observed through the infant's reflexes when it comes in
contact with different stimuli. One example is the rooting response. This is when an infant
will reflexively turn its head in the direction of a touch to its cheek.
➢ It is important for adults to understand what types of touch stimulation a specific infant
needs. For example, infants who fall asleep only when rocked and like to be cuddled may
prefer firm pressure against the body.
➢ One way to apply this pressure is by swaddling infants. This firm pressure relaxes excited
neurons that are sending messages back and forth from the surface of the skin to the brain.
➢ Some infants are content to lie or sit and play in one spot; this does not mean that they are
not as curious as other infants, but that they can absorb only so much stimulation at one
time.
➢ By contrast, other infants who are constantly exploring by reaching out to touch various
objects and textures are more likely seeking stimulation.

Taste and Smell

➢ These are primitive sensory systems that are intimately involved with early developmental
activities such as feeding, eating, and recognizing family members compared to strangers.
In this way, these are protective senses; they enable the organism to survive, both through
recognizing familiarity for safety purposes and by enabling the infant to identify food for
nourishment.
➢ The taste buds become apparent during the eighth week of gestation, and by the fourteenth
week the taste sensation is formed.
➢ At birth, infants express positive and aversive facial responses to tastes. The sense of smell
is apparent at birth as an infant begins to recognize and prefers its mother's.
➢ As infants begin to develop, it is important to observe their reaction to the different
sensations of sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, as well as to textures, to know what they like or
dislike.

Movement Sensations/ motor development

➢ The movement sensations, or vestibular system, is a sensory area that is not often discussed
in literature but is important to development.
➢ The vestibular system involves one's balance and works in conjunction with other senses.
The vestibular system is designed to answer questions that relate to the human body, such
as "Which way is up?" and "Where am I going?" This is accomplished by measuring the
position of the head through the combined efforts of the five sensory organs in the inner
ear, a process that enables one to maintain one's balance.
➢ During gestation, the vestibular system is immature but operating by the ninth week and
continues to mature throughout gestation and after birth.
➢ The vestibular system is important for an infant to be able to hold its head steady when
being held upright, sitting up, standing, and walking. It is easy to recognize when the
vestibular system is sending different messages to the brain than what is actually taking
place. Examples include infants falling over when sitting and falling down when walking.
In these instances, the vestibular system is sending a different message to the infant's brain
in relation to what is happening with its body.

Auditory System

➢ The auditory system begins to develop next. Around the fifth week of gestation the ear
begins to form, and by the twenty-fourth week of gestation all hearing structures are in
place. By the end of gestation, the auditory system is reasonably mature and continues to
develop throughout the first year after birth.
➢ Infants demonstrate this sense by turning their head or eyes toward a sound. Newborns are
more likely to respond to higher frequencies than lower frequencies. Also, repetition and
longer duration increase the likelihood of infants hearing and responding to a sound.
➢ Adults can encourage infant stimulation through musical toys that use repetitive sounds
and higher pitched tones.

Visual System

➢ The visual system begins to develop around the ninth and tenth week of gestation and
continues developing until three years after birth.
➢ At birth, infants are able to detect motion, can focus on an object about eight inches away,
are sensitive to brightness, and have red and green color vision.
➢ By the end of the second month, infants are able to track smooth pattern movements and
begin to discriminate between colors.
➢ During the third month, infants are better able to focus on objects farther away and are
beginning to develop depth perception, both of which continue to develop until age two or
three.
➢ Many toy companies gear toys that have geometric shapes and are black and white for
newborns, and toys that are brightly colored and have patterns for infants about three
months and older. These toys encourage development as the infant's neuronal pathways are
being established.
NOTE

Adults can encourage sensory development in their infants by providing a safe and stimulating
environment for discovery. Sensory exploration is important to infant development,
specifically for establishing new neuronal pathways in the brain and strengthening already
developed neuronal pathways.

d) ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
➢ Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood, a period that brings
sometimes tumultuous physical, social, and emotional changes. Adolescence begins
with the onset of puberty and extends to adulthood, usually spanning the years between
12 and 20. Puberty is the period during which the reproductive system matures, a
process characterized by a marked increase in sex hormones.
➢ Physical development. Physical development in adolescence includes a growth spurt
as the body fills out, voice changes (especially in males), and an increase in sex
hormones. Secondary sex characteristics, such as breasts in females and beards in
 males, appear. Girls' first menstruation (menarche) usually occurs between the ages of
11 and 14.
➢ Social development. According to Erik Erikson, appropriate social development in
adolescence requires solving the major challenge of ego‐identity vs. role diffusion. To
resolve this life crisis, adolescents must form an ego‐identity, a strong sense of “who I
am and what I stand for,” or they may suffer role diffusion (running from activity to
activity), with the increased likelihood of succumbing to peer pressure.

Gender

• Gender differences in behaviors or mental processes continue to develop during

adolescence. Research has indicated that experience and learning have a greater impact on
such behaviors than do biological factors.
• Gender identity, the recognition of being male or female, develops by age 3. Once they
have established gender identity, children usually try to adapt their behavior and thoughts
to accepted gender‐specific roles.
• A gender role consists of the behaviors associated with one's gender. Gender‐related
activities help an individual to establish an identity. Sometimes a person adopts gender‐
role stereotypes, beliefs about the “typical” behavior of males and females expected by
society.
• One meaning of the term androgynous is having adopted both behaviors associated with
males and those associated with females. Androgynous males can do hard physical labor
and yet care for babies; androgynous females can be homemakers and yet fix cars or drive
taxis.

➢ Peer pressure. Peer pressure, a term used to denote legitimization of activities by a

peer group, has been used to explain many adolescent societal difficulties. Although a
peer group rarely forces an adolescent to try new activities, it may legitimize those
activities by indulging in them.
➢ Physical changes and psychological adjustment
➢ Early or late physical maturation can affect an individual’s psychological adjustment.
early maturation for boys correlates with higher school achievement, positive body
image, positive moods, and higher regard from both peers and adults
 ➢ Adolescent girl’s first menstrual period can be a positive sign of maturity or it may be
a negative sign of lost childhood.
➢ Other adjustment problems may be associated with the fact that puberty does not begin
at the same age for everyone. Early maturing girls may feel self-conscious and unhappy
with their body image
➢ However by late adolescence, they are more popular, more self-directed cognitively,
socially and emotionally than their later maturing peers.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF ADOLESCENTS

According to Jean Piaget’s theory, at about 12 years of age, some but all adolescents pass
from the concrete operational stage to the formal operational stage.

➢ He can be able to reason about abstract as well as concrete situations

➢ He can apply abstract principles and make predictions about hypothetical situations
➢ He can formulate laws
➢ He can make judgments

An adolescent still in concrete operational stage would rely on trial and error than on a
systematic approach to problem solving

➢ A person’s ability to perform well in science courses may in fact depend on his/her
stage of cognitive development

➢ His thinking is sophisticated, flexible and portray symbolic thought of the adult
➢ He can question the nature of reality and ague about abstract s regarding ethical,
political and religious beliefs.

PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ADOLESCENT

Though Sigmund Freud believed that psychosocial development is essentially complete by the
age of six (6), other psychologists have found out that it continues through adolescent into
adulthood and old age.
 ➢ The most important of psychosocial tasks of adolescence are the formation of personal
identity and the development of healthy relationships with the peers.
➢ According to Erickson’s (1963) psychosocial theory of development, the most
important task of adolescence is to resolve the crisis of identity versus role confusion.
➢ The adolescent develops a sense of identity by developing his own set of values and
social behaviors e.g. clothing styles, religious beliefs and interactions that may contrast
markedly with parental norms.
➢ Erickson believes this is a normal part of finding answers to questions related to one’s
identity such as what are my values?
➢ To appreciate the tasks confronting the adolescent consider the challenge of having to
adjust simultaneously to a new body, mind and a new social world.
➢ The social world of the adolescent requires achieving a balance between childlike
dependence and adult like independence.
➢ This also manifests itself in the conflict between parental and peer [Link]
adolescents moves from the world being guided by their parental wishes to a world in
which he/she is confronted by a host choices regarding sex, drugs, friends, school, work
and a variety of other situations.

