CHAPTER 1

Basic Concepts and Issues in Human Development

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this chapter, you must be able to:
1. State human development in your own words.
2. Recall developmental processes and periods.
3. Identify developmental issues.
4. Interpret principles of human development.

Every teacher needs to understand how children grow and develop to be able to
understand how children learn and how best to teach them. To help you see the big
picture, keep the following questions in mind as you read this chapter:

● Why do children seem to struggle at a certain level for months, and then
show a big jump in performance over a couple of weeks? What can teachers
do to hasten these jumps in performance?

● Why do some children at a certain age pick up skills easily, while others work
hard but just do not get it?

● Why do children who have picked up a skill in one area have trouble doing
similar tasks in other areas?

1.1 Human Development: Meaning and Concepts

Human development is the pattern of biological, cognitive, and

socio-emotional processes that bring about orderly, adaptive, relatively permanent
changes we go through from conception to death. Most development involves
growth, although it also eventually involves decay.
The definition of human development does not apply to all changes, but
rather to those changes that appear in orderly ways and remain for a reasonably
long period of time. A temporary change caused by a brief illness, for example, is
not considered a part of development.
There are two main factors that drive human development ⎯⎯⎯ genetic and
environmental experiences. These are represented by two concepts ⎯⎯⎯ maturation
and learning, respectively.

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Maturation

Maturation refers to genetically programmed, naturally and spontaneously

occurring changes over time. Such changes are relatively unaffected by the
environment except in cases of malnutrition or severe illness.
Applying our definition of human development, maturation is any relatively
permanent change—be it cognitive, emotional, or physical—that occurs as a result
of biological aging, regardless of personal experience. Note that the changes are
preprogrammed—they occur regardless of the interactions a child has with the
environment. For example, an infant knows how to cry at birth without the benefit
of any experiences or instruction in how to cry. Also, during adolescence an increase
in volume in the prefrontal cortex, an area notably involved in advanced cognitive
functions, is an example of maturation.
Expert teachers know they cannot force a student to think or to do what he
or she is not biologically old enough to do. Thus, as a teacher, you must know how
old is “old enough” for the skills you need to teach.

Learning

Learning is any relatively permanent change in thought or behavior that

occurs as a result of experience. The change is not preprogrammed. It cannot occur
in the absence of environmental stimulation. For example, you know your name and
the name of the municipality and province in which you live, but only because you
have learned these facts. You were not born with this knowledge. Indeed, education
is what learning is all about.
Clarifying the distinction between maturation and learning is important. As a
teacher you need to know which kinds of abilities and behavior you can expect from
children of a certain age, regardless of their particular childhood experiences.
Teachers also need to know which kinds of abilities and behavior depend on
experience. Knowing what almost all children of a certain age can be expected to do
helps a teacher plan good lessons and know when to push. At the same time,
understanding the role of learning allows an expert teacher to recognize when a
child's experiences have not prepared him or her for a lesson. In this case, pushing
will do little good—the child needs more experiences to become ready to move
forward.

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Activity 1.1

To test your newly acquired knowledge and understanding of human

development, complete the task in your notebook without looking at the reading
material or your notes. After you have completed the task, you may go back to the
material and check your answers. If you have missed any questions, redo this
activity until you can answer all correctly.

1. If there is one word that explains human development, what would that be?
2. List down the three descriptions of human development.
3. At what point does development begin?
4. At what point does development end?
5. What are the two main factors that influence human development?
6. What factor does maturation represent?
7. What factor does learning represent?
8. Based on questions 1-7, provide a complete description of human
development.

1.2 Developmental Periods and Processes

Developmental Periods

Developmental periods are also known as stages or levels of development.

The sequence are as follows: prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle and late
childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. For
this course, we will focus on the second to the fifth stages of development.

Infancy. From birth to 18-24 months. This is the time of extreme

dependence on adults. Activities such as language development, symbolic thought,
sensorimotor coordination, and social learning are just beginning.

