Thursday, May 10, 2018

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT


HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

NATURE Vs NURTURE

Individual differences occurring under the same heredity may be attributed to the operation of different environmental factors. Similarly, when the environments are sufficiently alike, dissimilarities of behaviour indicate differing heredity.
A significant question in developmental psychology is the relationship between innateness (Nature or heredity) and environmental influence (Nurture) in regard to any particular aspect of development. This is often referred to as "nature versus nurture" or nativism versus empiricism.
A nativist account of development would argue that the processes in question are innate, that is, they are specified by the organism's genes. An empiricist perspective would argue that those processes are acquired in interaction with the environment.
Today developmental psychologists rarely take such extreme positions with regard to most aspects of development; rather they investigate, among many other things, the relationship between innate and environmental influences.

 

Nature and Nurture Defined

Nature refers to heredity: the genetic makeup or "genotypes" (i.e., information encoded in DNA) an individual carries from the time of conception to the time of death. Heredity may range from genetic predispositions that are specific to each individual and that therefore potentially explain differences in individual characteristics (e.g., temperament), to those supposedly specific to certain groups and that therefore account for group differences in related characteristics (e.g., gender and height), and to those that are theorized to be shared by all humans and are generally thought to set humans apart from other species (e.g., the language acquisition device in humans).
The notion of nature, therefore, refers to the biologically prescribed tendencies and capabilities individuals possess, which may unfold themselves throughout the course of life.
Nurture, by contrast, refers to various external or environmental factors to which an individual is exposed from conception to death. These environmental factors involve several dimensions. For example, they include both physical environments (e.g., secondhand smoking and prenatal nutrition) and social environments (e.g., the media and peer pressure). Also, environmental factors vary in their immediacy to the individual; they involve multiple layers of forces, ranging from most immediate (e.g., families, friends, and neighborhoods) to larger contexts (e.g., school systems and local governments) to macro factors (e.g., international politics and global warming). To complicate matters even further, the factors in each of these layers influence and are influenced by elements within and outside of these layers. For example, the kind of peers a child is exposed to may depend on his or her parents' view of what ideal playmates are like, the local government's housing policies, and the history of race relations.

What Is the Controversy?

Despite its nomenclature, the nature-nurture controversy in its current state is less dichotomous than commonly believed. In other words, the term "nature-nurture controversy" suggests a polarization of nature and nurture; continuity and interaction, however, more aptly describe the central processes involved in this controversy. Therefore, it is not about whether either heredity or environment is solely responsible for observed outcomes. Rather, it is more about the extent to which these factors influence human development and the ways in which various factors influence each other.
For example, following the fifteen-person massacre committed by two boys at Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999, the media were flooded with people offering their interpretations of what drove these high school students to commit this heinous and violent act. Some were quick to attribute the boys' actions to such environmental factors as inadequate parenting practices in their families and the violence prevalent and even glorified in the American media. Others, by contrast, were convinced that these boys were mentally ill as defined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and that their ability to make responsible judgments had been impaired, perhaps due to a chemical imbalance to which they were genetically predisposed. Which argument is "correct," according to most researchers? Probably neither. Most theorists agree that both nature and nurture are intertwined and influence most aspects of human emotion, behavior, and cognition in some ways. Given the prevailing views in current psychology, most researchers would agree that the violent acts committed by these boys probably stemmed from an unfortunate interaction among various hereditary and environmental factors. Researchers, however, may disagree on (1) the extent to which heredity and environment each influences particular developmental outcomes and (2) the way in which a mixture of hereditary and environmental factors relate to each other. In other words, the controversy involves the extent of contribution as well as the nature of interaction among a variety of genetic and environmental forces. How do researchers address these issues?

Exploring Heredity and Environment: Research Methods

Since as early as the 1930s, researchers have attempted to estimate the contribution of hereditary and environmental factors to various aspects of human cognition, by comparing pairs of individuals varying in genetic relatedness. These studies are often called kinship studies, and twin studies and adoption studies represent two of the most common types of such studies. They have been extensively conducted to estimate the heritability of a wide variety of human characteristics.

Twin Studies

In traditional twin studies, monozygotic (identical) twins and dizygotic (fraternal) twins are compared in terms of their emotional, behavioral, and cognitive similarities. In the process of cell divisions upon formation of a zygote, sometimes the resulting cells fully multiply and produce two identical babies; they are called monozygotic twins, since they come from a single zygote and are genetic "carbon copies." In other words, any genetic information concerning physical and psychological predispositions should be exactly the same for these twins.
By contrast, dizygotic twins develop from two separate zygotes, as a result of two eggs being fertilized by two sperms independently. Consequently, the genetic profiles of the resultant babies are similar only to the extent that they share the same set of biological parents. By comparing the correlations of a particular dimension, such as intelligence test scores, between identical twins and those between fraternal twins, researchers can theoretically compute the relative influences of nature and nurture on the dimension.
For example, Sandra Scarr reported an interesting finding in the book Intelligence, Heredity, and Environment. She found a correlation for IQ test scores of .86 for identical twins and .55 for fraternal twins, indicating that identical twins' scores are more like one another than those of fraternal twins. Some influence of heredity, therefore, is evident. If IQ scores were 100 percent genetically determined, however, the correlation for identical twins would have been 1.00. In this example, therefore, heredity appears to play an important, but not definitive, role in explaining the determinants of what is measured through IQ tests.
In addition to these heritability estimates, researchers also study concordance rates: the rates at which both twins develop the same, specific characteristics. The absence or presence of a particular mental illness would be a good example. If both twins had clinical depression in all pairs examined in a study, then the concordance rate would be 100 percent for this sample. On the other hand, if all twins in a study had one individual with clinical depression and another with no depression, then the concordance rate is 0 percent. Reportedly, concordance rate for clinical depression is reportedly about 70 percent for identical twins and about 25 percent for fraternal twins. This appears to demonstrate a sizable genetic contribution involved in the development of depression.
Despite scholars' consensus that genetic contributions are not to be ignored, these correlational data are often believed to be exaggerated. Identical twins are genetically predisposed to a great deal of similarities, and, through a process known as reactive correlation, people around them tend to treat them similarly, which may help lead the twins to be similar beyond what their genetic profiles may warrant. The correlation of .86 between the IQ scores of identical twins, for example, may be contaminated with this reactive correlation. Identical twins encounter environmental experiences that are extremely similar to each other's, as the environment tends to react similarly to those who are genetically similar. As a result, for instance, adults and peers may treat identical twins similarly, and teachers may also develop similar expectations about these twins in terms of their emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functions. This similarity in environmental influences and expectations, therefore, may cause heritability estimates and concordance rates to be exaggerated.
Furthermore, the process of active correlation (or niche-picking) suggests the possibility that children's genetic predispositions cause them to seek particular environments, causing the differences in hereditary predispositions to be enhanced by the subsequent environmental exposure. If a child has the genetic predisposition to enjoy cognitive challenges, for example, that may prompt the child to seek situations, friends, and activities that suit this particular predisposition—provided that such choices are offered to the child. This child, therefore, may start out with a small genetically prompted inclination to want to use his or her "brains," but such a tendency would subsequently be magnified through environmental influences.
Given the varying degrees of genetic similarities between identical and fraternal twins, these sources of confusion may theoretically become more consequential when twins grow up in the same family. This is because twins reared in the same family are typically subject to the same resources, parenting philosophy, living environments, and so on. Their genetic predispositions, therefore, are most likely promoted—or inhibited—in similar ways. For example, if a pair of twins share the hereditary predispositions for musicality and their upper-middle-class parents own a piano and are interested in fostering musicality in these children, their musical potential will perhaps be cultivated in very similar ways. Specifically, their parents will probably get the same or similar piano teacher(s) for them, and they will probably be encouraged to practice equally. Therefore, the genetic similarities between the twins are magnified by virtue of them growing up in the same household. How does one address these concerns? Adoption studies provide some answers.