➢ Erickson’s theory of adolescence has received a lot of support from studies showing
that adolescents typically do move from a state of role of confusion to a state of identity
achievement. This achievement has positive effects e.g. a strong sense of identity may
serve as a buffer against life stresses.

Development of Middle Adulthood

Physical Changes

➢ For those in middle adulthood, aging is inevitable. By age 64, visible signs are apparent,
such as gray and thinning hair, wrinkles, the need for reading and bifocal eyeglasses,
and some hearing loss.
➢ Internally, changes are taking place as well, with some decline in the major organs,
including the lungs, heart and digestive system;
➢ Additionally women undergo menopause sometime between the ages of 42 and 51.
Developmentalists call these forms of aging primary, meaning that the changes are
 inevitable and happen to everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, culture or
socioeconomic class.

Secondary aging, however, is the result of unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, drug use,
unhealthy eating, alcohol abuse, obesity and lack of exercise.

➢ Death rates for this age group remain relatively low, although the two major illnesses
that do affect the health and mortality of this age group are heart disease and cancer:
analysis from a 2006 report by the nonprofit group Life Insurance Foundation for
Education finds that the leading causes of death for males ages 45-65 is heart disease,
followed by cancer. For females ages 35-64, the leading cause of death is cancer.
➢ Researchers have proven, however, that exercise alone reduces the risk of almost every
serious illness in middle adulthood - especially heart disease and cancer. Add healthy
eating and the elimination of tobacco and alcohol use to middle-age lifestyles, and
major illnesses can literally be halted altogether.
➢ Exercise slows many primary aging changes too, such as the physiological changes
taking place within the vital organs.

Developmentalists also study individuals' vitality, or "joy of living" during the middle adult
years as they have found high correlations between positive, upbeat attitudes and physical and
mental health.

➢ These researchers have found that negativity caused by stress or conditions such as
depression (see Depression) or anxiety (see Anxiety) can even eventually lead to
chronic physical conditions in otherwise healthy bodies.

Cognitive Changes

➢ Until the middle of the 20th century, it was thought that intelligence peaked in
adolescence and then began to decline, and continued its descent over the remainder of
a person's life.
➢ Study; have proven that some aspects of intelligence, such as vocabulary skills, actually
increase until about age 60.
➢ These researchers argued that fluid intelligence, or the ability to process new concepts
and facts quickly and creatively, including abstract reasoning problems, independent of
 previous education or learning, peaks in adolescence and then starts a gradual decline
between the ages of 35 and 40.

Development in Late Adulthood

➢ Late adulthood (old age) is generally considered to begin at about age 65. Erik Erikson
suggests that at this time it is important to find meaning and satisfaction in life rather
than to become bitter and disillusioned, that is, to resolve the conflict of integrity vs.
despair.

General Characteristics of Adulthood Stage of Development

1. Realizing that maturity is an ongoing process, not a state, and continuously striving
for self improvement.
2. Able to manage personal jealousy and feelings of envy.
3. Has the ability to listen to and evaluate the viewpoints of others.
4. Maintains patience and flexibility on a daily basis.
5. Accepts the fact that you can’t always win, and learns from mistakes instead of
whining about the outcome.
6. Does not overanalyze negative points, but instead looks for the positive points in
the subject being analyzed.
7. Is able to differentiate between rational decision making and emotional impulse.
8. Understands that no skill or talent can overshadow the act of preparation.
9. Capable of managing temper and anger.
10. Keeps other people’s feeling in mind and limits selfishness.
11. Being able to distinguish between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’.
12. Shows confidence without being overly arrogant.
13. Handles pressure with self composure.
14. Takes ownership and responsibility of personal actions.
15. Manages personal fears.
16. Able to see the various shades of grey between the extremes of black and white in
every situation.
17. Accepts negative feedback as a tool for self - improvement.
18. Aware of personal insecurities and self-esteem.
19. Able to separate true love from transitory infatuation.
 20. Understanding that open communication is the key to progression.