Early childhood (Pre-school years). From 2 to 5 years. At this stage, children

become more self-sufficient (independent); they develop school readiness skills
(such as learning to follow instructions and identify letters), and spend many hours
with peers. First grade typically marks the end of this period.

Middle and late childhood (Elementary school years). From 6 to 11 years.

This is the stage when children typically master the fundamental skills of reading,
writing, and math. Achievement becomes a more central theme, and self-control
increases. Children interact more with the wider social world beyond their family.

Adolescence. This involves the transition from childhood to adulthood. This

period begins around ages 10 to 12 and ends around 18 to 21. It starts with rapid
physical changes, including height and weight gains, and development of sexual

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functions. Adolescents intensely pursue independence and seek their own identity.
Their thought becomes more abstract, logical, and idealistic.

Developmental Processes

The pattern of child development is complex because it is the product of

several processes: biological, cognitive, and socioemotional.

Biological processes produce changes in the child's body and underlie brain
development, height and weight gains, motor skills, and puberty's hormonal
changes. Genetic inheritance plays a large part in this aspect or dimension of
development.

Cognitive processes involve changes in the child's thinking, intelligence, and

language. These enable a growing child to memorize a poem, figure out how to
solve a math problem, come up with a creative strategy, or speak meaningfully
connected sentences.

Socio-emotional processes involve changes in the child's relationships with

other people, changes in emotion, and changes in personality. This dimension is
demonstrated by parents' nurturance toward their child, a boy's aggressive attack
on a peer, a girl's development of assertiveness, and an adolescent's feelings of joy
after getting good grades.

Biological, cognitive and socio-emotional processes are inextricably

intertwined -- they are inseparably and closely linked.

Activity 1.2

To test your newly acquired knowledge and understanding of developmental

periods and processes, complete the task in your notebook without looking at the
reading material or your notes. After you have completed the task, you may go back
to the material and check your answers. If you have missed any questions, redo this
activity until you can answer all correctly.

1. Enumerate the eight developmental periods in sequential order.

2. In which level does development begin?
3. In which level does development end?
4. To which stage does a typical child in Grade 5 belong?
5. To which stage does a typical high school student belong?
6. Enumerate the three developmental processes.
7. For each of the three dimensions of development, provide two examples.

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1.3 Developmental Issues

How much is development influenced by experience? Does development

proceed in stages? Issues focus on the relative importance of factors that influence
the developmental processes and about how the periods of development are
related. These include:

1. What Is the Source of Development?

NATURE vs NURTURE

2. What Is the Shape of Development?

CONTINUITY vs DISCONTINUITY

3. Timing: Is It Too Late? Critical Periods and

EARLY vs LATER EXPERIENCE

Nature-Nurture Issue

Heredity vs Environment, Biology vs Culture, Maturation vs Learning, Innate

vs Acquired Abilities.
Is development predetermined at birth, by heredity and biological factors, or
is it affected by experience and other environmental factors (education, parenting,
culture, policies, etc)?
Is development mostly from the inside, outward, or mostly from the outside,
inward? Former view: Children's development is largely biologically determined, but
the environment also has some effect on this biological development. Latter view:
Children's development is largely socially determined, with biology interacting with
these social factors.
Nature proponents argue that a genetic blueprint produces commonalities
in growth and development. We walk before we talk, speak one word before two
words, grow rapidly in infancy and less so in early childhood, and experience a rush
of sexual hormones in puberty. Extreme environments can stunt development, but
influence of tendencies genetically wired into humans is still more important.
Nurture proponents argue that experiences run the gamut from the
individual's biological environment (nutrition, medical care, drugs, and physical
accidents) to the social environment (family, peers, school, community, media, and
culture). A child's diet can affect how tall the child grows and even how effectively
the child can think and solve problems.
Today, most developmental psychologists believe that nature and nurture
combine to influence development, with biological factors playing a stronger role in
some aspects, such as physical development, and environmental factors playing a
stronger role in others, such as moral development.
Both biological and social factors are important, and neither is unchanging.
A person's biology may affect the kind of social environments he or she seeks out,

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but these social environments may also cause biological changes. The brain is not
rigid. Rather, it is plastic and highly responsive to the effects of the environment.
The bottom line is that biology and the environment always operate in an
interactive fashion.
In addition, it is important to note that children are more than the outcomes
of their heredity and the environment they experience; they also can author a
unique developmental path by changing the environment.

