UNIT 3- HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Meaning of Development
Development is the process of orderly and predictable changes that occur in a person’s life from
conception to death.
It is not only physical changes (height, weight, appearance) but also cognitive changes
(thinking, reasoning, memory) and socio-emotional changes (relationships, emotions,
personality).
These changes take place in an integrated manner, affecting all the aspects together.
● Biological processes: Physical changes like growth of brain, body, organs, motor skills.
● Cognitive processes: Mental changes such as thinking, perception, problem-solving,
memory, and language.
● Socio-emotional processes: Changes in emotions, relationships, and personality. For
example, a child’s affection for her mother, or an adolescent’s sadness on losing a
game.
Example: A child not only grows taller (physical), but also learns to solve math problems
(cognitive) and makes new friends (socio-emotional).
Thus, human development is a lifelong journey involving growth, decline, learning, and
adaptation.
Life-Span Perspective of Development
Psychologists believe that development should be understood from a life-span perspective,
which highlights that:
1. Development is lifelong – It does not stop at childhood but continues through
adolescence, adulthood, and old age. For example, an adult may become wiser with
experience, even though physically slowing down.
2. It is multidimensional and interconnected – Development includes physical, cognitive,
and socio-emotional aspects that are closely linked. A change in one area often affects
another.
3. It is multidirectional – Some abilities improve while others decline. For example,
vocabulary may increase with age, but speed of running decreases.
4. It is plastic – Development can be modified. Skills and abilities can be developed at any
stage of life. A person can learn new skills (like painting or using a computer) even in old
age, although flexibility differs from person to person.
5. It is shaped by history and culture – People growing up in different times have different
experiences. For instance, 20-year-olds during India’s freedom struggle had very
different concerns than today’s youth.
6. It is studied by many disciplines – Psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, and
even neuroscience contribute to the study of development.
7. It depends on context – Development is influenced by both genetic inheritance and the
environment (family, culture, historical events, life experiences). Winning an award or
losing a parent can strongly shape a person’s development.
Growth, Development, Maturation, and Evolution
These terms are related but not the same.
● Growth means physical increase in size such as height, weight, or body parts. It can be
measured.
● Development includes growth but goes beyond it, covering mental, social, and emotional
changes.
● Maturation refers to changes that unfold naturally according to the genetic plan. For
example, a child walks only when his muscles and brain are ready, no matter how much
parents try to train earlier.
● Evolution is about slow, species-wide changes passed from one generation to the next.
Human beings, for example, evolved from ape-like ancestors over millions of years.
Growth measures size, development involves broader changes, maturation follows a genetic
sequence, and evolution drives species-specific changes.
Factors Influencing Development
Individual differences in physical and psychological characteristics exist, because development
is shaped by both heredity (genes) and environment (surroundings).
● Heredity (Nature): Genetic codes inherited from our parents is our genotype (the genetic
makeup), which influences physical traits like height and eye colour, and psychological
traits like intelligence and creativity. However, what we actually observe in a person is
the phenotype, which is the expression of genotype influenced by environment.
Example: A child may inherit genes for tall height, but if undernourished, may not grow
tall.
● Environment (Nurture): Includes family, nutrition, education, peer group, culture, and
social conditions. Environment shapes how our genetic potential is expressed.
Example: A musically gifted child will not develop that talent without access to training or
instruments.
● Interaction of Genes and Environment: Genes provide the blueprint, but environment
determines how much of it is realised.
Example: A child with introverted genes may still become sociable in a friendly
environment.
Context of Development (Bronfenbrenner’s Model)
Development always takes place within a social and cultural context. Psychologist Urie
Bronfenbrenner gave a model explaining different layers of environment that affect
development:
1. Microsystem – Immediate surroundings like family, school, peers.
Example: How parents interact with their child.
2. Mesosystem – Interconnections between microsystems.
Example: A parent–teacher meeting affects how a child performs in school.
3. Exosystem – Events that do not affect the individual directly, but still impact their
immediate surroundings.
Example: A father’s job transfer may create stress at home, affecting the child.
4. Macrosystem – Larger cultural and social values.
Example: Growing up in rural vs. urban India.
