Chapter VI

The Newborn and The Infancy Period

Having a baby: elicits both positive and negative reactions not only on
the part of the new parents who are faced with the so-called “new parent-blues”
but also on the part of the other significant people in the life of the newborn.
Having a baby entails a great deal of responsibility which may lead
others to complain or ask such questions as Hindi pa ako handa, ano ang aking gagawin?
Paano ko siya pala-lakihin? Ano ang aking rnaibibigay sa aking anak? Ano ang sasabihin sa akin ng mga
tao at ng magiging anak ko? Sana hindi na lang ako ipinanganak.

It is the child who normally bears the consequences. Birth is not a

matter of choice but getting pregnant usually is.
General Characteristics
Newborns up to two days are typically unattractive and are extremely
feeble due to regulated muscular restraints. The sensory maturity, however, is
compensated for by its eminently well-organized systems and competence to
perform even prior to birth. Newborns may be unable to distinguish their
surroundings at birth, but still they can both sense and be affected by their
environment from the time they are born onwards. There are deficits in various
capabilities important for survival. The behavior of the newborn consists of
reflexes. Most often, he is asleep or drowsy, cries, and gets excited easily.
Infancy is the transition period intervening between birth and two weeks
of life. Personality and social development focus on the occurrence of an
attachment behavior which emotionally ties or binds the infant and his family
members. There is an extraordinary growth in intellectual ability as biological
growth interrelates with the accumulation of experiences. Reflexive movements
give way to intentional actions as directed by the mind.
The Neonate and the Neonatal Scale
At, birth, the normal infant is initially appraised as being pink in
appearance, over 100 in heart rate, can grimace (cry, cough, or sneeze), with
active motion, and manifests a good strong cry. These are measured at one
minute after birth end five minutes after. Depressed infants are monitored
every five minutes, subsequently with medical intervention until their condition
stabilizes.

The Apgar test

 Score
Characteristic 0 1 2

Heart rate Absent Slow (less than Over 100 beats

100 beats per per minute
minute)
Respiratory effort Absent Slow or irregular Good, baby is
crying
Muscle tone Flaccid, limp Weak, some Strong, active
flexion motion

Color Blue or pale Body pink, Completely pink

extremities blue
Reflex irritability No response Frown, grimace, Vigorous cry
or weak cry

A detailed examination would reveal that the infant is usually wrapped

by a cheesy white semi-fluid substanced called vermix caseosa, which preserves
the skin from injury upon delivery. Lanugo hair may be visible in some areas of
the body. The Mongolian spot, a bluish gray discoloration, is usually found on the
buttocks. A whitish pinpoint spot called milia is most often found on the surface
of the nose. The mottling of skin is present upon exposure to cold. However,
the features mentioned above disappear as the baby grows older.
The anterior fontanel of the head feels soft because the skull is left open
due to delayed development upon delivery) and consequently, it closes as the
baby gets older. The circumference of the chest is less than that of the head at
birth. the infant develops, the former becomes bigger or equal at the end of the
first year. The head circumference is 34-35 cms. at birth, and enlarges,
averaging 44 cms. by 6 months, and 47 cms. by the first year of life.
2 mo. (fetal) 5 mo. Newborn 2 yr. 6 yr. 12 yr. 25 yr.
Stages of Growth - Relative Proportions of Head, Trunk, and
Extremities for Different Ages (From Robbins, WJ et al: Growth. New Haven,
Conn., Yale University Press, 1928.)
Source: Shaffer, David R. Developmental Psychology Theory, Research and
Application. California: Brooke Cole Publishing Company, 1985.
Reflexes
Neurological examination may reveal various reflexes that are normal at birth
but become abnormal if they persist as the baby gets older. Lack of these reflex
responses in infants and their failure to disappear as the baby matures are
signs of a disorder in the nervous system. The moro reflex is a startled response
to any unexpected noise or strong movement by the exterior part of the body.
The neck righting reflex evokes rotation of the body simultaneously with the
course of the movement of the head. The tonic neck reflex consists of the
extension of the arm and the leg on the direction to which the face is turned
(fencing posture). The grasping reflex involves prehension of the stimulus upon
the palm. The sucking reflex, in which the infant tends to suck, is elicited by
stroking the lips, especially by the nipple. The rooting reflex is initiated by
stimulating the cheek or area outside the lips and the infant directs its mouth
to such the stimulus.
(See Table 4 — Major Reflexes Present in Full-term Neonates, page 107.)
Physical Growth
The height of the infant at birth is around 50 cms. in length, Boys are
somewhat taller than girls at age 2 years. By age 5 Lip to 10 years, there is no
dominance of either sex in terms of height. The favorably taller boys are
surpassed by girls at age 11 - 43 years. Then, the males demonstrate their
height dominance at 14 years and maintain this change onwards to maturity.
Mnemonics
Certain mnemonics have been utilized to facilitate rapid computation of
the weights and heights of infants and children in the absence of handy tables
and charts. Adapted from Del Mundo (1976), the following are given:
From 1-6 years
Weight in pounds = Age in years x 5 + 17
From 6 to 12 years
Weight in pounds = Age in years x 7 + 5
Simpler formulas may be applied if desired:
For infants below 6 months of age
Weight in grams = Age in months x 600 - birth weight*
From 6 to 12 months
Weight in grams = Age in months x 500 + birth weight*
For children 2 years and up:
Weight in kilograms = Age in years x 2 + 8
From 3 to 12 months
Caucasian
Weight in pounds =Age in months + 11
Filipino
Weight in pounds = Age in months + 10
______________
*Average birth weight for Filipino infants is approximately 3000 grams. If the value is not
known for a particular child, this may be used.
Table 4 - Major reflexts present in full-term neomates
Name Response Developmental Significance
Cause

I. Survival
reflexes
Breathing reflex Repetitive Permanent Provides oxygen
inhalation and and expels
expiration carbon dioxide

Eyeblink reflex Closing or Permanent Protects the eyes

blinking the eye from bright
aversive stimuli
or foreign objects
Pupillary reflex Constriction of Permanent Protects against
pupils to bright bright lights;
light; dilation to adapts the visual
dark or dimly lit system to low
surroundings illumination

Rooting reflex Turning of the Gradually Orients child to

cheek in the weakens over the the breast or
direction of a first 6 months of bottle
tactile (touch) life
stimulus
Sucking reflex Sucking on Is gradually Allows child to
objects placed (or modified by take in nutrients
taken) into the experience over
mouth the first few
months of life
Swallowing reflex Swallowing Is permanent but Allows child to
modified by take in nutrients
experience
II. Primitive (subcortical) Reflexes

Babinksi reflex Fanning and then Usually Its presence at

curling the toes disappears within birth and
when the bottom the first 8 months disappearance in
of the foot is - 1 year of life the first year are
stroked an indication of
normal
neurological
development
Grasping reflex Curling of the Disappears in Its presence at
fingers around first 3-4 months birth and later
objects Ouch as a and is then disappearance
finger) that touch replaced by a are an indication
the baby's palm voluntary grasp of normal
neurological
development

Moro reflex A loud noise or The arm Its presence at

sudden change in movements birth and later
the position of arching of the disappearance (or
the baby's head back disappear evolution into the
will cause the over the first 6-7 starle reflex) are
baby to throw his months; however, indications of
or her arms the child normal
outward, arch the continues to react neurological
back, and then to unexpected development
bring the arms noises or a loss of
towards each bodily support by
other as if to hold showing a starle
onto something reflex (which does
not disappear)

Swimming reflex An infant Disappears in the Its presence at

immerse in water first 4-6 months birth and later
will display active disappearance
movements of the are an indication
arms and legs of normal
and in-voluntarily neurological
hold his or her development; on
breath (thus a practical note,
giving the body some swimming
buoyancy); this instructors have
swimming reflex taught very
will keep an young infants to
infant afloat for adapt the
some time, swimming reflex
allowing for the into a primitive
easy rescue of a type of
baby who has locomotion in the
fallen into a body water
of water (swimming),
which is possible
long before an
infant is capable
 of walking.

Stepping reflex Infants held Disappears in the Its presence at

upright so that first 8 weeks birth and later
their feet touch a unless the infant disappearance
flat surface will has regular are taken as an
step as if to walk opportunities to indication of
practice this normal
response neurological
development
Note: Preterm infants may show little or no evidence of subcortial reflexes at birth, and their survival reflexes are likely
to be irregular or immature. However, the missing subcortial reflexes will typically appear soon after birth and will
disappear a little later than they do among full-term infants.

Source: Developmental Psychology, Theory, Research and Application by David R. Shaffer

The following usual changes in weight at different ages may also be kept mind:
At 4-5 months………….…………. 2 x birth weight
At 1. year ................................. 3 x birth weight
At 2 years …………….…………… 4 x birth weight
At 3 years …………………………. 5 x birth weight
At 5 years …………………………. 6 x birth weight
At 7 years …………………………. 7 x birth weight
At 10 years …………………….... 10 x birth weight

The average birth length is 50 cm or 20 inches. The velocity of growth

diminishes as the infant grows older. Total average gains in length during the
first-year reach about 25 cm dis-tributed as follows:
From birth to 3 months ……. 9 cm
From 3 to 6 months ............. 8 cm
From 6 to 9 months ………… 5 cm
From 9 to 12 months ………. 3 cm

Simple formulas for computing height are as follows:

 Height in centimeters = Age in years x 5 + 80
Height in inches = Age in years x 2 + 32
Caucasian sources give the following formula:
1
Height in inches = Ages in years x 2 + 30
2
Other mnemonic for height are:
At 1 year ………………. 30 inches
1
At 2 years ……………… mature height (boys)
2
At 3 years …………….. 3 feet tall
At 4 years …………….. 40 inches or 2 x birth length
At 13 years ................ 1 2 mature heights (boys)
At birth, the approximate weight of the infant is 6 lbs. 5 oz. to 7 lbs. 5 oz;
with 7 lbs. as the average weight. A physio-logic loss, which is but natural, may
occur during the first few days. Ten days after the birth weight is replenished.
There-first 5 months and 15 gms. per day for the remaining period for the
after, weight gain approximates 20 gms. per day until the baby is one year old.
The general direction of weight is proportioned to growth in height. By 2-9
years, boys are heavier than girls. The female takes the lead starting at age 10
until 14 years old. The male advantage remains at age 15 years up to maturity.
The process of skeletal development occurs eventually in the prenatal
period. For some bones, their development continues into late adolescence.
Infant bones are softer, more prone and more subject to trauma. Hence, extra
care becomes necessary in handling infants and children.
Muscle growth of infants is small in length, breadth, and thickness and
is therefore not sufficient for energy regulation since the muscles tires easily.
Following the cephalocaudal principle, the muscles of the head and neck
develop ahead of the torso, the arms, and the legs.
Perceptual Skills
The neonate is sensitive to brightness as indicated by his papillary response to
change in illumination. His visual images are likely to be blurred because of
failure of the lens to focus on the object. His visual acuity as compared to that
of the adult is poor.
 The intrasensory coordination of sounds and sights is likely to be
present. Not only is the infant sensitive to sounds but he can also determine
where the location of the sound is. This is proven by the fact that his eyes (and
head) turn toward the sound source. Sounds of a wide range of frequencies
have an effect on him in that softer or lower frequency and rhythmic sounds
have a resting result while louder or higher and un-expected frequency sounds
could cause a startled or an aggressive reaction.
Infants do develop basic taste preferences. They are also capable of
determining certain tastes such that they will suck faster and longer stimuli
that are sweet than those with other tastes.
The ability to sense odor in newborns is innate. Neonates are capable of
differentiating odors; they refuse to focus their face on unpleasant smells such
as vinegar and ammonia. With-in a week, breast-fed infants can identify the
smell of their mother's feeding pad.
Infants are definitely sensitive to a variety of tactile stimuli, even to
thermal stimulation. Their body heat is actively responsive to a sudden drop in
room temperature, which may explain why they easily get irritated. However,
infants have an extremely high tolerance of and are insensitive to pain. The
process of delivering a baby may be very painful to the mother, but the
newborn's sense of pain is not acute so that it does not, feel such experience.
This also includes pain commonly as-sociated with circumcision, which may be
done during the first week of life where no anesthesia is used and which brings
little or no pain at all to the infant since his concept of pain is not yet
established.
Motor Development
Newborns appear so helpless, entirely incapable of moving about on their
own. This is mainly due to their inactivity or failure to practice, which
influences the motor movements they make. By the end of the first month,
there is a fairly rapid improvement in their motor ability. They are now mature
enough to reach, which marks the beginning of motor development.
Motor development starts from head to foot, following the cephalocaudal
law of development direction. The head, neck, and upper extremities begin to
develop earlier than do the legs and the lower extremities. Meanwhile,
development from the center to the extremities, called proximodistal law of
develop-mental direction, also happens. Development of the trunk or torso and
then the shoulders come ahead of that of the hands and fingers.
The infant's first distinct motor activity is marked by the reaching prehensil
pattern. This is a voluntary and permanent motor process involving visual,
factual, and kinesthetic stimuli, which may be distinguished from the grasp
reflex. Eye-hand coordination is essential in prehension function while visually
guided reaching., through maturation, develops the infant's splice perception
and his neuromuscular system, which is involved in reaching.
Cognitive Function
Jean Piaget believes that the development of intelligence begins during
the sensorimotor stage of the infant. Immediate experience is derived through
the senses, through the interaction of the senses and the environment. Objects
and events seen for the "first time" are vividly remembered, and hence are
bound to immediate experience. Responses are defined by the object or event,
since the infant is unable to classify his experience. Piaget theorized that to an
infant, an object or an event still exists even if it is no longer in sight.
The infant in this stage of development "creates" his own world in
relation to what is immediately agreeable and pleasurable. Onwards, he
responds with "primary circular reaction" on those things around his body. The
process is established by repeating organized and coordinated actions of
previously satisfied responses.
Piaget further theorized on two operations by which the infant acts upon
the environment; assimilation and accommodation. Infants are born with the
sucking reflex. However, changes in the process occurs in the activity of
sucking. This depends on the shape and size, placement of the lips and tongue,
and various sucking motions. From a regular succession of former learned
behaviors (assimilation of a previously learned response) and altering these
behaviors (accommodation), the infant slowly brings out the potentials or skills
and knowledge that characterize the process of human development.
Infants do not understand that objects exist even when hidden from
view. They tend to believe that a thing exists only when they see it, feel it, or
otherwise respond to it. When, it is removed from their direct perceptual field,
it ceases to exist. In the later stage, they develop the thinking that an object
continuously exists through imagination even when it is not being immediately
perceived. The final stage happens within the second year of life in which he
acquires a full realization of "object Permanence" and can search for objects in
different places.
It is an instinct for infants to possess "curiosity" by being attracted to
new objects and by integrating perceived relationships with their past
experiences. If the new objects are better than those in their previous
experiences, they will assimilate, or otherwise, be fixated on these past
experiences.
Emotional Development
The newborn's cries may be a mode of expressing diverse emotions felt
resulting from hunger, pain, or anger. The fear response may be caused by
loud noise, sudden loss of support or sudden occurrence of an unexpected
event or circumstance. Smiling may occur in response to a dynamic range of
sights and sounds. However, social smile happens first in response to the
human voice by the third week of life.
Erik Erikson describes every phase of emotional growth by psychological
crises that may actually occur. If the individual is able to overcome each crisis,
he may be led towards other phases of emotional development. The intensity or
degree of nurture manifested in feeding, cuddling, bathing, and dressing will
form feelings of either trust or mistrust in the child. The rearing activities in
relation with the mother forms his foundation of trust. The quality of care and
affection given to the infant creates closeness to the mother. Foremost, he
experiences the world of dependence to get what he chooses from his mother.
This develops his sense of security in achieving a goal as he approaches later
life. In times of negative com-fort, there is hope in securing the need. If the
infant is unable to outgrow dependency on the mother, this makes it negative,
in that the mother becomes an idol.
Bridges, K.M.B. (1932), says that from the start, a specific set of stimuli
elicits a generalized excitement determined as the origin of emotion.
Excitement in infants is manifested by sudden muscle tension, fast breathing,
jerky, kicking leg movements, and wide-open eyes staring into distance.
By three weeks, differentiation has begun. Distress or dis-agreeable
excitement, as differentiated from generalized excitement, appears. There are
more tensed muscles, difficulty of breathing, and louder, higher pitch, and
more irregular cry. Other signs are tears, flushed face, distorted mouth, and
clenched fist.
Language Development
According to Eric H. Lenneberg (1969), the roots of language are found
in the infant's crying, cooing, and eventually in his babbling. Indeed, the
sounds of every language in the world are uttered in the babbling of an infant.
Furthermore, it-is believed that the use of language in infants and young
children is in accordance with what they hear and that they are their own
"language specialists" since they continuously extract various possible
utterances or distinguish the rules of language.
Social and Moral Development
Newborns start to become aware of their environment, particularly people.
Their tasks include listening, visual following, and sucking. The neonate's
discovery of people may be supported by his crying, smiling, and vocalizing.
These responses serve as "signals" which attract adults to be near the
newborn.
Based on Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development the infant is
in the first stage, the Pre-conventional Stage, which is characterized by
obedience to being righteous on objects and events in order to avoid the
punishment of pain, anxiety, and prohibition of independence.
KEY IDEAS
1. The neonatal period is from birth to 2 days and infancy is from birth up to 2
months.
2. Appraisal of the neonate’s functions can be determined by the APGAR Test.
3. In terms of appearance, the newborn is characterized by vermix caseosa,
lanugo hair, Mongolian spot, and milia.
4. The open and soft anterior fontanel which closes as the infant gets older is a
prominent sign among newborns.
5. The head circumference is larger than the chest circumference at birth up to
the first year of life.
6. Reflexes such as Moro, neck righting, tonic neck, grasping, sucking, and
rooting reflexes are generally present during infancy.
7. Boys are taller than girls at age two years and are heavier than girls at
around 2 to 9 years old.
8. Infants may not be well-developed in terms of the muscular-skeletal system,
but their perceptual function is already well-developed.
9. The direction of motor development begins from head to foot (cephalocaudal)
and from torso to the fingers (proximodistal).
10. The reaching-prehensil pattern is the distinct motor activity among infants.
11. Jean Piaget considers the cognitive development of infants as being at the
"sensorimotor" stage.
12. Erik Erikson believes that emotional development in infants is at level of
the "Trust vs Mistrust." Bridges characterizes the kind of emotions in newborn
as marked by general excitement.
13. The roots of language are crying, cooing, and babbling.
14. The social-moral development of infants is at the "Pre-conventional Stage."

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name __________________________ Section _________________________

1. Key Terms / Concepts to Define

a. APGAR test or score
b. Physiologic loss
c. Primitive loss
2. Differentiate the following:
a. Cephalocaudal and proximodistal motor development
b. Assimilation and accommodation
c. Newborn and Infancy
ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name __________________________ Section _________________________

Significant Contribution of key persons

1. K.M.B. Bridges
2. Erick Erikson
3. Lawrence Kohlberg
4. Erick Lenneberg
5. Jean Piaget

ACTIVITY NO. 3
Name __________________________ Section _________________________

Suggestion Activities
1. What are some of the Filipinos’ customs or beliefs related to the
upbringing of a neonate and infant?
2. What are the advantages of giving birth in the house and in the hospital?
Natural or spontaneous delivery and caesarian?
 3. What could be the psychological effects of the presence of the father
during the labor and delivery of his wife?
4. What could be the psychological implications of test tube babies,
artificial insemination, and cloning?

