GROWTH , DEVELOPMENT

AND MATURATION

Prof. Bhavna Verma

Growth and development
 The term growth and development or both
refer to dynamic process . They often used
changeably ,these terms have different
denotations.
 Growth :is physical change and increase
in size and it can be measure.
 Indicators of growth include height ,
weight, bone size size and dentition.
 distinguish between growth
and development

Watson and Lowery (1960) have tried to distinguish

between the two processes. They say that growth
may mean increase in physical size of the whole or
any of its part which may be measured. On the other
hand, development indicates an increase in skill and
complexity of function. In any case the processes of
development and growth are not the same but are
interrelated and interdependent.
 Meaning of growth
According to Watson and Lowery “ growth means an increase
in the physical size of the whole or any of its parts.” It can be
measured in terms of centimeters and kilograms or metabolic
balance i. e. retention of hydrogen and calcium in the body.
Juan Comas defines it “ as the objective manifestation of
hypertrophy(enlargement of an organ or tissue resulting from
an increase in size of its cells) and hyperplasia (the
enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in
the reproduction rate of its cells, often as an initial stage in
the development of cancer) of the organism constituent
tissues and is determined by post natal body size.” This
increase in body size is limited by predetermined constitutional
and hereditary factors. It is however influenced by exogenous
factors like diet, climate, race, environment etc.
DEVELOPMENT
 IS an increase in the complexity of
function and skill progression.
 It is a capacity and skill of person to
function
 DEVELOPMENT: is a behavior e.g: the
person develop their ability to walk ,
talk, to run ….ext .
 Development
Development refers to the increase of functional capacity in perfect
form resulting from production of specialised tissues from
unspecialised ones.
The term development has been variously defined by scientists.
Comas (1960) regards development as a quality peculiar to living
matter that carries it through the process of progressive evolution
to a state of perfect function.

Hurlock (1941) considers development as changes in its progressive

series which are orderly and coherent and which lead to maturity.
It is, in fact, the consequence of cellular differentiation that the
character and its specificity results into perfect function.
Types of growth and
development
 Physical and physiological
 Social Motor
 Mental Spiritual
 Psychological& Intelectual
 Emotional
 Growth and development: are independent ,
interrelated processes e.g an infant muscles, bones
and nervous system must grow to a certain point
before, the infant sit up or walk.

 Growth: generally takes place during the first 20 years

of life, development continue after that.
 Learning can either help or hinder the
maturation process, depending on what is
learned.
 Each developmental stage has its own
characteristics.
 Growth and development occur in a
cephalocaudal i.e starting at the head and
moving to the trunk, the leg and feet.
 Growth and development become
increasingly different.
 Certain stage of growth and
development are more critical than
others.
 Growth and development occur in
proximal to the distal direction i.e from
the center of the body outward.
Factors influencing the growth
and development
 The factors that influencing the growth and
development are both genetic and environmental.
 Genetic factors determine such characteristics such
as sex, physical, status and race.
 Environmental factors affect an individual growth and
development, some of these are: family, religion,
climate, culture, school, community and nutrition.
 Poorly nourished child is more likely to have infection
than a well fed child and may not attain his or her
potential heigth.
 Hereditary Factors:-
Heredity exerts an influence on
humandevelopment. The child carries genetic
endowments from his/her parents. It is
genetically transmitted characteristics from one
generation to the next. The physical
characteristics like height, weight, eye color etc.
and psychological characteristics such as
intelligence, personality, creativity.
 Environmental Factors

The child lives and grows in his environment. Environment

consists of a wide range of stimuli and it provides the
necessary input and experiential base for development of
the child. Enrichment or impoverishment of the
environment would produce differences in his abilities.
For example, a child may have inherited music talent
from his parents through transmission of genes, but he
may not excel in music field if he does not get the proper
environment
 Home Environment

 Home environment exerts tremendous influence on

child‟s understanding of the external world. It builds
self-concept and prepares him to face the external world.
 The environment of the family can be supportive or
stressful for the child. If it is supportive, warm and
harmonious environment, the child develops normally. In
unsupportive and stressful home environment, broken
families or uncaring parents in the family, children may
develop as maladjusted persons.
Cultural Factors

 Culture refers to a system of beliefs, attitudes and values that

are transmitted from one generation to the next. It is a product
of past human behavior and is also a shaper of future
aspirations. The development of the child is influenced by family
as well as by the society.
 The child learns the habits, beliefs, attitude, skills and standards
of judgment through the socialization processes. The
socialization processes of the child take place according to the
culture, customs and traditions of the society.
Socioeconomic Status (SES):-

 Socioeconomic Status plays a pivotal role in human

development. The index of socioeconomic status is
determined by parental education, occupation and
income. The children of low socioeconomic status
may develop as mal-nourished, suffer from lack of
knowledge in many aspects and their normal
development may get hampered. The parenting in
high socioeconomic status families would be different
from low socio-economic status families.
Normative influences
 Normative influences occur in a similar way for
majority of people in a particular group. These
influences may be biological or environmental. For
example, biological events like sexual maturity or
deterioration in old age. Environmental events, like
entering the school at about 6 yrs of age, parenthood
etc. have the same influences on individuals.
 Non-normative influences include the unusual life
events in an individual‟s life. For example, death of a
parent when a child is young or birth defects etc.
Education and Training

 Each child is equipped with certain abilities which

need to be nurtured through proper education and
training. Therefore, the first and foremost step is to
identify and recognize the ability of the child and the
next step is to provide adequate opportunities to
develop the same. If proper identification of the
ability is not possible and adequate facilities are not
available to the child, then his innate ability may not
be developed.
Principle of growth and
development
 Growth is continuous process that
determine by many factors.
 All humans follow the same pattern of
growth and development .
 The sequence of each stage is
predictable, although the time of onset,
the length of stage and the effect of
each stage vary with person.
Maturation

Maturation is more difficult to define than

growth. It is often described as the process
of becoming mature, or progress toward
the mature state. Maturity, however, varies
with the biological system considered.
Sexual maturity is fully functional
reproductive capability. Maturation refers
to the tempo and timing of progress
toward the mature biological state.
Variation in progress over time implies
variation in rate of change.
Maturation
 Is the sequence of physical changes
that are related to genetic influences.
 Maturation: is independent on the
environment but its timing can be
influenced by environmental factors.
 The rate of person growth and
development is highly individualized,
however the sequence is predictable.
Along with growth and learning, maturation is
one of three processes that play a central role
in a person's development. Maturation does
not necessarily happen along with aging or
physical growth, but is a part of growth and
development. The concept of maturation was
pioneered by Arnold Gesell in the 1940s. He
emphasized nature's role in human
development. Maturation is the process by
which we change, grow, and develop
throughout life. Developmental psychologists
look at many different types of maturation
throughout the lifespan.
Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation.
These changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for
maturation.