Adoption Studies

Compared to traditional twin studies, adoption studies are theorized to offer better alternatives for separating hereditary influences from genetic ones. There are typically two variations in adoption studies: ones involving comparisons of identical twins reared apart and ones comparing the degree of similarity between adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents. Identical twins reared apart share genetic patterns with each other, yet they do not share the same environmental experiences. Adopted children, by contrast, typically share with the rest of the adoptive family similar environmental experiences but do not share any genes with them. The advantage of adoption studies is that researchers can reasonably estimate the heritability by comparing the heritability estimates and concordance rates of pairs of individuals varying in genetic relatedness and in environmental distance. A typical adoption study may involve, for instance, comparing the concordance rates for the following two pairs: a child and her biological parent (shared genes but not environments) versus the same child and her adoptive parents (shared environments but not genes). Though the estimates of hereditary influences are generally lower in adoption studies than in twin studies, adoption studies provide results that are largely consistent with twin studies. In a 1983 study, Sandra Scarr and Richard Weinberg found that the IQ scores of adopted children showed higher correlations with the IQ scores of their biological parents than with those of their adopted parents. Similarly, John Loehlin, Lee Willlerman, and Joseph Horn demonstrated through a 1988 study that in the area of clinical depression, adopted children tended to have much higher concordance rates with their biological relatives than with their adoptive relatives.
Still, many scholars argue that heritability may be overestimated in these studies. First, the reactive and active correlations discussed earlier would occur, to a degree, even if the twins were reared separately, as the twins share all of the hereditary predispositions. Second, one must also examine the possibility that parents may systematically treat their adoptive children differently than they do their biological children, which may explain the less-than-expected resemblance between children and their adoptive parents. Given that biologically related individuals tend to share greater hereditary similarities, it is fair to state that heritability estimates may be thrown off by environmental effects induced by particular genetic predispositions.

Beyond Heritability

As illustrated so far, most psychology researchers are in agreement that heredity and environment both play significant roles in the development of various human traits. Researchers may disagree, however, on the extent to which heredity and environment contribute to the development of a particular dimension, and on how various factors may affect each other to create a certain human characteristic. Neither heritability estimates nor concordance rates provide useful information on the latter type of disagreement: how various hereditary and environmental factors interact with each other to result in a particular characteristic. Mental health, education, and applied psychology researchers are especially concerned about optimizing the developmental outcomes among people from all backgrounds. To this end, knowing that there is a .86 heritability estimate for IQ scores among identical twins, for example, is not particularly helpful in terms of establishing ways of maximizing the life choices and opportunities for individuals. In attaining such goals, it is crucial to understand how various factors relate to each other. Naturally, in order to do so, one must first identify which factors are involved in the development of a given trait. Unfortunately, researchers have had very limited success in identifying specific genetic patterns that influence particular psychological and behavioral characteristics.
Nevertheless, this is not to suggest that one should ignore the role of heredity as reflected in heritability estimates altogether and focus on optimizing the environmental factors for every child. Heredity, as has been examined, undoubtedly contributes to the development of various human traits. Also, researchers exploring environmental influences have found that contrary to what most theorists expected, environmental factors that are shared by reared-together twins do not appear to be relevant in explaining the development of particular traits. It is therefore unlikely that exposing every child to a "one size fits all" environment designed to foster a particular trait, would benefit everyone equally. Some may react favorably to such an environment, while others may not react to it at all; there may be yet others who react negatively to the same environment. The notion of "range of reaction" helps us conceptualize the complex relationship between heredity and environment; people with varying genetically influenced predispositions respond differently to environments. As suggested by Douglas Wahlsten in a 1994 article in Canadian Psychology, an identical environment can elicit different reactions in different individuals, due to variations in their genetic predispositions. In a hypothetical scenario, Wahlsten suggested that increasing intellectual stimulation should help increase cognitive performances of some children. Moderate, rather than high, levels of intellectual stimulation may, however, induce optimal cognitive performances in others. By contrast, the same moderate levels of stimulation may actually cause some children to display cognitive performances that are even worse than how they performed in a minimally stimulating environment. In addition, the "optimal" or "minimal" performance levels may be different for various individuals, depending on their genetic makeup and other factors in their lives. This example illustrates the individual differences in ranges of reaction; there is no "recipe" for creating environments that facilitate the development of particular characteristics in everyone. Heredity via environment, rather than heredity versus environment, therefore, may better characterize this perspective.
These views are consistent with the 1990s' backlash against the view that was prevalent in the mid- to late twentieth century among many clinical psychologists, social workers, and educators, who focused solely on environmental factors while discounting the contributions of hereditary factors. Among the theories they advocated were that gay males decidedly come from families with domineering mothers and no prominent masculine figures, that poor academic performances result from lack of intellectual stimulation in early childhood, and that autism stems from poor parenting practices. Not surprisingly, empirical data do not support these theories. Still, people often continue to believe, to some extent, that proper environments can prevent and "cure" these non-normative characteristics, not realizing that heredity may play significant roles in the development of these traits.
Some scholars believe that this "radical environ-mentalist" view found its popularity in the 1950s as a reaction to racist Nazi thinking, which held that some groups of individuals are genetically inferior to others and that the undesirable traits they are perceived to possess cannot be prevented or modified. These assumptions are harmful, as they limit the opportunities for advancement of some people, strictly because of their membership in a stigmatized group. It is nevertheless important to reiterate that individual differences, as opposed to group differences, in genetic predispositions are evident in the development of most emotional, behavioral, and cognitive traits. With this in mind, it is also important to realize that focusing on optimizing environmental influences while ignoring hereditary influences may lead to the neglect of the developmental needs of some individuals, and it may be just as harmful in some cases as focusing exclusively on hereditary influences.



HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

MEANING

The meaning of words ‘growth and development’ is understood interchangeably. Terminology wise ‘Growth’ means increase and enlargement of the body or some parts of the body e.g. body has become heavier and larger etc. Thus growth is a change in the organism which can be observed and measured in quantitative term. `Development’ means more advancement, greater unfolding and growing forward to greater maturity. It refers to changes over time which is not subject to quantitative measurement but express themselves through certain behaviour pattern.


DEFINITION
  • Development means a progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience - E.B. Hurlock.
  • Development means whole sequence of life from conception to death - Pearsy London
  • Development is more important than ordinary change. Development can be observed and to certain extent it can be measured and evaluated. Its evaluation and measurement can be done in three ways – Anatomic, Physiological and Behavioral. Behaviour signs provide elaborate indices of the individual’s power and his level of development – Gessel.
            To sum up the above meaning ‘development’ is comprehensive in terms whereas `growth’ is one of the aspects of development which refers to increase caused by becoming larger and heavier in size and weight. ‘Development’ of the child can be defined as the emergence and expansion of his capacities to provide greater facility in functioning. This development is achieved through the process of growth, maturation and learning which has two aspects of change; those of quantity and quality.

GROWTH
            The term ‘Growth’ is used in the physical sense. It generally refers to increase in size, length, height and w eight. Changes in quantitative aspects, which could be objectively observed and measured, come into the domain of growth.  Growth is one of the components of developmental process. Ina sense development in its quantitative aspect is termed as growth.

Characteristics of Growth:
            1.         Hereditary factor is the cause.
            2.         Physical factors play a dominant role.
            2.         Expansion is height and weight is its apparent result.
            3.         It is quantitative, additive and augmentative.
            4.         Growth stops at a particular point of life.
            5.         Growth need not necessarily cause development in all the cases.
            6.         Rate   of growth is distinct and unique.
            7.         Individual difference in growth is apparent and obvious.

DEVELOPMENT
            Development is a qualitative and integral change occurring at physical and mental levels improving the efficiency or functional ability.

Characteristics of Development:
            1.         Development is a result of experience and maturation. 
            2.         It is a continuous process.
            3.         It does not halt at puberty.
            4.         It increases the intellectual, moral, social qualities.
            5.         It is predictable and environment plays a dominant role.
            6.         Learning is presupposition for development.
            7.         It is difficult to measure in quantitative measures.
            8.         Mental development could occur even without physical growth.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:


Sl. No.
Growth
Development
1.
Growth is quantitative and it shows an increase in size, weight and height.
Development is both quantitative and qualitative.
2.
It is pertaining to physical and biological aspects.
It is pertaining to increasing the functional ability of an individual.
3.
It is directional.
It is   sequential and progressive.
4.
It stops after the peak maturational level
It is a lifelong process.
5.
It could be objectively measured and exactly measured.
It cannot be measured easily. Yet keen and continuous observation could reveal developmental levels.
6.
Motor and physical domain plays a dominant role.
Cognitive and affective domains play a vital role.
7.
It is not affected by learning.
Learning and experience has a lot of    impact on development.
8.
It is automatic in the sense that it does not demand much effort.
Development requires constant, continuous and guided efforts.
9.
Growth need not necessarily lead to development.  It may or may not.
Development is integrative and includes mental, emotional, moral aspects.
10.
Individual differences exist among children and it could be treated by Physicians and therapeutic techniques.
Individual differences do exist in the learning skills and can not be improved by clinical methods.


Conclusion:
            Though there exists many differences between growth and development, they are interrelated, intertwined, complementary and not contradictory.

PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION
There is a set of principles that characterizes the pattern and process of growth and development. These principles or characteristics describe typical development as a predictable and orderly process; that is, we can predict how most children will develop and that they will develop at the same rate and at about the same time as other children. Although there are individual differences in children's personalities, activity levels, and timing of developmental milestones, such as ages and stages, the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns.