“In reality, we are both the creatures and creators of our worlds. We are... the
products of our genes and environments. Nevertheless,... the stream of
causation that shapes the future runs through our present choices... Mind
matters... Our hopes, goals, and expectations influence our future.” (Myers,
2010)

Continuity-Discontinuity Issue

The focus of this issue is the extent to which development involves gradual,
cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity). Is cognitive
development continuous, occurring in a smooth, ever-increasing pattern of
cognitive skills? Or is it discrete, occurring in discontinuous, stage-like patterns with
sharp gains at some points of development and virtually no gains at others?
Developmentalists who emphasize nurture usually describe development as
a gradual, continuous process, like the seedling's growth into an acacia tree. Those
who emphasize nature often describe development as a series of distinct stages,
like the change from caterpillar to butterfly.
Continuity is a theory based on the belief that human development
progresses smoothly and gradually from infancy to adulthood, like the gradual
improvement in your running endurance through systematic exercise. This
emphasizes the importance of environment rather than heredity in determining
development. Each new accomplishment in a child's cognitive abilities builds
directly in those that came before it. The process of development can be compared
to the steady progress of a person walking up a slope or a ramp. People gradually
progress to higher levels of cognitive maturity.
A child's first word, though seemingly an abrupt, discontinuous event, is
actually the result of weeks and months of growth and practice. Puberty, another
seemingly abrupt, discontinuous occurrence, is actually a gradual process occurring
over several years.
Discontinuity is a theory describing human development as occurring
through a fixed sequence of distinct, predictable stages governed by inborn factors.
Environmental conditions may have some influence on the pace of development,
but the sequence of developmental steps is fixed.
Although all children are believed to acquire skills in the same sequence,
rates of progress differ from child to child. At each stage, children develop
qualitatively (rather than quantitatively) different understandings, abilities, and
beliefs.

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 For example, in language acquisition, infants move forward through the
following stages: cooing, babbling, one-word utterances, two-word utterances, and
adult grammar. A child moves at some point from not being able to think abstractly
about the world, and not being able to reproduce, to being able to. These are
qualitative (a distinct attribute or characteristic), discontinuous changes in
development, not quantitative (with amount measured), continuous changes.
A frequently used metaphor for stage-like development is climbing a
staircase: There are level periods, then you ascend to the next step all at once. Later
stages build on earlier stages. As the child grows older, he or she consolidates
previously developed skills and develops new ones. With the language development
example, it would not be possible to reach the stage of two-word utterances
without first using single-word utterances.
Skipping stages is impossible, although at any given point the same child
may exhibit behaviors characteristic of more than one stage.
Stage theorists, such as Piaget share the belief that distinct stages of
development can be identified and described. Other explanations of cognitive
development based on learning theories emphasize gradual, continuous,
quantitative change.
Some expert teachers subscribe to stage-like views of development—they
assume that largely inborn factors determine the unfolding of a child's abilities over
time. As a consequence, they do not push students into development or force them
to skip a stage, because they think that non-environmental forces determine
development. Other expert teachers may support a continuous view of
development—they expect children to have at least the rudiments of adult thinking
at relatively early ages.
A sound way of teaching is always to challenge students at a level right
beyond what they find comfortable doing, but not at a level that frustrates them so
that they withdraw from learning. In this way, the goal is attainable but the student
must work to attain it.

