Psychology

Class 11th Chapter 4 – Human Development

Contents:-

 Introduction

 Meaning of Development

 Life-Span Perspective on Development

 Factors Influencing Development

 Context of Development

 Overview of Developmental Stages

 Prenatal Stage

 Infancy

 Childhood

 Challenges of Adolescence

 ADULTHOOD

 OLDAGE

BY GARIMA CHIB
Life Span Development
Developmental psychology is the study of how people grow and change. These changes
traditionally looked at how people's thoughts, feelings, behaviors and physical bodies changed
and grew in childhood and adolescence. For a very long time, experts thought that development
only happened up to a certain point. Once a person reached adulthood, psychologists believed,
they were pretty much done with growth and change.
Life span development is the study of how humans grow and change throughout their entire
life.
Or
Development is the pattern of progressive, orderly, and predictable changes that begin at
conception and continue throughout life. Development due to genes inherited from parents, such
as in height and weight, brain, heart, and lungs development, etc. all point towards the role of
biological processes. Socio-emotional processes that influence development refer to changes in
an individual’s interactions with other people, changes in emotions, and in personality.

Life-span Perspective on Development

1. Development is lifelong, i.e. it takes place across all age groups starting from conception
to old age.
2. The various processes of human development, i.e. biological, cognitive, and socio-
emotional are interwoven in the development of a person throughout the life-span.
3. Development is multi-directional. Some dimensions or components of a given dimension
of development may increase, while others show decrement.
4. Development is highly plastic, i.e. within person, modifiability is found in psychological
development, though plasticity varies among individuals.
5. Development is influenced by historical conditions.
6. Development is the concern of a number of disciplines. Different disciplines like
psychology, anthropology, sociology, and neuro-sciences study human development.
7. An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was inherited, the
physical environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Factors Influencing Development

HEREDITY
An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was inherited, the physical
environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts.
The actual genetic material or a person’s genetic heritage is known as genotype. However, not
all of this
genetic material is apparent or distinctly identifiable in our observable characteristics.
Phenotype is the way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable and measurable
characteristics. Phenotypes include physical traits, such as height, weight, eye and skin colour,
and many of the psychological
characteristics such as intelligence, creativity, and personality.

BY GARIMA CHIB
Environment
Environment plays an important role in human life. Psychologically a person's environment
consists of the sum total of the stimulations (physical & Psychological) which he receives from
his conception. There are different types of environment such as physical, environment, social
environment & psychological environment.
Physical environment consists of all outer physical surroundings both in-animate and animate
which have to be manipulated in order to provide food, clothing and shelter. Geographical
conditions i.e. weather and climates are physical environment which has considerable impact on
individual child.
Social environment is constituted by the society-individuals and institutions, social laws,
customs by which human behavior is regulated.
Psychological environment is rooted in individual's reaction with an object. One's love, affection
and fellow feeling attitude will strengthen human bond with one another.
So Growth and Development are regulated by the environment of an individual where he lives.

URIE BRONFENBRENNER’S CONTEXTUAL VIEW OF DEVELOPMENT

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s contextual view of development emphasises the role of environmental
factors in the development of an individual.
Bronfenbrenner believed that a person's development was affected by everything in their
surrounding environment. He divided the person's environment into five different levels: the
microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem

Microsystem
We will begin with the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory: the microsystem. The
microsystem is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact.
Some examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes
family, peers, or caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional.

Mesosystem
The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the
interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a
person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and
assert influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual.

Exosystem
The exosystem is the next level we will examine. The exosystem refers to a setting that does not
involve the person as an active participant, but still affects them. This includes decisions that
have bearing on the person, but in which they have no participation in the decision-making

BY GARIMA CHIB
process. An example would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work
or losing their job.
The Macrosystem

The macrosystem setting is the actual culture of an individual. The cultural contexts involve the
socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family, his ethnicity or race and living in a still
developing or a third world country. For example, being born to a poor family makes a person
work harder every day

The Chronosystem

The chronosystem includes the transitions and shifts in one's lifespan. This may also involve the
socio-historical contexts that may influence a person. One classic example of this is how divorce,
as a major life transition, may affect not only the couple's relationship but also their children's
behavior.

OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

Developmental stages are assumed to be temporary and are often characterized by a dominant
feature or a leading characteristic, which gives each period its uniqueness. Human life proceeds
through different stages.
These accomplishments of a person become the social expectations of that stage of development.
They are known as developmental tasks.
Following are the different stages of development and their main features:

 PRENATAL

Prenatal development is the process by which a baby develops inside the mother's
womb. Prenatal development takes about 38 weeks to complete. During this time, a
single cell becomes a full-term baby.

Teratology is the field that investigates the causes of congenital (birth) defects. A
teratogen is that which causes birth defects.

