BASIC CONCEPTS AND ISSUES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1.2 Human Development: Meaning, Concepts and Approaches

INTRODUCTION: “Measuring human growth and development is not like measuring the reproduction of a
single model on an assembly line. It is a complex system of helping to figure out where a student is, and how
to help get where they are going.”
Why are we the way we are? It’s one of the oldest questions in human existence. After all, human
beings are nothing more than 45 chromosomes, their genetic instructions duplicate across trillions of cells.
Despite the fact that 99.9% of our DNA is identical, all 7.5 billion people on Earth are unique. We have
different personalities, wants, needs, and likes. How is that possible?
A number of researches on human development have been conducted. A lot of theories on human
development have been forwarded. Researches on human development continue as existing theories get
corrected, complemented or replaced. Up to the present several issues on human development are
unresolved and so the search for explanations continue.
In this lesson, you will be acquainted with human development as a process, the developmental
tasks that come along with each developmental stage and relevant issues that are raised about human
development.
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Derive the meaning of human development in your own words.
2. Relate developmental changes of learners in light to its educational implication
3. Distinguish between the traditional and life-span approach of development.
 PRE-TEST;
In 20 to 25 words, write your understanding about human development. Write your answer
on the space provided.

Rubric
Content – 5 points
Organization of Ideas – 34 points
Mechanics
Must be 20 to 25 words

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LEARNING ACTIVITY;
Activity 1: Let’s Develop!
As you read this topic and do the activity, you are undergoing the process of development. How does
this development take place? What do experts say about the development? These are the concern of this
module. For your answer, you may write it on the space provided every item.
1. Here are the pictures of a seven-year-old Joseph and five-year-old Ann.
Each is a bundle of possibilities. Describe what they were before birth [their point of origin] and
who they will possibly after birth unto adulthood. What will they possibly become? Expound your
answers.

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2. When you gave your own predictions as to the of child, adolescent and adult Joseph and Anna
may become and hypothesized on who they once were, you were referring to human
development. What then is development? Translate the meaning of development in your Mother
Tongue.
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3. Will five-years-old Anna be able to do all that seven-year -old Joseph can do? Why or why not?
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4. Will there be anything common in the pattern of development of Joseph and Anna? If yes, what?
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5. Will there be difference in their development, e.g. pace or rate of development? What and why?
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6. Will the process of development take place very fast or gradually?
Elaborate your answer.
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7. Do you believe that Joseph and Anna will continue to develop even in adulthood? Or will they
stop developing in adulthood?
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What is Human Development?
• It is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan.
• This change can be growth or decline/decay.
o GROWTH -refers to positive changes that lead to maturity, that is, increase in the
physical aspects of body’s structures and improvement or their functions.
o DECLINE/DECAY- refers to negative changes that lead to deterioration and
degeneration.
• Why there’s a need for development? Because we aim for MATURITY.
o Maturity is characterized by the completion of structural changes and attainment of the
capacity to function physical and mentally in a manner characteristic to a normal adult.