 

PRINCIPLES

  1. Development proceeds from the head downward: This is called the cephalocaudal principle. This principle describes the direction of growth and development. According to this principle, the child gains control of the head first, then the arms, and then the legs. Infants develop control of the head and face movements within the first two months after birth. In the next few months, they are able to lift themselves up by using their arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants start to gain leg control and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk. Coordination of arms always precedes coordination of legs.
  2. Development proceeds from the center of the body outward: This is the principle of proximodistal development that also describes the direction of development. This means that the spinal cord develops before outer parts of the body. The child's arms develop before the hands and the hands and feet develop before the fingers and toes. Finger and toe muscles (used in fine motor dexterity) are the last to develop in physical development.
  3. Development depends on maturation and learning: Maturation refers to the sequential characteristic of biological growth and development. The biological changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes in the brain and nervous system help children to improve in thinking (cognitive) and motor (physical) skills. Also, children must mature to a certain point before they can progress to new skills (Readiness). For example, a four-month-old cannot use language because the infant's brain has not matured enough to allow the child to talk. By two years old, the brain has developed further and with help from others, the child will have the capacity to say and understand words. Also, a child can't write or draw until he has developed the motor control to hold a pencil or crayon. Maturational patterns are innate, that is, genetically programmed. The child's environment and the learning that occurs as a result of the child's experiences largely determine whether the child will reach optimal development. A stimulating environment and varied experiences allow a child to develop to his or her potential.
  4. Development proceeds from the simple (concrete) to the more complex: Children use their cognitive and language skills to reason and solve problems. For example, learning relationships between things (how things are similar), or classification, is an important ability in cognitive development. The cognitive process of learning how an apple and orange are alike begins with the most simplistic or concrete thought of describing the two. Seeing no relationship, a preschool child will describe the objects according to some property of the object, such as color. Such a response would be, "An apple is red (or green) and an orange is orange." The first level of thinking about how objects are alike is to give a description or functional relationship between the two objects. "An apple and orange are round" and "An apple and orange are alike because you eat them" are typical responses of three, four and five year olds. As children develop further in cognitive skills, they are able to understand a higher and more complex relationship between objects and things; that is, that an apple and orange exist in a class called fruit. The child cognitively is then capable of classification.
  5. Growth and development is a continuous process: As a child develops, he or she adds to the skills already acquired and the new skills become the basis for further achievement and mastery of skills. Most children follow a similar pattern. Also, one stage of development lays the foundation for the next stage of development. For example, in motor development, there is a predictable sequence of developments that occur before walking. The infant lifts and turns the head before he or she can turn over. Infants can move their limbs (arms and legs) before grasping an object. Mastery of climbing stairs involves increasing skills from holding on to walking alone. By the age of four, most children can walk up and down stairs with alternating feet. As in maturation, in order for children to write or draw, they must have developed the manual (hand) control to hold a pencil and crayon.
  6. Growth and development proceed from the general to specific: In motor development, the infant will be able to grasp an object with the whole hand before using only the thumb and forefinger. The infant's first motor movements are very generalized, undirected, and reflexive, waving arms or kicking before being able to reach or creep toward an object. Growth occurs from large muscle movements to more refined (smaller) muscle movements.
  7. There are individual rates of growth and development: Each child is different and the rates at which individual children grow is different. Although the patterns and sequences for growth and development are usually the same for all children, the rates at which individual children reach developmental stages will be different. Understanding this fact of individual differences in rates of development should cause us to be careful about using and relying on age and stage characteristics to describe or label children. There is a range of ages for any developmental task to take place. This dismisses the notion of the "average child". Some children will walk at ten months while others walk a few months older at eighteen months of age. Some children are more active while others are more passive. This does not mean that the passive child will be less intelligent as an adult. There is no validity to comparing one child's progress with or against another child. Rates of development also are not uniform within an individual child. For example, a child's intellectual development may progress faster than his emotional or social development.

CONCLUSION
An understanding of the principles of development helps us to plan appropriate activities and stimulating and enriching experiences for children, and provides a basis for understanding how to encourage and support young children's learning.

CHARACTERISTICS, DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT
  1. Physical,                    
  2. Cognitive,
  3. Emotional,                                          
  4. Social and
  5. Moral.


PHASES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

              The entire life span of the individual is divided into various stages. We know that development is a continuous process. All individuals have to pass through these following stages of development.

PERIOD OR STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
APPROXIMATE AGE
PRENATAL PERIOD
(From Conception to Birth)
1.
Germinal Period
First two weeks from fertilization
2.
Embryonic Period
From Third to Eighth weeks
3.
Fetal Period
From Ninth week to birth
POSTNATAL PERIOD
(From Birth to Death)
1.
Infancy
From birth to 2 years
2.
Childhood
From 3 years to12 years or up to the onset of puberty
a. Early Childhood
From 3 years to 6 years
b. Later Childhood
From 7 years to 12 years or up to the onset of puberty
3.
Adolescence
From 13 years to 19 years or from onset of puberty till attainment of maturity                                              
a. Early Adolescence
From 13 to 16 years
b. Later Adolescence
From 17 to 19 years
4.
Adulthood
From 20 years to 60 years
a. Early Adulthood
From 20 to 40 years
b. Later Adulthood
From 41 to 60 years
5
Old Age                                                       
From 61 years to death



INFANCY
INTRODUCTION:
  • MEDICAL CIRCLES: An infant is referred to a person who is incapable of speech and is thus helpless.
  • LEGALLY: A person is regarded an infant until he reaches the age of eighteen. A minor, according to the law, is thus an infant.
  • PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTRES: Refer to the first 2 years of life as infancy.
  • ELIZABETH B. HURLOCK has spanned INFANCY from birth till 2 weeks and attributed the term BABYHOOD from the period extending from the end of the second week after birth until the end of the second year of life.
  • GENERALLY: Infancy refers to the period of development that begins at birth and ends about 18 months to 2 years of age with early language use.

MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF INFANCY:  
Although it comprises only 2 percent of the life span, infancy is one of the most remarkable and busiest times of development. The new born baby or neonate, (refers to infants from birth through the first month of life) enters the world with surprisingly sophisticated perceptual and motor abilities, a set of skills for interacting with people, and a capacity to learn that is put to use immediately after birth. By the end of infancy, the small child is a sociable, self-assertive, purposeful being who walks on her own, has developed refined manual skills, and is prepared to acquire the most unique of human abilities-language.
Our view of the infant has changed drastically over this century. At one time, the new born baby was considered to be a passive, incompetent being whose world was, in the words of turn-of-the-century psychologist William James, “A blooming, buzzing confusion”. Recently developed methods and equipments permitting researchers to test the young baby’s capacities have shown this image to be wrong. It is now well accepted that the infants, from the outset, are skilled and capable beings who display the beginnings of many complex abilities. 

