HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
“ To be a person is to change. Change is what
development is all about. There is nothing
permanent except change.”
Growth: Self-initiated changes in a desired
direction.
Development: Orderly and sequential changes
that occur with the passage of time as an
organism move from conception to death.
Human Development: The process of becoming
someone different while remaining in some
respects the same over an extended period of
time.
Human development studies how people
change as well as characteristics that
remain fairly stable throughout life.
1) By the end of the 19th century- many
trends were preparing the way for the
scientific study of child development.
2) Scientists unlocked the mystery of
conception and were arguing about
nature vs. nurture.
3) Discovery of germs and immunizations –
more children survived infancy.
4) Cheap labor – was abundant/ children
were less needed as workers and spent
more time in school.
5) Parents and teachers – more concerned
with meeting children’s developmental
needs.
6) Freud – taught that by knowing what
happened in childhood, we could better
understand ourselves.
7) G. Stanley Hall – (early 20th century)
posited that adolescence was a separate
period of development.
8) Stanford, Berkley, and Oakland studies –
extended research into adulthood and
focused on how particular experiences,
tied to time and place affect the course of
people’s lives.
9) Terman studies – focused on adulthood
in the 1930s.
Oakland studies – focused on World
War II.
Berkley studies – post-war boom period
(1950).
The Science and Its Goals (4):
1) Describe – the changes that take place
from conception to death. Addresses the
question “how.” Accurately portray
behavior. Example” when do children
speak and what is the nature of this
speech?
2) Explain – behavior and addresses the
question “why?” Example: why am I so
shy? Why is my mother behaving so
differently than 2 years ago?
3) Predict – changes that may occur. Forecasting
later development on the basis of earlier or
present development. Example: what are the
chances for language if a child suffers from an
inherited disorder? What health habits are
conducive to lowering heart attacks?
4) Influence – or control behavior. Intervention to
promote optimal development. Example: If I
know my father is alcoholic, what can I do to
avoid becoming like him? If infants are put on a
special diet after birth, intellectual development
from an inherited disorder can be minimized.
Dimensions of Human
Development
1)Biological/Physical:genetic
inheritance, health care, nutrition, sleep,
drug abuse, changes in height and
weight, sexual functioning.
2)Psychological (cognitive and
emotional): thinking, learning,
remembering, problem solving,
attachment, security, trust, emotions,
affection.
3) Social – moral development,
relationships with family and peers,
marriage, parenthood, work,
Paul Baltes – leader in the study of
lifespan developmental psychology:
1) Development is lifelong – each period
has its own unique characteristics and
value; none is more important than the
other. Each period is influenced by
what happened before and will affect
what is to come.
2) Development depends on history and
context – each person develops within a
set of circumstances defined by time
and place. Reciprocal determinism.
3) Development is multidimensional
and multidirectional – development
involves a balance of growth and
decline. As we gain in one area, we
may lose in another. Example:
vocabulary may increase and the
ability to solve problems may
diminish.
4) Development is plastic –
modifiability of performance; the
potential for change. Many abilities
such as strength and endurance can
be improved with training and
practice.
5) Development is embedded in
multiple contexts – it is influenced
by a wide range of influences:
Normative influences – events
experienced in a similar way by
most people.
 Normative age-graded influences:
similar for most people in a certain
age group. Example: puberty,
entry into formal education,
learning to drive.
b) Normative history-graded influences
– are common to a particular cohort
(group of people who share a similar
experience). Example: living through
the Great Depression, feeling the
impact of War (Iraq).
Non-normative life events – unusual
events that have a major impact on
individual lives and are unique turning
points at which people change some
direction in their lives. These
experiences may cause stress because
they are unexpected and require an
adjustment on the individual’s part.


U.S. Copter Down in Iraq; 12 Believed
Dead
All 12 Americans aboard a crashed Black
Hawk helicopter are dead. Five Marines
also died in a bloody weekend.
Example: death of a parent when a
child is very young, marrying at a
very young age (early teens),
winning a scholarship, being in an
automobile crash, September 9/11.
Critical period – a specific time
when an event or its absence has
the greatest impact on
development. Example: a pregnant
woman takes certain drugs or
contracts certain diseases.
On June 29, 2005, architect David Childs of
SOM and David Libeskind, the WTC site's
master planner, unveiled revised design
plans for the Freedom Tower. Though the
structure maintains its 1776-foot height,
many other changes were introduced.
2005 Project Rebirth
http://www.projectrebirth.org/film/index.html
A pregnant woman receives X-rays
during the first trimester – the fetus
may show ill effects.
A child deprived of certain
experiences may show permanent
stunting of physical development.
Developmental scientists study 2 kinds of
change:
1) Quantitative – change in number or
amount: height, weight, vocabulary,
frequency of communication.
2) Qualitative – change in kind, structure, or
organization: from reading shakily to doing
so with a firm voice, a non-verbal child to
one who understands words and can
communicate verbally.
 Nature vs. Nurture – the age-old debate
that explores our inborn biological
inheritance and the forces of the social
and physical world that influence our
biological makeup and psychological
experiences before and after birth.
Today, it is not a question of how much
but how do these two opposing forces
interact to make us who we are.
 CLASS ACTIVITY: Victor – the Wild boy
of Aveyron.
Get together in your family groups and answer
the following:
1) Do you think it was right for Itard to try to
modify the development of a child like
Victor?
2) What damages, if any, do you see in such
a project and what benefits to be gained?
3) Can you suggest any safety measures that
might have protected Victor’s welfare (if
you think that Victor was harmed in some
way)?