Lesson 3

GCPY 220
 Definition of Terms
Development:
It covers all changes and systematic continuities in human domains
(physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language) throughout
the lifespan of an individual

It is a multidimensional processes of growth and decline, gains and

losses, brought about by interaction of heredity and environment,
maturation, learning and harmonious integration of body parts from
conception to death.
Development comprises of maturation, growth and learning but
they are distinct in meaning and scope
Development refers to orderly, coherent qualitative changes
with progressive sequence leading to maturity

The changes are directional leading forward rather backward

Orderly and coherent suggest a definite relationship between
a given stage and the stages preceding or following it
Developmental changes are categorized into changes in size,
proportion and disappearance of old features
 Psychology

Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. It includes the

biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors
that affect how people think, act, and feel.

Psychology seeks to understand, predict, and explain

development, personality, thoughts, feelings, emotions,
motivations, and social behaviors.
Some contribution of Psychology to individuals and society include:

Improving our understanding of why people behave as they do.

Understanding the different factors that can impact the human
mind and behavior
Understanding issues that impact health, daily life, and well-
being
Creating safer and more efficient environment
Helping motivate people to achieve their goals
Improving productivity
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology devoted to identifying and explaining the
continuities and changes that individuals display over their
lifespan.
Developmentalist
Any scholar, regardless of discipline, who seeks to understand
the developmental process for example, psychologists,
biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, educators.
Maturation
refers to changes
according to biological
program in the body or
behavior that result from
aging process rather than
learning, injury, illness, or
some other life experience.
It is a process whereby a
person develops
genetically (naturally) and
physically independent of
experience or manipulation.
Maturation …..
Our ability to walk, utter first
meaningful words at about 1
year of age, reach sexual
maturity between ages 11
and 15, and then age or die
at approximately similar
schedules results from
maturation.
Maturation is influenced by
genetics and environmental
factors.
Maturation cont….
A person must show physical and psychological readiness for any
event before he can perform outstandingly in such an event.
To be able to walk or run, the bones and muscles must be strong
enough to engage in such exercise.

Changes such as increasing ability to concentrate, solve problems,

and understand another person’s thoughts or feelings are partly
the responsibility of maturation.

Humans are similar in many important respects, at about the same

points in our lives, as a result of maturation.
Growth
Refers to physical
development that manifests
within a person’s chronological
framework as he/she attains
certain stage in life.
It represents the quantitative
changes (increase in bodily
dimensions such as height,
weight and size.
The development of body parts
breast, legs, hands, body size,
and mental alertness are
indication of growth.
Note: growth and
maturation go hand in
hand.
Growth manifests in
stages from simple to
complex, from walking to
running to jumping.
Learning
A relatively permanent change in a behavior or potential behavior
as a result of experience on practice.

Learning is the process through which a person’s experiences

produce relatively permanent changes in feelings, thoughts, and
behaviors.
Humans acquire and retain attitude, knowledge, understanding,
skills and capabilities through experience or instruction.

For learning to take place there must be readiness and

maturation.
Learning cont…
Human abilities and habits do not simply unfold as part of
maturation, people often learn to feel, think, and behave in specific
ways from observations and interactions with parents, siblings,
teachers, peers, and other people in and around their
environment.

Learning is affected by hereditary and environment.

Most developmental changes are the product of both maturation
and learning.
 Principles of Human Development

