DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

The aim of education is to bring about desired changes in the learner. Changes are taking place in an individual due to learning and also due to the natural growth and development. Development of proper attitudes, habits and patterns of behaviour formed during the early years determines to a great extent how successfully an individual adjust himself as he grows older.  Since the task of the teacher is to bring about desirable changes in the growing child, knowledge about growth and development is outmost important.

THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS

Change is the law of nature. Animate or inanimate objects are all subject to change. Seeds, after germinating in the soil grow as saplings and then as specific plants and trees which in turn flower and produce seeds or fruits for further germination. Similar in the case with birds, animals and human beings who can produce their own kind by the transmission of specific characteristics of the species through sexual union.

In all animals, including human beings, the pre-natal period resembles the time taken by a germinating seed to come out of the soil, which then grows and develops into a full-fledged plant or tree. The process by which a germinating seed or conceived organism is turned into the mature plant or full-fledged being are collectively termed growth and development.

The process of growth and development and are the medium and means for bringing about changes in the organism. In general, growth and development refers to the changes produced by the interaction produced by one’s genetic and environmental factors as well as to the changes in the physical, mental, social, emotional and  moral aspects involving one’s individuality.

MEANING OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The terms growth and development are often used interchangably and regarded as synonymous. Growth is sheer increase in size, height, weight, power etc. It refers to the dimensional augmentation, cellular multiplication, or quantitative changes in size, weight and number. The process of gradual increase of an individual or animal or a seed, germ or root to its full size or  maturity is called growth. According to Crow and Crow ‘growth refers to structural and physiological changes while development refers to growth as well as change in behaviour’.

The term development refers to change in structure, form or shape and improvement in functioning.  It does not consist merely of adding inches to one’s height or improving one’s ability, but it is a complex process of integrating many structures and functions. In the words of Hurlock, the term development means a progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience.

Growth and development are correlated because both occur together.  Growth takes place when a child grows taller, his bones, muscles and other parts of the body increase in size. As the child grows his mind and body mature and he is able to function at a higher level.

For example; as a child grows in age, the size of his fingers increases in length and in thickness. This is considered as growth. Along with this growth the ability of the child to use his fingers with ease, speed and precision for various purpose also may increase. This change can be considered as development.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GROWTH

1.     Growth is a complex process

2.     Growth follows a definite sequence or pattern

3.     Growth proceeds more rapidly in the early years of life

4.     Rate of growth is not uniform in different stages and parts

5.     Growth is not a continuous process. It stops with maturity

6.     Growth is cumulative in nature

7.     Growth is influenced by heredity and environment

8.     The tempo or speed of growth is not even

9.     There is marked individual difference in growth

10. The rate and pattern of growth can be modified by conditions internal and external to the body

CHARACTERISTICS OF  DEVELOPMENT

1.     Development is the result of maturation and learning

2.     Development follows a definite and predictable pattern

3.     Each period of development involves certain hazards

4.     Certain characteristic traits are associated with each phase of development

5.     Development is not uniform in al  individuals

6.     Development depends on both heredity and environment

7.     Development is gradual and it takes time

FACTORS INFLUENCING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

          Right from conception, the beginning of life in a mother’s womb, the growth and development of human beings is influenced by a variety of factors categorized broadly as internal and external.  They are mentioned below:

Internal Factors:

All those factors which lie within the individual are called internal factors. These includes 1. Heredity      2. Biological or constitutional   3. Intelligence       4. Emotional factors and 5. Social factors.

1.     Heredity factors:

Heredity is  the process of transmitting biological traits from parent to offspring through genes, the basic units of heredity. Heredity also refers to the inherited characteristics of an individual, including traits such as height, eye color, and blood type.

Heredity factors play their part at the time of conception in the mothers womb. What is transferred to the offspring from its immediate parents in the form of genes and chromosomes at this time, constitute the hereditary contribution. This contribution is the real starting point and basis for all the growth and development that takes place later in the life of the child. The height, weight, colour of the eyes and skin, characteristics of the hair, are all decided by these hereditary influences.

 The physical structure, nervous system and other things related one’s constitutional make-up, body chemistry and physical development are to a great extent decided by hereditary factors. If the hereditary contributions are satisfactory, then with minimum efforts, we get satisfactory results, otherwise we have to make tremendous efforts for achieving desired results or success in terms of child’s satisfactory growth and development.  

