15421316 Human Growth Development

Human Growth & Development “from womb to tomb”

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. Charles Darwin

Human Growth & Development This chapter deals with a

Wholistic approach to Human Development across the Life Span, considering the person as a system with Body, Mind and Spirit functioning as an entirety, and being Influenced by the Environment.

Why Learn about Human Growth and Development

Human Growth & Development A Knowledge of one’s personal

development is an essential component of self-knowledge. To provide a baseline for understanding the perspective of client and nature of their problem. It is essential to understand the stages and the process of normal Growth and Development.

Development Approach to Counseling  Its very important for the counselor to know as

much as about the development process and where the client are and to make interventions appropriate to their developmental levels.  Its very important to start with the client rather than your theories when adopting a developmental approach to counseling.  The study of human development is valuable in designing preventive programmes to prevent certain types of problems by the application of the current knowledge.

Development of the whole Person The study of Human Development across

the life span (from birth to death) is relatively recent phenomenon. The study of human development must include all of the multidimensional interactional elements..  Basic or core elements considered here are physical-motor, cognitive-intellectual, socio-emotional, and moral-spiritual (faith) each element interacts with and influence

Basic or core elements Physical-Motor: It includes Body build,

size, strength, rate of physical maturation or deterioration, motor skill coordination, and physical health. Cognative-intellectual: It includes

memory, thinking, language, perception, problem solving, and academic achievement.

Basic or core elements Social-Emotional: It includes

emotional development, temperament, and interpersonal relationship skills. Moral-Spiritual: It includes beliefs,

values, morals and faith development.

Principles of Human Growth and Development

“Growth in an Organism is that structural

change which increases its level of functioning in specific ways, although the potential for some different but related function may be concomitantly decreased”. As child learns language, use of baby talk

declines.

Principles of Human Growth and Development

 Growth is a continuous and life long process: Right

from the union of the sperm and ovum and continuing till death growth is a constant process. The rate of growth may change among individuals but the process goes on.  Growth is sequential and Unique: Union of the sperm and ovum creates a blue print that is both general to the species and unique to the individual. The stages of growth occur at predictable times, and the result is a distinctly unique adult.

Principles of Human Growth and Development

 Growth is the unfolding of the Genetic Code (deoxyribonucleic

acid, or DNA): The unfolding will occur at the right time, given a general nonhostile environment. Interacting with the environment growth includes learning & maturation and is integrative. “ if a child is hungry and cries, the child learns that crying can result in being fed. Some learning occurs best at the critical or sensitive periods in the child’s development”.  Growth is integrative with all of the human systems working together: A child may be mentally ready to ride a bicycle but physically might not have the strength, coordination, and balance to learn.  Growth occurs in Stages: Stages are identifiable within the various dimensions, but not everybody completes every stage.

Areas of Development  The most observable of the

developmental processes is that of physical development. Beginning in utero on conception and is influenced by the environment provided by the mother.  Approx 2,50,000 babies are born in US every year with birth defects most being preventable defects.

Areas of Development  Amniocentesis: a clinical examination of cells

from the womb containing the fetus is taken to determine whether genetic or environmentally caused malfunctions have occurred. Along with taking the genetic history of the parents.  Genetic Counseling: Helping people make a

decision about having children, and working with families who have genetic problems

Areas of Development (The Birthing Process)

Birthing Process  Giving birth to a child can be both exciting

and stressful period in the lives of all concerned.  Under normal circumstances the baby leaves the security of the womb and is literally forced down the narrow birth canal until born. Sudden change from the safety of the uterus to the bright lights and loud noises of the outside world is the first trauma in the child’s life. This trauma is the chief cause for later neuroses in adults

So how to avoid this trauma in the new born

The child should be born in a quite, dimly

lit room and immediately placed on the mother’s abdomen, where the child can be gently fondled and caressed. After the umbilical cord is cut, the child is bathed in warm water. Infants born in this manner do seem to cry less and respond early than babies born into bright and loud noises and greeted with vigorous slap on the buttocks.