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name __________________________ Section _________________________
Suggested Reading/ Studies
Does the use of anesthesia or any sort f drugs have any adverse effects on both
mother and the infant? Justify Your answer.

Chapter VII
Babyhood

Babyhood extends from the end of the second week of life to the end of
the second year It is often referred to as infancy. However, Hurlock (1982) cites
that infancy, compared to baby-hood, is characterized by extreme helplessness.
The word baby may likewise suggest a helpless individual; hence, the word
toddler has been increasingly used to denote a baby that has achieved enough
control of his body to permit relative independence, such as moving about,
feeding himself, etc.
Characteristics of Babyhood
The most important characteristics of babyhood are listed below:
1. It is the true foundation age —While childhood is generally regarded as the
foundation age, babyhood is the true foundation period since many behavior
patterns, attitudes, and emotional expressions are established at this time.
Largely, these early established patterns persist regardless of whether they are
good or bad, beneficial or harmful.
2. It is an age of rapid growth and change — Growth, both physical and psychological,
is rapid in babyhood especially during the first year. Babies become less top-
heavy in appearance than they were at birth and their limbs develop in better
proportion to the head. Accompanying changes in body proportions are growth
in height and weight, which likewise are paralleled by intellectual growth and
change.
3. It is an age of increasing independency — Rapid development of body control
which enables the baby to sit, stand, and walk and to manipulate objects
result in increased independence. With this comes an attitude against being

Babyhood is generally considered an appealing age and babies are a source of delight
among adults.

"Babied." This protest, which takes the form of angry outbursts and crying,
soon develops into negativism.
4. It is the age of heightened individuality — Through in-creased independence,
babies are afforded the chance to develop themselves along the lines of their
interest and abilities. The individuality apparent at birth increases as the latter
part of babyhood is approached. As individuality increases, as shown in
appearance and in patterns of behavior, the same child-training techniques
cannot be expected to work equally well for all babies.
5. It is the foundation period for socialization —Young babies are very
egocentric at first but this attitude diminishes and they show a desire to
become a part of a social group as evidenced by their not wanting to be left
alone and by demonstrating attention-seeking behavior. They manifest
attachment behavior by developing strong emotional ties with people they
associate with, especially their mothers, whom they can count on for attention
and affection.
6. It is the foundation period for sex-role typing —Right after their being brought forth
into this world, babies are already subjected to sex-role typing by being dressed
in clothes with colors appropriate to their sex, or being given toys or told
stories in line with sex-identifying traditions. However, the pressures on boys
to be sex-appropriate are not as strong as they are on girls.
7. It is an appealing age — Babies' bodies may be disproportionate but it is this
characteristic that makes them appealing —big heads, protruding abdomens,
small limbs, tiny hands and feet, coupled with their apparent help-lessness,
clumsiness, and dependency, make them a source of delight among adults.
Gradually, as babies become capable of doing things for themselves and their
appearance becomes less appealing, they start giving adults a hard time since
the former become less easy to manage and more resistant to help from the
latter.
8. It is the foundation period for creativity — While babies may be incapable of doing
anything that can be regarded as original or creative due to their lack of muscle
coordination and lack of ability to exercise control over their environment, they
nonetheless learn to develop interests and the attitudes that will lay the
foundations for creative behavior and for conformity as well as nonconformity
to patterns set by others.
9. It is a hazardous age — There are hazards at every age or period in the life
span and certain hazards are more common during babyhood than at any
other. Illnesses and accidents which often lead to permanent disabilities or
even death are the most common physical hazards. Meanwhile, when poor
foundations vis-à-vis behavior patterns, interests, and attitudes are
established, serious psychological hazards may be the result.
Developmental Tasks of Babyhood
• Learning to walk
• Learning to take solid foods
• Having organs of elimination under partial control
• Achieving reasonable physiological stability especially in hunger rhythm and
sleep
• Relating emotionally to parents and siblings
• Learning the foundations of speech such as building up a useful vocabulary,
pronouncing words with rea_ sonable correctness, comprehending the meaning
of simple statements and commands, and putting together several words into
meaningful sentences
• Learning sex differences
• Getting ready to read
• Learning to distinguish between right and wrong and developing a conscience
(See Table 5 — The "Sequence of Principal Behavior Manifestations of
Development During the First Two Years" cm the next page.)

Patterns of Filipino Physical Development During Babyhood

WEIGHT
At birth male infants are heavier by 0.11 kgs. than the females. The
mean weight of males at birth is 3.05 kgs. while that of females is 2.94 kgs.
From birth up to the end of the first year of life, the males are heavier than the
females, gaining 6.07 kgs. and 5.33 kgs., respectively. The mean birth weight
during the second year of life is very much less, 35% and 45°4 of the average
weight gain for males and females, respectively. There is a trend of decelerating
growth during the first year and this continues through the second year.
HEIGHT
The mean length for males and females at birth is 48.85 cms. and 48.14
cms., respectively. Generally, males are longer than females from birth to one
year of age from 0.71 cms. at birth to 2.05 ans. at 11 months. The period of
most rapid growth during the second year of life occurs during the first quarter
(12-15 months) for both males and females and the slowest during the third
quarter (18-21 months) for the males and the
Table 5 – Sequence of principal behavior Manifestations of development during
the First Two Years
Age Motor Social Speech Intellectual Play
Control
Range Fine Reaction Reaction grasp Reaction
0-2 Mass Activity Eyes focus Focus on Cry from
on light face discomfort
2-4 Chin up, Look at Watch
prone object persons
1-2 Chest up, Eyes follow Smile at Coos Avert head from Listen to voice
prone moving persons light
object
2-3 Head steady Wave a toy Prefer “Ash” “Naah” Defense Listen to music
mother movements
3-4 Feet push, Reach for Touch Laugh a load Hand to mouth Play with own
erect rattle adult’s hand hands
4-5 Sit Propped Grasp, hold Know Babble to person Scratch Y
toy Stranger
5-6 Squirm, Get moving Enjoy mirror Discovery that Put toy in
prone toy toys fall down mouth
6-7 Roll Transfer toy Stretch arms Call for attention Knows associates’ Play with toes
R-L to come names frequently
7-8 Sit alone Pat toy Pull hair Practice heard Own, Surge, sitting
consonants Siblings, Pets, etc.
8-9 Stand if held Pick up pill Exploit Scold, express Lifts onto
adults joy hands & toes
9-10 Creep, hitch Point index Wave bye- Uses a word Obeys “No” “No” Peek-a-boo
finger bye meaning fully
10-11 Walk if lead Notice Pat-a-cake
babies
11-12 Pull to stand Exploit toys Repeats words Recognizes
sounds
12-14 Walk alone Open boxes Draw adult Names pictures
into play
14-16 Climb steps Mark with Responds to
pencil familiar phrases
16-18 Run Put a block Adj- noun Pokes fingers in
in a hole phrase holes
18-20 Climb on Seek help in Uses verbs Exploit
furniture trouble Uses pronouns cupboards
20-22 Obeys simple drawers
commands furniture
22-24 Build with Simple
blocks sentences
Siter Barbara Geoghegan , et. Al,,,,. Developmental Psychology, (Bruce Publication Co., Milwaukee, 1963), p. 204

fourth quarter (21-24 months) for the females. The total growth' for the
second year of life is greater than that of the third year of life for both sexes
indicating further a decelerating growth rate in length.
TEETH
In general, the lower central incisors tend to precede the upper central
incisors and the upper lateral incisors to precede the lower laterals.
The first tooth to erupt is the lower central incisor followed by the upper
central, the upper lateral, and lower lateral incisors. The lower and upper
molars generally erupt during the first half of the second year of life; the
cuspids, in the second half.
Motor Development in Babyhood
Maturation and learning work in harmony in the development of muscle
control. Babies are able to use their bodies in a coordinated manner due to the
maturation of their muscles, bones, and nerve structures as well as the
changes in body proportions. They should, however, be afforded an opportunity
to learn how to do so since instruction or training would be of little or no value
if this state of readiness is not present.
Development of control over the muscles undeniably follows a definite
and predictable pattern governed by the laws of developmental direction, which
hold that development proceeds from head to foot and from trunk to
extremities.
One to Two (1-2) Months — The tonic-neck reflex (tnr) predominates when
the baby is on supine position, i.e., the head is turned far to the side, one arm
in extension to the same side, the other flexed to the shoulder; can roll partly
to side.
- Three (3) Months — On the verge of turning to prone position.
- Four (4) Months — Can turn to prone from supine position.
On supine position the arms are seen in symmetrical posture, although
the turn position is still seen briefly.
- Six to Seven (6-7) Months — Can roll from stomach to s stomach.

At six to seven months, the baby can roll from stomach to stomach.
 - Eight (8) Months — Can also alternate from prone to sit-ting position and
back to prone from sitting position; can cruise by crawling.
- Nine (9) Months — Can pull himself to standing position by holding on to
rail.
- Ten to Eleven (10-11) Months — Has mastered seating position, i.e., can pivot
around in a steady manner. While holding on to rail or chair he can
cruise and lower him-self from standing to sitting position; can creep
with high speed; can walk when his two hands are held by an older
person.
- Twelve (12) Months — Can walk in a steady manner with only one hand
held.
- Fifteen (15) Months — Can push a chair around, climb it, and get down
from it as well.
- Eighteen (18) Months — Runs but falls now and then; can climb stairs by
creeping.

At 18 months, the baby runs but may fall now and then, since his motor skills development is
still at a low level.

- twenty-one (21) Months - Can squat while playing on the floor; progresses in
climbing the stairs by assuming the upright position and holding on to
the banisters.
- Twenty-four (24) Months - Can walk backward three or more steps; can walk
on his toes and run without falling; can walk nimbly with arms swinging
at his side; can climb stairs with both feet on the same tread before
stepping.
1. Fetal posture 2. Chin up (1 3. Chest up (2 4. Reach (3
month) months) month (newborn)

5. Sit with help (4 6. Sit on lap, (4 7. Sit in high 8. Sit alone (7

months) months) grasp chair, grasp months)
object (5 months) dangling object (6
months)

9. Stand with 10. Stand holding 11. Crawl (10 12. Walk with
help (8 months) furniture (9 months) help (11 months)
months) 15. Standalone
(14 months)

13. Pull up (12 14. Climb (13 15. standalone 16. Walk alone
months) months) (14 month) (15 months)

Sequence of Infant Growth

Physical growth during infancy is gradual series of maturational changes
that allow better control of actions and perceptions. Although there are
differences among babies from different ethnic origins in terms of
temperament, reactions, and rate of development, most infants follow this
general sequence.
Babyhood Skills
1. Hand Skills — self-feeding, self-dressing, and play skills.
2. Leg Skills — jumping, climbing stairs, swimming by kicking legs, and
splashing with arms.
On the aspect of whether exercise classes for infants and toddlers are
advisable, pediatricians and child psychologists suggest that babies simply
need touch, face-to-face contact, and brightly colored toys they can manipulate
for optimal physical and motor development.
Studies on structured exercise classes for babies according to Papalia
and Olds (1990) revealed that there are more bone fractures and dislocations
and more muscle strains in babies now than in the past. It was pointed out
that when adults are stretching and moving a, baby's limbs, it is easy to go
beyond his physical limits without their knowing it. Likewise, exercise for
babies is not aerobic. They cannot adequately stretch their bodies to achieve
aerobic benefits. Even swimming classes before early childhood have a down
side. Children cannot cognitively learn to swim until they are around three to
four years of age. Hence, it is common for four-year-olds who have had
swimming classes since infancy to become suddenly terrified of the water
because for the first time, they realize or understand that they could drown.
Speech Development in Babyhood
Speech is one tool for communication. Babies, to be. able to
Communicate with others, must be able to comprehend what the others are
trying to communicate to them and to communicate to others in terms or ways
they can comprehend. Often, communication in babies is not mastered quickly
until babyhood comes to a close. Among written, spoken, gesticulate, musical
and artistic expressions, spoken language is the most efficient since it is least
likely to be misunderstood.
The foundations of both aspects of communication — comprehension
and ability to communicate — are laid during the babyhood years though
ability in the former is generally greater than that in the latter.
Table 2 — The Course of Language Development*
Age (in Months) Vocalization and Language

4 Coos and chuckles

6 to 9 Babbles; produces sounds such as "ma" or "da";

reduplication of sounds common.
12 to 18 A small number of "words"; follows simple com-mands,
and responds to "no."
18 to 21 Form about 20 words at 18 months to about 200 words
at 21; points to many more objects; com-prehends
simple questions; forms two-word phrases.

24 to 27 Vocabulary of 300 to 400 words; has two-to three-word

phrases; uses prepositions and pronouns.
30 to 33 Fastest increase in vocabulary; three-to four-word
sentences are common; word order, phrase structure,
grammatical agreement approximate language of
surroundings, but many utterances are unlike anything
an adult would say
36 to 39 Vocabulary of 1,000 words or more; well-formed
sentences using complex grammatical rules, although
certain rules have not yet been fully mastered;
grammatical mistakes are much less frequent; about 90
percent comprehensibility.
*From Lenneberg, E. H. The Natural History of Language in F. Smith & G. A. Miller
(Eds.), The Genesis of Language; A Psycholinguistic Approach Cambridge, Macs.: MIT Press,
196, p. 222.
Prespeech Forms of Communication
In learning to talk, four prespeech forms of communication normally
appear:
1. Crying — Hurlock (1982) considers it to be the very first piece of
human behavior that has social value. It gradually becomes differentiated as
the newborn reaches the third or fourth week of life so that one can tell what
his cry signifies from its tone and intensity and the bodily movements that
accompany it. Likewise, crying serves the function of telling whether the baby
is normal and healthy or not.
2. Cooing and Babbling — As the baby's vocal mechanisms develop, he
becomes capable of producing explosive sounds which develop into babbling or
lallation. Eventually, some of these sounds form the basis of his speech.
Babbling begins during the second or third month of life, reaches its peak at
around the eighth month, and completely disappears as babyhood draws to a
close.
3. Gesturing — This develops and is used by the baby not to supplement,
but to substitute for his speech. In fact, even when he is able to utter a few
words, he still continues to use gestures and combine them with words to
make sentences.
4. Emotional Expressions — This is undeniably one of the most effective
prespeech forms of communication. Through his facial and bodily expressions,
the baby is able to communicate his emotional state to others. Also, the baby
finds it easier to understand others by their facial expressions than by their
words.
The appearance of true language, i.e., the first word, normally takes
place at the age of about 1045 months. During the second year of life there is
an accumulation of single-word and two-word utterances.
Between the first and second year, a toddler's sentences are most often
single words. "Ball," for example, is likely to mean, "I want the ball" while
"more" is used to express "I want more."
Adults can help at this point in developing babies' speech development
by practicing "expansion." When the toddler says "car," meaning, "I want to go
in the car," the parent can respond by repeating the word and developing the
meaning into a fug, complete sentence, "Yes, we are going to ride in the car."
These expansions are made on the basis of different cues — what is
going on in the toddler's life at the moment. Adults must read the situation and
provide the toddler with an ap-propriate sentence form that would represent
what he is not yet capable of expressing.
Remember that we should not assume that the toddler's understanding
is limited just because he uses only single words. His comprehension exceeds
his production of words, and this is generally true throughout his lifespan.
Does the baby understand all the words in the sentence? Definitely no.
He depends on a variety of cues, too.
If you say to him, "Would you like some juice?" he may go to the
refrigerator where there is a pitcher of juice. He might have done the same
thing if you had said, "You don't like juice?"
"Juice," therefore, is the significant word. He knows "juice" and
associates it with the refrigerator. Separate words are, however, not attended
to. In fact, a child up to the age of around 10, rarely tries to understand each
word — he simply incorporates what he hears into the general scheme of his
perceptions called schemata at that time.
What other cues does a toddler use for purposes of under-standing?
They are the tone and rhythm of adults' voices, their body postures, facial
expressions, and hand gestures.
We may also find ourselves depending upon early types of learning in
order to understand a language we are not familiar with. In the same way,
extra-linguistic cues help a baby understand what we say or tell him.
Development of Understanding
Babies acquire through maturation and learning an understanding of
what they observe and this depends largely on two factors: their level of
intelligence and their previous experiences.
As they acquire new meanings, babies interpret new experiences on the
basis of their memories of previous ones. Concepts develop through association
of meanings to objects, people, and situations.
Understanding develops through sensory exploration and motor
manipulation. Babies become capable at around two years of age to make
simple generalizations based on similar experiences in which they have noted
relationships.

Among the important concepts that develop in babyhood are those

related to:
 1. space 2.
2. weight
3. time
4. self
5. sex-role
6. social
7. beauty
8. the comic
Emotional Development in Babyhood
According to Dr. Fernando Hofilena (1983), in his article "How Babies Learn to
Love," it is at feeding time that the baby receives the earliest lesson in love,
along with the earliest stimulation of his intellect.
When a relaxed and happy mother cradles the baby in her arms and
feeds him, she does not just deliver calories into a growing organism but
nourishes him with "the milk of human kindness."
Stroking the baby gently and singing or speaking softly to him enhances
his feelings of satisfaction and well-being. The security that ensues is
manifested in the depth and tranquility of his sleep.

Cuddling or stroking the baby gently, singing or speaking to him enhances his feelings
of satisfaction and well-being.

Thus, feeding may be regarded as a love scene, Ow open-ing of a drama

of life. It is this giving and taking of love that Is vital to the emotional life of
both the mother and the baby.
 Moreover, separation for a significant period from the mother especially
at six months of age, during which babies have already formed a strong bond
with a mothering figure, may lead to the initial reaction of protest: crying,
searching, almost panic behavior, and a great deal of motor activity involving
both arms and legs. Likewise, babies may show profound disturbances in
health and in motor, social, and language development as was found in a study
by Rene Spitz (1983).
Common emotional patterns shown in babyhood include anger, fear,
curiosity, joy, and affection.
Development of Socialization
Just like among adults, for toddlers, friendship involves an element of
choice. An important indication of a first friend-ship is preference for one
particular child over all other kids. Another sign is sharing happiness, even joy,
when the toddlers greet each other. Some children may show pleasure at the
mere memory of a little buddy, whose name you would hear them say over and
over, sometimes as they fall asleep.
Other signs of these early friendships are more subtle, however, such as
banging spoons on a table simultaneously, using the same color of crayons to
draw similar patterns or figures, or playing with similar, if not identical toys.
This may look like parallel play, but psychologists, like Kimberly Whaley (1990)
of Ohio State University, say otherwise. She believes that the exact mimicking
shows an awareness between the children and acts to forge a connection that
excludes others and creates a history for them. By imitating each other, these
children actually say, "I like to be with you" or "We have lots of things in
common." It is this mimicking that helps toddlers create a sense of intimacy
amidst a noisy classroom or home. An activity as sucking from bottles side by
side is enough to put two two-year-olds in their own little world. They may just
sit on a chair without saying a word, yet, even if another child comes up to one
of them and hit them both over the head, they would just ignore the intruder.
In a study using a videotape, by Whaley (1990) where participants were
24 children aged 16 months to three years, contrary to expectations, almost all
the relationships sprang up between boys and girls, rather than children of the
same sex. All except two of the children had formed at least one friendship over
the course of a year. More significantly, the children paired off with other kids
within six months of their own age which signifies that they were able to
recognize peers in the stage of development.
Roopnarine and Honig (1985) suggested ways by which parents and
other adults can help kids who have trouble finding playmates or making
friends:
 1. Use positive disciplinary techniques. Give rewards, make rules and
their reasons clear, and encourage cooperation in nonpunitive ways.
2. Be models of warm, nurturing, attentive behavior, and work to build
kids' self-esteem.
3. Show prosocial behavior yourself, and praise signs of children's
budding empathy and responsiveness.
4. Make a special effort to find a play group for kids if they do not often
have an opportunity to be with other child. ren. Social skills grow through
experience.
5. Encourage "loners" to play with small groups of two or three kids at
first, and give them ample time to get acquainted before getting involved.
6. Teach "friendship skills" indirectly through puppetry, books about
animals, etc. and children who have learned to make friends.
Play Interests
Toddlers show a presumably definite social interest in one another; they
communicate somewhat effectively, and attempt cooperative play.
According to Hughes and Noppe (1985), recent studies place socialization
in babies in a different perspective because they are conducted on a one-to-one
interaction study. Earlier, mis-conceptions portrayed the toddler as being anti-
social due to conduct of studies involving them in large group settings.
When we see babies building with blocks, pretending to be airplanes, or
learning to skip, we are apt to think that they are just amusements, quite
different from serious occupations. We become mixed up because most of us in
our own childhood were taught that school work was a duty and a job was a
grind. To babies, play is actually a serious business.
Babies generally begin to play around each other at 1 2 or 27 years of
age and are likely to grab things from each other without much fanfare. The
one who has a possession never gives it up to be nice. He either hangs onto the
object, perhaps hitting the attacker, or he gives it up in bewilderment.
Experts like Dr. Benjamin Spock, author of Baby and Child Care say
that if a baby at around the age of two seems to be a grabber, it does not mean
that he is going to be a bully. They add that he is just too young to have much
feeling for others. If he is doing it constantly, it may help to let him play some-
times with slightly older children who stand up for their rights. if he always
intimidates a certain child, better keep them separated for a while. If the baby
is hurting another or looks as though he wants to get rid of him, pull him away
matter-of-factly and shift his attention or get him interested in some-thing else.
It is better if you don't heap shame on him, lest he feels abandoned and more
aggressive.
If the child at the age of two does not give up his possessions such as a
car or any toy, he is behaving normally at his age. He will eventually learn to
become generous very gradually, as his spirit grows up and as he learns to
enjoy and love other children. If you make the child, give up his prized
possession whenever another child wants it, you give him the feeling that the
whole world is out to get his things away from him. This makes him more
possessive, instead of less. This same principle holds true even among grown-
ups.
When a child reaches the stage when he begins to enjoy playing with
others, at around age three, you can help to make a game of sharing.
Functions and Virtues of Play
Frank and Theresa Caplan (1995) in their book Power of Play consider it
abnormal for a child not to play, since playing is a valuable way for a child to
absorb information, learn skills, and aid his personal development. They
consider the following to be the merits of play:
1. It aids growth.
2. It is a voluntary activity.
3. It gives freedom of action to a child.
4. It provides an imaginary world that a child can master.
5. It has elements of adventure in it.
6. Through it, language can be built up.
7. It has a unique power of building interpersonal relations.
8. It offers opportunities for mastery of the physical self.
9. It furthers interest and concentration.
10. It allows the child to investigate the material world.
11. It is a way of learning adult roles.
12. It is a dynamic way of learning.
13. It refines a child's judgment.
14. Academics can be structured into it.
 15. It is vitalizing, in that through it the child gets a relief from the sense
of powerlessness.
Meanwhile Gracianus R. Reyes (1995) in his article entitled, "Child's Play
A Potent Tool for Education," gave out tips on choo-sing toys for tots:

1. Look for toys made of non-toxic

materials.
2. Buy toys that are affordable but
durable.
3. Select toys that are safe, those
that toddlers will not choke on or
get cut or scratched from handling.
4. Choose toys that whet the
imagination and creativity of
toddlers.
5. Give the toddler construction
toys which will develop his desire to
construct rather than the urge to
destroy.
6. Never force a toy on a toddler just
because the instruct-ions in the
accompanying brochure say the toy
is fit for his particular age. He may
need to play with a toy of a higher
intelligence lev0,1 or of a lower one.

Playing is a valuable way for a child to absorb information,

learn skills, and aid his/ her personal development.

Play Patterns of Babyhood

1. Sensorimotor Play
2. Exploratory Play
3. Imitative Play
4. Make-Believe/Fantasy Play
5. Games
6. Amusements
Moral Development in Babyhood
Babies are neither moral nor immoral but nonmoral since they have not
yet formed a scale of values and a conscience. Hence, their behavior is not
bound by moral considerations or standards. They eventually learn moral
codes from their parents, teachers, and playmates or peers as they learn the
value of conforming to these codes.
How do babies judge the rightness or wrongness of an act? According to
Hurlock (1982), it is in terms of the pleasure or pain it brings them rather than
on the basis of the effects it has on others.
Learning to behave in a manner considered morally ap-propriate is a long
and slow process for babies. However, they do manifest what Jean Piaget calls
morality by constraint automatic obedience to rules without reasoning or
judgment. This lasts until the age of seven or eight.
Interest in Sexuality
According to Barbara Rutter (1996), sensivity to sexual stimulation is
present at birth, and that erections are often noted in newborn males when
excited, even while struggling for their first breath, just as clitoral sensitivity
can be noted in newborn females. Fondling of one's genitals may appear at age
24.
For all babies, she adds, sexual pleasure is quite secondary to the
pleasure they derive from the satisfaction of their needs for food, sleep, and
tactile comfort.
Since Filipinos live in the modern world and are affected by the mass
media, parents can plan how to discuss the sexual facts of life appropriately
with their kids. They can anticipate what will happen to their toddlers as they
mature, and can give them the right answers to their questions when the
latter's time comes, to avoid misconceptions or fallacies about their own
sexuality.

KEY IDEAS
1. Babyhood begins from the end of the second week and ends on the second
year of life. Unlike infancy in which the child is helpless, babyhood is the time
when he achieves enough body control to become independent.
2. Babyhood is the true foundation age, age of rapid growth and change, age of
increasing independency, age of heightened individuality, foundation period for
socialization and for sex-role typing, an appealing age, the foundation period
for creativity, and a hazardous age.
3. There are tasks that arise during babyhood, just like in the other
developmental periods in the life span, which babies are expected to
accomplish.
4. There are variations in the pattern of physical growth and development
among boys and girls during babyhood. 5. Maturation and learning work
together in the development of muscle control, which is governed by the laws of
developmental direction: the cephalocaudal law and the proximodistal law.
6. Babyhood skills fall under two categories: hand skills and leg skills.
7. Prespeech forms of communication include crying, cooing, babbling,
gesturing, and emotional expressions.
8. Common emotional patterns in babyhood involve anger, fear, curiosity, joy,
and affection.
9. Toddlers are also capable of establishing or forming friendships.
10. Play is serious business among toddlers and their play patterns are of
sensorimotor, exploratory, imitative, make-believe/fantasy type, and may
involve games and amusements.
11. Understanding in babies develop through maturation and learning and
depends on their level of intelligence and their previous experiences. Space,
weight, time, self, sex-role, social, beauty, and the comic concepts emerge
during babyhood.
12. Babies are nonmoral due to their lack of a scale of values and a conscience.
They demonstrate obedience to rules without question.

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name _______________________ Section ___________

A. Key Terms/Concepts to Define

1. Toddler
2. Negativism
3. Sex-role typing
4. Cephalocaudal law
5. Proximodistal law
6. Cooing
7. Babbling
8. Schemata
9. Nonmoral
10. Morality by constraint
B. Significant Contribution of Key Persons
1. Papalia and Olds
2. Elizabeth Hurlock
3. Fernando Hofilena
4. Kimberly Whaley
5. Roopnarine and Honig
6. Benjamin Spock
7. Barbara Rutter
8. Jean Piaget
9. Frank and Theresa Caplan

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name_____________________________ Section _____________
Suggested Activities
1. Sharing of observations/insights on typical behaviors/ characteristics of
toddlers
2. Film showing on "Three Men and a Baby"
3. Situational Question — Which one would you rather take care of — an infant
or a toddler? Why?
4. Research — Conduct a mini study on any aspect of development of the baby
(physical, emotional, social, cognitive, etc.) using a survey type questionnaire
and utilizing some 20-30 participants/respondents. Summarize your results
and discuss their implications.
 Chapter VIII
Early childhood (2 years to 6 years) is a critical period in the
development of the human Potential. Foundations for all aspects of
development are laid during this stage. It is the period of the development of
initiative. The child acts on his needs. If these attempts are supported and are
quite successful, he develops a sense of confidence in himself. It is also referred
to as preschool age. The child's physical and motor development affects not
only his succeeding physical growth and motor development but also his sense
of identity and sense of control. His acquisition of language and understanding
of concepts influence his intellectual development. His social interactions with
his family and significant others determine how he progresses socially and
emotionally.
The family and the preschool need to be aware of the characteristics and
needs in this stage so they can facilitate maximum growth and development of
the child.
Characteristics of Early Childhood
Early childhood is characterized by the things young child-ren do and
learn when they are about three to six years old.
1. Activity Age — A healthy child engages in all kinds of tasks.
2. Discovery Age — The young child starts to learn many things about
himself and his environment.
3. Exploration Age — The child manipulates his body and his environment.
4. Socialization Age — The child begins to meet people in his neighborhood
and community.
5. Imitation Age — The child copies just any model who gets ii his attention.
6. Play Age --The child engages in different kinds of play activities.
7. Vocabulary Age — The child accumulates vocabulary from his
interactions.
8. Curiosity Age — The child tries to understand his end.. ronment.
9. Inquisitive or Questioning Age — The preschool always asks about the
varied things in his environment.
10. Troublesome Age — If the child is not properly guided his
explorations sometimes create trouble for him and his family.
Developmental Tasks of Early Childhood
The preschool child is expected to develop the following developmental
self-help skills: (1) control of elimination, (2) self-feeding, self-dressing and
doing some things without much help, (3) development of motor skills that
allow him to explore and do things to satisfy his curiosity, (4) acquisition of
adequate vocabulary to communicate his thoughts and feelings with those
around him. His greater self-identity and self-control help his management of a
social relationship.
When he is supported, guided, praised, and accepted for what he
attempts or is able to do, he develops the initiative to help himself with his
needs and to learn new things.
Physical Development during Early Childhood
A. Growth Trends in Height and Weight
The data shows that children increase in weight and height with increase in
chronological age. Males generally have larger measurements than females.
Average Height and Weight Filipino Boys and Girls 3-7 years old

Height (cms.) Weight (kgs.)

Age Years Boys Girls Boys Girls

3 80.5 82 11.24 11.07

4 90.5 90.5 13.02 12.97

5 98.5 98.5 15.07 15.39
6 107.5 106.5 17.82 17.39
7 117.5 115.5 21.41 20.21
Table Cont'd

Source: FNRI-PPS, 1992

B. Body Proportions
All parts of the body grow, but at different rates. In the head, the forehead
area develops faster than the lower parts of the face. The reason for this is the
very rapid growth of the brain.
The trunk grows longer and broader. The arms grow much longer between
babyhood and age six. The legs grow at a slower rate than the arms. They are
also thin and the muscles are not well developed. The feet grow broader and
longer and the toes are proportionately too short for the rest of the foot.
The bones are still soft and can easily be deformed. How-ever, when they
are broken due to accidents, they can be rehabilitated easily.
Adipose or fatty tissue develops faster than muscle tissue and children
who eat too much carbohydrates and too little protein will develop more fat
cells. This may make them tend to be overweight for the rest of their lives. The
more muscle tissue a child develops, the stronger he becomes. The stronger he
becomes, the more energetic and active he is.
Changes in body proportions and the fact that a child's body is not
shaped like an adult's body affect both his appearance and behavior. These in
turn affect peoples reaction to him. The way people react has a strong effect on
the way a child will feel about himself. If the adult shows acceptance and
affection, the child will feel good about his appearance. This will contribute to
his self-esteem or self-worth. If he is teased or scolded about his behavior or
clumsiness, he may develop negative feelings about himself.
C. Children's Illnesses
Illnesses are more common during the preschool years than when the child
grows older. Even healthy children experience some of these illnesses.
Respiratory tract disorders and digestive upsets are the most common
problems. If they have been immunized, they will not or have only very mild
cases of chicken pox, measles, poliomyelitis, and diphtheria.
Parents should attend to the child when symptoms of ill-nesses are
observed in the child. Professional help will check and lessen the negative
effects of these diseases especially when they are attended to immediately and
comprehensively in their initial stages.

D. Physical Defects Children

with physical defects should be taught at an early age to accept their
conditions. They should be treated as much as if he were normal. They should
be given every chance to learn to do things like normal children. They should
learn to do things for themselves. Then they, too, can lead independent useful
lives.
Accidents, which sometimes are the reasons for physical defects, can be
prevented by making the home and school as accident-proof as possible.
Parents and teachers should also watch over their children carefully without
unduly curtailing their freedom to explore and learn.

E. Factors That Affect Growth and Development

Though there is a pattern of development, every child is a unique individual.
The differences in their physical development may be affected by the following
factors:
1. Heredity — If the parents are tall, chances are the child will also be tall.
2. Body build — Small-boned children usually grow more slowly.
3. Sex — Boys tend to be taller and heavier than girls.
4. Nutrition — Proper nutrition, especially protein intake affects growth and
development.
5. Health — Healthy children grow and develop faster than those in poor health.
6. Emotional state — Children from happy homes grow faster than those who are
suffering stressful conditions.
7. Teething — The thing may affect appetite and slow down physical growth and
development.
8. Physical and play activities — Children who are encouraged to explore and engage
in play activity grow and develop faster.

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Development of Motor Skills Motor development depends to a great
extent on the child's physical condition. When a child is healthy, he
strengthens all his muscles, establishes his coordination, acquires balance,
fine tunes the movement of his small muscles, and learns to move for specific
purposes progressively. Early childhood is a critical period for learning to do
things for specific purposes like eating, dressing, making something, and
writing. These hand skills are learned during this stage, if not, the child may
find it difficult to learn them later. Walking, skipping, hopping, jumping, and
riding a tricycle are some of the leg skills to be developed during this stage.

Handedness
Handedness is established between ages 3-6 years. During this period
children abandon the tendency to shift from the use of one hand to the use of
the other hand. They begin to concentrate on learning skills with one hand as
the dominant hand and the other as auxiliary hand.
Parents and nursery school teachers are advised to train and encourage
the child to use his right hand because he is born into a right-handed world.
However, there are cases in which the child persists in being
ambidextrous or in using the left hand. In this case the adult should allow the
child to pursue his natural pattern of development. Forcing the child to shift
from left to right may imprint some negative attitude that may persist in the
child later.
Equipment and furniture are provided so as to facilitate the acquisition of
refinement of motor skills of the left-handed or ambidextrous child.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
The Preoperational Phase The child who is two to seven years old is in
the pre-operational phase of intellectual development. The child's behavior is
prerepresentational. He is now becoming capable of a kind of representation by
means of his own acts. His imitative behavior is symbolic in nature, in that it
"signifies" (stands for or represents) something else. The child goes through at
least five behavior patterns which appear almost simultaneously. They are
listed below in the order of complexity. All these pat-terns of representation are
completely "centered" in the child's own behavior. The child uses his own acts
or functions to rep-resent what is not at the moment perceptible.
1. Deferred imitation — The preoperational child can imitate what he has
previously observed but which is now not present.
2. Symbolic play — Children often play games of "pretending." They
reenact some experiences common to them like being put to bed, scolded, or
hugged using a doll to represent themselves.
3. Drawing serves as an imitative expression of what they have seen.
4. Mental image — This is an internalized kind of imitation.
5. Verbal evocation — Children use a word or two to signify a past event
in their experience.
Piaget divides the stage into two subperiods: the pre- conceptual period
(2-4 years old) and the intuitive period (4-7 years old).
The Preconceptual Period (2-4 years)
During the preconceptual subperiod children begin to use language to
direct their behavior. Language greatly enhances their ability to imitate the
complex behavior of others. They can often be heard conducting conversations
with themselves as they play. It is easier to communicate with them because of
the acquisition of language. However, adults should be aware of the child's
unique thought pattern characterized by ego-centrism, animism, and
transudative reasoning.
Egocentrism is the inability to distinguish between how one experiences
events and how others experience them. What he sees, he assumes others
must see; how he feels, he assumes others must also feel. Thus, egocentrism
limits the child's ability to take the viewpoint of others.
 Another characteristic of preconceptual thought is animism or the
attribution of lifelike properties to inanimate objects; the "moon walks," his toy
needs food, and so on. Another distinguishing characteristic of preconceptual
thought is transudative reasoning or reasoning from particular to particular. This
takes the form of "If object or event X has properties A and B, and object or
event Y has property A, then it must also have property B."

The Intuitive Period (4-7 years)

Piaget discovered several characteristics of preoperational thought during
the intuitive period; inattention to transformations, centration, and
irreversibility. Each of these characteristics is an obstacle to the development
of truly logical thought. They are illustrated by the conservation tasks.
Conservation is the ability to recognize that properties of an object or set of
objects remain the same or invariant during transformations.
Conservation Task on Volume
First, the experimenter presents to the child two identical glasses, each
containing the same amount of liquid. She then asks if the amounts are the
same. After the child agrees that the glasses have equal amounts, the
experimenter pours the contents of one glass into a tall, thing lass and then
asks if the amount in the tall, thin glass is the same as the amount in the
short, wide glass.
The preoperational child using his intuition will answer that the tall, thin
glass has more water because she did not pay attention to the transformation
but she pays attention only to the end states (levels of water). The other
conservation problems include those of number, length, and mass.
Another characteristic of preoperational thought is centration or the
tendency to concentrate on one aspect of a stimulus and ignore others. In the
conservation problem of Volume) the child concentrated only on the height and
ignored the width. If he had considered the height and the width, he would be
able to acknowledge that the width had compensated for the difference in
height.
Another characteristic of this stage is irreversibility. Children do not
recognize that many actions performed on objects can be reversed. Once an act
is done, it cannot be undone. He does not acknowledge that functions or
relationships cap. be reversed.
 The child's ability to comprehend transformation, to overcome
centrations, to think in terms of reversibility and to gain power to use logical
reasoning can be enhanced by giving them opportunities for:
1. language or vocabulary development
2. concept development
3. asking and answering questions
4. observation and classification
5. remembering and recalling
6. working with numbers and space
The Developmental Competencies of PNU Pre-schoolers
An investigation of children's competencies will help0 parents and
preschool teachers to design better programs 1 facilitate maximum
development of young children's competencies. One such initiative was done by
David (1994)1n

her study of the Developmental competencies of Philippine Normal University

(PNU) preschoolers. She confirmed Hurlock, s claim that development whether
physical or mental is not a uniform process within any given population. As
shown in the Table the PNU five-year-olds scored within the normal range of
five months above their chronological age. However, in the motor and personal
— social development tasks they scored below the Children and Youth
Research Council (CYRC) norms. For the cognitive and language competencies
the respondents were significantly above the CYRC norms.