GENERAL NOTIONS OF INFANCY:
  • ‘Age of Dependence’: The infant is totally dependent on the caretaker to fulfill all its needs.
  • ‘Age of Rapid Growth and Change’: Growth is both physical and psychological. The bodily movements are more coordinated and the infant is able to recognize and identify people and objects, 
  • ‘The Foundation Age’: At this period of time, the foundations of many behaviour, patterns, attitude to others and self and emotional expressions are being established.
  • ‘A Shy Age’: The infant’s world is limited to the family and to significant people. It shies away from strangers and unfamiliar surroundings.
  • ‘A Hazardous Age’: The child is prone to physical illnesses and accidents. The high infant mortality rate is evidence of this. Also psychological damage.
  • ‘An Appealing Age’: Adults as well as older children find the infant appealing because of its helplessness, dependency and easy to manage feeling that one gets.

NEWBORN REFLEXES:
A reflex is an inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation. Reflexes are the neonate’s most obvious organized patterns of behaviour. Like breathing and swallowing, some newborns reflexes have survival value. Infants come into the world with dozens of them. They are as follows:
  1. Rooting (Head turns toward source of stimulation)
  2. Sucking (Infant sucks finger rhythmically)
  3. Swimming (Baby paddles and kicks in swimming motion)
  4. Eye blink (Infant closes eye lids quickly)
  5. Withdrawal (Foot withdraws, with flexion of knee and hip)
  6. Babinski (Toes fan out and curls as foot twists in)
  7. Moro (Infant makes an ‘embracing’ motion)
  8. Palmar grasp (Infant grasps adult finger)
  9. Tonic neck (Infant assumes a ‘fencing position’)
  10. Body righting (Rest of body turns in same direction)
  11. Stepping (Infant lifts one foot after another in stepping response)
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
  • At birth, the average infant weighs 7.5 pounds and measures 19.5 inches in length.
  • During the 1st 6 months, growth continues at a rapid rate and then begins to slow down in the second year.
  • In the 1st year there is increase in weight to approximately 21 pounds and in the second year the height increases between 28 and 30 inches.
  • Head growth slows down while trunk and limb growth increases.
  • The number of bones increases and ossification begins.
  • Out of the 20 temporary teeth, about 16 appear by the age of 2 years.
  • Growth in the nervous system consists primarily of the development of immature cells present at birth, rather than the formation of new cells.
  • Eye muscles are well coordinated. Can distinguish colours. Skin stimuli are highly responsive because of the thin texture of the skin. 

Pattern of Motor Control:
i) Head region:- (a) Eye control    (b) Starts smiling    (c) Can hold the head erect.
ii) Trunk region:- (a) Can roll over completely by 6 months. (b) Is able to sit by 7 months.
iii) Arms:- Can reach objects and can pick up small objects by 1 year.
iv) Legs:- Can walk without support at 14 months.
Pre-speech forms of Communication:
(1) Crying (2) Babbling (3) Gesturing with words (4) Emotional expressions

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Common Emotional Patterns:
  • Anger: When interfered with its movements, unable to do a task, for not being understood, the child reacts by screaming, kicking, waving the arms, jumps up and down, et al.
  • Fear: Any stimulus which occurs suddenly or unexpectedly or which is different from what the infant is accustomed to gives rise to fear.
  • Curiosity: Anything new or unusual acts as a stimulus to curiosity. They express curiosity mainly through their facial expressions.
  • Joy: is stimulated by physical well-being and friendly responses of others. They are expressed through smiling, laughing, baby coos, gurgles or even shouts with glee, and all bodily movements are intensified.
  • Affection: Family members, toys and family pets stimulate the infant’s affection which it expresses by hugging, patting and kissing.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
Infancy is centered round home and therefore it is here that the foundations for later social behaviour and attitudes are formed. A happy environment at home enhances the social adjustability while infants who cried excessively tend to become aggressive.   
Socialising Behaviour of the Infant:
  • At birth it makes no difference who takes care of its physical needs.
  • By 2-3 months it distinguishes people from inanimate objects.
  • By 4-5 months loves to be picked up and reacts differently to friendly and angry voices.
  • 6-7 months is the beginning of the ‘shy age’. It smiles at ‘friends’ and shows fear in the presence of ‘strangers’. It is attracted to other babies.
  • 8-9 months it attempts to imitate the speech, gestures and simple acts of others.
  • 20-24 months it co-operates in routine activities like being dressed, fed, and bathed. Is interested in playing with other babies and uses play materials to establish social relationship with them.
                             
MENTAL DEVELOPMENT:
According to Piaget this is the ‘Sensorimotor Stage’ in conceptual development. Its earliest perceptions come through sensory exploration. It understands by:
  • Looking, listening, smelling and tasting anything that comes its way.
  • Tries to discover meaning through simpler forms by asking the questions ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’.
  • It associates ideas with objects and situations resulting in the development of concepts. Develops concepts of space, weight, time, self, social, beauty and comic. 

MORAL DEVELOPMENT:
The infant is non-moral as his behaviour is not guided by moral standards. The rightness or wrongness of its actions is judged by the ‘Pleasure-Pain Principle’ it has on him. It perceives the act as good or bad if it brings him pleasure or pain respectively. It has no sense of guilt as it has no concept of personal property. Therefore, it does not feel bad in taking the things of others. The infant is in the 1st stage of moral development which Piaget terms as ‘Morality by Constraint’.   

CONCLUSION:
It is in infancy that the reservoir of security is formed, from which love, affection and compassion may be drawn all the rest of life. It is also in infancy that the basic orientation towards learning is established. The nature and condition of the child’s learning may alter as it grows older, but the first learning’s appear to be fundamental and at least to a degree determine the later attitudes. The relevance of basic trust to later living and learning implies that adequate loving care in infancy may be a potent factor in the ultimate realization of full human potential.   
CHILDHOOD
INTRODUCTION                                                      
            Education aims at the all round harmonious development of an individual. The development of a nation depends upon the development of its children and there is no doubt that the childhood is the foundation upon which the development of an individual depends. 
            Childhood, the period between three and twelve years of age, is an extremely impressionable age, where all the little things that the child learns in the starting years will be carried over with him into adulthood. This period is divided into the period of early childhood and the period of late childhood.

