HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE SUBJECT

At the end of the course, Individuals will analyze the elements of the communication
and will explain the basic principles of this course.

1. HUMAN GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

1.1 Introduction of Human Growth & Development
1.2 Principles of Development
1.3 Infancy
1.4 Childhood
1.5 Juvenile
1.6 Adolescence
1.7 Adulthood

1.1 Introduction Human Growth and Development

Human Growth Development Stages: Human stages of growth and development
are differentiated by age and key stages of scientifically supported psychomotor
development. Psychomotor development is progress in mental and motor skill
activity. The process of growing and developing begins on the cellular level even
before conception in the womb and continues throughout life until death. The
scientific community divides human growth into stages according to age and
assesses psychomotor development as a human develops motor skills and reaches
cognitive milestones. Most human stages of growth and development occur in
infancy, childhood and adolescence.

The period of time between birth and adolescence is commonly divided into four growth
stages: infancy, childhood, juvenile and adolescence. According to the American
Academy of Pediatrics; website, every stage of development has certain milestones. At 1
month of age, for instance, a baby hearing is fully mature, and infants of this stage often
respond to loud sounds and familiar voices. A cognitive milestone for a 1-year-old is
being able to find missing objects after watching someone hide them. Although every
child does not stay within the same time frame in development, parents should note
delays in psychomotor development and bring them to the attention of a pediatrician.

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1.2 Principles of Development

There is a set of principles that characterizes the pattern and process of growth and
development. These principles or characteristics describe typical development as
a predictable and orderly process; that is, we can predict how most children will
develop and that they will develop at the same rate and at about the same time as
other children. Although there are individual differences in children’s personalities,
activity levels, and timing of developmental milestones, such as ages and stages,
the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns.

☺ Development proceeds from the head downward. This is called the

cephalocaudle principle. This principle describes the direction of growth and
development. According to this principle, the child gains control of the head first,
then the arms, and then the legs. Infants develop control of the head and face
movements within the first two months after birth. In the next few months, they are
able to lift themselves up by using their arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants
start to gain leg control and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk. Coordination of
arms always precedes coordination of legs.

☺ Development proceeds from the center of the body outward. This is the
principle of proximodistal development that also describes the direction of
development. This means that the spinal cord develops before outer parts of the
body. The child’s arms develop before the hands and the hands and feet develop
before the fingers and toes. Finger and toe muscles (used in fine motor dexterity)
are the last to develop in physical development.

☺ Development depends on maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the

sequential characteristic of biological growth and development. The biological
changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes in the
brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes in the
brain and nervous system help children to improve in thinking (cognitive) and
motor (physical) skills. Also, children must mature to a certain point before they
can progress to new skills (Readiness). For example, a four-month-old cannot use
language because the infant’s brain has not matured enough to allow the child to
talk. By two years old, the brain has developed further and with help from others,
the child will have the capacity to say and understand words. Also, a child can’t
write or draw until he has developed the motor control to hold a pencil or crayon.
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Maturational patterns are innate, that is, genetically programmed. The child’s
environment and the learning that occurs as a result of the child’s experiences
largely determine whether the child will reach optimal development. A stimulating
environment and varied experiences allow a child to develop to his or her potential.

☺ Development proceeds from the simple (concrete) to the more complex.

Children use their cognitive and language skills to reason and solve problems. For
example, learning relationships between things (how things are similar), or
classification, is an important ability in cognitive development. The cognitive
process of learning how an apple and orange are alike begins with the most sim-
plistic or concrete thought of describing the two. Seeing no relationship, a
preschool child will describe the objects according to some property of the object,
such as color.

o Such a response would be, “An apple is red (or green) and an orange is
orange.” The first level of thinking about how objects are alike is to give a
description or functional relationship (both concrete thoughts) between the
two objects. “An apple and orange are round” and “An apple and orange are
alike because you eat them” are typical responses of three, four and five year
olds. As children develop further in cognitive skills, they are able to
understand a higher and more complex relationship between objects and
things; that is, that an apple and orange exist in a class called fruit. The child
cognitively is then capable of classification.

☺ Growth and development is a continuous process. As a child develops, he or she

adds to the skills already acquired and the new skills become the basis for further
achievement and mastery of skills. Most children follow a similar pattern. Also,
one stage of development lays the foundation for the next stage of development.
For example, in motor development, there is a predictable sequence of
developments that occur before walking. The infant lifts and turns the head before
he or she can turn over.

o Infants can move their limbs (arms and legs) before grasping an object.
Mastery of climbing stairs involves increasing skills from holding on to
walking alone. By the age of four, most children can walk up and down
stairs with alternating feet. As in maturation, in order for children to write or

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draw, they must have developed the manual (hand) control to hold a pencil
and crayon.

☺ Growth and development proceed from the general to specific. In motor

development, the infant will be able to grasp an object with the whole hand before
using only the thumb and forefinger. The infant’s first motor movements are very
generalized, undirected, and reflexive, waving arms or kicking before being able to
reach or creep toward an object. Growth occurs from large muscle movements to
more refined (smaller) muscle movements.

☺ There are individual rates of growth and development. Each child is different
and the rates at which individual children grow is different. Although the patterns
and sequences for growth and development are usually the same for all children,
the rates at which individual children reach developmental stages will be different.
Understanding this fact of individual differences in rates of development should
cause us to be careful about using and relying on age and stage characteristics to
describe or label children. There is a range of ages for any developmental task to
take place.

o This dismisses the notion of the “average child”. Some children will walk at
ten months while others walk a few months older at eighteen months of age.
Some children are more active while others are more passive. This does not
mean that the passive child will be less intelligent as an adult. There is no
validity to comparing one child’s progress with or against another child.
Rates of development also are not uniform within an individual child. For
example, a child’s intellectual development may progress faster than his
emotional or social development.

An understanding of the principles of development helps us to plan appropriate activities

and stimulating and enriching experiences for children, and provides a basis for
understanding how to encourage and support young children’s learning.

1.3 Infancy
A baby is considered an infant from birth through the first year of life. During this
first year, babies develop skills that will be lifelong resources. Pediatricians look
for specific markers of growth and development during this time. Learning how to
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control the head, move by crawling and sit are called gross motor skills. Using the
thumb and finger to pick up pieces of food and hold a pacifier are called fine motor
skills. Sensory skills are measured by observing a baby ability to see, hear, taste,
touch and smell. Language skills are evident the first year of life when a baby
makes sounds, learns some basic words and responds to the spoken word. Finally,
social skills include how a baby interacts with family and peers.

1.4 Childhood
After age 1 year, a child physical growth slows down considerably. The toddler
years are more mobile and exploratory. Middle childhood occurs about age 6
years, and children have a better sense of right and wrong then. They also tend to
become more independent as they begin dressing themselves and spend more time
at school and with friends. Cognitive changes include rapid mental growth with a
greater ability to talk situations through and focus on the environment around them
instead of being self-centered.

1.5 Juvenile
As children approach the ages of 9 and 10 years, they become more independent
and might start noticing the physical changes of puberty. A major growth spurt can
occur at this time as the body begins sexual development. This also can be a time
of stress for children as peer pressure takes its toll. Body image along with
emotional changes often cause children to feel less confident. Juveniles also start
preparing for middle school by taking on more academic responsibilities and
focusing on goal-setting and accomplishment

1.6 Adolescence
From ages 12 to 18 years, children experience distinct mental and physical
changes. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the beginning of a
girl menstrual cycle typically occurs 2 years after the onset of puberty. The NIH
reports that boys do not begin puberty with a distinct marker and tend to mature
with adult genitalia about age 16 or 17 years. During this time of physical change,
adolescents may become more self-centered. In middle to late adolescence, teen-
agers are often characterized as becoming more comfortable with their body
sexually and ready to have romantic friendships. Adolescent behavior often
includes the teen-agers need to pull away from parents and authority figures to
establish their own self-identity and make decisions on their own.

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1.7 Adulthood
Adulthood is often noted when a person is considered chronologically, legally and
behaviorally ready to hold responsibilities such as operating a motor vehicle,
voting, taking the vows of marriage, entering into a contract and serving in the
armed forces. The process of becoming mature does not end with adolescence but
continues throughout adulthood as psychological, safety and self-actualization
needs are met. Adulthood is often divided into three categories: young adulthood,
middle age and old age.

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