Developmental Competencies by Components

Competencies 5-year-olds 5-1/2 years 6-year-olds F-Test
 /-/ CYRC /-/ CYRC /-/ CYRC
X Norm X Norm X Norm
Motor (MDST) 61.43* 63.12 72.43* 69.28 79.52* 74.44 6848.49*
Cognitive 65.14* 63,50 69.56 69.43 74.80 74.36 10031.40*
(CAST)
Language 64.86* 62.90 68.64 67.69 78.09* 72.62 4135.13*
(LCT)

Personal- 63.05 63.33 68.95* 66.89 77.83* 74.75 7737.38*

Social (PSEI)

* z-test: p < .05

*F-test: p < .01

Among the five and a half and six-year-olds the mean for all the
competencies shows faster development for the PNU group than the CYRC
group.
The F-tests further confirm the developmental trend of the acquisition of
motor, cognitive, language, and personal-social competencies. There are
significant differences in the means among the three age groups, with the six-
year-olds getting the highest means. This affirms the orthogenetic principle
that as a child grows older, he acquires a better and more organized body
system.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Children's Emotions
Early childhood is characterized by heightened emotionality. Emotions
like love, fear, joy, and anger are experienced by the child just like the adult.
However, young children's emotions are usually felt more strongly and
expressed more openly than those of adults. Children's emotions last only for a
few minutes unlike the adults' which may drag on for hours or days. Another
difference is the frequency that emotions are felt. Children are easily
stimulated to experience love, joy, jealousy, fear, and anger.
Of these emotions, the parents should take particular care not to add to the
development of unnecessary fear in the child. Through the process of
conditioning, stimuli not inherently frightening, become fear-provoking.

Children's Fear
Among two-year olds, common sources of fear
are noise, objects that make noise, and strange
objects, persons and situations, while four-year
olds manifest fear of darkness,
Preschoolers develop many concepts at this
stage. This child may develop the concept of fear,
for example, if not guided by adults.
imaginary creatures, and being alone, and
experience dreams that give rise to fear reaction.

Dealing with Children's Fear

The methods of dealing with children's fears are
varied and depend on the different types of fear
situations. Among them are:

1. Setting up counter resources and skills that are helpful in meeting the
fearful situation when it occurs;
2. Promoting familiarity with the feared object by providing situations in
which there is opportunity, but not coercion, to become acquainted with
it;
3. Arranging for the child to observe others who show no fear in the feared
situation; and
4. Direct reconditioning.
The family plays a very important role in the child's emotional development.
The type of family interaction affects the causes of emotions as well as the
kinds of resulting behavior. The parents should be aware that the attitudes
they communicate towards the child have a lasting effect on his emotionality.
Love and acceptance need to be communicated not only through verbal
expressions but also nonverbally through hugs, kisses, patient attention, and
guidance. Villasor, (1996) pointed out that children differ in their sensory
access modes so that communication with them will have to be differentiated to
make them understand the situation. Some children are visual and they need
to see objects or expressions of concern for them. Some children are auditory
and are responsive to stimulations through the ears. Some children need to be
touched or need body movements to understand. The parents should also be
aware that overattentiveness, over expectation, and over-protectiveness result
in more emotional outbursts. Usually when he feels he is helpless or he gets
frustrated with what he is not ready to do, he could be very angry and this
results into tantrums. Giving him a chalice to explore the environment, letting
him do things by himself or playing especially with his peers, lead to his
gaining a sense of well-being. The parent. s should arrange the child's
environment such that there will be less prohibitions and more
encouragement. The experience of positive outcomes together with rewards
facilitates the development of positive emotions.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Development of the Child's Self-concept
The family, playmates, teachers, classmates, and peer group exert a
great influence in forming the child's self-concept during childhood. They
constitute his or her primary group which forms part of what is called
significant others. These significant others become models for the child who
usually identifies with them and patterns his behavior after them. He interacts
with them and shares the group's symbols, norms, and values or culture. This
process by which children become participating and functioning members of a
society is called socialization. Children learn to conform to the norms of the
group, acquire a status, play a role, and emerge with a personality that is
entirely his.
By the time the child is four years old he has a fairly well-defined concept
of who he is. Harry Stack Sullivan (1947) once said that the self-concept is
composed of "reflected appraisals of others." The child learns who he is by the
opinions, attitudes, and expectations that others have for him. If a child is
praised for his good looks or for his good behavior, the child believes them and
acts in accordance with their view.
The parents should note that their remarks about the child usually
reinforce that which the child hears about him-self. If he hears that he is good,
smart, he acts correspondingly. If he is called makulit, matigas ang ulo,
mahina, he behaves as such.
Sex Role Identification
Another aspect of the self-concept is sex-role identification. Knowledge and
attitudes about sex differences are both inborn and learned. An individual's sex
identity is born with him. His maleness or her femaleness is determined by
his/her sex. Sex-appropriate behavior is further reinforced by the significant
others. He/she is dressed according to his/her sex, treated differently
encouraged to play and to behave accordingly. He/she identifies with same sex
parent and pattern behavior by imitating him/her.
Father-Son Relationships and Masculine Identity
 The relationship with the father is critical to the boy’s development of
masculine identity. The boy derives self-concept from his father through the
process of his male identification. When the father-son relationship is
inadequate because of physical or psychological absence, then the boy is likely
to form an identification with the remaining available parent, the mother.
However, boys have a biological predisposition to masculinity. There are also
individual differences in the potency of this innate masculinity. in some it is
strong and such boys will develop an adequately male self-concept despite
relatively little fathering.
The Role of Early Childhood Education
Preschools — nursery, day care centers or
kindergarten classes provide excellent
socialization experiences for young children.
Studies have supported that enriched early child-
hood education is beneficial to children. In
addition to stimulating them intellectually, they
are given opportunities to interact with peers and
adults who are not members of their family. They
learn to make adjustments to get along with peers
and teachers. They learn to obey simple rules, to
take responsibility, to care for others, and to
cooperate in school activities The trained teachers
in the pre-school promote enjoy-able contacts and
try to see that children are given the environment
that will pro-'note Positive attitudes and behavior.

Young children are given opportunities to interact with

The Role of the Family

The family plays a very crucial role in the growth and development of the
child. In this age of crisis and confusion it is more important that parents learn
how to effectively perform their roles and responsibilities. They have to be
aware of their children's needs and provide them the following:
1. Support. The child needs support, for his physiological and psychological
needs. 'However, parents should realize that child's physical needs are simple
and easy to provide contrary to what they think. Having more time to reinforce,
guides and practice his skills will help a child gain more control and confidence
in himself.
2. Model. The easiest way to begin learning something new is to watch
someone else do it. Whenever practical, try to demonstrate the skill, provide
practice and give encouragement. Values, too, are better learned if they see the
parents setting an example for them.
3. Identity. Who am I? What can I do? These questions are more honestly
answered by parents than anybody else in his environment. The parents
should, however, be careful about the feedback they give; verbally or
nonverbally. The attention given the child, the guidance and help build his self-
concept. Doing things together as a family, having and attending reunions or
traditions will build his sense of belonging and therefore raise his self-esteem.
4, Love. What do children write about when asked to write Father's Day or
Mother's Day greetings?
All sorts of "Thank you for. . ." because that much Impresses in their
minds the little things parents do for them. Parents sometimes do not realize
that the routines they do come to the child as caring and loving them. Even
when they are made to do chores or reprimanded, they feel they are loved and
cared for as long as there is direct attention and involvement with them. It
would be very helpful if parents express their love and acceptance of their
children by hugging, patting kissing, or stroking them.
5. encouragement. Children need encouragement, especially from the parents.
Filipino parents often fail to notice the positive things children are able to do.
They usually focus on what is wrong. Remember how you were able to make
the toddler walk, because of your encouragement, "You can do it," "Come, yes,
you are walking!"
It will be helpful for adults to read this reminder about children.
CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
 He learns to be guilty.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns to have justice.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.
Anonymous

KEY IDEAS
1. Early childhood is the foundation age for the development of the human
potential.
2. Growth and development follow a predictable pattern.
3. Growth and development are unique for each individual.
4. The preschool child should be given as much physical experience as possible
and play activities to learn by doing, to develop his intellectual capacity.
5. The family and the significant others including the pre-school have to give
their support, modelling, instruction, love, and encouragement to help the
child develop his full potential.

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name ____________________________ Section ____________________
Key Terms/Concepts to Define
1. animism

2. transudative reasoning

3. self-concept

4. symbolic play

5. reconditioning (in elimination of fear)

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name ___________________ Section ________________
Describe children in their early childhood by giving a characteristic that begins
with the letters of children Write one or two sentences to justify your
description.
C—
H—
L—
D—
R—
E—
N—

ACTIVITY NO. 3
Name ______________________ Section __________________
1. Fill up the following observation form about a preschool child.
a. Name ………………………………………………………………………………………...
b. Date of Birth …………………………………………………………………………………
c. Sex ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
d. Height …………………………………………………………………………………………
e. Weight …………………………………………………………………………………………
f. School Attendance ………………………………………………………………………….
2. Describe a 30-minute encounter with the child. You may use the
conservation tasks or just listen and observe him in his daily interaction.

Chapter IX
 LATE Childhood

Late childhood is the stage of development in the life span of an

individual that begins at approximately 6 years old to the age of twelve years. It
coincides with the child's elementary school years, entering Grade 1 at six
years and graduating from Grade 6 at age 12. Physical, motor, social,
emotional, moral, and intellectual changes are sources of anxiety for the grow-
ing child. This is a critical period for the development of his achievement
motivation or the need to achieve. The child's sense of competence gives him
the enthusiasm to learn skills, information, and values. His success in these
efforts gives him a sense of control and sense of self-esteem. When properly
guided and directed, he develops a sense of maturity.
Parents and teachers are expected to give guidance and encouragement
to make children feel good about themselves. The quality of experience,
stimulation, guidance, and encouragement also determines their pattern of
success. Peers can also be a great source of reinforcement for success.
The parents have the responsibility to provide a home and school
environment that will nurture a healthy interaction which will lead to the
child's happy life.
Characteristics of Late Childhood
Late childhood is the period for learning the basic skins in life. The child
receives instruction from adults and older children. He also learns from his
experiences. His peers and significant people in his environment can influence
his learning.
The school-age child learns to win recognition by being able to do things.
He can become very eager and absorbed in what he is trying to learn and do.
He takes pride and pleasure in being able to accomplish a task.
The danger during this stage lie in a sense of inadequacy or inferiority. When a
child is not able to approximate his peers' performance, he considers himself
doomed to inadequacy or mediocrity. The family and other significant people
can help by giving him more guidance and encouragement. The school-age
child benefits from systematic instruction, demonstration, coaching, and
supervised practice. it will develop his skills, build his self-esteem — a very
important factor in the development of his personality.
Late childhood is also the stage of the child's initiation to roles in society.
He is made aware of his responsibilities to himself and to others. He learns to
work with others and observe what he and others have to do to complete a
project. He meets and interacts with significant others in his society.
Late childhood especially during the ages of 9 to 13 is the period for the
development of personal friendship. The child identifies with peers of his/her
own sex. They develop their own structure, engage in the same sports and
hobbies, tell stories and exchange ideas. Peer influence is beginning to affect
the child's values and interest at this stage.
Developmental Tasks of Late Childhood
Children in their late childhood need opportunities, sup-port, and guidance so
that they can develop and accomplish the following:
1. Learn physical skills necessary for group and organized games
2. Learn to get along with age-mates and members of his family and
community
3. Learn fundamental skills in reading, writing, and numeracy
4. Develop appropriate masculine or feminine social roles W.
5. Learn concepts/skills necessary for everyday living
6. Develop a healthy self-Concept
7. Develop a conscience, a sense of right and wrong, and values according
to his culture
8. Achieve personal independence by being able to perform life skills
9. Learn to perform the different roles expected of him
10. Think rationally to adjust to situations, make decisions and solve
problems
Physical Development during Late Childhood
Average Height and Weight
Filipino Boys and Girls
6-14 years old Age Years
Age Years Height (cms.) Weight (kgs.)

Boys Girls Boys Girls

6 105 105 17.82 17.39
7 108.5 108.5 20.45 20.21
8 113 113.5 22.45 22.25
9 117 118 24.8 24.3
10 122 123 27.7 28.2
11 126.5 128.5 31.3 32.35
12 131.5 133.5 35.6 37
13 138.5 138.5 40 41.45
14 145 141.5 44.7 44.85
Source: FNRI-PPS, 1992
Growth trends in height of Filipino children and youth follow the general
type of growth curve showing a steady increase from early childhood to pre-
puberty, followed by a period of accelerated growth lasting through the early
part of adolescence. The girls are taller until the boys catch up with them at
fourteen years of age.
Growth trends in weight of females show a slow gain in weight during
early childhood up to about eight years but by fine years the girls are just as
heavy as the boys. By ten years the girls start to gain weight faster than the
males and keep up this increase until age fourteen. Good health and good
nutrition are important factors in the child's growth and development. The
better the health and nutrition, the taller children tend to be in comparison
with those Who are poorly nourished. Filipino children were found to suffer
from mild to severe malnourishment. Lack of education and poverty are the two
most common causes of this problem. An educational campaign through
mothers' nutrition class and health education classes for children can correct
this problem.
Children's illness and accidents can be prevented by taking preventive
measures so as to help children progress in this stage. Children who were
immunized against diseases during early childhood grow larger than those who
were not immunized.
Emotional stress or emotional tension also affect the physical
development of the child. Parents and teachers, by model-ling stress
management, can help children overcome some of their fears and anxiety.
Encouraging children to express their feelings and thoughts can help them
maintain their physical activity and relaxation so as to promote their growth
and development.
Motor Development during Late Childhood
By the time a child has reached school age, he is master of a great
variety of skills, both locomotor or manipulative. Most of' the games and
activities during childhood involves combinations of skills, built upon the
coordination of both arms and legs.
Vigorous activities are more effective in providing release of the child's
abundant energy. Running, climbing, swimming, bicycle riding, and "stunting"
are some typical activities. Child-ren are challenged by the precision, agility,
and endurance required of them in these activities.
Team games requiring a high degree of motor skills is an important
activity during the late childhood years. Competitive sports help them
formulate ideas of the self. In these sports activities —the sex-role identification
becomes pronounced when type exclusion of the opposite sex from others' play
groups is observed. Girls are excluded in the boys' rough and fast ball-games
while boys are teased for joining all girls' talk circle.
The development of fine motor coordination is expected during the
elementary school years. Handwriting is a finely coordinated skill, in which
maturational readiness and practice are important factors in its achievement.
Other activities like painting and drawing and using finer tools are engaged in
because of the proficiency acquired in school activities.
Pursuing particular interest in a variety of hobbies and leisure time
activities are also helpful in the child's motor development. Sharing
responsibilities in the home chores and school projects give children
opportunities to enhance not only their motor development but also the other
aspects of their development.
Nurturing
parents help
produce
healthy,
balanced, and
happy
children.

Parental guidance — modelling, teaching, facilitating, Processing of

thoughts and feelings will help establish work attitudes, habits, and skills
useful in the later years of the child's development and will be a crucial factor
in his success and happiness.
The school curriculum has provisions for the motor Development of the
child and awareness and commitment on ',he part of the teachers on the
importance of this aspect of development can help very much in the total
development of the child.
Intellectual Development during Late Childhood
Intelligence is a complex accumulation of knowledge, abilities, and skills
acquired as the individual meets, copes and interacts with his environment.
According to Cattell's model of mentality, this is "crystalized" intelligence,
which consists of continuously acquired patterns of adaptation to one's culture
depending on one's age and experience.
Arnold Gesell, a developmental psychologist who strongly expressed the
importance of biological maturation in development, characterized mental
development as behavior or qualitative patterning.
Jean Piaget viewed intelligence as a process, an assimilating activity
brought about by the individual's interaction with his environment. First, he
emphasized that intelligence is a dynamic process, an activity. Second, he
indicated that the nature of that process is organization and adaptation. Third,
in this process, the operation of certain invariant functional laws, assimilation
and accommodation, result in many variable structures (schema or behavior
pattern, new acquisitions, abilities, and so on) which in turn become the tools
and means for further interaction with the environment.
A. The Period of Concrete Operation
At the concrete level of operation, thinking can take place only in the
presence of an objective situation. The representation is "decentered" from
action. "Decentering" is a development of the thinking function where the child
transfers what is now centered at the level of action to a mental level of
assimilation. The job of decentering from the use of his own acts as signifiers
(representations) of the riot-present, and the achievement of the ability to use
instead centrally based "operations is one that requires much additional
maturing and experience with the objective and the social and interpersonal
aspects of reality.
The ability to achieve this level of operations permits the child in his
thinking to reverse the process. He is now able to perform reversible
transformations and conservation. Initially these operations are concrete, that
is, they are used directly on objects. The child can classify concrete objects,
order them, establish correspondences between them or perform numerical
operations or measure them from a spatial point of view. As the child matures
and have more experiences, his memory capacity increases and he remembers
the various connections necessary to make inferences.
 Children in their elementary years need to develop the necessary
thinking skills to enhance their sense of competence. The range of knowledge,
skills, and values they develop in this stage will determine their sense of self-
efficacy. If they are able to cope with the demands of academic work, they will
feel confident and take risks. If they always fail and feel they lack skills, they
may develop inferiority or resort to other negative behavior.
B. Characteristic Behavior of Children Who Have Sense of Industry
People who have a sense of industry:
1. enjoy learning about new things and ideas;
2. reflect a healthy balance between doing what they have to do and what they
like to do;
3. reflect strong curiosity about how and why things work the way they do;
4. enjoy experimenting with new combinations, new ideas, and arriving at new
synthesis;
5. are excited by the ideas of being a producer;
6. like the recognition that producing things brings and it reinforces their sense
of industry;
7. develop the habit of work and completion through steady attention and
persevering diligence;
8. have a sense of pride in doing at least one thing well;
9. take criticism well and use it to improve their perform-ance; and
10. tend to have a strong sense of persistence.
Just like the way the child begins to learn to do things, (imitating a
model), he should also experience cognitive apprenticeship. The adults,
parents, especially their teachers should "Think-Aloud" and give specific
instruction so the child will learn the thinking skills.