 A. Early Childhood:
This period of early childhood ranges from 3-6 years. From the point of view, childhood is a period of consolidation of infancy and babyhood. Generally parents consider the ‘Early Childhood’ a problem age or troublesome age. Educators consider it pre-school age or toy age. While some psychologists’ name it pre-gang age, some call it exploratory or questioning age and most of them say it imitative age or creative age.
Characteristics:
  • Physical development continues at a slower rate because of which his hunger may decrease temporarily.
  • Muscles are more evenly distributed and muscular coordination is increased. The control of elimination moves towards perfection in these years.
  • The bones develop in size and shape.
  • The nervous system becomes more mature.
  • There is rapid increase in vocabulary and the child can express his thoughts and emotions in simple sentences. He can relate stories.
  • The power of imitation is very active.
  • The child seeks to gain control over his environment. His instincts such as curiosity, self-display, and acquisition become active.
  • The child learns to make social adjustments. He develops emotional attachment to his parents and other family members, and learns primary social manners.
  • The child has imaginary friends. There is an increase in the fear of imaginary creatures, the dark, and the animals.
  • The child in this stage learns `I’, `me’, and `you’.

B. Late Childhood:
The period of 6 -12 years is considered as late childhood period. This age is known by the educators as elementary school age and psychologists call it gang age and play age.
Characteristics:
  • Increase in the size of the body is the main characteristic of this stage. Physical growth becomes slow and steady. There is remarkable growth in height, weight and improvement in motor skills.
  • The major development is building up friends with peer team spirit. Social development takes place through the social experiences.
  • Maturity occurs rapidly. Girls mature faster than boys.
  • At this age children move from egocentric to socialized speech and thoughts.
  • The self-concept emerges in children.
  • The children show interests in comics, movies, and television.
  • Moral development also takes place. The child’s conscience begins to develop in identification with parents.
  • Affection, sympathy, and cooperation among the group members emerge during this period.
  • Emotional stability in the conduct and behaviour of the child takes place. He learns to have control over his emotional expressions.
  • Control over the mind is also an important aspect of this stage. Most children enjoy the feeling of having learned new and difficult things.

AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Physical development:
Physical development can be defined as the series of anatomic and physiologic changes taking place between the beginning of pre-natal life and senility.
1.    The child begins to assume the body proportions for an adult.
2.    Height: Generally after two and half years the child gains 2-2.5 inches every year up to 12 years.  Approximately the height of male child becomes 45 inches and female 43 inches.
3.    Weight: There is steady increase in weight, average growth per year 5 to 6 pounds.
4.    Legs growth is rapid and represent about half of ones total height
5.    The head is slow in growth but the trunk grows a little faster.
6.    Towards puberty girls are a bit lighter and shorter.
7.    At this age muscle develops at rapid speed.

2. Motor development:
Motor development means development of strength, speed and accuracy in the use of muscular parts of the body such as arms, eyes, legs and neck muscles. Motor abilities involve bodily movements of various organs and coordinated functions of nerves and muscles.
  • Motor development adopts two directions - from head to foot and from the centre of the body to outward.
  • Motor development occurs in four major areas - the head region, the trunk, the arms and hands, and legs and feet.
  • Childhood is called the ideal age of learning motor skills. There are three reasons.
    1. Young children enjoy repetition and are willing to repeat an activity until they have acquired the ability to do it well.
    2. Young children are adventuresome.
    3. Young children learn easily and quickly because their bodies are still pliable.
  • Spontaneous catching a ball, throwing a ball begins at 2-5 years onwards.
  • Painting, writing.
  • Standing, walking, running, climbing, skipping, hopping jumping and kicking the ball etc.

3. Emotional development:
The word ‘emotion’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Emovere’ which means to stir up, to agitate or to excite. According to R.S. Woods Worth (1945) “Emotion is a moved or stirred up state of an organism. It is a stirred up state of feeling that is the way it appears to the individual himself. It is a disturbed muscular and glandular activity- that is the way it appears to an external observer.” Every child is born with the potential expression. Emotion is a label for vast range of psychosomatic states which involve feeling, perception, or awareness of an event or circumstances. The word emotion covers conditions of both positive and negative character. The condition in which an individual is eager, zestful, jubilant and moved is referred to as positive condition, while on the other hand the condition in which an individual feels disturbed, distressed and moved away is referred as negative condition.
Common childhood emotions:
1. Fear: As the children pass from the pre-school to the elementary school they are faced with certain fears.
v  Children of six years show fear for the supernatural beings such as ghosts and witches.
v  By seven years children show fear for quarrels, wars and spies etc.
v  Fear of failure and not being liked by people is common among the children of 8 years. Ten to 12 year olds are fearful of things as being in the dark, animals.
2. Anger and rivalry against siblings
3. Jealousy
4. Joy and pleasure
5. Love and affection

4. Mental or intellectual development:
Mental development implies the progressive changes in the mental process which goes on from birth to death. Mental development includes various aspects such as development of concepts, perception, language, memory, reasoning, thinking, intelligence and imagination.  Mental growth continues in childhood also. The child seeks to satisfy his voracious curiosity by asking an infinite variety of questions to his parents. That is why this age is called a questioning age or an exploratory age.
  • At this stage reflex actions and instincts develop
  • Child’s interests grow in number and extents.
  • Child develops interests in reading short stories.
  • Child spends much time in reading history and visiting new places.
  • At this time power of memory increases.
  • At 6 years child displays ability to distinguish between right and left, to count up to 13 or 14 objects, to solve problems.
  • At 7 years child develops to distinguish between two objects.
  • At 8 years child is able to repeat sentences containing 16 to 17 words.
  • At 9 years child becomes conscious of day, time, date, recognizes coins of various denominations. Thus new concepts are picked up.
  • At 10 years child points out mistakes in short sentences and repeats 60-70 words in three minutes.
  • At 11 years child can recognize similarity and differences, make comparisons, distinguish between male and female, as well as birds and animals.
  • At 12 years child points out the cause of a thing and provides his own explanation.
5. Language development: 
A major feature that distinguishes the human being from animal is their ability to use vocal speech as a means of communication. Towards the end of babyhood 2-3 years child begins to use words and forming sentences. At 4-5 years child improves to form sentences considerably and is able to use grammar. After 5 he achieves comprehension of  meanings of the words, builds up new vocabulary e.g. good, bad, this, that and learns to have correct pronunciation, identifies sound of the certain difficult letters e.g. Z, W, Sh, Stir etc.
Language development according to Scissore is as follows:
Age in years
Words
4
5,600
5
9,600
6
14,700
7
21,200
8
26,300
10
34,300
           
Hyder brothers concluded from their studies that
a. linguistic development is faster in the case of girls than that of boys
b. girls construct longer sentences than boys 
c. girls are more skilled in expressing their thoughts coherently.
The child learns three forms of language namely spoken, written and gesture. The individual’s linguistic development is profoundly influenced by the community, home, school, and the family’s social and economic status. Besides these important factors affecting are his intelligence, health, maturation, sex and personality.

