HUMAN GROWTH

AND DEVELOPMENT
OBJECTIVES

After learning this unit, the students will be able to:

 Define Psychology and its Importance;
 Differentiate between growth and development;
 Learn about various approaches and principles of
human development ;
 Understand the biological influences on human
growth and behaviours;
 Know about various personality theories of
growth and development.
 Lifespan Perspective
Paul Baltes identified several
underlying principles of the
lifespan perspective
(Baltes, 1987; Baltes,
Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006).
Development is lifelong. Humans
change in many directions.
Development is multidirectional.
◦ finishing high school,
◦ getting married, or
◦ becoming a parent,
Development is multidimensional.
◦ The physical domain includes changes in height and weight,
sensory capabilities, the nervous system, as well as the
propensity for disease and illness.
◦ The cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence,
wisdom, perception, problem-solving, memory, and language.
◦ The psychosocial domain focuses on changes in emotion, self-
perception and interpersonal relationships with families, peers,
and friends.
Development is multidisciplinary.
◦ the theories, research methods, and knowledge base of many
academic disciplines
Development is characterized by plasticity.
◦ Plasticity is all about our ability to change and that many of our
characteristics are malleable. For instance, plasticity is illustrated
in the brain’s ability to learn from experience and how it can
recover from injury.
Development is multicontextual. Development occurs
in many contexts. Baltes (1987) identified three specific
contextual influences.
 Three specific contextual
influences
 Normative age-graded influences: An age-grade is
a specific age group, such as toddler, adolescent, or
senior.
◦ Humans in a specific age-grade share particular experiences
and developmental changes.
 Normative history-graded influences: The time
period in which you are born shapes your experiences.
◦ A cohort is a group of people who are born at roughly the
same period in a particular society. These people travel
through life often experiencing similar circumstances.
 Non-normative life influences: Despite sharing an
age and history with our peers, each of us also has
unique experiences that may shape our development.
◦ A child who loses his/her parent at a young age has
experienced a life event that is not typical of the age group.
 PSYCHOLOGY: MEANING AND
DEFINITION
Psychology owes its origin from Philosophy. In
the year 1950, Rudolf Goeckle first used the word
Psychology.
The term Psychology is a combination of two
Greek words Psyche and Logus which mean Soul
and Science, respectively.
A review of the history of psychology reveals that
during the Greek period philosophers dominated
the field of psychology.
At that time, Psychology was not a separate
discipline.
It got scientific status in the year 1879, when
Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological
laboratory at Leipzig in Germany. It has been
defined differently by different philosophers and
psychologists.
The most appropriate definition of psychology has
been advocated by R.S. Woodworth (1910-1960).
According to him, “Psychology is the scientific
study of the activities of the organism in relation
to its environment”.
Psychology is a positive science which helps to
understand, predict and control human behaviour.
Both external behaviours and internal mental
processes.
An individual lives in a society
and different social processes
influence the individual’s
attitudes, beliefs and values etc.
As individuals interact with the
environment and through interaction
gain knowledge and experiences,
therefore individuals’ behaviours are
moulded by the environment.

The study of the human mind

and behavior of the individual
help to design an action plan to
 Knowing the positive and negative
qualities of the individual
 Understanding abilities, attitudes,
motivation, aptitudes and personality of
the person
 Understanding actions and interactions of
the individual in the peer group and
causes of his activities
 Learning about the situation where an
individual is
 Understanding his parents and other
family members and the rearing process
 Understanding the problems of the
individual and seek help
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Most people use the terms growth and
development interchangeably and accept
them as synonymous. But in reality, the
meanings of these two terms are different.
GROWTH: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION
Growth refers to physical increase in some
quantity over time. It includes changes in terms
of height, weight, body proportions and general
physical appearance.
 Growth refers to structural and
physiological changes (Crow and Crow,
1962). Thus, growth refers to an increase
in physical size of whole or any of its part
and can be measured.

 DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

Development refers to the qualitative changes in

the organism as whole. Development is a
continuous process through which physical,
emotional and intellectual changes occur. It is a
more wider and comprehensive term than
growth.
Growth refers to Development refers to
overall changes in the
physiological individual. It involves
changes. changes in an orderly and
coherent type towards the
goal of maturity.

Changes in the Development changes

quantitative respect in the quality along
is termed as growth. with quantitative
aspect.
Growth does not Development continues
continue throughout life throughout life.
Growth stops after Development is
maturation. progressive.
Growth occurs due to Development occurs due
the multiplication of to both maturation and
interaction with the
cells.
Growth is cellular. Development is
organizational.

Growth is one of the Development is a

part of the wider and
developmental comprehensive term
process.
Growth may be referred Development
to describe the changes describes the changes
in particular aspects of
in the organism as a
the body and behavior of
the organism whole.
The changes produced by Development brings qualitative
growth are subjects of changes which are difficult to
measurements. They may be measure directly. They are
assessed through keen
quantified and observable in
observation of behavior in different
nature situations
 PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
There are several basic principles that
characterizes the pattern and process of growth
and development. These principles describe
typical development as a predictable and
orderly process. Even though there are
individual differences in children’s
personalities, attitudes, behaviour and timing of
development, the principles and characteristics
of development are universal patterns.
Development involves change:-
The human being is undergoing
changes from the moment of
conception to the time of death.
There are different types of change
occur such as, changes in size,
proportions, disappearance of old
features and acquisition of new
features etc. The goal of these
developmental changes is self-
realization,
 Development is a continuous process:-
Development continues throughout the life of
an individual. This process takes place in
interaction with the environment in which a
person lives.
 Development follows a direction and
uniform pattern in an orderly manner:
1. Development proceeds from the centre of
the body outward. The child's arms develop
before the hands and the hands and feet
develop before the fingers and toes.
2. Development proceeds from the head
downwards. The child gains control of the
head first, then the arms and then the legs.
Individual Differences in the
Development Process: Each
child develops as per his abilities
and perception of his environment.
Development depends on
maturation and learning:-
Maturation refers to the sequential
characteristic of biological growth
and development. An enriched
environment and varied
experiences help the child to
develop his/her potential.
 Development is predictable:-
Human development is predictable
during the life span. In general, it is
also found that all children follow a
commonality in the development
periods of life. All children generally
grow following the periods like
prenatal period and postnatal
period. The postnatal period
includes infancy, babyhood,
childhood, puberty and so on.
 Development involves Social
expectations: In every society there
are certain rules, standards and
traditions which everyone is expected
to follow. Development is determined
by social norms and expectations of
behaviours form the individuals.
 Development has potential
hazards: Development may be
hampered by various hazards.
Hazards may be of physical,
environmental or psychological type.
 Happiness varies at different periods of
development: Childhood is the happiest period of
life and puberty is the most unhappy. The patterns
of happiness vary from child to child and it is
influenced by the rearing process of the child.
Paul B. Baltes stated six principles of development
of life span: lifelong process, includes both gain
and loss, influenced by the biological factor and
environmental situations, involves changing
allocation of resources, can be modified and based
upon historical and cultural environment
 FACTORS AFFECTING
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Human development is the process in which
the changes occur in all the aspects of an
organism from conception to death. It is a
natural process for each and every child to
grow. But it is observed that all children do not
grow in the similar fashion.
In Physical concern: Some children‟s physical
growth occur earlier or stronger as well taller
than others and so on.
Mental development is concerned, some
children have better cognitive ability, memory,
reasoning, thinking ability etc. than others.
Intelligence the same: Some have
more musical talents, others have
more intrapersonal intelligence,
others also have more linguistic
abilities etc.
So, children differ from each other
because several factors influence on
their development.
Some of the important factors:
hereditary, environmental, home
environment, cultural,
socioeconomic, normative
 BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON HUMAN
GROWTH AND BEHAVIORS

Human development is a result of the

interaction of biological, cognitive,
socio-emotional and ecological
processes. Genetic factors are the
basic framework of the biological
processes of development. For
example, developments of brain,
heart, lungs, nervous system etc. ;
depend largely on the hereditary
characteristics of the individual.
The biological influences are also
observed in the needs of the children.
For example, a child needs food when
he is hungry, he requires water when
he is thirsty and so on. These needs
are associated with preservation of
one's life. But how these needs are
fulfilled depends upon socio-cultural
influences. The biology of a person is
interlinked with his behaviors.
Thus, both body and mind are
interdependent. Physical damage can
result in mental problems and mental
Characteristics of Biological
Influences on Human Growth and
Behaviours:
The human growth and behaviours can
be understood from the characteristics
mentioned below:
 Behaviours are Reproduced in
Successive Generations
 Change in Biological Process
determines Change in Behaviours
 Behaviours run in families/
Behaviours are transmitted in
families

 PERSONALITY: CONCEPT AND
DEFINITION
Personality is a controversial concept.
People used this in various ways. The
term „personality‟ is derived from the
Latin word „Persona‟ which means a
theatrical mask used by actors in those
days to indicate their role in theatrical
play. People usually think that
personality means physical
attractiveness or reputation etc.
So different terms are used to type a
person, such as „he is shy‟, „he is
 Severalattempts have been made by sociologists,
philosophers and psychologists to define
personality in different ways. All these definitions
emphasized on the total person, i.e., his external
appearance, his abilities, tendencies, innate and
acquired characteristics.

 One of the most appropriate definitions of

personality has been given by G.W. Allport. He
defined personality “as the dynamic organization
within the individual of those psychophysical
systems that determine his unique adjustment to
his environment”. Thus, personality is the sum
total of physical abilities and mental traits of the
individual which are dynamic and they help one to
adjust to his environment.
Characteristics of Personality
1) Personality is unique.
2) Personality refers to relatively stable
qualities of an individual.
3) Personality represents a dynamic
orientation of an organism to the
environment.
4) Personality is greatly influenced by
social interaction.
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Personality theories have been
classified into four groups. They
are:
1) Trait theories
2) Psychodynamic theories
3) Behavioral theories
4) Humanistic theories
 Trait Theories
Trait theories attempt to describe personality
as the sum of certain traits. According to
Kimble and Garmezy “trait is a stable and
enduring attribute of a person which is
revealed consistently in different situations.”
For example, If we compare the personalities
of two persons, one being extrovert and
another being introvert. The extrovert person
would be social, happy go lucky and would
make friends easily while the introvert's
behaviour would be shyness, lack of
initiatives in social interactions etc.
 Now-a-days the “Big-Five” represent the best
description of personality traits. The “Big-Five” factors
are :
1. Extroversion refers to a personality dimension
describing someone who is sociable, gregarious and
assertive.
2. Agreeableness describes someone who is good
natured cooperative and trusting.
3. Conscientiousness is a measure of reliability that
describes someone who is responsible, dependable,
persistent and organised.
4. Emotional stability characterises someone as calm,
self-confident, secure. The person with high negative
scores can be nervous, anxious, depressed and
insecure.
5. Openness to experience dimension of personality
characterizes someone in terms of imagination,
The advantage of trait theories is
that traits can be measured and
persons can be compared on the
basis of different traits. Traits can
be used to explain consistency in
behaviours as well as why people
behave differently in a particular
situation.
 Psychodynamic Theories of
Personality:

These theories are based on the fact that

personality is motivated by inner forces
about which individuals have little
awareness and over which they have no
control.
From Sigmund Freud, his theory is based
on two forms of observations. Much of our
behaviour is motivated by the
unconscious, a part of the personality.
personalities of people develop through
conflict between their primary drives (sex
and aggression) and social pressures
Sigmund Freud, a clinical psychologist
developed a comprehensive theory of
Personality. He has categorized the
structure of personality into two:
a) Topographical aspects of mind
b) Dynamic aspects of mind
Topographical aspects of mind:
Freud has divided the structure of mind
into three levels:
1) the conscious,
2) the preconscious or the subconscious
and
3) the unconscious.
 Dynamic aspect of mind:
Freud in his theory of personality has
described that personality consists of three
separate but interacting components:
1. the id,
2. the ego and
3. the superego.
According to Freud, the dynamic aspects of
self refer to the agents through which
conflicts arising in the instincts are
resolved.
The structure of personality consists of
the Id, Ego and Superego which has
different conscious levels and functions
as enumerated below:
Conscious Level Function
Id Unconscious Needs immediate
gratification of desires

Ego Predominantly Rational and logical

conscious
Superego Both Conscious and Idealistic and
Unconscious Perfectionist
Id Ego Superego

Impulse driven Mediator Guilt

inducing

According to Sigmund Freud, both the id and

the superego are unrealistic. They do not
consider the practical realities imposed by the
society. As a result, the ego acts as a
mediator between the demands of the id and
the superego. When the ego is pressurized
with anxiety by id and superego, it uses a
number of defence mechanisms to release
the anxiety and save the personality from
disintegration.
The use of defence mechanisms is a
common phenomenon and used
normally by everyone. The defence
mechanisms function in the
unconscious level. Sigmund Freud
conceived that much of the work on
development of defence mechanisms
was done by his daughter, Anna
Freud.
Defence mechanisms can be healthy
or unhealthy depending on the
situations and the way the person
 TYPES OF DEFENSE
MECHANISMS
There are different types of defence
mechanisms which are used by different
persons at different spheres. A person
can use a number of different
mechanisms even for a similar type of
situation. All defence mechanisms do not
help, some are maladaptive and can lead
to total loss of individual from the reality.
The defence mechanisms are classified
into successful and unsuccessful defence
mechanisms.
These defence mechanisms are described
below:
SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE MECHANISM:
(i) Sublimation :
It is considered as the most complete and
successful of all defence mechanisms. It is
the transformation of sexual and aggressive
urges into creative work into socially
acceptable directions. Thus, it is the form of
channelling socially unacceptable impulses
and urges into socially acceptable
behaviour. For example, a person who is
very aggressive becomes a professional
cricket player.
 UNSUCCESSFUL DEFENSE MECHANISMS:
 (i) Denial :
 It is a type of defence mechanism in which the
person refuses to acknowledge a threatening
situation. It is the most primitive form of defence
mechanism. For example, a person who is a drug
addict denies being a drug addict.

 (ii) Regression:
 It is a form of defence mechanism in which a
person falls back on child like patterns of
responding in reaction to stressful situation. It
refers to a state where an adult behaves like a
child. For example, a six year old baby starts
wetting his bed after his parents bring home a
new baby.
(iii) Repression:
It is a primary defence mechanism and
it is a direct method of dealing with
anxiety. Repression is a defence
mechanism in which the person
refuses to consciously remember a
threatening or unacceptable event,
instead putting those events in to the
unconscious mind. For example, a
person who was sexually abused as a
child can not able to remember the
incident because bad memory has got
repressed inside.
(iv) Projection:

The literal meaning of projection is

“throwing out”. It is commonly used by
everyone. Projection is a form of defence
mechanisms by which one transfers the
blame of his own shortcomings, mistakes
and misdeeds to others and attributes to
others his own unacceptable thoughts.
For example, a lady is attributed to her
friend's husband but denies this and
believes the friend's husband is attracted
to her.
(v) Rationalization:
It is the invention of unconsciously
acceptable motives by the ego to
cover up those unconscious motives
which it cannot accept. In other
words, it refers to the substitution of a
socially approved motive for a socially
disapproved one. In this type defence
mechanism a person invents
acceptable excuses for a
unacceptable behaviour. For example,
a person who gives a lot of donation
to charity may consider himself to be
(vi) Reaction Formation:
It is the defence mechanism by which
a person forms an opposite emotional
or behavioural reaction one's true
feelings. Reaction formation is the
development of behaviour which is
opposite to the unconscious desires of
the person. For example, a person is
very angry but overtly he may state
that he is not angry by showing
smiles.
 (vii) Displacement:
 Displacement is commonly found in dreams
of normal adults. It implies that redirecting
feelings from a threatening target to a less
threatening one. In this defence mechanism
the discharge of an unconscious impulse by
shifting from one original object to a
substitute takes place. For example, a child
may be angry with his mother, he may not
express his anger towards his mother due to
social restriction, but may do so by breaking
his doll into pieces.
(viii) Identification:
It is a mechanism which is very often
used by normal people. In this
defence mechanism a person tries to
become like someone else to deal
with anxiety. For example, a student
may identify himself with a bachelor
professor whose qualities he may
like.
(ix) Compensation:
Compensation is also called as
substitution. In this defence
mechanism a person makes up for
inferiorities in one area by becoming
superior in another area. In the
process of compensation a person
tries to maintain balance of his
weaknesses by overemphasizing
strengths in other areas. For example,
a person who is not a good player, he
may put all his energises to become a
Besides the above mentioned defence
mechanisms there are some other
mechanisms like isolation, fantasy,
fixation, etc. people use to overcome
their unpleasant experiences. When the
ego of the individual is threatened, the
various defence mechanisms are used to
resolve conflict and the person would
have able to maintain a balanced
personality. However, excessive use of
defence mechanism is dangerous for the
ego. Defence mechanisms are generally
learned by the person during childhood.
 DEVELOPING PERSONALITY:
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

Sigmund Freud provided with a view

that personality develops through a
series of five psychosexual stages.
According to him failure to resolve
conflicts at a particular stage can
result in fixation. He proposed that
experiences and difficulties during a
particular childhood stage may predict
specific characteristics in the adult
 The process of personality development of
the child is divided into the following five
overlapping stages:
 1. Oral Stage (birth to 12-18 months)
a) Oral sucking
b) Oral biting
2. Anal Stage – (12-18 months to 03 years)
a) Anal Explosive
b) Anal Retentive
3. Phallic Stage (3 to 5 – 6 years)
4. Latency Stage (5 – 6 years to adolescence)
5. Genital Stage (Adolescence to adulthood)
In the first stage of psychosexual
development the mouth is the primary
site of a kind of sexual pleasure. If
there is frustration at oral stage, it
may result in verbal hostility. The
second stage of psychosexual
development which begins from 12
months and continued up to 03 years,
during this period the area of getting
pleasure changes from mouth to the
anus and the child gets pleasure by
retaining and controlling fences and
urine.
The phallic stage begins at about age of 03
years. During this stage the sex energy is
localised in the genital organs. In this stage
the child must also negotiate the important
hurdle of personality development, the oedipal
conflict through the process of identification.
After the resolution of oedipal conflict, the
child enters in to the latency stage of
psychosexual development which lasts until
puberty. In this period, the sexual interest
becomes dormant. The last stage is the
genital stage which extends until death. At
this stage the sexual instinct starts to develop
with the aim of reproduction.
This theory has been criticised on the
ground that it lacks scientific validity.
Freud made his observations by
observing few patients and developed
his theory. His theory has had an
impact on western culture. This theory
emphasizes that personality of the
individual is influenced by childhood
experiences. This theory neglects the
importance of healthy personalities.
The other psychodynamic theories have
been advanced by Carl Jung and Adler.
According to Carl Jung we have a
universal collective unconscious which
means a common set of ideas , feelings,
images, and symbols that we inherit
from our relatives, the whole human race
and even nonhuman animal ancestors
from the distance past. Jung proposed
that collective unconscious contains
archetypes, universal symbolic
representations of a particular person,
object or experience of good or bad.
Another important contribution of Carl
Alfred Adler, another neo-Freudian
psychoanalyst proposed that the primary
human motivation is a striving for superiority.
People do not have any control over their
experiences during childhood period. So they
grow with a feeling of inferiority. As they grow
old they try to cope with this feeling. Those
people who are able to cope effectively this
feeling, they become normal adults where as
those fail to cope or have continuous anxiety
over this, they develop inferiority complex.
However, these theories are criticised for
their overemphasis on heredity factor and
childhood experiences in determining
behaviours.
 Behaviour or Learning
theories

The trait and psychodynamic

approaches have focused on the
“inner” person whereas the behaviour
or learning approaches to personality
focus on the “outer” person.
According to learning theorist
personality is the sum of learned
responses to the external
environment. Learning theorists view
that personality is best understood by
In early 1940s, Dellard and Miller
developed a scientific theory and
emphasized the role of learning. The
main tenets of this theory are
observable behaviours and processes.
All of us possess certain innate needs
like food, water, oxygen etc… which
have to be fulfilled. These needs are
inherited but the way to fulfil these
needs people learn to respond. The
researchers remarked that any
response that reduces our need is
reinforced and that response is
 B.F. Skinner, the learning theorist viewed that
personality is a collection of learned behaviour
patterns. He did certain experiments on
animals and gave an idea about how
personality functions. Dollard and Miller
analysed the internal processes such as;
motivation, drives, etc., whereas Skinner
emphasized upon observable behaviour only.
Skinner is less interested in behaviour across
situations than in ways of modifying
behaviour. Skinner discussed about two
important concepts such as: generalisation
and discrimination. People learn to elicit
similar responses in similar situations and
learn to discriminate among responses
Behaviour theories involve two types of
conditioning : (i) Classical conditioning and
(ii) operant conditioning. Classical
conditioning was developed by Ivan Pavlov. It
is learning a connection between two stimuli,
a neutral or conditioned stimulus and
unconditional stimulus. For example, if a child
is ill, he associates his illness with the doctor
from whom he may receive medicine. In
operant conditioning, B.F Skinner suggests a
kind of learning in which a person learns to
associate his behaviour with the
consequences of his own behaviour. For
example, a child learns to respond the
answer of a question in a similar manner, in
Social learning theory was
developed by Albert Bandura and
Walter Mischel. These theories of
behaviour emphasize role of
cognitive processes. According to
Skinner internal cognitive processes
such as thinking or feelings are not
very important to behaviours. But
social learning theories emphasize
the cognitive interpretation as being
important in shaping the
Social learning theory holds that children learn
by observing and imitating models. Bandura's
theory is based on three components :
(i) the behaviour of a person,
(ii) the environment in which one interacts or
behaves others and
(iii) to understand that a particular
behaviours would achieve the goal.
These three factors help in interaction in
shaping behaviours. People are able to assess
various situations on the basis of their
experience and also their capabilities to deal
with various situations.
 The behavioural and social learning theories
emphasized upon social factors which play an
important role in developing and changing the
personalities. These theories also indicate as to
why certain behaviours continue and same
behaviours may change from situation to
situation.
 Skinner's theory neglects the importance of
hereditary factors. It does not take into account
the internal forces. But learning theory believed
that events have cognitive analysis dimensions.
The behaviourist theorists were interested in
modifications of behaviours. They emphasized
that the interaction between cognitive factors
and environmental factors result in modification
of behaviour.
 Humanistic Theories
A group of psychologists founded the
association of Humanistic Psychology in the
year 1962. They developed the theories, called
as Humanistic theories, which gave importance
to the growth potential of human beings. These
theories are the outcome of researches on
healthy persons. Humanistic approaches
discussed about people's inner goodness and
their tendency to grow to higher levels of
functioning. These approaches are based on
the assumption is that the personality of a
person cannot be assessed by looking at his
environment and responses he elicits to the
environment.
 Each individual is motivated to develop and
tries to develop his full potential and
capabilities. Self concept of a person grows
from infancy to adulthood on the basis of the
accumulation of experiences. During this
process the person develops his self image.
All people possess the need for self-
actualization. According to Roger conflict may
grow between people's experiences and their
self concept. In other words, Roger believed
that self image is the „real self‟ of the person.
A person strives for an ideal. This is termed
as „ideal self‟. If there is a vast gap between
the real self and ideal self the person became
labelled as maladjusted person.
 Roger suggests that unconditional positive
regard provides people the opportunity to
evolve and grow both cognitively and
emotionally and to develop more realistic self
concepts.
 Another Humanistic theorist Abraham Maslow
developed a need hierarchy theory of needs
that motivate human behaviour. In
everybody's life there is hierarchy of needs
which starts from basic needs to end up to self-
actualization. People strive to fulfil their basic
needs and when the basic needs are satisfied,
then people go for higher order needs. Maslow
viewed that there are some deficiency needs
and some growth needs have to fulfil.
In humanistic approach self plays an
important element of human
personality to understand the concept
of personality. One important criticism
of this theory is that self is purely
subjective and vague concept. Self is
an abstract term which cannot be
scientifically verified and
experimented. Self perception of the
society is subjective and on the basis
of that behaviours cannot be
explained. These theorists also ignore
experimental factors in shaping the
Another criticism of humanistic
approach is that whether
unconditional positive regard does, in
fact, lead to greater personality
adjustment. This approach is also
criticised on the ground that people
are basically „good‟ – that is
unverifiable. In spite of these
criticisms humanistic theories have
been important in highlighting the
uniqueness of human beings and
guiding the development of a
significant form of therapy to alleviate
Theory Basic Idea Criticism Theorists

Trait theory Emphasizes the Importance is Gordon Allport

innate, inherited given to Raymond B.
enduring hereditary Cattell
dimensions characteristics
known as traits
determine
human behaviour

Psychoanalytic/ Past experiences Emphasizing Sigmund Freud,

Psychodynamic influence human importance of Alfred Adler, Erik
Theory childhood Erikson, Carl G.
behaviour experiences
Jung
Behaviour and Human Focuses on the John Dollard &
Learning Theories behaviour environment Neal E. Miller,
directed and Albert Bandura,
caused by B. F. Skinner
interaction with
environment and
cognitive
processes
Humanistic Behaviour of the More abstract and Carl R. Rogers,
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

OBJECTIVES
In this chapter students will be able to
learn:
 Issues involved in human development
 Different stages of development
 Various models of human development
 Physical, social and emotional aspects
of development in different stages
Human development is a life long process. This
development focussed on describing behaviour
in order to derive age norms. Developmental
psychologists tried to explain causes of
behaviours, to predict behaviours and try to
modify behaviour through training or therapy.
There is a sequential pattern of development for
each and every child. This development is
different for different children. Various forms of
development like physical, social and emotional
aspects of development take place from infancy
to old age. There are various stages of
development and development occurs in
different manner in these different stages. It is
essential to explain some of the issues involved
with development.
 ISSUES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

 Developmental theories differ from each other

on three basic issues. They are: (i) the relative
importance of heredity and environment, (ii)
the active or passive character of development
(continuous process), and (iii) the existence of
stages of development.
 I. Heredity vs. Environment
 Human development can be explained in terms
of both heredity and environment. There is a
debate among theorists that heredity is
important in the development of human beings
or environment influences development.
 Ithas been observed that some children are introvert
while others are extrovert. The argument is that
these characteristics are hereditary or
environmentally determined. John Locke, a
philosopher remarked that the child's mind is just like
a blank state and things are written in interaction
with environment and experiences. John Watson was
a behaviourist who argued that it is the environment
that influences development of human beings. He
said, “If I get some children, I can make them what I
want to make”. J. J. Rousseau and Gesell were of the
view that heredity influences development of
individuals. It is revealed from the research studies
that both heredity and environment influence human
development. In Indian settings, it may be observed
that children who are reared up in enriched
environment behave differently than to their peer
groups who raised in impoverished environment.
II. The Active or Passive character of
development
 There is a question that whether people are
active in their own development or they are
more passively shaped by external forces. Some
theorists believe that human beings always try
to discover and shape their own environment
for their development. For example, children
are curious creatures and they actively
construct their environment during their role
playing games. Some other psychologists
emphasize that developments of human beings
are controlled by outside environment. For
example, teachers and parents are blamed for
not providing good environment… … if a child
does not perform well in his study.
III. Stages of Development
 This issue relates to the importance of various stages of
development. Development is a continuous process. Early
experience of the child is more important than later
experience, Therefore, if the proper experiences are not
provided to the child at the right time, development
process may get affected. Developmental psychologists
have observed that there are critical periods of
development. The impact of appropriate stimulation
during that period is optimal in specific kinds of behaviour
than prior or later to that period. Several studies have
been conducted on animals ( K. Lawrenz, 1937; Harry
Harlow, 1978) and later on human beings to see whether
there are critical periods on human development. It has
been observed that first six months are critical period for
health, emotional and social development of the child.
Although some other research studies reveal the adverse
experiences in early childhood can be mitigated
(amended) to a certain extent in the later stage of life.
STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Human development is described in terms

of stages covering the period from
conception to death. Each stage of
development includes a time period during
the life span and has its own characteristics
and a specific rate of development. But
people vary with respect to time and rate
of development from one stage to another.
Even though there is no consensus on
classification of various stages of
development, the human life span can be
divided into eight developmental stages:
1. The prenatal period (conception to
birth)
2. The stage of Infancy and Toddlerhood
(birth to age 3)
3. The early childhood ( 3 to 6 years)
4. The middle childhood ( 6 to 11 years)
5. The period of Adolescence (11 years
to about 20 years)
6. Young Adulthood (20 to 40 years)
7. Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years)
8. Late Adulthood ( 65 years and above)
2.3. ERIKSON MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT
 Erik Erikson (1902 – 1994) was a German born
psychoanalyst, a pioneer in a life span
perspective. Erikson viewed that ego
development occurs through one's life time.
Erikson's (1950, 1982) theory of psychosocial
development covers eight stages across the life
span. According to Erikson each stage involves
a “crisis” in personality – that is important at
that time and will remain an issue to some
degree throughout the rest of life. In each stage
there is the balancing of a positive tendency
and a corresponding negative one. Initiative vs.
guilt is a conflict children face between their
urge to form and carry out goals. When they fail
to reach their goals, they feel guilty.
The sense of right and wrong morality
emerges as a result of identification
with the parents. Children can resolve
this crisis to acquire the virtue of
purpose. Erikson defines it as the
courage to envisage and pursue
valued goals. Children can then
develop into adults who combine
spontaneous enjoyment of life with a
sense of responsibility. Those who can
not resolve this crisis may become
repressed. If initiative dominates, they
must continue to believe. Erikson's
As Erikson mentioned different
stages of human development, crisis
is very typical of each stage and
resolution of it is a must. Resolution
requires balancing a positive trait and
a corresponding negative trait. Both
are required for healthy
development. If either of the two
predominates, there will be
imbalance and the conflict remains.
Hence, the development of ego
suffers.
 TABLE: ERIKSON’S PSYCHOLOGICAL STAGES OF CHILDHOOD,
ADOLSCENT AND ADULT
stage age Developme Successful Unsuccessf
nt crisis way with ul one
crisis
1 Birth to 1 Trust versus Learn to trust Not learn to
year mistrust and be pleasant trust
2 1to 3 years Autonomy Learn to be Learn self-
versus independent doubt and
shame and shame for
doubt being
unsuccessful
3 3 to 5 Initiative Taking Feel
years versus guilt responsibility, irresponsible,
feel capable anxious and
and develop guilty
initiative
4 5 to 12 Industry learning new If children fail
years versus skills, they to develop
Inferiority develop a sense new ability,
of industry, a they feel
feeling of incompetent,
competence inadequate,
5 Adolescence Identity Find a role Their identity
versus Role for become
Confusion themselves confused and
develop a withdraw,
strong sense
of identity

6 Early Intimacy People who Adults who

Adulthood versus succeed in fail at this
Isolation this task will task will be
have isolated from
intimate other people
relationships. and may
suffer from
loneliness.
7 Middle Generativity be creative, be passive,
Adulthood versus productive, and self-
Stagnation and centred , feel
nurturing, that they
they will be have done
benefit for nothing for
the next the next
generation generation,
FREUDIAN MODEL OF PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

 Sigmund Freud (1953, 1964a, 1964b) proposed

that people are born with biological drives that
must be redirected so as to live in society. The
personality of the child is formed in childhood,
as children deal with unconscious conflicts
between these inborn urges and the
requirements of civilized life. These conflicts
occur in an unvarying sequence of five
maturational based stages of psychosexual
development, In different stages of
development, sexual pleasure shifts from one
body zone to another, i.e. from the mouth to
the anus and then to the genitals.
According to Sigmund Freud there are
five stages of development. Freud
believed that personality is formed in
first three stages which includes first
few years of life, as children deal with
conflicts between their biological,
sexually related urges and the
pressures of the society. At each stage
there a change in the main source of
gratification. Each stage is
characterised by a typical pleasure
gaining behaviour as well as a conflict
due to the social pressures. These
(i) Oral Stage (birth to 18 months): It begins at
birth and extended till 12 to 18 months. In this
stage the mouth is the primary organ of giving
pleasure . The experience of the child and mother
relationship has an impact on unconscious mind
of the child. This stage relates to the activities
like feeding, crying, teething, biting and thumb
sucking, etc.
(ii) Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years): The child
gets sensual gratification from withholdings and
expelling fences during this stage. Anus is the
chief source of pleasure. The child's real
experiences during this stage have an impact
upon the unconscious and behaviours. Pleasure
derived from body parts are the centre of the
(iii) Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years): During this period the
child derives pleasure from genital region. Many of the
normal sexual behaviour of human personality develop
in this period. The child's sexual longing is intensified
at this time. This is the stage in which conflicts related
to reproductive issues are resolved.
(iv) Latency Stage (6 to Puberty): This stage is a stage
of learning skills rather than a psychosexual stage.
There is no sexual development takes place during this
period. This is the time of relative calm between more
turbulent stages. Previous experiences, fears and
conditioning have shaped many of the child's feelings
and attitudes.
(v) Genital Stage (Puberty onwards): This the time of
mature adult sexuality. In this stage many hormonal
and physical changes take place. Children are engaged
in sex-related thoughts and feelings. Narcissism takes
 PHYSICAL AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
IN VARIOUS STAGES OF LIFE

