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Module 1
Human Development: Meaning,
Concepts and Approaches
Chapter 1: Introduction
Meaning
Development: the pattern of movement or change
that begins at conception and continues through the
human life span
Scientificstudy of processes of change and stability
throughout the human lifespan.
Involves growth and decline (negative or positive
development)
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Some Major Principles of Human Development
Development is relatively orderly.
Cephalocaudal pattern
Proximodistal pattern
While the pattern of development is likely to be
SIMILAR, the OUTCOMES of development
processes and the RATE of development are likely
to vary among individuals
Heredity and Environment
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Some Major Principles of Human Development
Development takes place gradually
More often it takes weeks, months or years for a
person to undergo changes that result in the display of
developmental characteristics.
Development as a process is complex because it is
the product of biological, cognitive and
socioemotional processes. (Santrock, 2002)
Biological, Cognitive and Socioemotional processes
©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Some Major Principles of Human Development
Development is the product of biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional processes
Biological: changes in an individual’s physical nature
Cognitive: changes in thought, intelligence, and
language
Socioemotional: changes in relationships with other
people, changes in emotions, and changes in
personality
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Developmental Changes Are a Result of Biological,
Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes
Biological
processes
Cognitive Socioemotional
processes processes
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2 Approaches to Human Development
Traditional Approach: emphasizes extensive
change from birth to adolescence, little to no
change in adulthood, and decline in old age
Life-Span Approach: emphasizes developmental
change throughout childhood and adulthood
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The Life-Span Perspective
Life-Span Perspective views development as:
Lifelong
Multidimensional
Plastic
Contextual
Development is a process that involves growth,
maintenance, and regulation of loss
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The Life-Span Perspective
Development is Lifelong
Earlyadulthood is not the endpoint of development
No age period dominates
Development is Multidimensional
Consists
of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional
dimensions
Multiple components within each dimension
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The Life-Span Perspective
Development is Plastic
Plasticity: capacity for change and adaptation
Development involves Growth, Maintenance, and
Regulation of Loss
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The Life-Span Perspective
Development is Contextual
All development occurs within a context (setting)
Each setting is influenced by historical, economic, social, and
cultural factors
Contexts exert three types of influences:
Normative age-graded influences: similar for individuals in a
particular age group
Normative history-graded influences: common to people of a
particular generation because of historical circumstances
Non-normative life events: unusual occurrences that have a major
impact on the individual’s life
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Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
All the domains of development and learning –
physical, social and emotional, and cognitive – are
important, and they are closely related.
Many aspects of children’s learning and
development follow well documented sequences,
with later abilities, skills and knowledge building
on those already acquired.
©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
Development and learning proceed at varying rates
from child to child, as well as uneven rates across
different areas of a child’s individual functioning.
Development and learning result from a dynamic
and continuous interaction of biological maturation
and experience.
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Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
Early experiences have profound effects, both
cumulative and delayed on a child’s development
and learning; and optimal period exists for certain
types of development and learning to occur.
Development proceeds toward greater complexity,
self-regulation, and symbolic or representational
capacities.
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Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
Children develop best when they have secure,
consistent relationships with responsive adults and
opportunities for positive relationships with peers.
Development and learning occur in and are
influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts
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Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
Always mentally active in seeking to understand
the world around them, children learn in a variety
of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and
interactions are effective in supporting all these
kinds of learning.
Play is an important vehicle for developing, self-
regulating as well as for promoting language,
cognition, and social competence.
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Principles of Child development and
learning that inform practice
Development and learning advance when children
are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond their
current mastery, and also when they have many
opportunities to practice newly acquired skills.
Children’s experiences shape their motivation and
approaches to learning, such persistence, initiative,
and flexibility; in turn, these dispositions and
behaviors affect their learning and development
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MODULE 3: ISSUES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
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reserved.
The Nature of Development
Developmental Period: a time frame in a person’s
life that is characterized by certain features
Prenatal period: conception to birth (9 months)
Tremendous growth
Infancy: birth to 18-24 months
Dependenceupon adults
Development of many psychological activities
Early childhood: end of infancy to 5-6 years
Preschool years
Self-sufficiency and increased play
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The Nature of Development
Developmental Period (continued)
Middle and late childhood: 6-11 years
Reading, writing, and arithmetic
Focus on achievement and self-control
Adolescence: varying endpoints; from 10-12 to 18-22 years
Rapid physical changes
Pursuit of independence and identity
Early adulthood: late teens to early 30’s
Personal and economic independence
Selecting a mate
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The Nature of Development
Developmental Period (continued)
Middle adulthood: 40-60 years
Social involvement and responsibility
Assisting the next generation
Late adulthood: 60’s-70’s to death
Lifereview
Adjustment to new social roles
Longest developmental span
“youngest old” vs. “oldest old”
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Developmental Issues
Nature and Nurture: the extent to which
development is influenced by biological inheritance
and/or environmental experiences
Nature proponents argue that an evolutionary and
genetic foundation produces commonalities in growth
and development
Nurture proponents emphasize the importance of both
the biological and social environment
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Developmental Issues
Stability and Change: the degree to which early
traits and characteristics persist through life or
change
Stability/Constancy: traits and characteristics are seen
as the result of heredity and early life experiences
10-15% of children are consistently shy
10-15% are bold/expressive
Change: traits and characteristics can be altered by
later experiences
Role of early and later experiences is hotly debated
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Developmental Issues
Continuity and Discontinuity: focuses on whether
development is either:
A process of gradual, cumulative change (continuous)
A set of distinct stages (discontinuous)
Evaluating Developmental Issues:
Most developmentalists acknowledge that
development is not all-or-nothing
There is debate regarding how strongly each of these
issues influences development
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Developmental Issues
Continuity
The typical 18-month-old child might have between 10
and 50 words to speak (1y.o and 6 mo.)
but by the time children reach kindergarten age, they have
a very mature sounding vocabulary of about 2000 words
Discontinuity
Development appear rather ABRUPTLY rather than
GRADUALLY
We see discontinuity when children hit “milestones”
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Developmental Issues
The interaction of heredity and environment is so
extensive that to ask which is more important, nature or
nurture, is like asking which is more important to a
rectangle, height or weight.
William Greenough
©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