Critical Periods and Early-Later Experience Issue

Focuses on the degree to which early experiences (especially in infancy) or

later experiences are the key determinants of the child's development.
Are there critical periods when certain abilities, such as language, need to
develop? If those opportunities are missed, can the child still “catch up”? If infants
experience harmful circumstances, can those experiences be overcome by later,
positive ones? Or are the early experiences so critical that they cannot be overridden
by a later, better environment?
Early experience. Those who subscribe to this side of the issue believe that
unless infants experience warm, nurturing care during the first year or so of life,
their development throughout the lifespan will never quite be optimal.
Later experience. This side of the argument, on the other hand, believes
that children are malleable throughout development. Later sensitive caregiving is
just as important as earlier sensitive caregiving.

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 Many earlier psychologists, particularly those influenced by Freud, believed
that early childhood experiences were critical, especially for socio-emotional and
cognitive development.
But does early toilet training really set all of us on a particular life path?
Probably not. More recent research shows that later experiences are powerful, too,
and can change the direction of development.
Most psychologists today talk about sensitive periods—not critical periods.
There are times when a person is especially ready for or responsive to certain
experiences. For instance, the best time to learn a second language on your own
without direct instruction is childhood, but adults can and do learn second
languages all the time.

Teachers need to recognize all the skills available to youngsters, and should
challenge the use of new skills without being overwhelming in their demands.
Developmentally appropriate teaching takes place at a level neither too difficult and
stressful nor too easy and boring for the child's developmental level.
Competent teachers are aware of developmental differences. Rather than
characterizing students as “advanced,” “average,” and “slow,” they recognize that
their students' development and ability are complex, and children often do not
display the same competence across different skills.
Can you expect a child with strong writing skills to perform well in math?
What does it mean if a child does not perform well in both? Should you push the
student harder? Is it possible that the child's weak performance in math may be due
not to lack of effort but rather to a slower rate of development in the mathematical
area?
Splintered development. The circumstances in which development is
uneven across domains. One student may have excellent math skills but poor
writing skills. Another student may have excellent verbal language skills but not
have good reading and writing skills. Yet another student may do well in science but
lack social skills.
Cognitively advanced students whose socio-emotional development is at a
level expected for much younger children present a special challenge. A student
may excel at science, math, and language but be immature emotionally. Such a
child may not have any friends and be neglected or rejected by peers. Differences in
development can be expected because learning rates vary from one area to another.
Developmental changes can help you understand the optimal level for
teaching and learning. It is not a good strategy to try to push children to read before
they are developmentally ready—but when they are ready, reading materials should
be presented at the appropriate level.

Activity 1.3

Reflect on your personal development. What has helped you become the
person that you are now? Is what you have become a product of the mere
interaction of heredity and environment? Or is what you have become a product of

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both heredity and environment interacting and what you have decided or
determined yourself to become? Write your reflections in your notebook.

1.4 Principles of Human Development

Although there is disagreement about exactly how development takes place, there
are a few general principles almost all theorists would support.

1. People develop at different rates. Some students will be larger, better

coordinated, or more mature in their thinking and social relationships.
Others will be much slower to mature in these areas. Except in rare cases of
very rapid or very slow development, such differences are normal and should
be expected in any large group of students.

2. Development is relatively orderly. People develop abilities in logical order.

In infancy, they sit before they walk, babble before they talk, and see the
world through their own eyes before they can begin to imagine how others
see it. In school, they will master addition before Algebra, Harry Potter
before Shakespeare, and so on.

3. Development takes place gradually. Very rarely do changes appear

overnight. A student who cannot manipulate a pencil or answer a
hypothetical question may well develop this ability, but the change is likely
to take time.

Chapter References

1. Santrock, J.W. (2018). Educational psychology. McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Slavin, R.E. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and Practice. Pearson
Education, Inc.
3. Sternberg, R.J. & Williams, W.M. (2009). Educational psychology.
Pearson/Merrill.
4. Woolfolk, A. (2016). Educational psychology. Pearson Education Limited.

Prof Ed 112: The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles / jmmillare@usm.edu.ph
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