Human life is a process of continual development

There are structural, physiological and behavior patterns
in all the stages of development
These patterns form the basic principles of development
Several principles of human development exist however we shall
discuss a few.
1. Cephalocaudal law vs Proximodistal law:
Cephalocaudal law posits that development spreads from head to
foot. Improvements in the structure and function of the body start in
the head region, then spread to the trunk, and end in the leg region.
This law sees growth as vertical, the reason for increase in height.
It emphasizes that child’s growth is rapid in the prenatal stage.
Consequently, in early babyhood development, the movement is
more in the head region and less in the other parts of the body.
Proximodistal law states that development proceeds from
near to far-outward; from the central axis of the body
towards the extremities.
The heart, liver, head, and trunk develop before the limb
buds appear, lengthen and develop into hands and finger.
2. Development is relatively orderly:
The human development occurs in an orderly sequence.
Acquisition of new abilities, skills, and knowledge are
built on those already developed or learnt.
3. Continuities vs Discontinuities
principle
Continuities: Development is a
continuous process that is gradual
and cumulative.
For example, a child will first learn
to crawl, and then to stand and
then to walk.
A “continual and cumulative”
process means that who we are at
a particular stage in life depends
over time on the experiences we
had earlier in life.
Discontinuities: This view
believes that development
occurs in different stages of life
qualitatively different from each
other.
For example, people move from
only being able to think in very
literal terms to being able to
think abstractly.
It is like climbing series of
staircase
4. Plasticity:
Plasticity refers to a capacity for change in response to positive or
negative life experiences if important aspects of their life change.
Children who have horrible starts can often be helped to overcome
their deficiencies.
5. Normative vs Idiographic development:
Normative development refers to typical developmental pathways
that virtually all people follow. There is a generalizable trends in
trait expression across the lifespan.
Physical, environmental, and psychosocial changes, occur at
predictable age period (milestones).
This principles of normative development helps professionals to
spot potential problems and provide early intervention for better
outcomes.
Idiographic developmental principle:
‘Idiographic’ (from Greek word ‘idios’, meaning ‘own’ or ‘private’).
Idiographic approach focuses on the individual and emphasize the
unique personal experience of human nature in patterns of
change.
An idiographic approach does not seek to formulate laws or
generalize results to others.
Individual difference: While process of development is similar, rate of
development vary among individuals. Differences occur in cognitive
and emotional capacities, gender, social and physical growth.
6. Holistic process:
Holistic means that development is not fragmented. Physical,
cognitive, and social components of self depends, in part, on
changes taking place in other areas of development.
A child in good health has increased chance of being active socially
and intellectually.
The age at which a child reaches puberty has an effect on his social
life. Boys who reach puberty early tend to enjoy better relations with
their peers than those who reach puberty later.
7. Cultural Context:
No single description of development is accurate for all cultures,
social classes, or racial and ethnic groups.
Each culture, subculture, and social class transmits a particular
pattern of beliefs, values, customs, and skills its generations.

8. Historical context:
Development is influenced by historical events such as wars,
technological breakthroughs like the Internet, and social causes
such as the gay and lesbian rights movement. Each generation
develops in its own way.
9. Development takes gradual process:
It takes weeks, months or years for a person to
undergo changes that result in the display of
developmental characteristics.
10. Nature vs Nurture

Nature: Genetic instructions a child inherits from parents

set out a road map for development e.g. height,
intelligence.

Nurture: The environment can impact directions or even

silence the expression of development. For example,
exposure to harmful drugs while in uterus can have a
dramatic impact on brain development and later cognitive
ability of the child.
Human Development and its Theories

The study of human development is a rich and wide subject

but it is sometimes difficult to understand how and why
people grow, learn, and act as they do.
We may ask:
Why do children behave in certain ways? Is their behavior
related to their age, family relationships, or individual
temperaments?
Developmental psychologists attempt to answer such
questions as well as to understand, explain, and predict
behaviors that occur throughout lifespan through
Theories
Different theories have been developed in an attempt to
explain the various aspects of human growth.

Each approach tends to stress different aspects of

development such as mental, social, or parental influences
on how children grow and progress.
By understanding how and why people change and grow,
we can help individuals grow in positive ways.
 What is a theory?
A scientific theory is a set of concepts and propositions that a
scientist believes to be true about a specific area of investigation.
Hypothesis: A hypothesis is basically an educated guess. For
instance, a scientist observes something happening repeatedly
over time, and a question or a group of questions begin to be
formed.
One question could be: 'Why am I observing this happening?'
Another question might be: 'Could this be occurring every time, or
is this just a coincidence?'
To answer these questions, a scientist, or a group of
scientists, do an experiment to test the hypothesis.
This is described as scientific research. Often, the
research studies that are conducted with hypothesis
testing happen over a long period of time.
After many repeated research studies, a scientist would
move to call the hypothesis a theory.
 Fact and Theory

What's the difference?

Facts are measured and/or observed occurrence. They
never change and are unmistakable evidence.
Theory is the scientist's interpretation of the facts.
Scientists may have differing opinions regarding the best
interpretation of the facts. Theories can change and be
rejected.
 Characteristics of a Scientific Theory
Although there are many characteristics of scientific theories,
there are five basic characteristics that can help you understand
how they work. A scientific theory should be:
Testable: Theories can be supported through a series of scientific
research projects or experiments.
Sometimes a theory is proven to be wrong through evidence: this
is called rejecting a theory.
However, a theory can never be proven to be absolutely true
because it is an interpretation.
There is always the possibility that a different interpretation will
someday be found to be more correct.
Replicable: theories must also be repeated by others. This
means that enough information and data must be available in
the theory so that others can test the theory and get similar
results.
Stable: theories must be stable. This means that when others
test the theory, they will get the same results - so a theory is
valid as long as there is no evidence to dispute it.
Simple: A theory should be simple does not mean that the
concept must be basic. It means that only useful, relevant
information should be presented in the theory.
Consistent: A theory should agree with other theories,
meaning that no principles in one theory should
contradict another already accepted theory. However,
some differences may be evident because the new
theory may provide additional evidence.
 Closing thought

1Thess 5:21 “But examine all things; hold fast to what is good”.