Bonding  The forming of the attachment with another

person, can begin immediately after birth, forming the bases of a lifetime relationship. Skin contact, cuddling, touching, stroking, eye contact, and talking are all functions of the bonding practice.  Greater the length of time involved in the bonding process, greater the chances for a strong, positive, trusting relationship in the future.  Its applicable to both father and the mother.

Early Childhood (0 to 5 years)  The foundation for all of the child’s future growth &     

learning becomes well established at this time. Will attain half of their future height by age 2+. By age 4, child’s IQ will be stable enough to predict the IQ at age 17. By age 5, the child has 75% of their ultimate brain weight and 90% of it by age 6. At 5 the child is energetic, active and uses the large muscles fairly well. Age 6 to 12, physical growth slows down considerably, bodily proportions continue to change, large muscle development continues and greater small muscle refinement.

Adolescence  Adolescence, from a purely physical

sense, begins with the prepubertal growth spurt and ends with the attainment of full physical maturity.  Skeletal growth is complete, total height being attained, and “ upper limits of genetic potential for endocrine development” have been reached.  Adolescents have both the pleasure and the pain of being the direct observers of the entire process.

Problems in Adolescence  Development or lack of it is the major concern:

Comparisons with peers and the prevailing ideal, plus the horror of attending the problems like acne makes it difficult for them and those around.  Distinct periods of physical changes triggered by an explosion of hormones in the body.  During this age secondary sex characteristics first appear and sexual organs become functional.  Here the individuals ultimate height is attained & where boys are broadening at the shoulders and girls are broadening at the hips.

Problems in Adolescence  Although this stage is standard for everyone, the time and

rates at which bodily changes take place differ significantly.  Early maturing boys benefit from their status, whereas there is a stigma attached to the late bloomers.  For girls the reverse seems to be true, but not the same degree, as the mass media promote the idea of sexual attractiveness and conformity to certain ideals for members of both sexes.  Attention deficit.  Anger issues.  Suicide.

Adulthood There tends to be loss of

muscle strength and endurance partly due to a decline in activity level. Body size shrinks and posture changes markedly loss of strength is inevitable.

Adulthood In women ( Age of 48-51)  At this stage women is no longer able to conceive a child. The cessation of the menstural cycle brought by the changes in the hormone secretion.  Hormonal changes can affect the woman’s total personality and result in headache, irritability, and depression.  With the fear of pregnancy gone, sexual interest may increase for some women.

Adulthood In Men (age of 40-80-90)  No major drop in sex hormone levels.  Sperm production continues on into the eighties and nineties.  some may face the symptoms like tiredness, irritability, poor appetite and impaired ability to concentrate. It is caused by decreased levels of testosterone production and can be aided by testosterone injections to reduce the condition called Male Climacteric.

Intelligence

What Intelligence is all about Intelligence is the ability to think in

abstract terms. Intelligence as a global term incorporates mental and physical processes that may or may not be measurable. Measured intelligence refers to specific mental and physical activities that have been demonstrated in a controlled testing situations.

What Intelligence is all about In simple terms One major component of the intellectual

capacity of an individual is thinking ability. Thinking in general includes such mental activity as forming concepts, making comparisons, solving problems, and reasoning. It’s the function of the Right and the Left Hemisphere of the Brain

Types of Intelligence  Emanate from left hemisphere of the brain:

Linguistic intelligence: It’s the

ability to understand and use language. Logico-mathematical intelligence: includes the ability to use logic and understand and apply linear type of mathematics

Types of Intelligence  Emanate from Right hemisphere of the brain:

Musical Intelligence: It refers to the

ability to use and to conceptualize in musical terms. Spatial intelligence: It involves the ability to work in two-and three dimensional terms, dealing with size, shape, perspective etc.. Students who do well in geometry would tend to score high in this type of intelligence.