C. Dimensions of Thinking
According to Marzano (1988), children should be guided to develop the
following Dimensions of Thinking:
1. Self-regulated thinking or metacognition
2. Critical thinking and creative thinking
 3. Thinking processes like concept formation, principle formation, and
others
4. Core thinking skills like classification, etc.
5. Knowledge and skills related to subject areas
Marzano (1992) further suggested that teachers should review their
strategies of teaching and consider the following Dimensions of Learning based on the
Dimensions of Thinking
1. The child's attitude and perception of himself, his peers, and the task
and its value will affect his learning.
2. Learning is a highly interactive process of constructing personal meaning
from the information available in a learning situation and their
integrating that information with what is already known to create new
knowledge.
3. Extending and refining knowledge is hard work but it has to be done in
order to make learning meaningful and permanent.
4. Using knowledge meaningfully demands thinking that is extended over
long periods of time, directed by the student and focused on realistic,
authentic issues.
5. Productive mental habits like sensitivity to feedback, seeking accuracy
and precision, persisting when answers and solutions are not apparent,
viewing situations in unconventional ways of avoiding impulsivity have to
be modelled and taught.
D. The Role of the School
Society has tasked the school to help parents promote the total development
of the child. However, the effectiveness of a school is evaluated on how much it
has contributed to the child's intellectual development. The teachers become
the major com-ponent of the school system in carrying out its task of
facilitating the maximum enhancement of the child's intellectual growth
(Sibolboro, 1993).
It is important for teachers to respect themselves for their own competency
and personal characteristics if their work with children is to have the element
of success. The way they treat children is often a reflection of or is affected by,
their own feelings toward themselves. Typically, the more teachers are able to
respect themselves, the more they are able to help the pupils cope with
problems and be able to accept and under-stand their feelings about
themselves, their families, and their lessons. The teacher may not always be
successful in the effort but at least the effort is made. Compassion for the
child's attempts in learning difficult concepts is shown in the class-room.
Patience and awareness of the child's need for support and encouragement are
part of the teacher's interaction style (Tesorio, 1993).
Espiritu (1992) in her study noted and recommended some interaction
styles to enhance children's effort to think critically and therefore become
successful learners. She suggested that Wait time should be allowed to support
children's effort to think critically.
E. Parents as Partners of the School in the Development of the Child's Intellectual
Capacity
Parents need to realize their great influence on their chi1dren'sacademic
effort and achievement. Without exerting

Parents need to realize their great influence on their children's attitude toward school activities.

effort, they transmit their values and beliefs to their children. They are
looked up to as models and children imitate and follow their examples because
that is just how they are able to adjust to new situations and tasks. Dizon
(1981) conducted a correlational study of the locus of control of reinforcement
(LOC) and other personality variables. She found positive correlation in the
following: (1) parents, LOC and children's LOC; (2) children's LOC and the self-
concept; (3) children's LOC and academic achievement; and (4) children's self-
concept and academic achievement. These findings confirm the parent's role in
promoting beliefs and attitudes that may promote or block intellectual growth
and development.
Cline (1980) gives parents effective techniques for laying the groundwork
of success for developing children's self-esteem and sense of responsibility.
Keys to Rearing Successful Children
1. Stimulate your child's interest.
Psychologist J. McVicker Hunt estimates from his research that IQ's can be
increased by as much as twenty-five to thirty or more by proper environmental
stimulation or it can drop by as much as fifty points in children who are reared
from birth in extremely monotonous conditions.
2. Build your child's esteem.
Accepting or loving the child is vitally important in developing a child's self-
esteem. However, parents should make time to develop their child's
competence in the different areas of development to support their confidence
and opportunity to succeed.
3. Teach your child effective social skills.
Parents can facilitate the child's ability to love, work with, or relate
effectively with others by demonstrating and giving instructions or reminders
on social skills.
4. Control the use of television.
The TV serves as a good entertainment medium and an educational
resource but its viewing must be con-trolled that it does not take time away
from family con-versations, homework, physical exercise, or play as well as
necessary chores.
5. Strengthen your child's conscience.
Parents are advised to actively teach their children basic values: obedience,
integrity, moral courage, honesty, justice, and fairness.
6. Teach your child to show love, express affection, and develop healthy
attitudes toward sexuality.
A healthy family style will promote these love feelings and attitudes of children.
7. Live in a good neighborhood.
Neighborhoods and communities vary in their char-acter, healthiness, and
degree of pathology. Parents should take care to choose where to live; which
school to send their children, and which activities to choose for their children.
8. Set reasonable work and behavior standards backed by appropriate
discipline.
Research studies have shown that children possessing higher self-esteem,
confidence and personal competence come from homes where parents set high
standards for their youngsters. Positive reinforcement can work magic in
motivating youngsters to perform and excel.
9. Teach your child skills and competencies.
Start providing experiences early in life where child-ren can discover and
develop his special strengths and aptitudes.
10. Foster autonomy and independence:
Don't do for your children what they can do for themselves. Give children
increasing responsibilities and challenges. Let them make decisions and feel
that they have some control over their personal lives.
11. Foster a warm relationship with your child built on good
communication.
Every child needs private, uninterrupted time with one or both parents —
frequently. Give the child private moments when he or she alone is the center
of your attention, concern, and love.
12. Make home conducive to studying — where a place to study and
materials and equipment are provided for, study periods observed, and
help is given when necessary.
Social Development during Late Childhood
According to Mead (1934) the self emerges in the process of socialization — a
process of social interaction and social activity mediated by language.
1. The Generalized Others
Children are able to respond to a number of individuals in the group and
integrate the various roles or set of. norms of the group. This takes place in
what Mead (1934) calls the period of generalized others. Around the age of
eight or nine, children engage in games where they are able to take the
attitudes and responses of others in social activity and know that these roles
have a definite relationship with each other. They visualize their own action as
a part of a whole pattern of group activity. This is similar to being engaged in a
game like basketball where a player must see his or her relationship with the
roles played by others, that is, as captain, guards and forward. To play the
game of life, the individuals must know his or her role in relation to others and
be aware of their values. In the process, the individual assumes the organized
social attitudes and moral ideals of the social groups or communities to which
he or she belongs. These exert an influence on his or her attitudes toward
different projects and cooperative activities, as well as social problems which
the group faces, and can direct his or her own behavior accordingly (Mead
1934). This becomes the individual's orientation toward the world and his or
her frame of reference.
Victoria's (1981) investigation confirms the relation-ship of the perceived
evaluation of significant others and the self-concept (SC) academic achievement
and personality traits of grade four children. She strongly recommends the
enhancement of peer interaction to maximize its beneficial effect on the child's
total development. Sibling relationship is one form of peer relationship that
gives an opportunity for the practice of social skills of communication,
cooperation, helping, empathy, and conflict resolution. Sibling rivalry is normal
but parents should take precautions so that it does not become `so excessive
as to impair the emotional development of siblings.
2. Friendships
Children begin to form friendships within the context of the peer group.
The importance of friends during child-hood is summarized by a frequently
quoted passage from Harry Stack Sullivan (1953, p. 245), a psychiatrist who
focused on the importance of interpersonal relations. "If you will look closely at
one of your children when he finally finds a churn somewhere between eight-
and a half and ten years — you will discover something very different in the
relationship, namely, that your child begins to develop a real sensitivity to what
matters to another person... ("What should I do to contribute to the happiness
or to support the prestige and worthwhileness of my chum.")
Several descriptions of stages and phases of the meaning of friendship
have been proposed. This system is presented here in a series of stages
described by Youniss (1980). In his first stage, children between 6 and 8 years
are said to base friendship on a simple principle of reciprocity, "When I share
with you, you will share back." Sha-ring draws children together as friends;
negative social behavior (hitting) drives them apart.
About the age of 9, children begin to define friendship as a relationship
that is sustained over time through cooperation. At this age, they come to
understand social behavior in terms of relationships and expectation within
them. For example, 6 to 8 years old think of unkindness in terms of negative
acts such as hitting and fighting. The, 9-year-old begins to think in terms of
omissions or not doing something expected of him.
 Peer interaction and friendship are important contributors to child’s development in late
childhood.

As children move into early adolescence, they begin to talk about friends
in terms of shared identities and similar personalities. This is an outgrowth of
the theme of cooperation in which mutual understanding implies similarity. If
individuals know and help each other at this age, they assume that the other
person is a lot like them. Themes of trust, loyalty, and self-revelation are now
frequently mentioned in discussions of friendship.
Emotional Development
Emotions are developed in the context of social groups. In the family,
children learn what it (the family) expects and what it rejects. Encouraging
children to express themselves regarding these values can be helpful for their
relationship, mental health, and success.
Children of school age come in contact with wider circles of people in
school and nonhome environment. As people talk about each other, what they
like or dislike, children retain some ideas about labels for feelings affiliated
with these expressions. They begin to apply these notions to their inner
reactions and soon have names for the internal arousals of joy, sadness, fear,
anger, or embarrassment.
The expression of emotions becomes a point of conflict between parents
and children. Besides modelling the appropriate expressions of emotions,
parents and teachers can help children develop healthy ways of expressing
their emotions. Here are some suggestions from the experts (Karen Bierman, in
Barko, 1993).
 1. Label emotions.
Give children the vocabulary to describe the basic emotions — happy,
sad, mad, and scared seem to be the basic emotions in most cultures.
2. Help the child interpret her emotions.
Talk about your own feelings about the times you were little and what
makes you feel sad or angry or scare
3. Separate mixed emotions.
Get the child to talk about his feelings After listening, ask her questions
that will make her label her emotions. Then suggest ways of dealing with them.
4. Differentiate between emotions and actions.
Explain to the child that all feelings are natural, get-ting angry, sad. . . but not
all behaviors are good. Parents should help children express their emotions in
appropriate, constructive manner.
5. Describe some simple tactics.
Verbalize your feelings and show how to talk one-self out of a mood.
6. Help children express their emotions.
Filipino culture discourages expressions of emotions so children are
confused. When they were young, they were showered with hugs and kisses,
with attention. As they grow older, they are given less attention and scolded
more often, at certain times for reasons they cannot comprehend.
Another confusing condition is the tolerance for the emotional
expressions of boys and girls. Boys should be made aware that it is all right for
them to cry or to have some fears. Girls can profit from their anger by directing
their anger to constructive projects.
Moral Development
Socialization theories which we have mentioned in the earlier chapters
assumed that morality is a set of values trans-mitted through rewarding good
behavior and punishing bad behavior.
Lawrence Kohlberg (1981), on the other hand assumes that moral
reasoning parallels the child's cognitive development' Kohlberg assumes that as
a person becomes cognitively more complex, he or she reaches more complex,
higher levels of moral reasoning. As an individual progresses to higher levels of
moral reasoning, he becomes more concerned with the actor's motives than
with the consequences of the actor's actions.
 Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
Levels Stages

I. Preconventional Level Stage 1 Punishment and obedience

orientation
Motivation to avoid punishment
Instrumental
Stage 2 relativist orientation
Motivation to obtain rewards

Stage 3 Good boy — nice girl

II. Conventional Level orientation
Motivated by Conventional Motivation to gain approval and
Laws and Values to avoid disapproval
Stage 4 Society maintaining orientation
Motivation to fulfill one's duty
and to avoid feelings of guilt

III. Postconventional Level Stage 5 Social-contract orientation

Motivated by Abstract Moral Motivation to follow rational,
Principle mutually agreed-upon
principles and maintain the
respect of others

Stage 6 Universal ethical principle

orientation Motivation to
uphold one's own ethical
principles and avoid self-
condemnation

Children who are in their late childhood are expected to be at the conventional
level of moral reasoning. At Stage 3, they uphold conventional laws and values
by favoring obedience to parents and authority figures.
During late childhood children begin to experience conflicts whose
resolution will affect the development of their moral standards and sense of
self-esteem. The parents and teachers should be sensitive, creative, and
rational in guiding them so they can develop personal standards that will
improve the quality of their decision.
 The following are suggestions on how the common problems will be met
and resolved:
1. Resolving conflicts Teach the child win-win solutions to
conflicts. Encourage cooperation.
2. Aggressiveness Discuss the consequence of
aggression.
Teach the Golden Rule and Human
Rights.
3. Lying Ask for the reasons for lying and help
to overcome the difficulty that
brought about their lying.
4. Handling money Discuss the reason for giving the
allowance and be firm-about its
value.
5. Bad language Explain your opposition to his speech
and help him differentiate
appropriateness of his language.
6 Meeting home responsibilities 1. Start out doing chores with him.
2. Involve children in planning and
making decisions whose results will
directly affect them.
7. Meeting school responsibilities Set learning goals. Provide a place for
study.
Cooperate during study periods.
Be willing to help children in their
studies.

8. Moral conflicts Teach values of respect for others.

Have a solid religious foundation.
Explain moral values. Set an example
or model.

KEY IDEAS
1. Late childhood is the stage for the development of the child's sense of
competence and industry.
2. The elementary school child develops a pattern of success or a pattern of
failure in his life depending on the quality of guidance and motivation he
receives from significant others in his environment.
3. The child's social development is enhanced by his inter-action with his peers
in work or in play.
4. Parents and teachers need to understand the child's thinking to facilitate his
intellectual growth and development.
5. Helping the child to understand and to express his emo-tion can lead to
healthy relationships with himself and others.

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name _________________________ Section ____________________
Write a definition for each of the following terms:

1. achievement motivation
2. sense of competence
3. industry
4. socialization
5. dynamic process
6. assimilation
7. accommodation
8. schema
9. metacognition
10, critical thinking

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name __________________________Section_________________________
Significant Contribution of Key Persons/Authority
Write a short description of children in their late childhood based on the
discussions of each of the following:
1. Child and Youth Research Center Survey
 2. Herbert Mead

3. Robert Marzano

4. Any local research

ACTIVITY NO. 3
Name _______________________ Section_________________________
Interview/Observe a grade school pupil using the following information sheet:
1. Name
2. Birthday Month/Day/Year
3. Sex
4. Height
5. Weight
6. Grade level
7. Favorite subject in school
8. Reason for choice
9. Most difficult subject
10. Identify difficulty
11. Least liked subject
12. Reason for dislike
13. Leisure time activity/hobby/interest
14. Favorite sport
15. Best friend
16. Reason for
17. Choice Goal (10 years from now)
18. How will you achieve your goal?
19. Who helps in school assignments?
20. Study period
21. What does your mother remind you often about?
22. What does your father remind you about?
23. How do you see your parents treat you?
24. Who are the other members of the family who support you?
25. Favorite teacher Give reasons for liking

ACTIVITY NO. 4
Name _______________________________Section_______________________
Write a short narrative description of your encounter with a child.
 Chapter X
PUBERTY

The onset of adolescence is heralded by two significant changes in

physical development — the adolescent or pubertal growth spurt and puberty.
The changes are brought about by the activation of the endocrine glands. The
process begins as the hypothalamus (a part of the brain) instructs the pituitary
to activate the adrenal glands and the gonads (ovaries or testes). Individuals in
this stage need proper sex education in order to cope with the anxieties during
this stage.
The Adolescent Growth Spurt
The term growth spurt refers to the rapid acceleration in height and
weight that marks the beginning of adolescence. The timing of this event varies
from child to child. Girls may begin as early as age 9 or as late as 12 years old.
The typical pattern is for a girl to start her period of rapid growth at age 10 to
reach a peak growth at age 12 years and to return to a slower rate of growth by
age 1345. Many girls gain as much as 3 1/2 inches in height and 20 pounds in
weight.
Boys lag behind girls by two years, entering their period of rapid growth
as early as age 12 or as late as age 16. The typical pattern for males is to begin
their growth spurt at age 13 to a peak growth at 14 and to return to a more
gradual rate by age 15 or 16. Many boys gain as much as 4 inches and 26
Pounds.
In addition to growing taller and heavier, the body assumes an adultlike
appearance during the adolescent growth spurt. In females, the first change is
in a slight "budding" followed by a gradual enlargement of the breasts over a
period of I several years. There is also a growing of the hips resulting in a
broadening that further gives the appearance of the adult female body shape.
PUBERTY
Puberty is the point in the development of man at which the individual
becomes physically capable of sexual reproduction. It covers the time during
which the primary and secondary x characteristics of the body emerge. Sexual
maturation follows a predictable sequence for members of both sexes. It begins
with the production of sex hormones by the ovaries in females and testes in
males. These hormones trigger a series of physiological changes that lead to
ovulation and menstruation in females and the production of sperm cells in
males. These are the primary sex characteristics. Menarche or the first
menstrual period signifies this new stage of maturation for girls. The secondary
sex characteristics like the development of the breast and hips begin before
menarche and continue until the individual has reached full maturity.
There is no one particular experience that establishes manhood in the
same way that menarche signals womanhood. However, the pubescent male
experiences growth in both primary and secondary characteristics. Growth
usually occurs first in the testes in their sac-like container, the scrotum. About
a year later the developmental acceleration encompasses the penis, which
becomes larger. Internal glands in the reproductive system enlarge and begin
to form and secrete a variety of substances including mature spermatozoa. The
secondary sex characteristics that accompany sexual maturation include
broadening of the shoulders, lowering of the voice and the appearance of pubic
and facial hair.
Characteristics of Puberty
1. Puberty is an overlapping period.
Puberty happens during the last years of childhood and the starting years of
adolescence. It is about 10 y years to 13 years for girls and about two years
later for boys.
2. Puberty is a short period.
Puberty lasts from two to four years. Rapid maturers take two years while slow
maturers take 3 to 4 Years.
3. Puberty is manifested in both internal and external changes in the body.
Primary and secondary sex characteristics are manifested in the changes.
4. Puberty is a time of rapid growth and change. The rapid growth is called
pubertal growth spurt.
5. Puberty is divided into three stages:
a. Prepubescent — Secondary sex characteristics begin their development but
the reproductive organs are not yet fully developed.
b. Pubescent — Characterized by menarche for girls and nocturnal emissions
(wet dreams) in boys.
c. Postpubescent – Secondary sex characteristics become well developed and
the sex organs begin to function in a mature manner.
Body Changes at Puberty
Four important physical changes occur during puberty, namely: changes
in the body size, changes in body proportions, the development of the primary
sex characteristics, and the development of the secondary sex characteristics.
Changes in Body The first major physical change at puberty is change in body
size in terms of height and weight. The timing of this event varies from child to
child. Girls gain an average annual increase of 3 inches during menarche. After
menarche, the rate of growth slows down to about one inch a year, coming to a
standstill at around eighteen for early maturers, and early twenties in late
maturers.
Boys grow rapidly between thirteen to fifteen years, with the peak
occurring at fourteen years. After that growth decelerates and continues at a
slower rate until the age of twenty-one
Weight gain during puberty comes not only from an ease in fat but also
from an increase in bone and muscle tissues. Thus, even though they are
gaining weight the pubescent child looks thin. Girls experience the greatest
weight gain just before and just after menarche. Boy’s experience maximum
weight gains a year or two later than girls and continue to gain even up to age
sixteen. Because of the longer growth periods, boys gain more in height and
weight than do girls.
Changes in Body Proportion
The second major physical change is change in body proportions. Certain areas
of the body become proportionally too big because they reach their mature size
sooner than other areas. The whole body attains adult proportions in all areas
during the latter part of adolescence.
Primary Sex Characteristics
The third major physical change is the growth and development of the
primary sex characteristics. The gonads or testes, which are located in the
scrotum, or sac, are only 10 percent of their mature size at the age of fourteen
years. There is rapid growth for a year or two, then growth slows down. The
testes are fully developed by the age of twenty or twenty-one.
Menarche or the first menstrual flow signifies this new stage of maturation
for girls. This is the beginning of a series of periodic discharges of blood,
mucus, and broken cell tissues from the uterus. It occurs approximately every
twenty-eight days until the girl reaches menopause usually in the late forties or
early fifties.
Secondary Sex Characteristics
 The fourth major physical change at puberty is the development of the
secondary sex characteristics. These are the physical features which
distinguish males from females and which may be the source of appeal among
members of the opposite sex.
Boys develop muscles that give shape to their arms, legs, and shoulders.
Their voice becomes husky and later increases in volume.
The girls develop wider and rounder hips as a result of the enlargement of the
pelvic bone and the development of subcutaneous fat. Shortly after the hips
have started to en-large, the breasts begin to develop. The nipples enlarge and
protrude.
Concerns during Puberty
The rapid changes in height and weight during the pubertal growth spurt
can be a source of concern for the adolescents. Some aspects of physical
development that upset adolescents are:
1. Sex differences in growth rates.
While males and females grow at about the same rates during childhood,
females experience puberty and the adolescent growth spurt 2 years earlier
than males.
2. Different growth rates of body parts.
Hands and feet grow before arms and legs, and arms and legs grow before
the torso. Noses, ears, and jaws can outpace the growth of the rest of the face.
The disproportionate growth lead to awkwardness, lack of poise, and
embarrassment.
3. Irregular changes in weight and physique.
The rapid gains in height, the shifts in body fat, and the late development of
muscle tissue can cause the adolescent's physique to change dramatically.
4. Troublesome skin changes.
Sweat and odor glands step up their activity, producing body odor and the
need for frequent bathing. The oil glands become active and may cause skin
problems like acne.

