CHAPTER - 1 HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

 The term growth and development mostly come in pairs.
 Psychologically the growth is the physical change that a particular individual undergoes and the
development is the overall growth of humans throughout their lifespan.

MEANING OF GROWTH:
 The growth is change in size, in proportion, disappearance of old features and acquisition of new
ones.
 It signifies the series of physical changes that occur from conception to maturity.
 It is external in nature and it stops at certain stage. In other words, growth refers to cell multiplication
or quantitative changes in size, weight and height.

MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT:
 The development means progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly predictable pattern
as a result of maturation and experience.
 It is the sequence of age-related changes that occur as a person progresses from conception to death.
 It includes both the biological and the behavioural changes that take place as people grow older e. g.
infant's ability to grasp object, a child’s gradual mastery of grammar.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:

GROWTH DEVELOPMENT
1 It generally refers to increase in size, length A progressive series of changes that occur as a result of
maturation and learning.
2 It is measurable. It can be felt only through estimate and inspection.
3 It does not continue throughout the life. It It continues throughout the life and is progressive.
stops when maturity has been attained.
4 Changes in the quantitative aspects come Changes in the quality or character come into the domain
into the domain of the growth. of the development.
5 It is cellular. It takes place due to the It is organizational. It is the organization of all the body
multiplication of the cells. parts.
6 It is direct and visible. It is indirect and invisible.
7 It depends upon some of the hereditary It depends more on the environment available to the
factors of an individual. individual.
8 It is one-sided. It is multifarious.
9 It may or may not bring development, e. g. It is also possible without growth, e. g. intellectual
increase in the brain weight. functions in abstract thinking.

DIFFERENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT:

 Various changes from conception to death take place in the physical and psychological capacities
of the child.
 The helpless baby of today, who would be adult tomorrow, has to come across various stages in
the process of development.
 We may divide their life in the following five stages.
1) INFANCY (0 to 5 years):
 The stage from the birth to the end of 5 years of age is called infancy.
 During this stage of body, the growth and development occur in progressive manner.
 The individual gain considerable weight and height.
 The child understands the language clearly and speaks accordingly.
 They learn the activities related to motor skill like walking, running, jumping, catching, etc.
 From the age of 2 years the child begins speaking or taking steps independently.
 i. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
 It is the period of rapid growth and size.
 The average length of new born baby varies from 16 to 21 inches and the weight is around 7
pounds.
 The bones and muscles of the child begin to develop.
 The brain grows rapidly. At the age of 2 months, they are able to lift head up, at 6 months
able to sit without support, at 9 months can begin to walk, at 12 months can walk alone
without support, at 18 months can walk steps.
 From the age of 2 years there is significant synaptic growth in the brain.
 Children start speaking properly and master their hand eye coordination.
 The physical development in children follows a pattern. The large muscles develop before the
small muscles.
 The large muscles are used for walking, running.
 Small muscles are used for fine motor skills such as picking up objects, writing, and drawing,
throwing and catching.

ii. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

 The infants study their hands and feet. They turn to locate the source of sounds.
 They can focus on and follow objects with their eyes.
 They explore the things with their mouths.
 They start speaking words, waving goodbye.
 By the age of 2 years they understand the difference between a boy and a girl.
 They start asking questions like why?
 They think literally: if a child is told that they have to go to bed because "night is falling", they
will ask how the night can fall from the sky.
 They acquire the ability to internally represent the world through language and imagination.

iii. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

 The infants develop trust as their parents meet their needs such as feeding them when they
are hungry and holding them when they cry.
 They get angry when their needs are not met in time.
 At this stage, the behavior of the infant depends upon imagination.
 They like to listen or watch the stories. From the age of 2years children understanding a sense
of 'self, relationships with others.
 The emotional development includes expressions, attachment and personality.
 Boys are more aggressive, while girls are more caring.

2) CHILDHOOD (2 to 12 years):
 The stage from the age of 2 years to 12 years is called the childhood stage.
 This is a period of uneven growth of bones, muscles and organs.
 Their power of memory, logic, thinking and decision making gets increased.
 The child enters school and has a major change in life pattern.
 The school years are marked by advances in athletic abilities; logical thought processes; basic
literacy skills; morality, and friendship.

i) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
 Boys and girls during this period have similar body shapes and proportion until both sexes reach
puberty.
 They grow 2 to 3 inches and gain weight about 7 pounds per year until puberty.
 Skeleton bones and muscles broaden and lengthen.
 They lose deciduous teeth. Children love to run, jump, catch, climb and balance.
ii) COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:
 The child's thinking becomes more logical and rational.
 The child develops the ability to understand others' perspectives, leadership skills, use of
analogies in explanation.
 Children are able to engage in increasingly difficult cognitive tasks, such as performing a series of
tasks in a reasonable order, e. g. assembling a mechanical toy unpacking the pieces, connecting
the parts.

iii) Social and Emotional development:

 Relationships outside the family increase in importance, including the development of
friendships and participation in a peer group.
 The child imitates, learns, and adopts age appropriate social roles, including those that are
gender-specific.
 The child develops an understanding of rules.
 He is capable of introspection. The child evaluates his worth by his ability to perform. Self-
esteem is largely derived from one's perceived abilities.

3) ADOLESCENCE (12 to 19 years):

 Adolescence is defined as the years between the onset of puberty and the beginning of
adulthood.
 The adolescence is that span of years, during which, boys and girls move from childhood to
adulthood, mentally, emotionally, socially and physically.
 They need good diet, heavy physical workout, creative activities and good friends. They focus on
defining personal values and goals.

i) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
 The body grows rapidly in size and the sexual and reproductive organs become fully functional.
 The adolescence period of female begins early than male.
 Due to uneven increase in weight and height, this stage is also called as awkwardness stage.
 The height of the girl’s increases from 9 to 12 years and of boys in the 11 to 14 years.
 Puberty bring remarkable sex difference which changes the shape of the individual, such as breast
development, muscular changes, bone hardening, change in voice, pimples.

ii) COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

 Reasoning, planning, and problem solving, also continues to develop during adolescence.
 They believe that they can do anything and that they know better than anyone else including
their parents.
 They are highly self-conscious, often creating an imaginary audience in which they feel that
everyone is constantly watching them.

iii) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

 The important attachments of adolescents move increasingly away from parents and increasingly
toward peers.
 As a result, parents influence diminishes at this stage.
 The males tend to value principles of justice and rights, whereas females value caring for and
helping others.
 They need good friends, parents to act as friends, socialization qualities and its development.
PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENCE:
1. They have aggressive behaviour and often becomes very violent.
2. They like the company of friends (bad friends) and enjoy in peer groups.
3. They waste time in useless things such as gossiping, listening music.
4. Due to strong sexual desires they attain wrong means like rape, going to prostitute.
5. They often neglect their parents. They feel that they are independent to take decisions.

MANAGEMENT OF ADOLESCENCE PROBLEMS:

1. Parents, teachers and guardians must be aware of adolescence psychology.
2. The atmosphere at home and school should be cheerful, playful and healthy.
3. Parents and teachers should give proper sex education to the adolescence.
4. Adolescence faults, mistakes must be treated politely and sympathetically instead of beating,
punishing.
5. Parents and teachers should try to develop the good moral values.

2) ADULTHOOD (19 TO 65 YEARS):

 From the age of 19 the child becomes an adult. He can face the challenges of life.
 This is the time when they have to fix the aim of their life.
 Most young people leave home, to complete their education and begin to work.
 In this stage the major concerns are developing a career, getting married, rearing children, or
establishing with the life partner.
 Many people are at the height of their careers and attain leadership position.
 They must also help their children to begin independent lives.
 They become more aware of their own life span. It is the time when changes occur in emotions,
social relationships and positions.
 At the age of 50 years most people become grandparents.

i) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
 In comparison to the period between 20 to 30 years an individual in 30s and 40s.
 Will take time to recover from muscular strain and the sensory abilities diminishes, visual acuity
diminishes.
 Many people need eyeglasses.
 During the age 40 to 50 years many people begin to suffer from ailments such as high cholesterol
and high blood pressure as well as low bone density.
 Most men never lose their fertility, but they do experience a gradual decrease in testosterone
levels.
 Women go in the stage of menopause, where the menstrual cycle is stopped.

ii) COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

 The adulthood is marked by increases, as well as decreases in cognitive abilities.
 Years of accumulating and organizing information can make older adults practiced, skilful and
wise.
 They can see both the possibilities and the problem in every course of action in deciding whether
to start a new business, back a political candidate, move to a new place or change a job.

iii) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

 Adulthood is a time when changes occur in emotional, social relationships and positions.
 Transitions such as divorcing, remarrying, losing s spouse to death, being hospitalized, moving
back home or retiring are just a few of the turning points that can redirect a person's life path
and lead to changes in personality.
 For many young adults, the experience of becoming parents represents entry into a major new
developmental stage.
  At around age 40, people may rethink and modify their lives and relationship.

For men and women, the emerging sexuality of their teenage children, the emptiness of the nest
as children leave home may create emotional disturbance.
 Most people in their 60s want their children to be independent.
 Men and women who have been employed usually retire from their jobs during this period.
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3) OLD AGE (65YEARS TO DEATH):
 After completing 65 years we call them the senior citizen. People adjust to retirement.
 The physical strength decreases.
 There is sudden change in the structure of human body, e. g. eye-sight problem, joints pain etc.
 People become more interested in the religious and spiritual side of life.
 With the onset of old age. People become aware that death is approaching.
 A few months before death* some people experience a sharp decline in mental function.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:

 These factors can be broadly classified into internal factors (endogenous) and external factors
(exogenous). Internal factors arc conditions within the body.
 It includes heredity, gender. External factors are conditions outside the body.
 It includes environment, nutrition, and nationality.

1) HEREDITARY:
 It is the process by which the features and characteristics are passed from parents to the off-
spring.
 The human individual is born when a male sperm fertilizes a female egg.
 The genes are present in the chromosome.
 Different characteristics of growth and development like intelligence, aptitudes, body
 structures, height, weight, colour of eyes and hair are highly influenced by heredity.
 Generally tall parents have tall offspring.
 It is not necessary for a child to have resemblance of traits of his or her parents.
 Child may have resemblance of trait of his or her grandparents of previous seven generations.
 Genetic and chromosomal disorder affects growth and development of a baby. Certain diseases
like asthma, diabetes an individual has are generally due to genes they inherit.

2) ENVIRONMENTAL:
 The climate, temperature, pollution, weather plays important role in growth and development.
 Clean, safe and hygienically environment helps to gain good growth and development.
 Dirty, polluted, un-hygienically environment decline the growth and development.
 Prenatal environment is the environment of the fetus in the womb.
 If the mother gets poor nutrition, is emotionally upset or smokes, drinks or takes some medicine
or suffers from certain diseases, the growth of the child can be adversely affected.

3) GENDER:
 Gender is a very important factor which influences human growth and development.
 There is lot of difference in growth and development in boys and girls.
 Physical growth of girls in teens is faster than boys.
 Certain skills are faster in girls than in boys and some other skills are faster in boys than girls.
 For example, language acquisition is faster in girls and skills like jumping, catching, throwing are
faster in boys.
 Boys grow up to be taller, heavier and more muscular than girls.
4) NATIONALITY:
 Countries socio-economic status influences the growth and development as it decides the kind
of nutrition, facilities, opportunities and genetic endowment the child gets.
 Poor Socio-economic condition affects growth and development.
 Sanitary conditions, various parasitic morbidity, poor housing, stressful family condition and bad
financial situation have a serious effect on child growth and development.
 Children's coming from adequate finances are more likely to grow and develop to optimal levels.

5) NUTRITION:
 Growth and development are directly related with nutrition. Proper nutrition is essential for the
healthy development of the child.
 The human body requires an adequate supply of calories for its normal growth and this need of
requirement vary with the phase of development.
 A malnourished child’s growth may be retarded or slow.
 Malnourished mother produce weak babies. Over nutrition may cause obesity.
 So to control the nutritional requirements of mother is necessary to have a healthy child.
 Lack of proper nutrition can interfere with the maturation of child's brain.