Theories of successful aging. Theories of successful aging include the following:

• The disengagement theory states that as people age, their withdrawal from society is
normal and desirable as it relieves them of responsibilities and roles that have become
difficult.
• This process also opens up opportunities for younger people; society benefits as more‐
energetic young people fill the vacated positions.
• The activity theory contends that activity is necessary to maintain a “life of quality,” that
is, that one must “use it or lose it” no matter what one's age and that people who remain
active in all respects—physically, mentally, and socially—adjust better to the aging
process. Proponents of this theory believe that activities of earlier years should be
maintained as long as possible.

Ageism. Ageism may be defined as the prejudice or discrimination that occurs on the basis of
age. Although it can be used against people of all ages, older people are most frequently its
target and it may often result in forced retirement. Stereotyping of the elderly is also an aspect
of ageism, as seen in such a statement as “He drives like a little old lady.”

Physical changes. People typically reach the peak of their physical strength and endurance
during their twenties and then gradually decline. In later adulthood, a variety of physiological
changes may occur, including a decrease in the rate of neural processes, become weaker in
other mental processes.

➢ The respiratory and circulatory systems are less efficient, and changes in the
gastrointestinal tract may lead to increased constipation.
➢ Bone mass diminishes, especially among women, leading to bone density disorders
such as osteoporosis. Muscles become weaker unless exercise programs are followed.
➢ The skin dries and becomes less flexible.
➢ Hair loss occurs in both sexes.
➢ There is also decreased sensitivity in all of the sensory modalities, including olfaction,
taste, touch, hearing, and vision.
Cognitive changes. The study of cognitive changes in the older population is complex.
Response speeds (neural and motor) have been reported to decline; some researchers believe
that age‐related decrease in working memory is the crucial factor underlying poorer
performance by the elderly on cognitive tasks.

• Intellectual changes in late adulthood do not always result in reduction of ability. While
fluid intelligence (the ability to see and to use patterns and relationships to solve problems)
does decline in later years, crystallized intelligence (the ability to use accumulated
information to solve problems and make decisions) has been shown to rise slightly over the
entire life span. K. Warner Schaie and Sherry Willis reported that a decline in cognitive
performance could be reversed in 40% to 60% of elderly people who were given remedial
training.
• Dementias are usually responsible for cognitive defects seen in older people. These
disorders, however, occur only in about 15% of people over 65. The leading cause of
dementia in the United States is Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, eventually fatal
disease that begins with confusion and memory lapses and ends with the loss of ability to
care for oneself.

Retirement. Retirement at age 65 is the conventional choice for many people, although some
work until much later. People have been found to be happier in retirement if they are not forced
to retire before they are ready and if they have enough income to maintain an adequate living
standard. Chronic health problems such as arthritis, rheumatism, and hypertension increasingly
interfere with the quality of life of most individuals as they age.

Widowhood. Women tend to marry men older than they are and, on average, live 5 to 7 years
longer than men.

One study found ten times as many widows as widowers. Widowhood is particularly stressful
if the death of the spouse occurs early in life; close support of friends, particularly other
widows, can be very helpful.

Death and dying. Death and dying has been studied extensively by Elisabeth Kübler‐Ross,
who suggested that terminally ill patients display the following five basic reactions.
• Denial, an attempt to deny the reality and to isolate oneself from the event, is frequently
the first reaction.
• Anger frequently follows, as the person envies the living and asks, “Why should I be the
one to die?”
• Bargaining may occur; the person pleads to God or others for more time.
• As the end nears, recognition that death is inevitable and that separation from family will
occur leads to feelings of exhaustion, futility, and deep depression.
• Acceptance often follows if death is not sudden, and the person finds peace with the
inevitable.

People who are dying are sometimes placed in a hospice, a hospital for the terminally ill that
attempts to maintain a good quality of life for the patient and the family during the final days.
In a predictable pattern after a loved one's death, initial shock is followed by grief, followed by
apathy and depression, which may continue for weeks. Support groups and counseling can help
in successfully working through this process.