5. Personality/Appearance.
 His physical growth and development make the adolescent develops self-
consciousness. He begins to worry about his personal appearance clothes,
grooming, and acceptability to peers.
6. Relationships.
The adolescents' sense of self, his new self, his new role, and his view of the
future usually overwhelms the young adolescent, affecting his interaction with
significant others.
7. Variation in age of maturity.
Sexual maturation can begin anytime within a six.. year range for both
sexes. These differences in the timing of puberty can be of significant concern
for the individual.
Effects of Deviant Maturing
Children who are most affected by the physical changes that normally
occur at puberty are the deviant maturers. A deviant maturers is one whose sexual
maturation occurs a year or more from the norm for the sex. Children who
mature sexually earlier than their sex group are called early maturers while
those who mature sexually later than their sex group are called late maturers.
When children require less than the normal time for their sex group to
complete the maturational process, they are called rapid maturers while those
who need more than the normal time are called slow maturers.
Early growth in height and muscle is generally advantageous to boys.
They usually gain leadership status because of their physical prowess. The boy
who lags behind in size, strength, and mature appearance is at a disadvantage
until he catches up in the growth spurt.
The consequences of early pubescence are more complex for girls.
Changes in the height and shape of the body some-times interfere with early
social adjustment. They are some-times embarrassed by the attention given to
them by older boys. They sometimes are separated from their slow maturing
peers. They can be very self-conscious and shy away from group activities.
Some girls can be very particular with their physical appearance and begin to
join maturer groups, engaging in the maturer group's activities. This could
facilitate early maturation when other aspects of growth and development are
not neglected. If she is properly guided, the early maturing female may benefit
from the attention and guidance given to her and she could be a source of
guidance and leadership for her other peers.

The Role of Significant Others

 Based on many researches and studies, the concerns and problems of
the growing individual in this stage are varied. They range from physical,
social, emotional, academic, and moral. Growing up towards the healthy
direction depends largely on the individual's interactions with the significant
others parents, peer group, teachers, and authorities. The individual's sense of
self — his/her capacity and worth will develop based on how the significant
others influence and guide him/her towards his/her sense of independence,
self-reliance, and sense of responsibility. His/her sense of responsibility will
deter-mine how he/she will solve his/her problems, decide for himself/ herself,
and act on his/her environment.
Parents can do a lot to help their teeners cope with their "growing up
pains." The key is to prepare them adequately for the expected physical
changes. It is important to explain to them what all these means. Maintaining
open communication between parents and children give the young adolescent
opportunity to ask questions about their experiences. Parents who are sensitive
to their adolescents' anxieties can help by giving adequate information and lots
of support and encouragement. Parents who make adjustments in their
parenting styles promote mature and responsible behavior in their teenagers.

KEY IDEAS
1. The onset of adolescence is marked by
a. the adolescent growth spurt
b. puberty
2. Puberty is the period in the developmental span when the individual grows
up to manhood and becomes sexually mature, able to produce offspring.
3. Physical changes during puberty is manifested in
a. changes in body size
b. changes in body proportion
c. development of primary sex characteristics
d. the enhancement of the body through the secondary sex characteristics
4. The onset of puberty has an important implication on the personality
development of an individual.
5. Puberty is a critical period for the development of positive attitudes towards
one's body and oneself in general. The home and the family can initiate
programs and activities that promote the healthy transition from childhood to
adolescence.

ACTIVITY NO. 1

Name __________________________ Section ________________

Key Terms/Concepts to Define
1. Adolescent growth spurt
2. Puberty
3. Primary sex characteristics
4. Secondary sex characteristics
5. Menarche
6. Deviant maturers
7. Early maturers
8. Late maturers
9. Rapid maturers
10. Slow maturers

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name ___________________________ Section ____________________
Get pictures of yourself, one just before you reached puberty and another one
about the time or age you had sexual maturity. Write a short reflection about
your reaction to the pictures you are comparing now.

________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______

ACTIVITY NO. 3
Name___________________________ Section ______________________
Initiate a friendly conversation with an individual who is about 12-13 years old.
Get him/her to describe one of his/ her concerns now, who he/she has talked
to about it, and what he has decided to do.

Concern Who he/she talked with What he/she decided to

about it do

Chapter XI
Adolescence
The term adolescence comes from the Latin word adolescence meaning to grow
to maturity – mentally, emotionally, socially, and physical, this point of views
was expressed by Piaget as quoted in Hurlock (1982) when he said:
“Psychologically, adolescence is the age when the individual becomes
integrated into the society of adults, the level of his elders but equal, at least in
rights. . .. This integration into adult society has many affective aspects, more
of less linked with puberty. . . It also includes very profound intellectual
transformations typical of the adolescent’s thinking enable him to achieve his
integration into social relationship of adults, which is in fact the most general
characteristic of this period of development.”
ADOLESCENT YEARS
It is costumery to regard adolescence as beginning when children become
sexually mature and ending when they reach the age of level maturity. Studies
of changes in behavior, attitudes, and values throughout adolescence show
marked difference during the early part of the period. As a result, it is divided
into two subdivisions, early and late adolescence. The division is placed at
around 17 years, at about the same time they pursue collegiate courses or
begin to be apprentices in the world of work. Early adolescence extends roughly
from thirteen to sixteen or seventeen years while late adolescence is a short
period from the age of 16 to 18 up to twenty-one for those who would like to
continue to depend on others for financial support until they are through with
college course.
Developmental Tasks of Adolescence
The Development tasks of adolescence are focused on developing
independence in preparation for adulthood and in establishing a sense of
identity.
Achieving independence is facilitated by developing intellectual skills and
concepts necessary for the development of socially responsible adults. Schools
and colleges try to build values that are in harmony with those held by adults.
Parents also contribute to this development. Sometimes the adult fostered
values clash with peer values. Adolescents find them-selves caught between
adult and peer standards of socially responsible behavior and as expected, they
have to make choices.
Establishing one's identity continues during the period of adolescence.
The adolescent establishes his personality along three dimensions: gender
identity, occupational identity, and moral identity. Being able to play his sex
role is an important task for him. Choosing and developing his field of work
gives directions to his efforts and activities. The values he holds determine his
beliefs and commitment to the society.
Physical Development During Adolescence
Growth is far from complete when puberty ends, nor is it entirely
complete at the end of early adolescence. There is a slackening of the pace of
growth, and there is more marked internal than external development during
later adolescence.
As is true at all ages, there are individual differences in physical
changes. Sex differences are especially apparent. Even though boys have their
growth spurt later than girls, their growth continues longer, with the result
that, at maturity, they are usually taller than girls. Because boys' muscles
grow larger than those of girls at all ages after puberty, boys surpass girls in
strength and this superiority increases with age.
Satisfaction with the physical changes that take place as children's
bodies are transformed into adult bodies is so important. A person's physical
appearance, along with his sexual identity, is the characteristic that concerns
most adolescent and affects their self Confidence.
Concern about normality will persist until the physical changes on the
surface of the body have been completed and adolescents can be sure that
their bodies conform to the norms of their sex groups. Anxiety on the sex-
appropriateness of their bodies continues until the growth and development of
the primary and secondary sex characteristics have been completed.
Adolescents also have to be watched because they usually exert effort to
develop endomorphic bodies since social reactions to body build usually favor
endomorphy.
For many girls, menstruation is a serious concern. They suffer physical
discomforts like cramps, headaches, backaches, swollen ankles, and breast
tenderness, as well as weight gain.
It is unusual for adolescent boys or girls not to be concerned about their
physical attractiveness. They realize that people treat those who are attractive
more favorably than those who are less attractive. They are also aware of the
role of attractiveness in their being liked as friends, leaders, group members,
and object of admiration of the members of the opposite sex. Consequently,
they spend proportionally more time and thought on how they can improve
their looks.

Cognitive Development
Just as there is a spurt in physical and sexual development, there is also
a "cognitive spurt." The changes that take place in the adolescent's intellectual
growth are both quantitative and qualitative. During middle childhood, mental
growth tends to be fairly even. During adolescence, however, some abilities and
skills appear to develop more than the others. It appears that intellectual skills
tend to become more specialized during adolescence, and the individual may
demonstrate what appears to be emerging special interests, such as an
aptitude for science or verbal skills.
This differentiation and specialization of abilities is some-times heavily
weighted by social-cultural factors. Although mental skills of childhood tend to
remain the same throughout childhood until adolescence, some adolescent's
life circumstances may result in dramatic changes in intellectual performance.
An example would be an adolescent who, because of his association elation
with a peer group that does not value schooling, may bow a decline in his
school performance.
According to Piaget, adolescent cognitive development is now at the
formal operation stage.
The following chart shows a comparison/transition from concrete
operations to formal operations stage:
Concrete Operations Stage Formal Operations Stage
The Separation of Focus on relation between Can think about the
Possibility and Reality objects that they can possible as well as the
classify, categorize and real, can now deal with
order; dependent on things one might be able
concrete objects for to think about and with
successful problem solving symbols and words that
transform concrete
experiences
The Use of Symbols to Can solve equations only if Solve algebraic
Represent Other Symbols all elements are equations/use a second-
represented in terms of order symbolic system
concrete, first order (symbols that represent
symbols; needs visual other symbols (Ex:
clues to deal with complex algebraic x and y) and
symbolic relationship. metaphors
The Ability to Coordinate May not proceed Is able to raise and to test
Mul-tiple Factors in systematically in solving a a hypothesis about a given
Problem Solving problem and may not be problem in a systematic
able to perceive the fashion; marked ability to
interaction of several deal with many facts
factors in a situation simultaneously

Although not all adolescents attain formal operations during early

adolescence, there is evidence that some older an lescents may go beyond
formal operations or to a second P11.3e of formal operations. This phase has
been called problem finding, in contrast to the problem solving that
characterizes. formal operations. Thus, the thinking of some older adolescent
aged 15 to 20 years old might be considered "divergent" (moving toward new or
creative solutions or the identification of alter-natives) rather than "convergent"
(moving toward known or accepted solutions to problems). This type of thinking
characterizes older adolescents. Intelligence is identified by the quality of
questions asked rather than the arrival at known conclusions.
Thinking about the meaning of words leads the adolescent to the
creation of ideals. Thinking about "what could be" makes him question "what
is," and is sometimes the basis for conflicts between him and adults. He begins
to criticize the conditions of his own environment or the persons in his family
and school. "My teacher is not good; she does not know how to teach and yet
she scolds us very often."
Although most adolescents have reached the level of formal operational
reasoning, their cognition at times often retains an immature quality. This is
not really surprising; they have recently developed the ability to reason
abstractly, but have little experience upon which to base their abstract
thoughts. In particular, David Elkind (1967, 1981; Elkind and Bowen, 1979)
has pointed out that adolescents often possess a form of ego-centrism of young
children and similarly distorts their perception of reality. There are four
primary features of adolescent ego-centrism. As you will readily notice, the
thinking of fully mature adults is not always free of these characteristics. How-
ever, the four reality-distorting qualities described by Elkind are more
characteristic of the adolescent stage than any other —and help explain why
conversations between adolescent s; and adults are sometimes so frustrating to
both parties.
1. The primary characteristic adolescent egocentism has been termed the
imaginary audience by Elkind, The adolescent often feels that he or she is the
focus of everyone one attention. If he stumbles or stammers, everyone talk
about, and never forget the event. of course, the crowd is no more interested in
his minor tragedies than in their own. The audience that the adolescent
believes detects his every flaw does not really exist — it's imaginary.
2. Adolescent egocentrism also manifests itself in what Elkind calls the
personal fable. The adolescent often feels that her problems — over school,
complexion, friends — are never having been experienced by anyone else in
remotely similar way. Understandably, this form of ego centric thinking can
heighten the adjustments that are a normal part of adolescence, and can lead
to a sense of isolation in some adolescents.
3. Adolescent egocentrism is typified by an unusual degree of hypocrisy.
Adolescents are even more likely than adults to condemn in others the same
actions and traits that they find acceptable in themselves. The adolescent is
outraged when she learns that her friend had luncheon with a friend. She is
jealous, but excuses herself for talking with her neighbor because it was just
plain courtesy.
4. Finally adolescent egocentrism is characterized by what Elkind ( 1981)
colorfully calls pseudostupidity. This often involves an overreliance on the
power of logic. The adolescent might say. “If alcoholics know they’re going to
die from cirrhosis of the liver, why don’t they just stop drinking.” The cold logic
of their argument makes if difficult for them to consider that it’s difficult for
many psychological and physical reasons. At other times, however, this
pseudostupidity takes form of using unnecessary convoluted and complex logic
when simpler thinking will suffice. These unusual patterns of logic also tend to
make reasoning with adolescents a notable challenge.
An important product of thinking about ideals is the adolescents' future
orientation. The future orientation of the adolescent is a way of developing
goals and organizing immediate activities meaningfully in terms of a future is
an important skill of adulthood. "I have to study harder in Mathematics. I'll
need this when I take up Engineering in college."
Emotionality during Adolescence
Adolescence has been thought of as a period of "storm and stress” – a
time of heightened emotional tension result from physical and grandular
changes that are taking place.
While adolescent emotions are often intense, uncontrolled, and seemingly
irrational, there is generally an improvement in emotional behavior with each
passing year. Emotional maturity is said to have been achieved if the individual
does not "explode," have I temper tantrums, or sulk when disappointed.
Another important indication of maturity is when the individual assesses a
situation critically instead of reacting irrationally and emotionally to a
situation. He is able to think about the circumstances, to make decisions, to
act accordingly, and solve problems rather than engage in unhealthy emotional
outbursts. He should be encouraged to discuss his problems with the
"significant others."
As he matures, he gets involved in different interpersonal relations. It is
but normal to have conflicts in any relationship. How an adolescent manages
and resolves conflicts is an important factor in maintaining healthy
relationships. In a study of conflict management styles (Buenaventura, 1995),
Filipino first and second year adolescents were found to be accommodating,
i.e., they show low assertiveness and high cooperativeness which are important
in the preservation of a relation-ship. As junior and senior students mature,
they begin to use a problem-solving style characterized by high assertiveness
and high cooperativeness. Parties in conflict seek to find a mutually acceptable
solution that will satisfy their interests. They try to study an issue in an
attempt to find innovative possibilities (Thomas Kilmar).
This capacity to use different styles of conflict management is an
important developmental task as evidenced by the accompanying
characteristics and possible outcomes of each Conflict management style
(CMS). Characteristics and Possible Outcome of Each Conflict Management
Style (CMS)
Characteristics and Possible Outcome of Each Conflict Management Style
aggressive assertive (CMS).
CMS Characteristics Possible Outcome/ Results

- passive or active - hurt and humiliation

- aggressive
- assertive
- uses force to win
- dominant
Avoiding - unable or unwilling to
express one's thoughts
and feelings
- dependent on others
- keeps quiet and simply
accepts the situation
- manifests false
obedience
- fears failure
- avoids responsibility
- anger and defensiveness
- may force other(s) to
- Retaliate
- nurture "bad feelings
- for others and for
himself
- maintains good
relationship
- has low self-growth
- develops doubts in one's
capacity
- may develop
dependency in making
decisions

Accommodating - sensitive to others' - others may take

needs advantage of the
- avoids tension and relationship
quarrel - maintains harmonious
- agrees to compromise relationships
- stresses things which - feels dissatisfied
they both agree on - non-committal
- not assertive
- cooperates with others
- tolerates other's wishes
- is emotional

Problem-Solving - is open-minded - self-respect

- uses critical thinking
- is responsible and
cooperative
- willing to explore new
avenues for compromise
- encourages participation
- is just and fair
- respects others' opinion
- practices humility, is
- satisfies both parties
- develops trust,
openness, respect,
acceptance
- feels "better" after the
conflict
- increased mutuality
 prurient
Cont'd (CMS) Table

____________________________________________________________________________
The negative feeling brought about by the competing and avoiding
conflict management styles have to be dealt with or it may impair the healthy
resolution of relationship conflicts.
Accommodating conflict management styles used especially with persons
in authority like parents gives a chance for authority to assert what might be
right or lawful in a situation while giving the younger one a chance to
understand another's point of view. The youth's impatience, or lack of
experience, is cushioned by obeying the older persons and/or persons in
authority.
Adolescents must also learn how to use emotional catharsis to clear their
system of pent-up emotional energy. They can engage in strenuous physical
exercise, at play or at work. Crying and laughing are considered unfavorable,
but are allowed since they provide an outlet for pent-up emotions.
Sharing one's emotional problem with a friend, writing a letter or praying
hard can also facilitate better understanding of the problem and lead to an
insight.
Though peers are the first ones to be solicited for advice, the adolescents
should be encouraged to share their worries and anxieties with the appropriate
members of their family.
Social Changes during Adolescence
One of the most difficult developmental tasks of adolescents relates to
social adjustments. These adjustments must be made to achieve goal of
preparing themselves for adult patterns of socialization.
During early adolescence, peer-group acceptance is very important to an
adolescent. He wears the same type of clothes, engages in the same activities
and does the same things to be accepted by his peer group.
 As adolescence progresses, peer
-group influence begin to wane. The
reasons for this are: first, most
adolescents want to become
individuals in their own right; hence,
they begin to establish their identity;
and second, in the adolescents’ choice
of their companions. They have a
tendency to narrow down their friends
to a smaller number.
Adolescents want as friends
those whore interests and values are
similar to theirs, who understand
them and make them feel secure, and
in whom they can confide problems
and discuss matters they feel they
cannot share with their parents or
teachers.
Some Adolescent Interests
The interests of adolescents are varied.
They depend upon their sex, their
intelligence. The environment in which
they live, the opportunities they have
had for developing their interests, what
their peers are interested in, their status in the social group, their innate
abilities, the interests of their families, and many other similar factors.
Adolescents develop varied interest depending on their sex, their intelligence, their environment,
and opportunities given to them.