2.     Biological and Constitutional Factors:

A child’s constitutional make-up, somatic or physical structure, body chemistry etc. influence his growth and development throughout his life.

·        A child who is physically week or have internal deformities cannot achieve normal physical and mental growth and development.

·        The nervous system which controls the body movement, affects the growth and development of a child in cognitive spheres.

·        The endocrine or ductless glands or hormones  have important role in growth and development.  In case there is over activity (hyperactivity) or under activity (hypoactivity) of these glands, it results in serious abnormality in growth and development.

·        Defective constitutional make-up like ugly face, short stature and any other deformity of the body may give birth to feelings of inferiority and he may face adjustment problems in the social environment.

3.     Intelligence :

         Intelligence is considered as a major factor influencing development. Children of high intelligence develop in many aspects faster than that  of low intelligence. Even the body movement and behaviour are regulated by his level of intelligence. It affect his social behaviour, moral adjustment and emotional growth.  The physical, social, emotional, moral and language development of a child is greatly influenced and controlled by the level of his intelligence.

4.     Emotional factors:

          Emotional maturity and adjustability play a vital role in influencing a person’s overall growth and development. A child who is found to be overwhelmed by negative emotions like fear, anger, jealousy, etc. is adversely affected in  his physical, mental, social, moral and language development. If a person cannot exercise a reasonable control over his emotions, he has to suffer in his terms of growth and development. He may find himself  a failure in doing some serious mental activity.

5.     Social Nature:

         A person’s socialization helps him in achieving adjustment and advancement in other aspects of his growth and development. He may learn from his environment, by means of his social nature, which may prove to be a boon to him for his proper growth and development.

External Factors:

The factors lying outside individual in his environment are collectively called the external factors influencing growth and development. These factors begin their role immediately after a baby is conceived.   They are as follows:

A.    Environment in the womb of mother:

   What is available to the child for his nourishment in its mother’s womb from the time of conception till his birth is quite important from the angle of his growth and development. A few factors are cited below as examples.

     The physical and mental health of the mother during pregnancy

     Single child or multiple children getting nourished in the womb

     Quality and quantity of nutrition received by the embryo

     Normal and abnormal delivery

     Any damage or accident to the baby in the womb

B.    Environment available after birth:

          Whether a child gets from different conditions and forces of his environment after his birth influence his growth and development in many ways. These are described as follows:

a)     Accidents and incidents of life:   The growth and development of an individual is greatly influenced by the good and bad incidents and accidents happens in his life time. For example, if a child’s nervous system is damaged in an accident, it will hamper his mental development and in turn it will affect his development in other spheres also.

b)     The Quality of physical environment, medical care and nourishment:  A childes growth and development is greatly influenced by the quality of physical environment and medical care and nourishment available to him for his living and working. These include open space, balanced diet, proper medical care etc.

c)     The Quality of the facilities and opportunities provided by the social and cultural forces:  What a child gets from his social and cultural environment influences the entire course of his development. A few are mentioned below:

     Parental and family care received by a child

     Economic and social status of the parents and family

     The quality of schooling received by  a child

     The quality of peer group relationships of the child

     The quality of neighbourhood and surrounding environment  

PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

From the scientific knowledge gathered through observation of children, some principles have emerged. These principles enable the parents and the teachers to understand how children develop. What is expected of them? How to guide them and provide proper environment for their optimum development?  It seems that the process of development is operated by some general principles. These rules or principles may be named as the principles of development. Some of these principles are briefly explained below:

1.     Principle of Continuity:  Development is a process which begins from the moment of conception in the womb of the mother and goes on continuing till the time of death.   It is a never ending process. The changes however small and gradual continue to take place in all dimensions of one’s personality throughout one’s life.

2.     Principle of Individual differences:  Every organism is a distinct creation in itself. Therefore, the development which undergoes in terms of the rate and outcome in various dimensions is quite unique and specific. For example, all children will first sit up, crawl and stand before they walk. But individual children will vary in regard to timing or age at which they can perform these activities.

3.     Principle of lack of uniformity in the developmental rate:  Though development is a continuous process it does not exhibit steadiness and uniformity in terms of the rate of development in various dimensions of personality or in the developmental periods and stages of life.   Instead of steadiness, development usually takes place in fits and starts showing almost no change at one time and a sudden spurt at another. For example, shooting up in height and sudden change in social interest, intellectual curiosity and emotional make-up.