Following are the major hazards to pre-natal development:

1. Prescription and nonprescription drugs:- These include prescription as well as

non-prescription drugs. Antibiotic is an example of a prescription drug that can be
harmful. Examples of nonprescription drugs are diet pills, aspirin and coffee.

BY GARIMA CHIB
 2. Psychoactive Drugs:- These includes nicotine, caffeine and illegal drugs such as
marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

3. Heavy drinking by pregnant women results in a cluster of abnormalities that

appears in the children of mothers who drink alcohol heavily during pregnancy.

4. Environmental Hazards: These include radiations and X-rays, environmental

pollutants, toxic wastes and prolonged exposure to heat.

5. Other factors like nutrition, high anxiety and stress or age etc. are another factors.

 INFANCY (0-2 Years)

Infancy is the period between birth and the acquisition of language one to two years later.
Besides a set of inherited reflexes that help them obtain nourishment and react to danger,
newborns are equipped with a predilection for certain visual patterns, including that of the
human face, and for certain sounds, including that of the human voice. Within a few months
they are able to identify their mother by sight, and they show a striking sensitivity to the
tones, rhythmic flow, and individual sounds that make up human speech.

The normal growth of babies can be broken down into the following areas:

 Gross motor - controlling the head, sitting, crawling, maybe even starting to walk
 Fine motor - holding a spoon, picking up a piece of cereal between thumb and finger
 Sensory - seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling
 Language - starting to make sounds, learning some words, understanding what people say
 Social - the ability to play with family members and other children

Babies do not develop at the same rate. There is a wide range of what is considered "normal."
Your baby may be ahead in some areas and slightly behind in others. If you are worried about
possible delays, talk to your baby's health care provider.

OBJECT PERMANANCE: Children at this stage do not go beyond their immediate sensory
experience, i.e. lack object permanence — the awareness that the objects continue to exist when
not perceived.

BY GARIMA CHIB
  CHILDHOOD

Child Development is a process every child goes through. The process involves learning and
mastering skills like sitting, walking, talking, skipping etc. Children learn these skills, called
developmental milestone, during predictable time periods.

Children develop skills in five main areas of development:

1. Physical Development: Early development follows two principles :

(i) development proceeds cephalocaudally, i.e. from the cephalic or head region
to the caudal or tail region. Children gain control over the upper part of the body before
the lower part.
(ii) growth proceeds from the centre of body and moves towards the extremities
or more distal regions — the proximodistal trend, i.e. children gain control over their
torso before their extremities.

2. Cognitive Development: This is the child’s ability to learn and solve problems.
For example: this includes a two-month old baby learning to explore the
environment with hands or eyes or a five- year old learning how to do simple
math problems. This ability of the child to engage in symbolic thought helps to
expand her/his mental world. The progress in symbolic thought continues. A
salient feature of preoperational thought is egocentrism (self-focus), i.e. children
see the world only in terms of their own selves and are not able to appreciate
others’ point of view. Children because of egocentrism, engage in animism -
thinking that all things are living, like one.

3. Social and Emotional Development: This is the child’s ability to interact with
others, including helping themselves and self-control. Examples of this type of
development would include: a six-week old baby smiling, a ten-month old baby
waving bye-bye, or a five old boy knowing how to take turns in games at school.

4. Speech and Language Development: This is the child’s ability to both understand
and use language. For example:, this includes a 12-month old baby saying his first
word, a two-year-old baby naming parts of the body, or a five-year old baby to
say “feet” instead of “foot”.

5. Fine Motor Skill Development: This is the child’s ability to use small muscles,
specifically their hands and fingers. To pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn
pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw.

BY GARIMA CHIB
 6. Gross Motor Development: This is the child’s ability to use large muscles. For
example: a six- month old baby learns how to sit up with some support, a 12-
month old baby learns to pull up to a stand holding onto the furniture, and a five-
year-old learns to skip.

7. Moral Development : Another important aspect of the child’s development is

learning to differentiate between the rightness or wrongness of human acts.
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, they pass through the various stages of moral
development, which are age related. Kohlberg interviewed children in which they
were presented with stories in which the characters face moral dilemmas.
Children were asked what the characters in the dilemma should do, and why.
According to him, children approach thinking about right and wrong differently at
different ages. The young child, i.e. before 9 years of age, thinks in terms of
external authority. According to her/him actions are wrong because s/he is
punished, and right because s/he is rewarded. As the child rows, i.e. by early
adolescence, s/he develops moral reasoning through set of rules of others, such as
parents or laws of the society.
ERIK ERIKSON’S THEORY OF PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

BY GARIMA CHIB
NOTE: In the Exam When you will write a particular stage you have to mention the stage of that
particular age group.

For example: if you mention adolescent you will write about identity Vs Role confusion.

JEAN PIAGET

 ADOLESCENCE

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs
between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological, social and psychological
changes though the biological or physiological ones are easiest to measure objectively.

BY GARIMA CHIB
The end of adolescence is the beginning of adulthood. It is usually accompanied by an increased
independence allowed by the parents or legal guardians and less supervision, contrary to the
preadolescence stage.

PHYSICAL CHANGES:

Adolescence is a period of rapid growth and psychological changes occur, culminating in sexual
maturity. The average onset of puberty is 10yrs girls and age 12 for boys. Puberty begins with a
surge in hormone production, which in turn causes a number of physical changes. It is also the
stage of life in which a child develops secondary sex characteristics as his or her hormonal
balance shifts strongly towards an adult state.

The adolescent growth spurt is a rapid increase in an individual's height and weight during
puberty resulting from the simultaneous release of growth hormones, thyroid hormones, and
androgens. Males experience their growth spurt about two years later than females. The
accelerated growth in different body parts happens at different times, but for all adolescents it
has a fairly regular sequence. The first places to grow are the extremities (head, hands, and feet),
followed by the arms and legs, and later the torso and shoulders. This non-uniform growth is
one reason why an adolescent body may seem out of proportion. During puberty, bones become
harder and more brittle.

Before puberty, there are nearly no differences between males and females in the distribution of
fat and muscle. During puberty, males grow muscle much faster than females, and females
experience a higher increase in body fat. The ratio between muscle and fat in post-pubertal males
is around 1:3, while for males it is about 5:4. An adolescent's heart and lungs increase in both
size and capacity during puberty; these changes contribute to increased strength and tolerance for
exercise.

Hormonal Changes

Puberty involves distinctive physiological changes in an individual's height, weight, body

composition, and circulatory and respiratory systems. During this time, both the
adrenal glands and the sex glands mature—processes known as adrenarche and gonadarche,
respectively. The male and female gonads are subsequently activated which puts them into a
stage of rapid growth and development; the triggered gonads now commence the mass
production of the necessary chemicals.

These changes are largely influenced by hormonal activity. Hormones play an organizational
role (priming the body to behave in a certain way once puberty begins) and an activational
role (triggering certain behavioral and physical changes). During puberty, the adolescent's
hormonal balance shifts strongly towards an adult state; the process is triggered by the pituitary

BY GARIMA CHIB
gland, which secretes a surge of hormonal agents into the blood stream and initiates a chain
reaction.

Sexual Maturation

It is this stage in life in which a child develops secondary sex characteristics. Primary sex
characteristics are organs specifically needed for reproduction, like the uterus and ovaries in
females and the testes in males. Secondary sex characteristics, on the other hand, are physical
signs of sexual maturation that do not directly involve sex organs. In females, this includes
development of breasts and widening of hips, while in males it includes development of facial
hair and deepening of the voice. Both sexes experience development of pubic and underarm hair,
as well as increased development of sweat glands.

Cognitive Changes

Adolescents’ thought becomes more abstract, logical, and idealistic; they become more capable
of examining their own thoughts, others’ thoughts, and what others are thinking about them.
Adolescents’ developing ability to reason gives them a new level of cognitive and social
awareness. Piaget believed that formal operational thought appears between the age of 11 and
15.
Adolescent thinking becomes more systematic in solving problems — they think of possible
courses of action, why something is happening the way it is, and systematically seek solutions.
Piaget called this type of logical thinking — hypothetical deductive reasoning. Logical thought
also influences the development of moral reasoning. Social rules are not considered as absolute
standards and moral thinking shows some flexibility.

Adolescents also develop a special kind of egocentrism. According to David Elkind,

 imaginary audience: Imaginary audience is adolescent’s belief that others are as
preoccupied with them as they are about themselves. They imagine that people are
always noticing them and are observing each and every behaviour of theirs.
 personal fable: The personal fable is part of the adolescents’ egocentrism that involves
their sense of uniqueness. Adolescents’ sense of uniqueness makes them think that no one
understands them or their feelings.
`

BY GARIMA CHIB
CHALLENGES OF ADOLESCENCE
During adolescence peer influence, new gained freedom, unresolved problems may create
difficulties for many of you. Conforming to peer pressure can be both positive and negative.
Adolescents are often confronted with decisions regarding smoking, drugs, alcohol, and breaking
parental rules, etc. These decisions are taken without much regard to the effect they can have.
Adolescents may face periods of uncertainty, loneliness, self-doubt, anxiety, and concern about
themselves and their future, they are also likely to experience excitement, joy, and feelings of
competence as they overcome the developmental challenges.
The major challenges in adolescence are as follow:
 Coping with the loss of normality
 Acknowledging Sexuality
 Change of View points
 High risk Behaviors:

This includes

Delinquency: It which refers to a variety of behaviors, ranging from socially unacceptable

behaviour, legal offences, to criminal acts. Examples include truancy, running away from home,
stealing or burglary or acts of vandalism. Adolescents with delinquency and behavioral problems
tend to have a negative self-identity, decreased trust, and low level of achievement. Delinquency
is often associated with low parental support, inappropriate discipline, and family discord.