Infancy and Toddlerhood Stage

Developmental psychologists used the term infancy
to denote the period of development that generally
is from birth to two years of age. The word infant
means “without language”. Infancy includes
development in the areas of cognition, perception,
motor activity, emotion, sociability and language. In
the beginning of infancy period infants can
recognise human faces and after that they can
differentiate between known and unknown faces
and react differently. Development on different
areas take place through infancy to toddlerhood, i.e,
the first three years of life.
(I) Physical development:
It refers to the changes in the body.
This development is rapid during
infancy. Infants increase their body
weight almost triple and increase in
height by about one-third during the
first year alone. Not only body size
and weight of the infant increase but
also brain size expands rapidly during
the first 18 months and brain weight
of the infant reaching more than half
of the adult brain due to rapid growth
of dendrites and axons within the
 Physical development also includes
development in vision, hearing, perceptual
development etc. Infants motor development
takes place in a sequential order and this type
of development proceeds from head towards
the limbs. Infant first controls his head and
trunk, then lift his chest, sit upright, crawling,
creeping, stand with help, stand along with
holding some objects, walking and so on. This
development occurs due to improvement of
skills and control of other body parts like legs,
arms, etc. Gradually children develop their
eye, head and hand coordination and are able
to pick up things.
 In the early life, infant's vision, hearing and
perception are not clear and focussed. The
neonate prefers to perceive brighter colours and
which are nearer to him. These senses develop
as the child matures from infancy to toddlerhood.
The new born is well equipped with sensory
functioning for life. The child is capable to turn
his head toward a loud noise or clapping.
Gradually he tries to locate the source of noise
and he can differentiate between the voice of
mother and the father and also recognizes the
voices of other people. Another capacity of the
infant is his ability to learn from experience. For
example, the child learns to suck faster when
sucking is pleasant.
Piaget noted that the sensory motor
stage of cognitive development occurs
during infancy. During infancy period
there are development in vision,
control of muscles and nervous
system, start to eat and sleep on
regular intervals, sit on their own and
to hold objects themselves.
(II)Social and Emotional Development:
Infants at about two months old
demonstrate social smiling in response to
human faces. When they are four months
old, they show laughter and express anger,
sadness and surprise by six months. By 8
or 10 months, they actively seek
information about other people's feelings.
They learn to respond when somebody
calls them by their names at about age six
to twelve months. They also have face to
face contact. They are afraid of when their
parents or care-taker leaves them.
 They start expressing anger if their needs are
not met. Thus, social and emotional
development starts during the period of infancy
to toddlerhood itself Children start expressing
their feelings of trust, fear, confidence, love,
etc. They express affection as a form of emotion
to others as a part of social emotional
development.. If a child is neglected during this
period, it affects his social emotional
development negatively. During this period as
children are attached with their care givers,
parents and other siblings, etc., so children
develop separation anxiety if they are
separated from them. This appears at the age
of nine months.
 (III)
Cognitive Development
 Infants express their intellect by making various
sounds like gurgling, cooing, etc. They observe
their own hands and feet. They gradually learn
the relationship between their actions and the
external world. They can manipulate various
objects to produce effects. Infants seem to
acquire knowledge about the world only through
motor activities and sensory impressions. They
try to focus their eyes on various objects and
people, put everything in their mouth. Children
develop ability to form mental representation
during infancy. Around the end of the 9th month
infants demonstrate object permanence.
 By babyhood stage they learn to make
sounds like mama, papa, they try to copy
various activities as others do. By 12 months
of age many children are able to say some
words which can be understood by others.
During infancy children start developing
language ability, learn through their sense
organs and explore the world in their own
ways. In this period children are dependent
on others where as in toddlerhood stage,
creativity and socialisation begins. In infancy
period emotions are of simple type but in
toddlerhood emotions are of varying types
and growth is faster than other periods of life.
 2. The Childhood Stage:
 This stage includes two sub-stages: one is
early childhood and another is late childhood.
This period covers the period between the age
of 3 to 11 years. Sometimes the girls at 13
years and boys at 14 years of age are
considered as adolescents and till then the
child is considered being in the childhood
stage. During this period significant physical
and psychological changes take place. But
compared to infancy, growth rate is slow but
stable during the childhood. In this stage,
children gain 2 to 3 inches in height and 5 to 6
pounds in weight every year.
They learn to walk, run, jump and play. They can
gain knowledge to distinguish between what is
good and what is bad. Their physical capacities
increased independently, they perform tasks
and meet adult expectations in several ways.

(I) Physical Development:

Early childhood stage covers the age range

from 3 to 6 years. Children begin to develop
athletic appearance and they lose their babyish
roundness. As abdominal muscles develop, the
trunk, arms and legs grow longer. Their brain
and head grow rapidly than any other parts of
the body.
 The late childhood period extends from 6 to 11
years. This period is known as pre-
adolescence. The different parts of the body
become stronger during this period. Children
learn to use their body parts appropriately with
speed and for proper behaviours. During late
childhood period some of the habits like table
manners interactions with others, eating
appropriately, etc. may also be modified
wherever needed. In this period importance is
given to physical strength of children. If a
particular child is not growing physically at per
with other children of his age, the child may be
emotionally and socially depressed.
(II)Psycho-Social Development:
In early childhood stage children can say
full sentences, express their feelings and
emotions and communicate their needs and
feelings and emotions and communicate
their needs and feelings with others. During
early childhood children have better control
of their physical movement and can have
better coordination of their body parts.
They also learn how to cooperate with other
children and conflict resolution when they
are about the age of five or six years they
are independent in various ways.
 There are three important socio-emotional
developments, such as; development of self,
gender roles and moral development, take place
during childhood period. Through the process of
identification the child comes to know who he is
and differentiates from who he wants to be. The
child is aware of this process through his
observation and imitation of parents and
significant others. The child's personality is laid
down by this identification. The child learns the
socially appropriate behaviours by observing
and participating in the social events. When the
children are about the age of 5 to 6 years they
can understand that they belong to a particular
gender and also learn to behave gender roles.
When the children enter into school ,
their interaction changes from
supervising adults to classmates. As
the social environment changes the
children begin to experience feelings
of independency and freedom from
authority through negotiation,
compromise and discussion. Social
identification and social comparison
help them to describe themselves. For
example, I am a student of DAV Public
School, Chandrasekharpur,
Bhubaneswar and I got more marks
 Parenting style plays an important role in
psycho-social development of children. A
balanced parenting style which is neither
permissive nor authoritative is acceptable and
helps in social and emotional development of
children. But
 children of authoritative parents are afraid of
their parents and children of permissive parents
are impulsive and immature. Besides parenting
style peer group influence has also an impact on
socialisation process of children.
 During childhood period the children can able to
differentiate between right and wrong. They
experience feeling of guilt by doing a mistake,
feel sorrow and happiness for them. These are
experienced by the children due to their moral
development.
 (III)Cognitive Development:
 The childhood period is important for
cognitive development of children. Children
are curious to know the answers of
questions like, “why”, “Where” and “How”
for everything that happens. Cognitive
abilities include memory, reasoning,
perception, problem solving and thinking
abilities which continue to emerge
throughout childhood. Jean Piaget worked on
childhood cognitive development. He
concluded that children are not less
intelligent than adults but they simply think
differently.
Piaget explained that human beings
acquire knowledge through interaction
with the environment in which he lives
in, Piaget named early child hood (2 to
7 years) as the preoperational stage of
cognitive development which there is a
great expansion in the use of symbolic
thought, or representational ability. But
they are not able to use logic. In this
stage children do not need to be in
sensory motor contact with an object,
person or event in order to think about
it.
They are aware that superficial
alternations do not change the nature
of things and also understand the
cause-effect relationship. They
develop the ability to classify objects,
people and events. Children can count
and deal with quantities. They
become more able to imagine how
others might feel and aware of mental
activity and the functioning of the
mind. For example, Ranu saw a pencil
rolling down from behind and she
looks back for the person who threw
According to Piaget children enter the
concrete operational stage during
middle childhood period which begins
at about age 7 and ends at age 12
years. In this period children can use
mental operations to solve actual
problems and they can think more
logically. They can perform many tasks
at a much higher level than before.
They have developed abilities to use
maps and models and to communicate
spatial information improve with age.
They have a better understanding of
3. Adolescence
 The term adolescence is derived from the
Latin word adolescere, which means to
sprout into maturity. It is the intermediate
period between childhood and adulthood.
This period is otherwise called as the age of
teenagers. It includes three sub periods,
such as: early adolescence (12 yrs -14 yrs),
middle adolescence (14 yrs -17 yrs) and late
adolescence (17 yrs -19 yrs). Adolescence is
the developmental transition between
childhood and adulthood entailing major
physical, cognitive and psychological
changes.
During this period physical changes that
occur are universal, but social and
psychological changes largely depend on
the cultural contexts. As this is the
transitional phase of life adolescents
rebel against their parents and society
most often. Therefore, this period is
labelled as storm and stress period.
(I) Physical Development
Sexuality and identity formation are two
major challenges of the period of
adolescence. During this period the most
rapid physical growth occurs.
There are changes in the growth rate,
sexual characteristics, and behaviour.
Adolescent boys and girls develop in their
height, weight, strength and development
of bones, muscles, etc. Puberty and
sexual maturity for both boys and girls
marks the beginning of the adolescent
period. Growth spurts and development
of secondary sex characteristics signal
about the onset of adolescence.
Menstruation is the first sign of puberty
for girl whereas appearance of few
whiskers is the sign of puberty for boys.
 The approximate age for sexual maturation is
12.5 years for boys and 10.5 years for girls.
Puberty begins in response to changes in the
hormonal system. Sex hormones like
testosterone in males and oestrogen in
females are secreted from the sex glands.
The secretion of sex hormones help in
pubertal development and also closely
associated with emotions. During this period
emotion like aggression is found in boys and
depression is marked in girls. They try to
imitate their idols. Girls are conscious about
their shapes and do what their friends do
while boys try to go for body building.
 (II)
Psycho-Social Development
 During this period the physical changes in
adolescents bring about a wide variety of
psychological changes. Adolescents become
innovative and take interest in learning
various skills with great interest. They feel
that no one understands them, and they often
consider themselves to be „superman‟. Their
sense of uniqueness is expressed in the form
of personal fable around them away from the
world of reality. They are argumentative and
they have a tendency to find fault with the
authority figures.
 They do not able to differentiate between
ideal and real. Adolescents are very self-
conscious and it is expressed in the concept
of imagery audiences. These imaginary
audiences criticise, encourage and motivate
an adolescent. Peer group influence is very
important during adolescence. They want to
do what their friends are doing, Adolescents
abuse alcohol and drugs under peer pressure.
Developmental psychologists viewed that
adolescence as a period of risk, turmoil,
uncertainty and conflict, if proper care is not
taken during this period children became
anti-social, abusive or depressed.
They also develop eating disorders if
they are not getting proper love and
affection from the parents. In this
period if adequate atmosphere is
provided to them and they get high
parental support, then they can
develop their abstract thinking,
reasoning skills and other social
behaviours. The important task of
adolescents is to establish an identity
independent of their parents.
They do not like anyone to interfere
in their opinions, trust, believes and
decision making process. They have
their own expectations and they are
also very emotional during this
period. Adolescents suffer from
different problems like teenage
pregnancy and juvenile delinquency.
So, positive relationship with parents,
peers, siblings and adults play an
important role during adolescence
period.
 (III)Cognitive Development
 During adolescence not only there are changes
in body structures occur but also they think
differently from younger children. Jean Piaget
opined that adolescents enter the highest level
of cognitive development, i.e. formal
operational stage of cognitive development.
During this period adolescents thoughts
change from concrete objects to abstract
events. They can think flexibly enough about
the world. They accumulate knowledge through
interaction and apply the learned concepts to
new tasks.
 Teenagers develop their reasoning skills and
engage in hypothetical deductive reasoning.
As adolescents develop their logical thinking,
they are becoming aggressive and
argumentative. They are able to understand
abstract concepts such as congruence and
mass and they think in terms of theoretical
concepts. They are conscious about others
opinion regarding them and curious enough
to know about spirituality, traditions and
beliefs. Thus, during adolescence people deal
with problems on an abstract level, to form
hypothesis and to reason from proposition
that are contrary to fact.
Piaget‟s theory of cognitive
development has been criticised on
the following grounds:
a) Piaget has given too much
emphasis on physical maturation
based on cognitive development.
b) He has not included environmental
factors and experiences that people
accumulate during the process of
growing up.
c) He has overlooked the concept of
the individual differences in his theory.
4. Adulthood Stage
An adult is someone who is
responsible, mature, self-supporting
and well integrated into society. Also
people do not develop these
attributes and characteristics at the
same time and with same skills. This
adult stage has three sub-stages of
development. First stage is early
adulthood, second stage is middle
adulthood, and third stage is late
adulthood.
In early childhood period adults are at the
peak of physical health, strength and energy.
Sensory and motor systems are at their
highest functioning. Adults gain weight and
their height increases. They develop
intimate relationships, they marry and begin
their families. At this period of life adults
take many important decisions of life like
choice of career, type of friends, residence,
etc. independently and accept responsibility
and consequences for their own decisions.
Every adult tries for recognition, job security
and to excel in his job.
 Middle adulthood period is explained in terms of a
gradual decline in one's physical abilities, physical
health, stamina etc, but the decline is gradual in
nature. Both men and women feel tired easily. In
this period people experience stress due
 to the double responsibility of caring for the aged
parents and the growing children. Women usually
experience hormonal changes which results in the
loss of ability to reproduce, a process called
menopause. Many psychological and intellectual
changes occur in middle age. During this period,
women express more assertiveness and men are
more nurturant. The term “late adulthood” is
roughly equivalent to old age. This is the final
stage of physical change.
 Robert Havinghurst lists major tasks in the
middle years:
 Accepting and adjusting to physiological
changes, such as menopause.
 Reaching and maintaining satisfaction in
one's occupation.
 Adjusting to and possibly caring for aging
parents.
 Helping teenage children to become
responsible adults.
 Achieving adult, social and civic responsibility.
 Relating to one's spouse as a person.
 Developing leisure time activities.
Some people suffer from depression
due to middle age crisis by thinking
that some important years of their
lives are over while some others try
hard to achieve their goals by
changing their life styles. Some
people engage themselves in creative
activities to get self satisfaction.
Other people get worried about the
future of their children and some
start worrying about their post
retirement activities.
(I)Physical Development
Physical growth and development is at its
maximum during this period. Physical
strength usually is more than previous
years due to mature physical structures.
strength, speed, coordination and
endurance for activity is greatest during
this period. A number of sensory and neural
functions are optimal levels during this
period. Full brain weight and mature brain
wave patterns are observed at this stage of
development. Changing life style pattern
has an impact on growth and development.
In the middle adulthood period
(during 20s) there is a decline in our
physical stamina and health. At that
time physical functioning are
generally perfect, but physical
attractiveness declines and biological
changes in the sexual life occurs. The
physical changes like loss of elasticity
of the skin, resulting in facial lines as
well as looseness in other parts of the
body are easily noticeable through
external physical appearance.
There is a marked change in visual
activity. People suffer from presbyopia –
the far sightedness associated with aging.
The auditory problem is also associated
with increasing age, i.e. presbycusis. It
means progressive loss of hearing. In this
period loss of taste, smell and sensitivity
to touch also occurs. Some physiological
changes like enlargement of prostrate
gland, less enzyme secretion in the
gastrointestinal tract, diminished ability
to pump blood, reduced kidney
functioning, etc. take place.
(IV) Psycho-Social Development
During early years of adulthood,
people face the problem of choosing,
preparing for and entering into
careers brings a lot of social changes
in the adult. They have cordial
relationships with their siblings. They
spend very few times with friends
because their energies are consumed
for family and work. Middle adulthood
people have children of adolescent
age.
It is very difficult to handle their
problems. Conflicts occur between
parents and children regarding
„giving‟ and „getting‟ independence.
Parents have to help their children in
their search for identity. Middle aged
adult also have important
responsibilities towards their parents.
In this period they also try to b
satisfied at work place. People are
worried about their jobs and pay
packages because they have to meet
the daily needs of themselves and of
(V) Cognitive Development
Intellectual ability and cognitive skills are
high in early adulthood. Middle adulthood
people can not learn new skills. Recent
research suggests that intellectual
development continues into late adulthood.
Intellectual development continued and
that are influenced by the accumulation of
the experiences of life, i.e. verbal skills,
social knowledge and moral judgements.
During this period people show changes in
logic and morality.
It is observed that creativity peaks in
the early adulthood but forms of
creativity that require experience,
revision and interpretation either
remain unchanged or increase in
middle age. People utilise their
cognitive skills and creativity
particularly at the work place in order
to get recognition. Studies revealed
that intelligence declines with age,
but there is no certainty that
intelligence and age are related with
each other.
5. Late Adulthood
The term late adulthood is rightly
equivalent to old age. This is the final stage
of physical change. It is difficult to consider
the exact age of a person for being old. The
onset of old age may vary from country to
country. Although the retirement age is
considered as one of the criteria of old age,
it varies from job to job. For example, in
India the retirement age for government
organisation is 58 years while for
Universities it is 62 years and in some other
institutions like IIT and IIM it is 65 years.
 Now-a-days people beyond 70 years are
considered as old. It is the period of decline
where the person thinks that he has done
what he wanted to do and most of his life
span is over.
 Today researchers used two categories to
describe old age people.
 (i) The young Old: This category of older
people irrespective of their actual age, are
vital, vigorous and active.
 (ii) The Old: Those older individuals who are
infirm, inactive and suffer from physical
problems include in this group.
As most of older persons suffer from
physical problems, they became less
active. There are changes in body like
wrinkles in face, rough skin, gray
hairs, problems in hearing and eye
sight, bones and joints problems,
change in voice, etc. They may suffer
from various diseases. Old people also
suffer from irreversible mental
problem, which is organic in nature
and is called „Alzheimer's disease.
During late adulthood period
significant changes take place which
are mentioned below.
(I) Physical Development
The experiences of old age are not
same for everybody. Some people are
worried about old age particularly
those who are single or there is
nobody in the family to support them
economically or have continued
physical ailments. It is a period in
one's life span that is characterised
 They are (a) Primary ageing and (b) Secondary
ageing.
 Primary ageing is that in which bodily
deterioration occur by the passage of time or by
genetic factors which is gradual and inevitable.
Secondary ageing results from disease, disuse
or abuse of body which is preventable. Many
structural and functional changes occur as
people reach old age. Common physical
changes like decrement in sensory abilities of
vision, hearing, taste, smell and other senses,
skin becomes inelastic, decrease in fat and
muscle tissue, loss of teeth, deterioration of
bone tissue, decline in height due to
compression of spinal disc and postural strop
etc. occur due to primary ageing.
Physical changes occur due to secondary
ageing are also different for different
people. For example, physical
changes of diabetic people are different
from persons who are suffering from
arthritis. Old people are also inefficient in
sensory-motor coordination. They can not
respond to the physical demands of
stressful situations as quickly or efficiently
as possible. They are prone to accidents due
to decline of reserve capacity of physical
energy. Thus, ageing affects appearance,
sensation and motor abilities of a person.
 However, despite the problems of old age some
people lead a happy life due to their positive
thinking towards life and they are physically fit
by doing yoga and exercises. They are
developing and enjoying their hobbies and their
perception of old age for relaxation help them
free from different ailments.
 (II) Psycho-Social Development

