Knowing the stages of growth and development
throughout the human lifespan - Lesson 4
Learning Outcomes of Unit 4
 You will be able to:
1. Identify and define the stages of growth and
development through the human lifespan,
2. Identify, define and apply the potential effects of
life factors and events on the development of the
individual,
3. Identify and define the physical and psychological
changes of ageing.
Fact or Opinion?
Hand out newspaper article to students and ask them
to highlight facts or opinions.
Intellectual Development
 Piaget (1896 -1980) – famous theorist who studied
our ability to think and develop,
 Piaget believes that there are four stages of
intellectual development which mature or unfolds:
1. Sensorimotor stage: birth to 1 and a half or 2 years,
2. The pre-operational stage: 2 – 7 years,
3. The concrete operational stage: 7 – 11 years,
4. The formal operational stage from 11+ years.
Page 140 – book 1
Language Development
 Chomsky (1959) and Pinker (1994) believe that the
ability to develop a signed or spoken language is
genetically programmed into us (language
acquisition device),
 The ability to use language develops because of
maturation, we do need to experience other
people using language but we do not need to be
trained in order to speak,
 Some children will develop speech much more
rapidly than others.
What do you think?
In pairs discuss how quickly you learned
Reflect
on when
how far
personal
experiences
to speak
you
were young
and
can be explained
in terms
of genetics
for
compare
this learning
a second
language
first
language
in school.
Writing task
Read and copy the table
on the development of
language on page 141.
Social development
 There are great differences and cultural variations
in the way individuals will experience social
relationships during the course of their life.
However there some generalisations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Infancy (0-3) interacting with carers,
Childhood (4-9) first social learning,
Adolescence (10-18) secondary social learning
Adulthood (19-65)
Older adulthood (65+ years)
Emotional development
 The way we understand and feel about ourselves
and other people develops as we grow older. Some
key features of emotional development associated
with the life stages are summarised below:
1. Infancy – attachment
2. Childhood – understanding self and others
3. Adolescence – identity
4. Adulthood – intimacy
5. Older adulthood – making sense of your life
Delayed development
potential causes and effects
 Delayed development happens when a baby or a
young child has not shown development within the
expected time range,
 The term is usually restricted to development within
the first five years of life,
 Delayed development may be caused by issues such
as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Brain damage
Poor social interaction,
Disease,
Visual disability
Hearing disability
Poor nutrition
Delayed development –
potential causes and effects
 Developmental progress will be checked by health
professionals such as health visitors, although
parents and GPs may be the first to notice
problems,
 Children who appear to have delayed
development will be referred to appropriate
specialist for advice or therapy
Case study – p144 B1
Read through
Nia’s case
study and
answer the
three questions
Arrested Development
 The term arrested development means
development that has stopped,
 The word arrest means to stop something or
someone,
 In the past people with severe mental disability
were sometimes regarded as arrested, but people
with serious learning difficulty can develop and
the term arrested ca be argued to be misleading if
used to refer to people with learning difficulty or
disability
Homework
Using the internet or books provided
undertake a web search to explore the
concept of arrested development. Write
some short notes to summarise your
research.
5–5–1
Summarise today’s topic in 5 sentences.
Reduce to 5 words.
Now to 1 word.
(with as many variations as there are numbers!)