6. Social development:
1.    Social development is the process of learning to conform to group standards - Freeman and Showel.
2.    Social development means acquisition of the ability to behave in accordance with social expectations - Crow and Crow.
3.    Social development means the attaining of maturity in social setting- E.B. Hurlock.
A social child behaves in a socially approved manner, plays the role which society prescribes for him and has favourable attitude towards people and social activities.
·         Between 2-6 years children learn to make social contacts and get along with people outside home, especially with children of their own.
·         In childhood, children have strong desires to be with children and to be accepted by them.
·         Peer groups have greater impact on some children than on others.
·         Children show kindness to others and defend the rights of younger children
·         Friendship at late childhood can easily be made and broken.
·         Maintain individual friendships.
·         Girls have groups.
·         8-10 years (gang age) often reject adult’s standard.  
Characteristics of social development
  1. Early social response
  2. Response to other children
  3. Group activities                      
  4. Social perception
  5. Resistant behavior                   
  6. Sympathy
  7. Fights and quarrels                
  8. Cooperation
  9. Competition  


7. Moral development:
The term moral comes from the Latin word mores which means manners, custom, and folkways. Moral behaviour means human behviour in conformity with moral code of social group. It is carried out in a voluntary way. Moral behaviour is accompanied by a feeling of a personal responsibility for one’s acts. In this respect the young child’s intellectual development has not yet reached the point where he can learn or apply abstract principles of right and wrong. The child has to learn what is good and what is bad which is a slow process.
            Piaget has divided moral development into three parts of childhood in which the    child learns such behaviour:
1.    During this period (4-5) he begins to imitate the actions of parents and others who are in close touch with him.
2.    At 5-8 years he learns to respect parents, teachers, and other adults. Morality of obedience and duty is inculcated happily and spontaneously.
3.    At this age (9-13) there is the morality of cooperation through free, reciprocal relationship with his peers. Child develops a morality of mutual respect and cooperation. This stage is considered as the golden year of life because experiences of the child of this period remain life long.
Moral development of child implies inculcation in the child a number of qualities for which curriculum provides ample opportunities. E.g. Honesty in words and deeds, truthfulness, self respect and desire to respect others, righteousness, self control, duty consciousness and compassion. In spite of hazards the child develops conscience. Here the role of discipline is very essential in the moral development of the child.

CONCLUSION
Childhood is the time when the individual’s basic outlooks, values and ideals are to a great extent shaped. The experiences a child has at school, home and larger community during these formative years well determine, for example, whether he is to be a fearful child or a one possessed with confidence in himself or whether he will be tolerant or intolerant towards others.
‘No period during the life cycle is more important than childhood from an educational point of view.’  

ADOLESCENCE -------------------------------

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS & EDUCATION

Definition:
Each cultural group recognizes that certain skills and behaviour patters can be mastered at certain age. These skills are necessary for the individual’s adjustment in social life. So, the cultural group expects its member to master certain skills and acquire cetain approved patterns of behaviour at various ages during the life span. These are known as the developmental task.
Havighurst (1972) defines a developmental task is ‘a task which arises at or about a certain period in the life of the individual, successful achievement of which leads to happiness and to success with later tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with later tasks. Three forces work together in mastering developmental task. They are
1. Physical maturation,
2. Cultural pressures of society and
3. Personal values & aspirations of the individual. 
            For e.g. motor skills like walking develop largely as a result of physical maturation. Learning to read develops from the cultural pressure of the society. Choosing and preparing for a career grows out of the personal values and aspirations of the individual.
According to our biopsychosocial model, the first source corresponds to the "bio" part of the model, the second to the "psycho," and the third to the "social" aspect.  Havighurst has identified six major age periods:
1.    Infancy and Early Childhood (0-5 years),
2.    Later Childhood (6-12 years),
3.    Adolescence (13-18 years),
4.    Early Adulthood (19-29 years),
5.    Middle Adulthood (30-60 years), and
6.    Later Maturity (61+).

Purposes:
Developmental task serve three very useful purposes.
  1. Developmental task is the guidance that enables a person to know what society expects from them at a given age.
  2. Individuals are motivated to do what the social group expects them to do at (certain ages) different periods of the life span. 
  3. It indicates what lies ahead and what will be expected to do when they reach the next stage of development.

Hazards:
There are three very common potential hazards related to developmental tasks.
  1. The first one is the inappropriate expectations; either individual themselves or the social group may expect the development of behaviour that is impossible at the time because of physical or psychological limitations.
  2. The second one is the Bypassing of a stage of development as results of failure of master the tasks for that stage of development.
  3. The crises individuals experience when they pass from one stage to another comprise the third one.

Factors influencing mastery of developmental task:
  1. A retarded developmental level
  2. Lack of opportunity to learn developmental tasks or lack of guidance in their mastery
  3. Lack of motivation
  4. Poor health
  5. Physical defects
  6. A low intellectual level

Implications:
  • The concept of developmental task is very helpful in specifying course’s content and its objectives.
  • The pupil can know in advance, what the society expects from his/her at that age.
  • Parents and teachers can guide the children to acquire skills to live in the society.
  • The teachers and parents can prepare appropriate climate or atmosphere to achieve a developmental task.