Personality Development
Throughout the years of childhood, the self is defined largely by the
child’s experiences in the family, in the elementary school, and to some extent,
in peer activities. The adolescent integrates new skills in logical thinking, moral
development, and sexual identity with the possibilities for a more independent
social life.
According to Erikson, the primary task that confronts the adolescent is
the establishment of an identity. He views the establishment of ego identity as
the development of a "stance toward the world." However, identity formation
neither begins or ends with adolescence. Rather, it is a lifelong process. It is
during adolescence that the major features of this identity are sketched out. It
is a socially recognized time for experimentation and testing of lifestyles and
roles. It is a search for what to believe in, what to live for, and what to be loyal
to, as Erikson puts it.
1. Occupational Identity
An important element of the adolescent's self-concept is his
occupational identity. Ginzberg as cited in Schiamberg (1982) suggested
that the individual continually makes adjustments in aspirations and
motivations that limit and refine his vocational choices.
2. Ginzbergs' Stage Theory
Ginzberg suggests that individuals move through four major
psychological periods as part, of the process of making vocational
choices: Fantasy, Tentative, Realistic, and Specification Periods. Each
stage represents a com-promise between what is wished for and what is
possible.
a) The Fantasy Period — (Ages 4-12)
These are simply wishes that are usually based on a limited
relationship with the working world. For example, when asked what they
would like to be when they grow up, children may offer such responses
as "I want to be a policeman."
b) The Tentative Period — (Ages 12-18)
The individual begins to take into account his own interests and
capabilities when considering a vocation.

There are 4 substages during this period:

1) The Interest Stage — (Ages 11-12)
The child identifies activities that are liked or disliked. These activities
are generally similar to vocational activities.
2) The Capacity Stage — (Ages 12-14)
This coincides with the onset of formal operation stage. The adolescent
begins to assess and to understand the prerequisite aptitudes, training,
and education necessary for given professions.
3) The Values Stage — (Ages 15-16)
The adolescent involves personal values, orientations, and goals in his
vocational choice.
4) The Transition Stage — (Ages 17-19)
The individual consolidates aptitude, interests, and values in making a
realistic vocational decision.
C. The Realistic Period — (18 to the Early Twenties)
The realistic period is composed of two substages. In the exploration stage,
the individual tests his tentative vocational choices against the demands of a
vocation and personal values, aptitudes and interests.
During the crystallization stage, the individual develops a clear picture of a
vocational goal, including specific occupations. d. The Specification Period The
individual makes a commitment to a particular vocation. He trains for a
vocation or enters the vocation.
3. Personality Changes during Adolescence
Many conditions in the adolescent's life are responsible for molding his self-
concept, which affects his attitude, and effort in the things he does.
Age of maturing — Individuals who mature at an earlier age usually develop a
more positive self-concept than late maturers.
Appearance — Individuals who are m a are attractive have a more pleasant
feelings about, themselves and have a more positive self-concept.
Sex appropriateness — Individuals who develop sex-appropriate features and
behavior receive more positive remarks and develop a more positive self`.
concept.
Names and nicknames – Names and nickna.me8 elicit positive meanings that
tend to make a person think and feel better about himself.
Family relationships — Prolonged treatment as child-ren and prolonged
dependency are correlates of help-lessness or a sense of inadequacy or lack of
confidence.
Peers — Individuals who are accepted by their peers tend to be happier.
Creativity Individuals who are creative or are able to make things faster, better,
or more effectively are usually praised and liked by others.
Academic competence — Individuals who are able to perform well in academic
tasks are sought by teachers and peers and praised by their parents.
4. Sex Interest and Sex Behavior during Adolescence
Adolescents are primarily curious about sex. They seek more and more
information about it. Some adolescents parents but the majority take
advantage of i whatever sources of information are available to them health
education classes in school, discussion with friends, reading books or
experimentation with masturbation, sexual intercourse, and others.
 Heterosexuality — development of interest in members of the opposite sex —
follows a predictable pattern.
Changes in Morality during Adolescence
Adolescents are expected to replace the specific moral concepts of
childhood with general moral principles and to formulate those into a moral
code which will act as a guide to their behavior. Equally important, they must
now exercise control over their behavior.
During adolescence, boys and girls have reached what Piaget has called
the stage of formal operations in cognitive development. They are now capable
of considering all possible ways of solving a particular problem and can reason
on the bases of hypotheses or propositions. Thus, they can look at their
problems from several points of view and can take many factors into account
when solving them.
According to Kohlberg, the third level of moral development,
postconventional morality, should be reached during adolescence. This is the
level of self-accepted principles and it consists of two stages. In the first stage,
the individual believes that there should be flexibility in moral beliefs to make
it possible to modify and change moral standards if this will be advantageous
to group members as a whole. In the second stage, he conforms to both social
standards and internalized ideals to avoid self-condemnation rather than to
avoid social censure. In this stage, morality is based on respect for self and
others rather than on personal desire.
Studies of moral development have indicated that the only effective way
people of any age can control their own behavior is through the development of
conscience, an inner force that makes external controls unnecessary. When
adolescents learn to associate pleasant emotions with group-approved
behavior, and unpleasant emotions with group disapproved behavior, they will
have the necessary motivation to behave in accordance with group standards.
Enhancing Family Relationships
As adolescence progresses, the frictional relationship is gradually
replaced by a more pleasant and affectionate relationship.
Parent-adolescent relationship improves when parents begin to realize
and accept that their sons and daughters are no longer children and when they
try to understand the new cultural values of their adolescents. They begin to
relax in their discipline and try to understand their children's standards of
behavior. The adolescent, on the other hand, begins to share anxieties and
experiences with their parents. Thus, both parties enjoy a more pleasant and
affectionate relationship.
 Relationship with siblings, grandparents, and other relatives improves as
adolescence progresses. With their newly acquired poise and self-confidence,
adolescents begin to appreciate older siblings and accept younger siblings'
behavior. They begin to treat grandparents and other relatives more graciously
and heed their criticisms more gratefully.

1. Parent and Adolescent Conflict

It is in the family where an individual should experience the most stable
relationship an individual should experience. Parents and adolescents usually
develop conflicts even if they are most familiar with each other, living in the
same unit, which is the home. They are also attached to each other by greatest
interpersonal emotion which is love. Yet, a survey of adolescent problems show
that family relations is one of the highest sources of an adolescent's problems.
One of the most common complaints of adolescents about their parents is that
the latter treat them as un-thinking. They are reminded of the same things so
they sound like a "broken record." "They seem not to realize that I have grown
and am not a kinder pupil anymore." on the other hand, parents complain of
their youngsters' stubbornness (not heeding the former's reminders and advise)
and their lack of cooperation with them when peer and parent conflict.
Joseph R. Thomas (1980) cites seven ways to effectively manage conflicts in the
family:
a. Be Willing to discuss matters and to give consideration to the views of
others.
b. Stick to the point and don't inject irrelevancies and recall instances when
the other person goes wrong.
c. Don't argue at mealtime, or in front of others, or bring others into dispute.
d. Don't abuse anyone physically, verbally or psycho-logically, or resort to
unfair tactics to win your point.
e. Look at areas of agreement and the possibility of compromise.
f. Be willing to admit it when you are wrong.
g. Be willing to forget the disagreement once it's behind you and to forgive or
apologize if either is called for.
In addition, the following suggestions by McGinnis (1982) can be
considered in dealing with most parent-child conflicts. Some conflicts can be
reduced and mutual enjoyment increased by modifying the environment.
Enriching the environment encourages creativity and reduces boredom and
conflicts. Modification in the environment as implemented by the parents
should be by mutual decision of both parties.
2. Expanding the possibilities of nonviolent conflict resolution by changing
oneself is a very real possibility for all. Parents should be positive and
open to their children. If they want their children to be good then they
should also be good. Without this critical link, the whole chain of
parenting for peace and justice comes apart.
3. Mutual problem solving with children can absolutely minimize conflicts.
Although most parents short-cut the process, McGinnis suggested a
systematic way of problem-solving process.
Step 1. Name the problem or conflict clearly. Expressing feelings as well as
wants, and active listening are important aspects of this step. Each participant
in the conflict needs to feel heard and understood.
Step 2. Brainstorm alternatives. Everyone's idea must be listened to.

step 3. Evaluate the alternatives. Here is where shortcuts are often taken.
Children do not have the capacity to stay in a process for a long time.
Suggestions could be made to modify it so that it can meet the needs of the
children.
Step 4. Pool the group to see if the alternative is acceptable to everybody.
Step 5. Decide how to implement the solution.
Monsignor Escriba (1974) likewise said, "Parents should exercise patience
when talking to their child. They should show that they trust him and that
they believe in what their child says. In this way, the parents become their
child's friends, willing to share his anxieties, ready to listen to his problems,
and capable of extending effective support when he needs it most." He also said
that during "difficulties in family life, one should learn how to keep quiet, to
wait and to say things in a positive, optimistic manner. It is important to ask
God for the strength and to overcome the whims and to practice self-control."
More than being taught, children must witness these values and virtues
among the family members, especially the parents. Parents have the duty and
right to educate their own children by developing the right sense of values and
inculcating virtues like justice, love, trust, patience, understanding, and
respect. This will enable the family to live in peace and love. It is clear from the
above suggestions that the virtues of prudence, fortitude, respect, humility,
and trust are necessary in solving problem to effectively manage conflicts in the
family.

KEY IDEAS
1. Adolescence is a critical period for social adjustment into the adult world.
2. Family relationships, peers, and school are important socializing agents for
the individual.
3. An individual's perceptions of the environment affect everything and
everyone around him.
4. An adolescent has to establish his identity to give direction to his activities.
5. A life goal and philosophy gives meaning to an adolescent's choice of
activities and companions.
6. An adolescent's quality of thinking gives him a chance to be more reflective,
logical, and rational.
 ACTIVITY NO. 1

Name _________________________ Section _________________________________

Key Terms/Concepts to Define

1. Adolescence

2. Early adolescence

3. Late adolescence

4. Identity vs. role confusion

5. Emotional catharsis

6. Peer group

7. Heterosexuality

8. Problem finding
 ACTIVITY NO. 2

Name _______________________________ Section __________________________

Significant Contributions of key Persons

What do the following psychologists say about adolescence?
1. David Elkind

2. Thomas Kilman

3. Erik Erikson

4. Katheleen and James

5. McGinnis
 ACTIVITY NO. 3

Name _______________________________ Section _______________________

1. Choose a topic that interests you and find out how individuals in the two
subperiods of adolescence differ in terms of their emotionality, style of
problem-solving, choosing companions, studying or study habits, sexual
behaviors, interests-sports, leisure time activity, preferred reading
materials, etc.

2. Interview five freshman college students and find out the reasons for
their career choices.

3. Using a questionnaire, survey on any of the following topics:

a. Learning Strategies

b. Sex Behaviors

c. Attitudes Toward Social Issues

 Chapter XII
Adulthood
The period of adulthood is studied as a series of stages that starts with
the 20's. Commitments are made and the individuals have a well-defined sense
of who they are. it is in this stage that they have moved from a period of
exploration to one of stabilization. They are refining or improving the patterns
of their lives which is done by accepting and accommodating social norms.
The argument about the possible growth of intelligence versus the
slowing down or decline of intelligence in adulthood has contrasted fluid with
crystalized intelligence. It has drawn some conclusions about the intelligence
argument. It has raised the possibility of a fifth stage of cognitive development.
It has described the decision-making processes of adulthood and has
highlighted the importance of certain career decisions and other decisions.
This also depicts the slowing down of the primary senses and the organ
reserve. A conclusion is made with a detailed look at the influence of health
habits on physical development in the stage of adulthood.
PSYCHOSOC1AL DEVELOPMENT
This section presents two basic psychological needs of adulthood which
are affiliation and achievement. When it comes to the affiliation needs of an
adult, it is filled primarily by the institution of marriage and by the individual's
social convoy. The achievement need of an adult is attained through careers
and of Course through parenthood.
As the young adults approach the age 30, a number of them en question
their commitments. The common problem that m' "t Women face is to resolve
the conflict between parenthood and career. This is observed among
professional women but not so among the nonprofessionals. When these kinds
of problems are resolved, young adults spend the rest of their 30's follow-ing
through on the work they have started, and continue up the career ladder. It is
in this period that they bear their last children and become as hardworking
family people as they will ever be.
The early adulthood stage is followed by the midlife transition. At this
point in life, a number of people evaluate what they have done, asking
questions as to whether they have reached their aspirations and re-examining
their plans for the rest of their lives. For a few, discontentment with self,
profession or career, and family develop into a midlife crisis.
 Middle age is characterized by sex differences in social activities. Women for example,
spend more time attending to the activities of organizations with which they are affiliated.
Expowering of women is the thrust now in the 21st century. Men, on the other hand, have
entirely different activities.