Types of Intelligence The body has an intelligence of its own

called Kinesthetic Intelligence: It refers to the body’s ability to learn and master physical skills. Eg; performance of professional dancers & athletes. Interpersonal Intelligence: Ability to function in social situations.

So what are you the Left or the Right

Nature – Nurture Issues  Heredity and Environment influence measured

intelligence. Its is in large part inherited but can be affected negatively and positively by environmental influences.  How much intellectual power a person uses at any given time is of more significance than the level of the measured intelligence.  Having high intelligence does not guarantee success any more than low intelligence ensures failure. Other factors like motivation may play a very important role in determining Success or Failure.

Piaget’s Stage Development Theory There is an organised pattern of behaviour or

thought, which he labeled Schemas. Children adapt to their environment, assimilate new information into existing schemas, and accommodate new experiences by revising existing schemas. His theory states that thinking processes develop in the same fixed sequence of stages.

Piaget’s Stage Development Theory  At fairly specific points of time in the

developmental process, characteristic behaviour and abilities to conceptualize occurs.  Each stage builds on the accomplishments of the preceding one in a hierarchical fashion and heredity has in effect, programmed the unfolding of these stages.  Physical & Social environment, however, may affect the age at which specific abilities evolve or the degree to which the abilities are developed.

Guidelines for each age  Sensorimotor stage (birth -2 years):  Here the child acquires knowledge as a

result of sensory impressions & motor activities. It begins as the newborn infant explores his or her body & uses his or her senses.  The child is able to distinguish between parents and animals, has rudimentary sense of direction & purpose, and is beginning to use representational thoughts.

Guidelines for each age  Preoperational stage(2-8 years):  Here the child is able to think about their environment by using symbols and words to represent their surroundings.  Accomplishments include development of

language, differentiate between animals, and use of imagination.  At this age its very difficult for the child to take others point of view as they believe that others see things the same way as they do.

Guidelines for each age  Concrete-operational stage (7-11

years):  At this age the child is able to deal logically with objects but still not able to work with abstract ideas.  Can perform such operations as classifying, combining, separating, ordering, multiplying, dividing, substituting, reversing their thinking and, understand the relationship between time and speed.

Guidelines for each age  Formal operational stage (11-15 -20

years):  Develop the skill of using abstract logic to think about the process of thinking.  Able to generalize & formulate hypothesis and test them mentally.  Able to propose alternative solutions to a problem and think about the future.  Can synthesize materials, creating new and unique ideas.

Psychological Development Thinking about human behaviour and the

development of personality stems from the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud & associates. Accordingly personality development is the result of a combination of external factors that affect the development of Ego, Superego and internal factors such as biological needs and appetites represented & affected by Id.

Psychological Development Erikson believed in epigenetic

development, where the person inexorably moves form one stage to another, confronting age-specific crises along the way. Successful resolution of these conflicts in a full mature, emotionally healthy individuals.

Emotional Development

Affective development,

which includes our feelings, emotions, and values, is something we all experience in life at all stages.

Stages in Emotional Development Process Egocentric-impersonal stage (0-2 years):

Here children are not able to differentiate between themselves and the world around them. Heteronymous stage (2-7 years): Child differentiates between themselves and significant adults, mainly their parents. Here they experience and learn the names for the basic feelings of fear, anger, happiness, and sadness

Stages in Emotional Development Process Impersonal stage (7-12 years): Children

evidence feelings of mutual respect and reciprocity as relationships with peers increase and those with the adults decrease. Psychological-Personal stage (12-15 years): Adolescents develop a system of values.” these values are usually concerned with universal justice, equality, patriotic sense, and alliance to an abstract code of

Stages in Emotional Development Process Autonomous Stage: Here individuals

become aware of and appreciate how they are personally responsible for their own behaviour. Integrious stage: Has a fully developed philosophy of life, integrity itself is invested with affect. Integrity refers not only to consistency conduct in accordance with principles, but also to a feeling of wholeness that the individual prizes.

To Here …. And Beyond