4.     Principle of uniformity of pattern:    Although there seems to be a clear lack of uniformity and distinct individual differences with regard to the process and outcome of the various stages of development, yet it follows a definite pattern in one or the other dimension which is uniform and universal with respect to individuals of a species. For instance, the development of language follows a somewhat definite sequence quite common to all human beings.

5.     Principle of proceeding from general to specific:  While developing in relation to any aspect of personality, the child first picks up or exhibits general responses and learns to show specific and goal-directed responses afterwards. For example, a baby starts by waving his arms in general random movement and afterwards these general motor responses are converted into specific responses like grasping or reaching out. Similarly when a new born baby cries, his whole body is involved in doing so but as he develops, it is limited to the vocal cords, facial expression and eyes etc. In development of language, a baby calls all men daddy and all women mummy but as he grows and develops, he begins to use these names only for his own father and mother.

6.     Principle of integration:   By observing the principle of proceeding from general to specific or from the whole to the parts, it does not mean that only the specific responses are aimed for the ultimate consequences of one’s development. Rather, it is a sort of integration that is ultimately desired. It is the integration of the whole and its parts as well as the specific and general responses that enables a child to develop satisfactorily in relation to various aspects or dimensions of his personality.

7.     Principle of interrelation:        The various aspects of one’s growth are development are interrelated.  What is achieved or not achieved in one or the other dimension in the course of the gradual and continuous process of development surely affects the development in other dimensions.  All healthy body tends to develop a healthy mind and an emotionally stable and socially conscious personality.  On the other hand, inadequate physical or mental development may results in a socially or emotionally maladjusted personality. That is why all efforts in education are always directed towards achieving harmonious growth and development in all aspects of one’s personality.

8.     Principle of interaction:   The process of development involves active interaction between the forces within the individual and the forces belonging to the individual. What is inherited by the organism at the time of conception is first influenced by the stimulations received in the womb of the mother and after birth, by the forces of physical and socio-psychological environment for its development. Therefore, at any stage of growth and development, the individual’s behaviour or personality make-up is nothing but the end-product of the constant interaction between his heredity endowment and environmental set-up.

9.     Principle of interaction of maturation and learning:    Development occurs as a result of both maturation and learning. Maturation refers to changes in an organism due to unfolding and ripening of abilities, characteristics, traits and potentialities present at birth. Learning denotes changes the changes in behaviour due to training and experience.

10.                        Principle of predictability:   Development is predictable, which means that, to a great extent, we can forecast the general nature and behaviour of a child in one or more aspects or dimensions at any particular stage of its growth and development. Not only such prediction is possible along general lines but it is also possible to predict the range within which the future development of an individual child is going to fall. For example, with the knowledge of the development of the bones of a child it is possible to predict his adult structure and size.

11.                        Principle of cephalocaudal and proximodistal tendencies:   Cephalocaudal and proximodistal tendencies are found to be followed in maintaining the orderly sequence and direction of developments.

According to cephalocaudal tendency, development proceeds in the direction of the longitudinal axis, ie. head to foot. For example, before it becomes able to stand, the child first gains control over his head and arms and then on his legs.  In terms of proximodistal tendency, development proceeds from the near to the distant and the parts of the body near the centre develops before the extremities. For example, in the beginning the child is seen to exercise control over the large fundamental muscles of the arm and the hand and only afterwards the smaller muscles of the fingers.

12.                         Principle of spiral versus linear advancement.  The path followed in development by the child is not straight and linear and development at any stage never takes place with a constant or steady pace.  At a particular stage of his development, after the child had developed to a certain level, there is likely to be a period of rest for consolidation of the developmental progress achieved till then. In advancing further, development turns back and then moves forward again in a spiral pattern.

Educational implications of the Principles of Growth and Development

1.     Knowledge of the principles of growth and development tells us that there are wide individual differences among the children with respect to their growth and development. Therefore we must pay due attention to their individual pattern and growth rate while planning the course for their education and development.

2.     Development is a continuous process, so the teacher should take continuous efforts to achieve perfection in the various aspects of development of the child.

3.     The principle of ‘proceeding from general to specific responses’ and the ‘principle of integration’ helps the teacher to plan learning process and arrange suitable learning experiences so as to achieve maximum gains in terms of growth and development.

4.     Development is an individualized process. So  each child should be helped along the developmental process with in the sphere of his individual ability.

5.     Each stage of growth and development has its possibilities and limitations. This implies that the teacher should not expect from pupils what is beyond to their stage of development.