How Humans Develop

- There are four main domains of development:

o Cognitive- knowledge and intellectual skills
o Physical- body growth and movement
o Social- interactions with people and the environment
o Emotional- processing and understanding feelings

- The human body is an intertwined system in which

delayed development in one area can affect growth in another
o Ex. Children with cognitive delays may ALSO be socially delayed because it is
common for these individuals to have different interests than their same-aged
peers

- Without development in one area, the other areas can be hindered from moving forward
o If one part of area is not functioning properly, the entire entity could be impaired,
directly or indirectly
 Ex. A child who uses a wheelchair may only have a physical disability, but
society may treat them as if they have a cognitive disability as well
 This could impede their growth in this area as well as socially and
emotionally, since they are not treated as a typical child of their
age

Factors Influencing Development

- There are many factors that influence a student’s development. These external factors can
both positively and negatively affect development.

- Positive Factors:
o Parental care/attention
o Appropriate discipline
 o Healthy diet
o Physical activity
o Socialization
o Access to educational material at home

- Negative Factors:
o Instability at home
o Abuse/neglect
o Poor nutrition
o Lack of activity
o Lack of socialization
o Lack of educational materials

Low socioeconomic standing itself is not a negative factor in development, but children living in
poverty are more likely to be affected by negative factors.
- Humans develop physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally throughout their lives.
- The domains are intertwined and are affected both positively and negatively by outside
factors

Cognitive Development
- Cognitive development is the process children go through in terms of their thinking and
reasoning skills
 - The developmental psychologist, Jean Piaget, studied cognition in children and
developed a stage theory of cognitive development. Children go through 4 stages
throughout their mental maturation.

Stage of Characteristics Classroom Implications

Cognitive
Development
Sensorimotor: Comprehend the world through objects N/A
Birth – 2 years - Gain object permanence (an object
old exists, even if it is not in sight)

Preoperational: Egocentric Thought - Need many hands-on activities

2 – 7 years old - Assume others see, hear, and feel exactly since students are not able to
as they do conceptualize processes or
ideas
Symbolic Thought
- Ability to make one thing stand for - Direction instruction should
something else (language always be paired with
- Do not use logic to combine or separate experiments and activities to
ideas reinforce the concept

Concrete Logical Thought

Operations: - Start to picture mentally how things - Hands-on activities are still
1st grade – work and do not need to always see or beneficial when introducing a
Adolescence physically manipulate objects to new idea, but are not needed
understand them as much for students to
understand material
- Use inductive reasoning to draw
conclusions on specific observations

- Several new mental abilities are

developed, including conservation (the
understanding that things can stay the
same quantity even if their appearance
changes)
Formal Abstract Thought: - Mathematical calculations
Operations: - Manipulate ideas in the mind without - creative thinking
12+ years reliance on concrete manipulation - abstract reasoning

- Deductive reasoning used to form

hypotheses about the world and test
them in a systematic manner to reach a
conclusion

Social Development
- Family and peers are the most influential groups in a child’s development
- Any delays can be overcome with the right guidance and experiences
Promoting Social Development in the Classroom
 - Younger children need free time such as recess and centers to explore social interactions
- Need structured time with others to work on tasks such as group projects
- Teachers should encourage group work on activities

Age Milestones Concerns

Preschool - Express emotion
- No interest in others
- Soothe themselves
- Avoidance of eye contact
- Cooperate
- Rocking or self
- Awareness of other’s emotions stimulating

- Maintain eye contact

Elementary
- Want to please others
- Inability to control self
- Thrive on friendships
- Few to no friendships
- Recognize different types of
relationships

- Typical social development has positive long-term effects on a child

- Students who learn appropriate social skills tend to have greater academic success and
higher levels of personal satisfaction

Physical Development
- Physical development relates to body growth and movement. While children grow at
different rates, there are some general patterns of physical development within certain age
ranges
Age Physical Growth Characteristics
Preschool
- Grow rapidly

- Lose chubbiness from infancy and toddlerhood and develop a leaner appearance
 - Develop fine motor skills (using pencils, crayons, scissors, etc.)

- Continue to develop gross motor skills (balancing on one foot, skipping)

Elementary
- Growth slows

- Proportions become less child-like and more adult-like

- Males and females have similar body shapes and proportions

- Fine and gross motor skills become more refined

Negative Impacts of Physical Development on Learning

The physical development of a child can be negatively affected by several factors.
- Poor Nutrition
o Delayed development because the cells in their bodies do not have adequate
energy to grow
o Proper nutrition is especially important during periods of rapid growth
- Lack of Sleep
o Can decrease the release of growth hormones and hinder physical development
- Lack of Exercise
o Can negatively affect muscle development
- Drug Exposure
- Physical Abuse
Delays in physical development can affect other areas as well.
- Ex. These negative factors can also impact cognitive development
Emotional Development
- Emotional development refers to the progression humans go through as they learn to
identify and respond feelings throughout their lives
- Closely linked to social development
Age Milestone Concerns

Birth – 1 year - Learn to self-soothe and respond to others’ - Do not smile, laugh or make
expressions happy faces

1-2.5 years - Self-awareness of emotional response - Seems depressed or unhappy

- Imitate behavior of others - Stop speaking or refuse to
- Increase in words for expressing emotions speak
- Show extreme fear and anxiety
 2-5 years - Pretend expressive behavior in play - Uncontrollable temper tantrums
- Increased awareness of feelings and events - Unable to identify happy and
that elicit emotions sad
- Throw temper tantrums when frustrated - Extreme difficulty separating
(this decreases) from parents
- Seem sad or withdrawn, fearful,
or aggressive

5-7 years - Self-conscious of emotions in front of - Trouble concentrating on one

peers task
- Support from caregivers still needed to - Excessive separation anxiety
cope

7-10 years - Problem-solving strategies used to cope - Inability to control self

- Understand embarrassment
- Show empath and begin to develop own - Few to no friendships
identities

- Teachers can model appropriate emotional responses to a variety of situations

- Can also help students identify and name emotions to increase their emotional
intelligence
- Read books that promote discussion of the characters’ emotions and responses
- Role play scenarios where students act out different situations and practice exhibiting
relevant emotional responses

Cognitive Processes
- There are different types of processing that allow students to fully grasp a new idea

Process Description Activity

Critical Thinking Analysis and judgment Design an experiment, determine

important part of a word problem,
make a flow chart

Creative Thinking Looking from a new Brainstorm, have a debate

perspective

Questioning Asking questions to gather Troubleshoot an issue, design a

 information questionnaire

Reasoning and Solving problems and Create a model, demonstrate a

Planning making decisions method, make up a game

Memory/Recall Providing facts from given Recite a poem, make a timeline, list
information main events