Understanding Growth & Development: Definitions, Characteristics & Impact

Changes continues even after maturity has been attained, progressing to senescence and death. It follows a sequential pattern where initial phase of growth and development lays foundation for the next phase. As a child develops, new skills acquired become the basis for further achievement and mastery of skills. For instance, there is a predictable sequence of developments that occur before walking.

• Case studies can be used to explore areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail about situations or conditions.
• During the prenatal and postnatal life we are exposed to an array of adverse environmental factors (such as diseases, malnutrition etc) which influence the growth velocity.
• Our assumptions very often guide our perceptions, consequently, when we believe something, we tend to see it even if it is not there.
• Importance of schools in promoting health, social development, and addressing the holistic needs of children.View

It entails the socio-psychological evolution of individuals to equip them for the present and future advantages stemming from evolving socio-economic structures. Moreover, development necessitates the temporal, sectoral, and spatial coordination and integration of planning efforts. Ultimately, development inherently signifies a positive or desirable change. These eight stages form a foundation for discussions on emotional and social development during the life span.

Description of the formal operational stage where adolescents think abstractly and logically.View

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

• The initial period of maximum growth rate or acceleration is followed by period of deceleration in growth rate.
• � Effects of environment – Someindividuals believe that homosexuality is a choice.
• There are several hormones that have an effect on growth and developments.
• The act of salivating to a bell was a response that had also been learned, now termed in Pavlov’s jargon, a conditioned response.

These processes occur during growth, but predominance of one or another process varies with age and all the tissue involved. � Record the age at which skillsemerge, sequence of skills, and quality of skill level as well as how theycontribute to a child�s ability to function. Make a note of dates and times ofoccurrences to identify patterns, duration and frequency of behavior, types ofactivities, setting, interactions with peers, or other influences.

In terms ofproximodistal tendency, development proceeds from the near to the distant andthe parts of the body near the centre develops before the extremities. Forexample, in the beginning the child is seen to exercise control over the largefundamental muscles of the arm and the hand and only afterwards the smallermuscles of the fingers. A child may grow in terms of height and weight but this growth may not bring any functional improvement/development. Clarification of ‘Growth’ as quantitative change in size/weight, and ‘Development’ as qualitative changes in individual capacities.View Economic growth primarily stems from long-term trends in productivity resulting from structural factors such as technological advancements and capital accumulation. It’s conceptualized as a consequence of improved technology and enhanced productivity.

Viewers also liked

Cognition refers to the mental activities involved in acquisition,processing, organization, storage and use of information. These activitiesinclude perceiving, imagining, reasoning and judging. Introduction to growth and development in children, emphasizing the changes in size, weight, and capacities that occur throughout life.View

Milestones at 3 Years

At this stage, all stimulation and comfort is focused on the mouth and is based on the reflex of sucking. Research should, as much as possible, be based on participants’ freely volunteered informed consent. This implies a responsibility to explain fully and meaningfully to both the child and their guardians what the research is about and how it will be disseminated.

Catch-up growth is usually considered in terms of weight or height, but it is important to consider the type of tissue deposited in the body. For example, several prospective studies have observed the progressive deposition of more body fat during childhood and adulthood after a period of catch-up growth during infancy. This leads to differences in body composition relative to infants not exhibiting catch-up growth (Reilly et al. 2005, McCarthy et al. 2007). However, even after being pushed off the trajectories, there exists an ability to stabilize and return to a predetermined growth curve when conditions improve. During such recovery phase, initial growth velocity isabove that of normally expected for children of his age or even of his skeletal maturity and decline as the child recovers.

Try to answer, by studying how humans change and grow from conception through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death Do people across the world share more similarities or more differences in their development? Naturalistic observations involve observing behavior in its natural context.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model challenges us to go beyond the individual if we want to understand human development and promote improvements.41 For example, in order to understand a student in math, we can’t simply look at that individual and what challenges they face directly with the subject. We have to look at the interactions that occur between teacher and child. The teacher may be responding to regulations made by the school, such as new expectations for students in math or constraints on time that interfere with the teacher’s ability to instruct. These new demands may be a response to national efforts to promote math and science deemed important by political leaders in response to relations with other countries at a particular time in history.

Similar to Introduction to Human Growth & Development

It then outlines the major aspects of development including physical, intellectual, personality/social, moral, and spiritual. Several principles of growth and development are explained like normative sequence and optimal tendency. Factors that influence development such as genetics, environment, and nutrition are explored.

The infant hold its head up, learn to sit without support, stand by holding on to furniture and then eventually walk alone. Children learn to hold a pencil and crayon before they write or draw. They are measured at a single point of time or several points over time.

Rather than assessing students on what they are doing, they should be understood in terms of what they are capable of doing with the proper guidance. You can see how Vygotsky would be very popular with modern day educators.37 Sometimes, particularly when we do not know introduction of growth and development what else to do, we learn by modeling or copying the behavior of others. A kindergartner on his or her first day of school might eagerly look at how others are acting and try to act the same way to fit in more quickly. Adolescents struggling with their identity rely heavily on their peers to act as role-models.

A child‟s intellectual development may progress faster than his emotional or social development. Thus, there is no validity in comparing one child‟s progress with or against another child. These are the types of questions developmental psychologists try to answer, by studying how humans change and grow from conception through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains—physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.

Early intervention can make a monumental difference in achild�s developmental progress; the involvement and concern of a skilledcaregiver can have a positive impact that will last a lifetime. Thus,developmental deviation is defined by development or behavior that is atypicalat any age. Once the developmental history has been completed, aneurodevelopmental examination, which includes a traditional neurologicexamination and an extended developmental evaluation, is performed. In mostcases, the neurodevelopmental examination should confirm findings from thedevelopmental history, increasing the validity of the developmental conclusionsdrawn from this pediatric neurodevelopmental assessment process. Once thepediatric neurodevelopmental assessment has been completed, specificdevelopmental-behavioral diagnoses can be made. However, genes need the right environment toexpress their phenotype characteristics.

Early Childhood

The attitudes of males and females could then be compared, as could attitudes based on age. Longitudinal research involves beginning with a group of people who may be of the same age and background, and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time. One of the benefits of this type of research is that people can be followed through time and be compared with them when they were younger. Case studies involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail.