CHAPTER 4

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
 Development is defined as the pattern of orderly and predictable changes that begin at
conception and continue throughout life.
 It is a process by which the individual grows and changes throughout the lifecycle.
 Development is influenced by an interplay of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional
processes.
Life-Span Perspective on Development
The study of development according to the Life-Span Perspective (LSP) includes the
following assumptions:
1. Development is lifelong.
2. The various processes of human development
3. Development is multi-directional.
4. Development is highly plastic.
5. Development is influenced by historical conditions.
6. Development is the concern of a number of disciplines.
7. An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was inherited, the
physical environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts.
Factors Influencing Development
 Genotype – An actual genetic material or a person’s genetic heritage.
 Phenotype– The way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable and
measurable characteristics; they include physical traits like height, weight, and
psychological characteristics like creativity, and intelligence.

Context of development
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s contextual view of development focuses on the role of
environmental factors in the role of development of an individual:
 Microsystem: It is the immediate environment in which individual lives and a child here
directly interacts with the social agents.
 Mesosystem: It represents the fact that what happens in one ecosystem (family) is likely
to impact another ecosystem.
 Exosystem: It is defined as the social settings that a person may not experience first-hand
but that still influence development.
 Macrosystem: It includes the culture in which the individual lives. The macrosystems
are the subcultures and cultures in which the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem
are embedded.
 Chronosystem: It comprises the events in the individual’s course of life and socio-
historical situations which influence their development.
Sinha’s Ecological Model: Child Development in Indian Context
 Durganand Sinha proposed an ecological model specifically tailored to understand child
development in the Indian context.
 He argued that existing developmental models and theories might not be suitable due to
cultural variations and other factors.
 Sinha believed that Urie Bronfenbrenner’s developmental theory, which involves multiple
layers, does not adequately capture the nuances of child development in India.
 Instead, Sinha’s ecological model simplifies the understanding into two layers: the upper layer
representing the most visible aspects and the surrounding layers.
 The upper layer or the most visible layer of the Sinha’s ecological model include the family,
home environment, peers, nature and quality of schooling with specific emphasis on physical
objects, social roles and relationships with the child.
 The supporting and surrounding layer of the ecological model focuses on the physical and
cultural environment in which the child lives. It emphasizes the influence of factors such as
general geographical environment, cultural environment, social class and caste.
The Development Stages
 Human life is categorized into 5 development stages.
I. Infancy (0-2 years old)
Physical Development
 The newborns are governed by reflexes which are defined as automatic responses to
stimuli.
 Some of the reflexes include walking, yawning, blinking, etc.
 Children can hear immediately after birth, and they respond well to touch and can hear as
well.
Cognitive Development
• Children lack Object Permanence.
Socio-Emotional Development
 They prefer familiar faces, fear strangers, and form a close bond with their caregivers
called an attachment.
II. Childhood (2-12 years)
Physical Development
 Early Development follows principles of cephalocaudally and proximodistal.
 The brain and head grow more rapidly than any other part of the body.
 During middle and late childhood, an increase in weight is due to an increase in the size
of the skeletal and muscular systems.
Cognitive Development
 Children acquire Object Permanence.
  Language Development which is known as symbolic thinking.
 Animism - children attribute feelings to inanimate objects and egocentrism in which
children view the world from their point of view only.
Socio-Emotional Development
 Crucial dimensions of the socio-emotional development of children are Self, Gender, and
Moral Development.
 Parents and the Socialization process help in forming the self-image of a child.
III. Adolescence (12-19 years)
Physical Development
 Puberty, physical changes in both growth rate and sexual characteristics.
 Hormones released during puberty help in the development of primary and sexual
characteristics.
 Puberty in boys - facial hair, and changes in voice and height.
 Puberty in girls – menarche, the rapid growth of height, etc.
Cognitive Development
 Adolescent thinking becomes more systematic problem-solving, identifying possible
courses of action, understanding the causes, and thus seeking solutions accordingly.
 Jean Piaget called this Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning.
Socio-Emotional Development
 As per David Elkind, Egocentrism prevails during Adolescence in the following manner:
1. Personal Fable -Adolescents feel that nobody can understand their feelings.
2. Imaginary Audience –Adolescents believe that everyone is preoccupied with them and
hence, become self-conscious.
• Identity Formation also takes place during this stage.
IV. Adulthood (20-60 years)
Physical Development
 Physical changes due to malnutrition are age spots, wrinkling, yellowing of teeth, weight
gain, etc.
Cognitive development
 Cognitive abilities decline during adulthood.
 A memory decline is more In tasks involving long-term memory rather than short-term
memory.
Socio-Emotional Development
 Marriage brings its own set of concerns like the number of children, and availability of
resources.
 A lot of adjustments have to be made in marriage keeping in mind each other’s likes,
dislikes, and preferences.
 Becoming a parent brings a huge transition and it is accompanied by love for the baby.
 Death of a Spouse during adulthood has a strong emotional implication on the other
person.
V. Old age (60 onwards)
Physical Development
 Deterioration in physical development happens like a decline in vision, hearing loss, and
changes in physical appearance like grey hair, wrinkles, etc.
Cognitive Development
 Greater memory decline is witnessed in old age in those tasks which involve long-term
memory.
Socio-Emotional Development
 Fear of death is likely to occur because of chronic illnesses.
 Due to obsession with old memories, the generation gap and the death of a spouse, people
become more prone to depression and loneliness.
 There is a loss of energy and enthusiasm as well.