 Many psycho-social changes happen to people

during old age. The statement that old age is a
period for waiting death can prove to be a myth.
Commonly people believe that old age is a curse
so far as physical and psychological aspects of
life are concerned.
According to Erikson during late
adulthood the outcome of a well
integrated person is wisdom. Wisdom
means accepting life as it is, accepting
imperfections in self, parents and in
life and having no regrets. Old people
remain in a state of inward depression
and dissatisfaction. These internal
feelings are manifested in reaction
formations for which they become
over sensitive and demanding. Some
old people depend on their children to
a large extent.
 This undue dependence makes them sad.
But those people who are independent and
less expectations from their children and
other support system, they are happy in
their old age and they engage themselves in
various activities. They think that old age is
the golden age because they are free from
family responsibilities and burdens of job.
There are many social and cultural factors
 influence3 the process of successful ageing.
Financial security and close relationship with
children or other relatives or good friends
make people healthy in old age.
Ageing is a process of growing old. The most
important theory that explains the psychosocial
aspects of ageing are: (i) The activity theory, and
(ii) The disengagement theory.
(i) The Activity Theory : This theory states the
relationship between keeping active and ageing
well. According to this theory, persons who age
successfully keep themselves busy in many
activities and they find substitutes for activities
which they have lost due to retirement and also
they perform many roles. As role decreases, ageing
increases.
(ii) The Disengagement Theory: This theory reveals
that successful ageing by mutual withdrawal
between society and the older person. Generally,
older people voluntarily minimise their activities by
retiring and also society encourages this by making
individuals retire.
 (III)
Cognitive Development
 People commonly believe that with old age
intellectual decline occurs. Intellectual decline is
associated with respect to certain functions
such as; speed, perceptual integration ability,
memory and inductive reasoning. People show
variability in intellectual functioning in late
adulthood period. Researchers classified
intelligence into two types. They are: (1) Fluid
intelligence and (2) Crystallized intelligence.
Fluid intelligence declines as age increases.
Fluid intelligence involves ability to perceive
relations, form concepts and reason abstractly.
Crystallized intelligence involves the ability to
remember and use learned information.
 Fluid intelligence includes reasoning, memory
and information,
 processing capabilities, whereas crystallized
intelligence is the acquired knowledge of the
person. During old age people forget that
may lead to dementia or Alzheimer's disease
which is possible due to Fluid intelligence,
because it relates to neurological functioning.
On the other hand, crystallized intelligence
helps in storing information. Therefore, in old
age people should keep their minds active by
mental exercises such as problem solving
analysis and other operations etc.