5. Chronosystem – The dimension of time, life events, and historical context. Example:
Children growing up during the freedom struggle had very different experiences
compared to today’s youth.
A child’s development is deeply shaped not just by family, but also by culture, society, and even
historical events.
Overview of Developmental Stages.
Human life is divided into stages, each with its own unique features and challenges. Individuals
move through stages at different rates, with certain behaviors and skills more easily learned at
specific times. Achievements during each stage become social expectations known as
developmental tasks.
Prenatal Stage (Conception to Birth)
● Lasts about 40 weeks (9 months).
● Development guided by genetic blueprint but also influenced by mother’s health,
nutrition, and emotional state.
Important Influences:
● Maternal Age & Nutrition: Poor nutrition can lead to low birth weight.
● Maternal Illnesses: Diseases like rubella (German measles) or HIV can harm the baby.
● Teratogens (harmful agents): Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, radiation, and pollutants can
cause birth defects.
Example: A pregnant woman consuming alcohol may give birth to a baby with
deformities.
Thus, the prenatal stage is extremely sensitive and requires a healthy environment for proper
development.
Infancy (0–2 years)
This is a period of rapid growth in the brain, body, and abilities.
● Physical & Motor Development: Babies are born with reflexes like sucking, grasping, and
blinking. As the nervous system matures, voluntary skills develop — sitting, crawling,
walking, and running.
● Sensory Development: Newborns can hear, recognise their mother’s voice, and by 6
months begin to see almost like adults. Colour vision develops by 3 months.
● Cognitive Development (Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage): Infants explore the world through
senses and actions. They lack object permanence (if a toy is hidden, they think it no
longer exists). By about 8 months, they start searching for hidden objects.
● Socio-emotional Development: Infants form attachments with caregivers. Harlow’s
monkey experiment showed that comfort and warmth are more important than just
feeding. Erikson stated that the first year is crucial for developing trust vs. mistrust.
Secure attachment in infancy builds confidence for later development.
Childhood (2–12 years)
Physical Development:
● Growth slows compared to infancy.
● Follows two principles:
○ Cephalocaudal development – Development from head to toe.Control over upper
body precedes lower body control.
○ Proximodistal development– Development from centre to extremities.At first,
infants reach for objects by turning their whole body. Over time, they start to
extend their arms to grab things.
Motor Development
● Gross motor skills involve the use of arms and legs, allowing confident movement.
● Fine motor skills, such as finger agility and hand-eye coordination, improve
significantly during early childhood.
● Children start to show a preference for either their left or right hand during this time.
Cognitive Development (Piaget’s stages):
● Preoperational Stage (2–7 yrs): Child begins symbolic thinking (drawing objects, playing
pretend). Thinking is still egocentric (cannot see others’ point of view). They show
animism (believing non-living things are alive) and centration (focusing on one aspect,
e.g., preferring a tall glass of juice even if it holds the same as a short one).
● Concrete Operational Stage (7–11 yrs): Thinking becomes logical for real objects. They
understand conservation (amount of clay or water remains same even if shape
changes). Egocentrism decreases.
Socio-emotional Development:
● Children start to develop self-concept (“I am tall”, “I am good at drawing”).
● According to Erikson, how parents respond to a child's self-initiated activities affects
whether the child develops a sense of initiative or guilt.
● Learn gender roles from parents, peers, and media. (Boys often encouraged to be
independent, girls to be caring).
Moral Development : Moral development progresses alongside cognitive development, as per
Lawrence Kohlberg's theory.
● Kohlberg conducted studies where children were presented with moral dilemmas to
assess their moral reasoning.
● Younger children, typically under the age of 9, tend to view right and wrong in terms of
external authority.
● Initially based on avoiding punishment, later rules of parents and society are
internalised.
Childhood sets the foundation for independence, socialisation, and moral values.
Adolescence (12–18 years approx.)
The word adolescence comes from the Latin word adolescere, meaning “to grow into maturity.”
It is the transition period between childhood and adulthood, marked by rapid physical,
emotional, and social changes.