DEVELOPMENTAL TASK OF INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD (From 0 to 5 years)
1) Learning to walk: Once the basic skills are mastered, he learns during later years to run, jump, and skip.
2) Learning to take solid foods: The way the child is treated during the weaning period, the schedule on which he is fed, and the age and suddenness of weaning, all have profound effects upon his personality.
3) Learning to talk: Between these ages of twelve and eighteen months, the great moment of speech arrives. The two theories agree to this extent, namely (1) that the human infant develops a repertory of speech - sounds without having to learn them, and (2) that the people around him teach him to attach certain   meanings to these sounds.
4) Learning to control the elimination of body waste: To learn to urinate and defecate at socially acceptable times and places. Toilet training is the first moral training that the child receives. The stamp of this first moral training probably persists in the child's later character.
5) Learning sex differences and sexual modesty:  The kinds of sexual behavior he learns and the attitudes and feelings he develops about sex in these early years probably have an abiding effect upon his sexuality throughout his life.
6) Achieving physiological stability: It takes as many as five years for the child's body to settle down to something like the physiological stability of the child.
7) Forming simple concepts of social and physical reality: And, when his nervous system is ready, he must have the experience and the teachers to enable him to form a stock of concepts and learn the names for them. On this basis his later mental development is built.
8) Learning to relate oneself emotionally to parents, siblings, and other people: The way he achieves this task of relating himself emotionally to other people will have a large part in determining whether he will be friendly or cold, outgoing or introversive, in his social relations in later life.
9) Learning to distinguish right and wrong and developing a conscience: During the later years of early childhood he takes into himself the warning and punishing voices of his parents, in ways that depend upon their peculiar displays of affection and punishment toward him. Thus he develops the bases of his conscience, upon which a later structure of values and moral character will be built.
DEVELOPMENTAL TASK OF LATER CHILDHOOD (From 6 to 12 years)
1.    Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games: To learn the physical skills that are necessary for the games and physical activities that are highly valued in childhood--such skills as throwing and catching, kicking, tumbling, swimming, and handling simple tools.
2.    Building a wholesome attitudes toward oneself as a growing organism: To develop habits of care of the body, of cleanliness and safety consistent with a wholesome, realistic attitude which includes a sense of physical normality and adequacy, the ability to enjoy using the body, and a wholesome attitude toward sex. Sex education should be a matter of agreement between school and parents, with the school doing what the parents feel they cannot do so well. The facts about animal and human reproduction should be taught before puberty.
3.    Learning to get along with age-mates: To learn the give-and-take of social life among peers. To learn to make friends and to get along with enemies. To develop a "social personality."
4.    Beginning to develop appropriate masculine or feminine social roles: To learn to be a boy or a girl--to act the role that is expected and rewarded. The sex role is taught so vigorously by so many agencies that the school probably has little more than a remedial function, which is to assist boys and girls who are having difficulty with the task.
5.    Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing and calculating: To learn to read, write, and calculate well enough to get along in society.
6.    Developing concepts necessary for everyday living: The task is to acquire a store of concepts sufficient for thinking effectively about ordinary occupational, civic, and social matters.
7.    Developing a conscience, a sense of morality and a scale of values: To develop an inner moral control, respect for moral rules, and the beginning of a rational scale of values. Morality or respect for rules of behavior is imposed on the child first by the parents. Later, according to Piaget, the child learns that rules are necessary and useful to the conduct of any social enterprise, from games to government, and thus learns a "morality of cooperation or agreement" which is a true moral autonomy and necessary in a modern democratic society.
8.    Achieving personal independence: To become an autonomous person, able to make plans and to act in the present and immediate future independently of one's parents and other adults. The young child has become physically independent of his parents but remains emotionally dependent on them.
9.    Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions: To develop social attitudes those are basically democratic. Attitudes are learned mainly in three ways; (1) by imitation of people with prestige in the eyes of the learner; (2) by collection and combination of pleasant or unpleasant experiences associated with a given object or situation; (3) by a single deeply emotional experience--pleasant or unpleasant--associated with a given object or situation.
DEVELOPMENTAL TASK OF ADOLESCENCE (From 13 to 18 years)
1.    Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes: To learn to look upon girls as women and boys as men; to become an adult among adults; to learn to work with others for a common purpose, disregarding personal feelings; to learn to lead without dominating.
2.    Achieving a masculine or feminine social role: To accept and to learn a socially approved adult masculine or feminine social role.
3.    Accepting one's physique and using one’s body effectively: To become proud, or at least tolerant, of one's body; to use and protect one's body effectively and with personal satisfaction.
4.    Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults: To become free from childish dependence on parents; to develop affection for parents without dependence upon them.
5.    Achieving assurance of economic independence: To feel able to make a living, if necessary. This is primarily a task for boys, in our society, but it is of increasing importance to girls.
6.    Selecting and preparing for an occupation: To choose an occupation for which one has the necessary ability; to prepare for this occupation.
7.    Preparing for marriage and family life: To develop a positive attitude toward family life and having children; and (mainly for girls) to get the knowledge necessary for home management and child rearing.
8.    Developing intellectual skills and concepts necessary for civic competence: To develop concepts of law, government, economics, politics, geography, human nature, and social institutions which fit the modern world; to develop language skills and reasoning ability necessary for dealing effectively with the problems of a modern democracy. Individual differences in mental development show themselves principally as differences in: (a) acquiring language and meanings, (2) acquiring concepts, (3) interests and motivation.
9.    Desiring, accepting and achieving socially responsible behavior: To participate as a responsible adult in the life of the community, region, and nation; to take account of the values of society in one's personal behavior.
10.  Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide behavior - developing an ideology: To form a set of values that are possible of realization; to develop a conscious purpose of realizing these values; to define man's place in the physical world and in relation to other human beings; to keep one's world picture and one's values in harmony with each other.

CONCLUSION
The developmental tasks concept has a long and rich tradition. Its acceptance has been partly due to recognition of sensitive periods in our lives and partly due to the practical nature of Havighurst's tasks. Knowing that a youngster of a certain age is encountering one of the tasks of that period (learning an appropriate sex role) helps adults to understand a child's behavior and establish an environment that helps the child to master the tasks. Another good example is that of acquiring personal independence, an important task for the middle childhood period. Youngsters test authority during this phase and, if teachers and parents realize that this is a normal, even necessary phase of development, they react differently than if they see it as a personal challenge.





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