Principles of Human Development
1. Development involves changes –
- Development is a long series of changes which on undisrupted from conception to the end of his life. In the process of development, physical, mental, intellectual, social and emotional changes occur.
2. Development is sequential-
- Whether it is an animal or a human, development has a fixed format. Physical development of an individual takes place in two directions:
(a) In this order physical development takes place from head to feet. In other words, first development is in the brain and then the body, stomach, towards the back. At the end are the feet.
3. Development is a result of maturity and learning-
- Physical and mental development is a result of both learning and maturity. Maturity lays the foundation of learning.
4. Early development is more important than the later development-
- On the basis of developmental studies it is clear that the development that takes place early in life is far more important than that taking place in later life. Initial conditions affect the foundation of development. The environment of a child has a considerable effect on the development of his genetic potential. The main conditions are-favorable interpersonal relationship, positive emotional conditions, way of training a child, impact of playing a role, family structure, environmental stimulation, etc.
5. Development proceeds from general to specifie –
- Developmental responses move from simple to complex. The entire foetus is movable yet he cannot move a part by himself. Before lifting something with his hand, a child lifts the hand again and again.
6. Development is continuous-
- Development deals with an individual’s development, starting from conception to death in which slow or rapid changes takes place. According to Pikovsky (1968), development is not same every time instead it has some phases of balance as well as imbalance. There are obstructions too in the process of development. This can be found at one level or at many levels.
7. Different parts grow at different rates in developmental process-
- Though different physical and mental capacities develop constantly however every part does not grow with same speed. Maturity develops in different parts at different times. Like in adolescence hands-feet and nose are completely developed but the lower part of face and development of shoulder takes place at slow speed.
8. Development in inter related –
- It is a general belief that deficiency in one development side is compensated by the higher development of another capacity. For example, an intelligent boy can be physically weak. When physical development takes place at a rapid speed, then mental development too takes place rapidly. There are individual differences in development
9. Development has individual differences-
- Though the development form is found to be same in all children however the speed and behavior of development varies. Development takes place slowly in some while in others it occurs at a rapid pace. Thus, all children cannot attain the excellence of development at the same age. The differences in development are due to many factors. For example physical development, partially on genetic potential and to some extent on other environmental factors like food, health, fresh air and light, emotions and physical fatigue also decides development. In the same way mental development depends on internal capacities as well as emotional conditions, encouragement, learning opportunities, strong motivation etc.
10. Definite periods in developmental pattern-
- Though development is continuous yet its speed is slow in some phase and fast in other. Vijoy suggests that these periods can be distinguished not only on the basis of age but also on the basis of biological incidents and other changes in an individual’s behavior.
11. Social expectation for every development period –
- Generally it is seen that some social behavior and skills are learned more successfully at a particular age than at some other age. Therefore, society expects that an individual develops according to the fixed timetable. These social requirements are also known as developmental tasks. Havighurst (1995) has defined developmental task as “A developmental task is a task which is learned at a specific point and which makes achievement of succeeding tasks possible. When the timing is right, the ability to learn a particular task will be possible.” Some of these tasks are achieved because of maturity while others due to social, cultural pressure, like learning appropriate sexual roles or learning the style of reading and writing.
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Important Points :-
1. Growth refers to structural physical changes, like growth in height, weight and size of a person.
2. Development includes qualitative changes like social, mental and intellectual development.
3. Growth and development differ from each other significantly. Like, growth is concrete which can be observed while development is abstract which cannot be observed.
4. There are 8 salient stages of development.
5. Many rules are included in the rules of development, like, it is variable, occurs in a definite sequence, it is a result of maturity and learning. In this the early development is more important than the later stage development. Development is simpler to complex. Continuity is found in development, etc.
Concept of human Growth and Development mcq
1. _______is qualitative.
(a) Growth
(b) development
(c) Belief
(d) (a) and (b) both
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2. The age of 3-12 years is known as
(a) Gestational period
(b) infancy
(c) Adolescence
(d) childhood
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3. Development is a result of
(a) Age
(b) learning
(c) Maturity
(d) (b) and (c) both
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4. The duration of developmental forms is
(a) Definite
(b) indefinite
(c) Infinite
(d) none of these
Answer :- ?????