Physical Development:
● Puberty marks the beginning of adolescence. This includes both primary sex
characteristics (directly related to reproduction, e.g., menstruation in girls, sperm
production in boys) and secondary sex characteristics pertains to visible signs of sexual
maturity (facial hair, voice change, breast development).
● Growth spurts occur: Girls typically experience a growth spurt before menarche, the
onset of menstruation, it generally begins earlier for girls (10–11 years) than boys (12–13
years).
● Hormonal changes lead to new awareness of sexuality and attraction towards the
opposite sex.
● Along with physical maturity, there may be emotional sensitivity and confusion about
body image.
Cognitive Development:
● According to Piaget, adolescence is the stage of formal operational thought (11–15
years).
● Adolescents can think abstractly, reason logically, and use hypothetical-deductive
reasoning (thinking about possibilities and systematically solving problems).
● They also become idealistic, imagining “perfect” standards of parents, teachers, or
society, and comparing reality with them.
● Moral reasoning becomes more flexible, wherein instead of blindly following rules, they
may question whether rules are fair.
Socio-emotional Development:
● Adolescents search for their identity (“Who am I?”). Erikson described this as the stage
of identity vs. role confusion. They may experience conflicts between independence and
dependence.
● Peer group becomes very important for emotional support and social identity.
Sometimes, peer pressure leads to risk-taking behaviours.
● Both parents and peers play significant roles in adolescents' lives, with conflicting
situations sometimes leading to increased identification with peers.
● Egocentrism reappears in a new form:
○ Imaginary Audience: belief that others are always watching and judging them
(e.g., worrying everyone notices a pimple).
○ Personal Fable: belief in their uniqueness (“Nobody understands me”).
Challenges of Adolescence:
● Delinquency: engaging in anti-social acts like truancy, stealing, vandalism. Often linked
to family issues, poverty, or peer influence.
● Substance Abuse: smoking, drinking, or drugs as a way to cope with stress or fit in with
peers.
● Eating Disorders: such as anorexia nervosa (starving for thinness) and bulimia (binge
eating followed by vomiting). Can be often influenced by media’s portrayal of beauty.
Adolescence is a critical stage — while it can bring stress and confusion, it is also the period of
creativity, idealism, and preparing for adult responsibilities.
Adulthood
Adulthood is generally defined as the stage when an individual becomes mature, responsible,
and self-supporting. However, the timing and meaning of adulthood vary across cultures.
Early Adulthood (20s to 30s):
● Major tasks include choosing a career, finding a life partner, and starting a family.
● Entering the workforce is often stressful, individuals must prove competence and adjust
to responsibilities.
● Marriage requires adjustments between partners’ habits and roles. Parenthood brings
joy but also stress in balancing responsibilities.
Middle Adulthood (40s to 60s):
● Physical signs of ageing appear — decline in vision, greying hair, wrinkles, slower
metabolism.
● Cognitive changes: some memory decline (especially long-term recall), but wisdom and
practical judgment often increase.
● Family responsibilities may include caring for teenage children and ageing parents (the
“sandwich generation”).
● Career stability and evaluating life achievements are common concerns.
Adulthood is a stage of work, relationships, and responsibility, but also one where people must
cope with physical decline and changing family roles.
Old Age
Defining “old age” is difficult as it depends on health, lifestyle, and social roles. Traditionally
linked with retirement, today many elderly remain active, creative, and socially valued.
Physical and Cognitive Changes:
● Decline in energy, health issues, and reduced memory in some areas.
● However, wisdom, experience, and emotional control may improve.
● Adjustment to retirement, loss of spouse, or illness are major challenges.
Social and Emotional Aspects:
● Roles change takes place, many become grandparents or may live alone if children
move away.
● In India and many Asian cultures, the elderly are expected to depend on their children
for care, which provides security but also creates dependency.
● Loneliness, depression, and financial issues can be major struggles if family or social
support is weak.
● On the positive side, many elderly continue to contribute in politics, business, literature,
and social service.
Death and Cultural Perspectives:
● Death is perceived differently across cultures, impacting how individuals cope with
loss.
● Support systems from family, friends, and society play a crucial role in helping
individuals through bereavement.