Substance-Abuse : Adolescent years are especially vulnerable to smoking, alcohol and drug
abuse. Some adolescents take recourse to smoking and drugs as a way of coping with stress. This
can interfere with the development of coping skills and responsible decision making. The reasons
for smoking and drug use could be peer pressure and the adolescents’ need to be accepted by the
group, or desire to act more like adults, or feel a need to escape the pressure of school work or
social activities. The addictive powers of nicotine make it difficult to stop smoking. It has been
found that adolescents who are more vulnerable to drugs, alcohol, and nicotine use, are
impulsive, aggressive, anxious, depressive, and unpredictable, have low self-esteem, and
low expectation for achievement
Eating Disorders: Adolescents obsession with self, living in fantasy world and peer comparisons
leads to certain conditions where they become obsessed with their own bodies. Anorexia nervosa
is an eating disorder that involves relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation. It is quite
common to see adolescents eliminate certain foods from their diets or to eat slimming foods
only. The media also projects thinness, as the most desirable image and copying such fashionable
image of thinness leads to anorexia nervosa. Bulimia is another form of an eating disorder in
which the individual follows a binge-and-purge eating pattern. The bulimic goes on an eating
binge, then purges by self-induced vomiting or using a laxative at times alternating it with
fasting.
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are primarily female disorders more common in urban families

BY GARIMA CHIB
ADULTHOOD
Adulthood is seen as responsible matured self supporting and well integrated stage in the society
the major possibilities for successfully living your life are career work marriage and parenthood
a stable income a satisfying career are all part of being an adult there are many apprehensions
and challenging events during this period

 Marriage brings with its own set of concerns with most family is being nuclear and both
partners working finding a balance can be difficult at times
In addition to getting married concerns also involved in number of children availability of
resources and unhappiness death of a spouse for divorce creates its own concerns
 Physical development sees its own decline in the form of physical changes which are
usually gradual aging rates vary in individuals wrinkling sagging of skin age spots
thinning grey hair et cetera. Height tends to shrink in the middle age due to bone loss in
vertebrae and many gain weight which is a critical health problem in middle adulthood
These are the concerns of adulthood

Nowadays people are living longer age of retiring from work is changing and cut off
point for old age definition is moving upward the experience of old age also depends on
socio-economic conditions availability of Healthcare attitude of people expectations of
society and the available support system
 Retirement from inactive vocational life changes the lifestyle of an individual that has
continued for many years and if natural requires adjustments. If the attitude towards
retirement is positive it can be a relaxed phase of life also older adults need to adjust to
changes in the family structure and new rules grand parenting that have to be learnt
dependency for finances on Children and overcoming loneliness becomes a major
developmental task in old age feeling of loss of energy and dwindling of Health and
financial assets leads to insecurity.
 All that is more likely to occur in late adulthood but that can come at any point of time in
development death of children or young adult is more tragic for older adults.

BY GARIMA CHIB
OLD AGE

It consists of Ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings and does the end of
human life cycle it is the states beginning from 60 years

Old age is a time of poor health, inactivity and decline is a myth the activity theory of aging
states that life satisfaction is highest when people maintain level of activity they had in earlier
years. The concept of retirement in adults is changing fast and people remain active by 65 years
and beyond. Many adults now start a second job; they take on new roles like grandparents and
also assume old hobbies or start new ones. Most elderly also travel live independently and
actively participate in society does old age is a social construct rather than a definite biological
stage

The developmental tasks of old age are as follows:

1. RETIREMENT: Retirement from active occasional life is quite significant old age
people consider it as a separation from an important source of satisfaction and self
esteem others view it as a shift in life with more time to pursue their own interest this
time old age people might show openness to new experiences.
2. Older adults need to adjust to changes in the family structure and new roles that are
grandparent’s older adults may depend on their children for financial support to
overcome the loneliness.
3. LOSS OF ENERGY in old age feeling of loss of energy and health leads to insecurity
and dependence in the stage old people look for or a sense of security and belongingness
a feeling that people care for them from their children and family.
4. DEATH: It that is more likely to occur in late adulthood but it can come at any point in
development. In old age death of a spouse is usually seen as the most difficult. This is
the time when people look for emotional and social support after the loss of their spouse
during for example from children, grandchildren and friends can help the individual to
cope with the loss of spouse.

BY GARIMA CHIB