Two Approaches to Human Development

If you believe that Joseph and Anna will show extensive change from birth to adolescence,
little or no change in adulthood and decline in late old age, your approach to development is
traditional. In contrast, if you believe that even in adulthood developmental change takes place as it
does during childhood, your approach is termed life-span approach.
What are the characteristics of human development from a life-span perspective? Paul
Baltes [Santrock,2022], an expert in life-span development, gives the following characteristics:
1.Development is lifelong.
It does not end in adulthood. Joseph and Anna will continue developing even in adulthood.
It means that development is not completed in infancy or childhood or at any specific age; it encompasses
the entire lifespan, from conception to death.
2.Development is plastic.
Plasticity refers to the potential for change. Development is possible throughout the lifespan.
No one is to old to learn. There is no such thing as “I am too old for that…” Neither Joseph nor Anna will be
too old to learn something.
Plasticity denotes intrapersonal variability and focuses heavily on the potentials and limits of the
nature of human development. The notion of plasticity emphasizes that there are many possible
developmental outcomes and that the nature of human development is much more open and pluralistic than
originally implied by traditional viewers; there is no single pathway that must be taken in an individual’s
development across the lifespan.
3.Development is multidimensional.
Baltes is referring to the fact that a complex interplay of factors influence development across
the lifespan, including biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes. Baltes argues that a dynamic
interaction of these factors is what influences an individual’s development. Development as a process is
complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes [Santruck,2022].
Biological processes involve changes in the individual’s physical nature. The brains of Joseph and
Anna develop. They will gain height and weight. They will experience hormonal changes when they reach
the period of puberty, and cardiovascular decline as they approach late adulthood. All these show common
biological processes.
a. Development is relatively orderly. Joseph and Anna will learn to sit, crawl then walk before they
can run. The muscular control of the trunk and the arms comes earlier as compared to the hands
and fingers. This is the proximodistal pattern. During infancy the greatest growth in always occurs
at the top-the head-with physical growth in size, weight and future differentiation gradually
working its way down from top to bottom [for example, neck, shoulders, middle trunk and so on].
This is the cephalocaudal pattern. These development patterns are common to Joseph and
Anna.
b. Development takes place gradually. Joseph and Anna won’t develop into pimply teenagers
overnight. It take years before they become one. In fact, that’s the way of nature. The bud does
not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight. While some changes occur in a
flash of insight, more often it takes weeks, months or years for a person to undergo changes that
result in the display of developmental characteristics.
Cognitive processes involve changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence. Joseph and Anna
develop from mere sounds to a word becoming two words, the two words becoming a sentence.
They would move on to memorizing their first prayer, singing Lupang Hinirang in every flag
ceremony to imagining what it would be like to be teacher or a pilot, playing chess and solving a
complex math problem. All these reflect the role of cognitive processes in development.
Socioemotional processes include changes in the individual’s relationship with other people,
changes in emotion and changes in personality. As babies, Joseph and Anna responded a sweet
smile when affectionately touched and frowned when displeased and even showed temper
tantrum when they could not get or do what they wanted. From aggressive children they may
develop into a fine lady or gentlemen or otherwise, depending on myriad of factors. They may
fall in love and get inspired for life or may end betrayed, deserted and desperate afterwards. All
these reflect the role of socioemotional processes in development.
These biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes are inextricably intertwined. While
these processes are studied are separately, the effect of one process or factor on a person’s
development is undernourished and troubled by the thought of father and mother about to
separate, they could not concentrate on their studies and consequently would fil and repeat. As
a consequence, they may lose face and drop out of school, revert to illiteracy, become unskilled,
 unemployed and so on and so forth. See how a biological process, affects the cognitive process
which in turn, affects the socioemotional process.
4. Development is contextual.
In Baltes’ theory, the paradigm of contextualism refers to the idea that three systems of biological and
environmental influences work together to influence development. Development occurs in context and varies
from person to person, depending on factors such as a person’s biology, family, school, church, profession,
nationality, and ethnicity. Baltes identified three types of influences that operate throughout the life course:
normative age-grade influences, normative history0graded influences, and nonnormative influences. Baltes
wrote that these three influences operate throughout the life course. Their effects accumulate with the, and,
as a dynamic package, they are responsible for how lives develop.
Joseph’s and Anna’s biological make-up, social and cultural contexts may vry and therefore make
them develop differently from each other.
5. Development is multidirectional
Baltes states that the development of a particular domain does not occur in a strictly linear fashion but
the development of certain traits can be characterized as having the capacity for both an increase and
decrease in efficacy over the course of an individual’s life.
If we use the example of puberty again, we can see that certain domains may improve or decline in
effectiveness during this time. For example. Self-regulation is one domain of puberty which undergoes
propound multidirectional changes during the adolescent period. During childhood, individuals have difficulty
effectively regulating their actions and impulsive behaviors. Scholars have noted that this lack of effective
regulation often results in children engaging in behaviors without fully considering the consequences of their
actions. Over the course of puberty, neuronal changes modify this unregulated behavior by increasing the
ability to regulate emotions and impulses. Inversely, the ability for adolescents to engage in spontaneous
activity and creativity, both domains commonly associated with impulse behavior, decrease over the
adolescent period in response to changes in cognition. Neuronal changes to the limbic system and prefrontal
cortex of the brain, which begin in puberty lead to the development of self-regulation, and the ability to
consider the consequences of one’s actions (though recent brain research reveals that this connection will
continue to develop into early childhood).
Multidirectional development is the development happening in the physical, biological, cognitive, social
factors of an individual. In the case of Joseph and Anna, their puberty, hormonal changes will occur which
helps in the production of gametes responsible for sexual reproduction. Physical, emotional and mental
changes are exhibited from crude to refined state. When they become as older adults, they have got much
experience on situations, people, society and handle it wisely, however, they could not have sufficient
physical strength to perform the task.
Principles of Child Development and Learning that inform Practice
1. All the domains of development and learning are important.
2. Learning and development follow sequences.
3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates.
4. Development and learning result from an interaction of maturation and experience.
 5. Early experiences have profound effects on development and learning.
6. Development proceeds towards greater complexity, self-regulation and symbolic representational
capacities.
7. Children develop best when they have secure relationships.
8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple and cultural contexts.
9. Children learn in variety ways.
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation and promoting language cognition and
social competence.
Activity 2: Let’s Imply!
State the five characteristics of human development from a life-span perspective and their implications child
care, educational and parenting.
Characteristics of human development from a life- Educational Implication to Child Care, Educational
span perspective and Parenting
1. Development is lifelong.

2.

3.

4.

5.
SELF-EVALUATION:
Answer the following items. Write it on the space provided.
1. “Growth is an evidence of love” or “development is an evidence of life”. What does this mean? What
does this imply to a person’s development?
2. Define development on your own understanding.
3. If your approach to human development is traditional, are the characteristics of human development
from a life-span perspective acceptable? Explain your answer.
4. Interpret the following quotations in relation to human development.
a. “Every man is in certain respects like all other men, like some other men, no other man.”
(Murray, H.A. & C. Klukhohn)
b. “Man is an unfinished project. He is always in the process of becoming.”
5. Differences between the traditional and life-span approaches to human development.

Review of Concepts:
• There are two approaches of human development namely traditional and life-span development.
• Based on Paul Baltes” concepts of life-span development, he named five important
characteristics of development. These are: lifelong, plastic, multidimensional, contextual and
multidirectional.
• Under the characteristics of multidimensional, it talks about the interconnectedness of biological,
cognitive and socioemotional processes. It also follows a relatively orderly development and it
takes place gradually.
POST- TEST:
Put a check (/) before a correct and an X before a wrong one. If you put X, explain why.
______ 1. Development is a pattern of change.
______ 2. Development is either growth or decline.
______ 3. From both traditional and life-span perspectives development is lifelong.
______ 4. In the development process, there are things that hold true to all people.
______ 5. Individuals develop uniformly.
______ 6. Development is predictable because it follows an orderly process.
______ 7. Development is unidimensional.
______ 8. Development takes place in a vacuum.
______ 9. Development is one directional process.
______ 10. The effect of biological process in development is isolated from the effect of cognitive and
socioemotional processes.