As commonly noticed, middle-aged adults are playing many roles

simultaneously to various family members and various roles can lead to
ambiguity and role strain. Due to the fact that they are pressed on one side by
their adolescent children and on the other by their aging parents, middle-aged
adults have been called the sandwich generation.
After the midlife transition comes middle adulthood. Life during this
adult stage of development seems to settle down again -- at least until around
age 60. As experienced by many, when the first child has gotten married and
left home to establish his or her residence, mothers, particularly, feel a sense of
accomplishment and relief. It is a fact that marriage can, and often does,
improve when the couples have more time and money to devote to themselves,
rather than to their children.
Through experience, men become more tender, and women more
assertive during this adult stage of development. Such changes may probably
be the result of the altered circumstances that age might bring.
Throughout adulthood, people tend to measure their accomplishments
and adjust their behavior to some kind of social clock. This is described as a
culture' sense of appropriate social time. Social time varies by subculture. For
example, individuals of lower socio-economic status generally see the aging
process as occurring more quickly than individuals of higher status do.
Trends in history also affect the social clock, sometimes dramatically.
This can be observed in the lives of Filipino women, who once spent nearly all
their adulthood just for bearing and caring for children. Today with smaller
families and a longer span of life, child-rearing happens during only a fraction
of adulthood.
In general, it is the social clock that determines what-ever stages of
adulthood there may be.
Affiliation Needs
It is in the adult life that the need for love and intimacy are met. Most of
these adults seek these needs primarily through a commitment to a partner by
marriage.
It is observed that the institution of marriage has provided stability for
individuals and for society as a whole. That 1s why, through religious rituals,
legal sanctions, and social ells-t people are ensured to get married and stay
married and sexual experiences outside marriage are not acceptable, although
some are doing it. It is still a norm in the Filipino family that Itie father,
mother, and children live together under one roof.
It is now observed that few people have been living alone and few families
have been headed by a single parent.
Choosing a Partner. Marriage to the Filipinos is still the outcome of falling in
love; although some brides and grooms have been in and out of love with a few
individuals, and may have been involved in one or two intense relationships,
before going into marriage.
Using Murstein's synthesis of various mate-selection theories (1976),
mate selection is a filtering process. This filtering process occurs in three
stages, namely: (1) The original stimulus which makes two parties notice each
other; (2) Comparison of values; and (3) The development of roles vis-a-vis each
other.
Living-in before Marriage. This is the living together of the two adults (male
and female) who would like to spend more time in sorting out their values and
roles before they finally decide to apply for marriage license. This may be so
because they would like to strengthen their future marriage and pre-vent their
future separation. In general, Filipinos still believe that marriage is more
fulfilling than living together because it involves commitment.
 Marriage over the Years. It seems very noticeable to many Filipino marriages
that the interaction between husband-and-wife changes over time.
Psychologists generally agree that there are two kinds of love between woman
and man, one stronger early in marriage and the other later. The first is
passionate love, the intense feeling of romance and excitement. The second is
companionate love, the feeling of close relationship. For a number of couples,
both types of love remain constant over the years, although, in general, both
forms go down slightly.
Separation over the Years. There are more married adults who are now
separating than before or 10 to 15 years ago. Spouses today expect more from
each other than spouses in the past did. Husbands and wives before assumed
that masculinity and feminity were opposite and the husband is the protector
and provider of the family, while the wife is the inspirer who takes care of the
household chores. In contrast, marriage partners now are likely to share the
financial and parental responsibilities and to expect each other to be a lover,
confidante, and friend as well as a wage-earner and parent. This is du to the
mode of the time.
In general, marriage separation affects the individual's well-being. It may
be true that younger people are less affected or disturbed by marriage
separation than older people are. To ease the negative feeling produced by
separation, a number of these adults have entered into a live-in relationship
because divorce is not legalized in the Philippines.
In an individual, a social network is embedded which includes relatives,
friends, and acquaintances. This is best described by some psychologists as
social convoy. This is the network highlighting the truism that individuals
travel their life course in the company of others, giving and receiving sup-port.
This social convoy becomes valuable when individuals are beset with problems
such as marriage separation, death, and others. Considered as the most
important members of the social convoy are those who have been with the
individuals for years, particularly family members and close friends.
Family Ties. In the Philippines, family ties constitute the number one
social convoy. The Filipino social organization, in general, is family-oriented.
The family is the central unit of concern (F. Landa Jocano, 1990). This is the
nuclear family which consists solely of the husband and wife and dependent
children. Family ties have resulted in the many sources of financial as well as
moral support for all family members. It is recognized by social scientists that
family relationship is really an important social convoy.
Friendship. Friends are an important part of the social convoy for
individuals without strong family ties. It is noticed People who have a reliable
set of close friends, and an extensive network of acquaintances, are usually
emotionally and physically healthier than those with no close friends at all.
Among the Filipino adults, once they get married, their close friends of
the between the opposite sex may be perceived by the spouse r of jealousy. This
usually happens among wives. between men is based more on shared activities
arid interests, while that between women tends to be more ale, and based on
shared confidence and assistance.
Achievement Needs
Achievement is a very important need for the adults. They feel the need
to accomplish something with their lives. According to Erikson, this is the need
for generativity. This is so, be-cause without a sense of achievement, adult life
would seem to be empty and purposeless. The need for achievement among
adults is satisfied in two main ways, through their career and through their
children.
In the Philippines, most adults engage in exactly the same work at the
end of their career as they were at the beginning, perhaps because of the
limited job opportunities. Careers, like lives, tend to go through stages. A
number of people begin their work lives with a period of career exploration. A
period of establishment and advancement occurs once a person starts on a
career path. The more experienced worker or the older will become a mentor, or
advisor, to the new worker as the career changes.
Generally, people advance to the highest level they can master. Because
of the scarcity of jobs, the possibilities for advancement are limited, so many
workers cannot shift from one occupation to another during the advancement
period of their career. Only a few who have strong backers from the top
management are fortunate during this period. Because of the very few available
jobs for advancement, the workers make their work suitable for them. Of
course, older workers may not want to change their work for they have been
adjusted to it already.
Vocational success. It cannot be denied that background and situational
factors do influence the success of the individuals in their jobs. But according
to some psychologists, the most interesting of all are the personality
characteristics people bring to their work. One trait, which is termed
achievement, tends to distinguish those who become successful from those who
do not. Both men and women if they want to can have P. high need for
achievement, but differences do exist.
Problems with Work. Problems occur in any type of work. One problem that
is often experienced, particularly in the helping profession is called burn out.
This is described as a stage in which one feels depleted of energy or
enthusiasm. Another problem that occurs among workers in factories or
corporations is called alienation. This happens when the workers feel that their
work has become uninteresting or unimportant. They are no longer recognized
as persons but are simply regarded as means of performing some tasks.
For most Filipino adults, their significant achievement is raising their
children. A very clear expression of generativity and an attempt to meet the
need for achievement is parent-hood.
Parenthood usually develops through several stages called the family life
cycle. This cycle occurs in eight periods as described by Berger (1983):
1. The honeymoon period. This lasts from the marriage day until the birth of
the first child.
2. The nurturing period. This lasts until the first child is already 2.
3. The authority period. This is the span between 2 and 5 years.
4. The interpretive period. This is the span between 5 and 12 years.
5. The interdependent period. This occurs when children are already
adolescents.
6. The departure period. This lasts from the home-leaving of the first child to
the home-leaving of the last.
7. The empty nest period. This begins when the last child leaves home.
8. The retirement period. This lasts from the retirement of the first spouse to
the death of the spouse.
Problems with Parenthood. The culture in the Philippines is decidedly
pronatalist, that is, in favor of birth. The problem comes when Couples are
infertile and childbearing is not possible. A number of these couples who have
the means will go child adoption. Quite a few of these parents encounter
problem on misbehavior of adopted children due to faulty training like too
much nurturing.
Most adults who decide to have children encounter problems of parenting
especially for couples who are burdened financially. Off and on conflicts occur
due to misunderstanding of marital roles of husband and wife. Some of these
conflicts worsen because of intervention by in-laws.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Intelligence
 A debate or argument was made by two teams of researchers on the
growth or decline of intelligence in adulthood as cited by Fry (1983). The first
team composed of K. Warner Schaie and Paul Baltes argued that throughout
life intelligence is moldable by experience, health, education, and other factors.
The second team of John Horn and Gary Honaldson explained that intellectual
decline with age is inevitable.
Early in the twentieth century, psychologists believed that intelligence
reaches a peak in adolescence, and gradually slows down during adulthood. At
present, many developmental psychologists emphasize the plasticity of adult
intellectual abilities. They view that education, social status, occupation,
health, and life experiences possibly affect intellectual development far more
than either cohort or age, at least until about age 70.
It is now accepted that individuals who are most likely to show a
longitudinal increase in IQ scores are those who use the intellectual abilities
measured by the tests on IQ. Individuals who do not use intellectual abilities in
their everyday lives are more likely to show a decrease in IQ in adulthood. It is
the motivation to learn and meaningfulness of material that are the two key
factors that tend to affect the learning and test performance of adults.
Another point presented by John Horns as his optimistic view of adult
intellectual maintenance or growth is wishful thinking. He affirms that the
most important part of intelligence is "fluid" intelligence, and that it slows
down or declines throughout adulthood.
We know that intelligence is not one simple trait. It is composed of many
abilities and accomplishments that can be quantified or tested. According to
Horn, all types of mental ability o be grouped into two types, fluid and crystalized.
Fluid intelligence can be described as those basic mental abilities that go
into learning and understanding any subject matter. It can move in any
direction, as its name implies. The elements of fluid intelligence include short-
term memory, abstract thought, speed of thinking, and creative ability.
Crystalized intelligence pertains to the accumulation of facts that comes
about with training or education and experience. It is more solid than fluid
intelligence.
To explain further, fluid intelligence helps develop crystalized
intelligence. For example, one's present understanding of mathematical
problems depends partly on how quickly and thoroughly he grasped or
understood such things when he was first exposed to them. Training or
education and culture can influence both the two categories of intelligence,
fluid and crystalized.
 As is accepted generally, measures of vocabulary, in-formation, and
reasoning ability are likely to increase with age, whereas measures of memory,
speed, and of spatial processing tend to decrease in adulthood. It can be safely
stated that fluid intelligence likely declines in adulthood, whereas crystalized
intelligence appears to increase or continue.
Based on the number of researches reviewed by Fry (1983), he states
that individuals do not reach an intellectual peak in adolescence and then
decline. Surely a number of these individuals continue to grow wiser and
smarter on some abilities. However, it is not confirmed by researches yet,
whether intellectual decline begins in old age or long before, and, if it begins
earlier, how widespread find irreversible it is.
A Fifth Stage
Development at any part of life psychologists explain that cognitive is not
simply a matter of Developmental intellectual abilities and skills. it is a fact
that thinking- precognition and the topics about what one thinks are of part of
cognition.
A new concept that concerns the structure of the adult thought is now
under study. As mentioned by several theorists, according to Fry (1983), there
may well be a fifth stage of cognitive development that summarizes the four
earlier stages explained by Piaget (1972).
To explain the final stage of cognitive development, Kalus Riegal (1973)
thinks that what characterizes this is the under-standing of the contradictions
inherent in all forms of thinking. He calls this dialectical thinking because each
new thought brings forth an awareness of opposite thought. He believes that
development itself is dialectical. Further he says an individual need not even
reach the fourth stage of development in order to reach this dialectical stage.
He describes Piaget's thinking as passive, in contrast to the active, in the
development of thinking in the adult.
Decision Making
In this period of adulthood, it is the time for making decisions which are
crucial. Each of these decisions necessitates further decisions and can have
long-term consequences such as marriage, career, education, rearing of
children, etc.
An adult is expected to make decisions by obtaining various pieces of
information, evaluate them, and then draw a conclusion as shown by
information-processing theory. In general, human beings do not use this model
because of "limited computational power." And so, they are oftentimes not very
rational and mostly make decisions that are not gathered from all the relevant
facts and without calculating seriously the advantages and disadvantages of
each.
As commonly noticed, the most common faults in adult decision making
is the tendency to overgeneralize due to limited experiences. Another
unacceptable idea is base (41 on the assumption that once one has invested a
certain amount of time' money or emotion in something, one must continue to
do so, even when it is clear that the investment is a bad one.
It is very unfortunate that decisions usually made in early adulthood are
haphazardly done. There is a great indication. that decision-making skills
improve with age. It appears that the °1der adults are, the more likely they are
more serious and, in their decision, making. This may hold true between
thoughtful younger and older leaders of any institution.
Moral Development
As already stated earlier, Kohlberg (1969) has categorized six stages of
moral reasoning. The fifth and sixth stages, which are the highest, the
individual either believes that the social order depends on the sense of
commitment and the responsibility of each member of society (stage 5), or that
certain ethical principles govern our lives (stage 6). As Kohlberg further
explains, individuals must not only reach formal operational processes (Piaget's
stage 4) and have the time to analyze about moral issues and to question
values; they should possess the experience of sustained responsibility for the welfare
of others and the experience of irreversible moral decision or choice which are
the marks of adult personal experience. Furthermore, Kohlberg said, thinking
that is "truly ethical" does not develop until at least young adulthood or even
middle age.
From the viewpoints given by Kohlberg, the role of experience cannot be
underestimated. Just as experience can affect the way one thinks, the way one
thinks can affect the may one experiences events in one’s life.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
An Overview
It is observed that this society of Ours emphasizes the attractiveness and
desirability of youth. Getting older, particularly physical aging, is not welcomed
by anyone of us. The dec-Iine in the physical aspect that occurs between: ages
20 and 60 seem not be a problem to many. This may be so, because can be
minimized by maintaining a healthy life style.
It is discernible that the first signs of aging appear during young
adulthood. This is the period that the very important parts of the body reach
their maximum strength. This happens in late adolescence and then grows
weaker with each decade of adult life. This holds true of the cardiovascular and
respiratory systems as well as the sexual-reproductive systems and the sense
organs such as the eyes and ears. Whether we like it or not, youthful
appearance fades rapidly, and changes in physical appearance are visible in
almost everyone by age 40.
Observing the adult stage, one perceives that the aging process is less
drastic. This may be so, because older adults are likely to associate the
decrements of aging with those who are truly aged, that is older than 80. In
day-to-day life, a number of adults feel that their bodies are still capable or
stable. In fact, most individuals whose bodies are properly or adequately
maintained are capable of functioning very well until at least age 70.
In everyday activities, human beings use only a portion of the capacity of
their hearts, lungs, stomachs, and so forth. Each organ has an extra capacity,
called organ reserve, for usually stressful conditions or events. It is in the
reserve that the slowing down takes place as in a 55-year-old who cannot run
upstairs as quickly as an 18-year-old; yet that 55-year-old can move very easily
in normal activity.
In our body functions there is what we call the homeostasis in which our
body functions adjust automatically to keep physiological functioning in a
stage of equilibrium or balance. This means that when we are at rest, our
breathing and heart rate become slow and steady; when we are active, both
increases to provide more oxygen. The homeostatic function of the older bodies
takes longer to adjust, making it harder for them to adapt to, and recover from
stress.
Changes in the Sense Organs
All of the five sense organs show signs of aging through-out adulthood.
However, the two higher sense organs, the sense of hearing and seeing, tend to
be noticeable for they are used most often in understanding and relating with
the physical and social environment.
Hearing. The ability to hear decline for everyone between ages 20 and 60.
However, there seems to be a consensus that many adults who lose some
hearing between 35 and 60 can still hear quite well. Fry (1983) wrote that at
age 50, one man in every three and one women in every four has trouble
understanding a whisper, but most can still hear soft normal conversations (40
decibels). Ability to distinguish pure tones ( such as bells) slows down faster
than ability to comprehend conversation. The minor problem in hearing loss
can be remedied through the use of a hearing aid.
Vision. The sense organ which is quite visible in its slowing down in
function because of aging is sight or vision. The ability to focus on objects at
various distances shows great variation or differences from individual to
individual. This is due mainly to heredity, which affects visual acuity or the
focusing ability of the individual.
The problem in vision can be corrected by wearing eye glasses with
corrective lenses. Using corrective eyeglasses is no longer a stigma related to
aging, People nowadays tend to purchase corrective lens for their vision
problem than buy a hearing aid which they regard as a symbol of aging.
As early as late adolescence, other aspects of visions such as depth
perception, muscle resilience, and adaptation to darkness decline steadily in
almost everyone.
Sex and reproduction
The changes in the sexual-reproductive system are more dramatic, more
observable, and potentially more troublesome than in any other body system.
The impact of these changes is very much dependent on the individual and
some other related factors.
For the female reproductive organs, these function at their peak during
the age of 20, and then start become less efficient. Fry (1983) started that on
the average the weight of the uterus is greatest at age 30, and then declines to
about 53 percent weight loss by age 50. It is reported that in general, both
ovulation and ministration are less regular in the 30’s than in the 20’s.

In the late 40's or early 50's the ovulation and menstruation of a woman stop
naturally due to the decrease in estrogen manufactured by the body. The
absence of menstruation is called the menopause. It is generally noticed that
women today tend to reach menopause a year or two later than their mothers
and grandmothers did.
Menopause is the period where the women's body adjusts to a much
lower level of estrogen for about three years. These years of adjustment are also
referred to in all the various biological and psychological changes that
accompany menopause.
 The woman in the menopause period shows hot flushes or cold sweats.
These signs are all caused by vasomotor instability. This is a temporary
disruption in the body mechanisms that constrict or dilate the blood vessels to
maintain body temperature.
The menopausal problem or climacteric that most women experience can
be prevented or reduced by the physician's prescription of synthetic estrogen.
But research findings show that this estrogen treatment is associated with an
increased risk of uterine cancer. Perhaps estrogen can be used as a temporary
relief for women who are seriously disturbed by the climacteric.
Male sexual organs also manifest signs of aging through-out adulthood.
The downward shift in male sexual or reproductive capacity is not
abrupt. As early as age 25, reproductive potential declines gradually as the
sperm start to decrease in number and mobility. This is also true with men's
sexual interests and activities and the frequency of sexual activity. A number of
men remain active in their 80"s while the others stop virtually all sexual
behavior by age 50.
The psychological changes in the sexual-reproductive systems of adults
vary greatly from person to person in the procreational or recreational function
of their sexual relations.
As to procreational sexual function, few people nowadays believe that a
couple should have as many children as possible, due to rising costs and
overpopulation. The idea of having less children is now determined more by
personal reasons, such as the number of children a couple already has, or
their financial resources.
People with Type A behavior, characterized by self-drive and stress, are
more prone to develop heart failure.
When it comes to health awareness, the older an individual is, the more
likely he or she is to practice better health habits than when younger. And the
improved health of the adult depends very much on the changes in sexual
interest and drive during adulthood which tend not to decline. Their highest
level of eroticism seems to be between 25 and 30 years of age, remaining on a
plateau for about 20 years before beginning a decline sometime after the end of
the reproductive period.
In general, individuals who have active sex lives in early adulthood are
most prone to have active sex lives in middle and late adulthood. A number of
couples find that their sex lives continue to progress throughout their
relationship, even into old age.
Health and Vitality
Generally, our bodies are capable of being active and healthy until old
age. From 20 to 60 years most morbidity (illness) and mortality are
controllable.
People who are active have much smaller rates of serious illness and
death than people who are inactive. Engaging in strenuous exercise — three or
more times a week for at least one-half hour per workout is even better than
having an active Job. Such exercise helps directly in reducing the risk of heart
failure and stroke.
Adulthood is beset by many serious diseases due to smoking of
cigarettes. These include cancer (particularly lung cancer, but also several
other cancers such as cancers of the °ladder kidney, mouth, and stomach),
heart disease and stroke, and emphysema.
Another health problem in adulthood is obesity. It is considered a health
risk related to heart disease, diabetes and stroke and it is a contributing factor
to arthritis. because of the problem of obesity, physicians generally believe,
that thinner is better, and that even individuals Who are a little bit overweight
should be encouraged to diet. But longitudinal studies suggest that, at least in
middle adulthood, it is healthier to be somewhat overweight than underweight.
Drinking of alcohol could be another problem in adult-hood. People who
drink more liquor on a regular basis are prone to develop cirrhosis of the Ever.
Too much drinking of alcohol also affects the utmost functioning of the heart,
stomach, and brain, thus depleting the organ reserve at an unnaturally fast
rate.
It is also noted that people who have Type A Behavior, characterized by
self-drive and stress, puts them at risk for heart disease. The idea as to
whether Type A Behavior is a major cause of heart disease or simply a
contributing factor is still under argument.
There is enough evidence that the older a person is, the more likely he or
she is to practice better health habits than when younger. Because of the
changes in health attitudes and habits among adult, health is very much
improved.
KEY IDEAS
1. The common problem most women face is the conflict between parenthood
and career.
2. Discontentment with midlife transition develops into a midlife crisis.
3. More time and money can improve the marriage of couples, rather than care
of their children.
4. The social clock determines the stages of adulthood.
5. The need for love and intimacy are met in adult life and becomes more
fulfilling in marriage, with the involvement of commitment.
6. Marriage goes down slowly over the years.
7. Marriage partners today expect too much of the wage-earner, parents,
friends, and lover.
8. The nuclear family is really an important social convoy.
9. The need for generativity is through achievement.
10. Burn out and alienation become a problem with work.
11. Adult intellectual abilities are emphasized as "plasticity."
12. The most important part of intelligence in adult is "fluid" intelligence.
13. Dialectical thinking is considered as the "fifth stage."
14. Moral development possesses sustained responsibility for the welfare of
others.
15. Changes in the primary senses and the organ reserve decline upon growing
older.
16. The menopause for women and climacteric for men signify decline of sex
and reproduction.

ACTIVITY NO. 1
Name ___________________________ Section ________________________
Name Key Terms/Concepts to Define
1. climacteric
2. prostatectomy
3. hysterectomy
4. glaucoma
5. menopause
6. estrogen replacement theory (ERT)
7. Type A behavior
8. high-density lipoprotein
9. prostate gland
10. vasomotor instability
11. fluid intelligence
12. dialectical thinking
13. crystalized intelligence
14. cohabitation
15. social clock
16. compassionate love
17. midlife crisis
18. pronatalis
19. passionate love
20. sandwich generation
21. social convoy
22. burn out

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Name ______________________________ Section _____________________
Describe the contribution of key persons.
1. Sigmund Freud
 2. Eric Erikson

3. James Marcia

ACTIVITY NO. 3
Name __________________________ Section _________________________
Describe the following researches.
1. Kohlberg's stages of moral development
2. Criticisms of Kohlberg's theory and methodology
3. Eight stages of psychosocial development
4. Status categories of the search for identity
5. A filter theory of mate selection
Suggested Model for Describing Research
Title:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Researcher(s):
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________________________________
Findings:____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
conclusions: _________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY NO. 4
Name ________________________________ Section ___________________________
Questions for class discussion
1. Define adulthood from your own perspective and from the author's point
of view.
2. Describe some of the physical declines of adulthood.

3. Briefly explain the changes in human sexual organs in adulthood.

4. Discuss the effects of such factors as exercise, smoking, diet, alcohol,

and Type A behavior on adult health.

5. What do you think are the effects of good health habits on adult
development?

6. Do you believe that intelligence inevitably declines or will it continue to

grow in adulthood?

7. Differentiate fluid and crystalized intelligence.

8. What is your understanding by a fifth stage of cognitive development?

9. What is the explanation of Kohlberg about moral development in

adulthood?

10. Explain the two bases: psychosocial needs of adulthood.

11. Give a critique on the stage theory as applied to adult's search for
intimacy and achievement.

12. What do you think are the effects of a "social clock" on individuals
in a society?
 13. Cite the bad effects of marriage separations in our society today.

14. What is a social convoy? Does every adult need a social convoy?
Why?

Chapter XM
LATE Adulthood

This chapter focuses on the three major aspects of development, namely:

physical, cognitive, and psychosocial.
The first section starts with an examination of some theories of
psychosocial development in old age. Also explained are the changes in
achievement patterns, affiliation, needs and some special problems facing the
frail elderly.
The second section examines the use of tests that are standardized and
the artificial situations in the study of cognition of the late adulthood. It also
presents the information-processing approach as a useful way to view thinking
in older adults. Further, it summarizes learning in old age.
The last section presents the unfavorable effects of the prejudice against
aging, the role of professionals in making the stereotypes of ageism, and the
reasons for attempting to im-prove these negative attitudes is described in both
general and specifical terms. Finally, this section ends with a look at some of
the positive prospects for the elderly in the future.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Ageism
In the Philippine culture, the negative stereotype about the elderly is not
noticeable, although very few Filipino families influenced by the Western
culture seems to show negative attitudes towards late adulthood. This may be
so because of their emphasis on growth, strength, and progress. In general, the
Filipinos view their late adults with respect. And so, ageism which a prejudice
against an age group does not prevent the Filipino elderly from living lives as
actively and happily as they might; it does not also preclude much day-to-day
contact between those over 65 and those younger.
Ageism may be the most destructive social prejudice of all. Professionals
who specialize in old age, particularly those trained in geriatrics (the field of
medicine concerned e who are with care of the aged) who spend most of their
time with people sick and infirm, should show utmost attention to the many
healthy aspects of an older person's life. Gerontologists, researchers
specializing in gerontology (the study of old age) should lead in preventing and
remedying cultural biases concerning late adulthood. Aging should be seen as
a normal and natural continuation of our development, rather than as
something to be feared. If this is so, we will become much more content with
the unfolding of our lives.
The Aging Process
Growing older cannot be prevented; enescence, or the weakening and
decline of the body, begins almost as soon as growth stops. From that time on,
the decline is gradual throughout adulthood.
The two higher sense organs which are vision and hearing continue to
become poorer as aging goes on. It is impaired vision more than impaired
hearing that is common among late adults. The lower sense organs such as
taste, touch, smell, and the senses of pain and balance are also impaired in
many of the very late adults.
Because of aging, osteoporosis occurs. This is described as a loss of bone
calcium that causes bones to become more porous and fragile. This problem
starts in middle age and is the main cause of older people's being much more
likely to break a bone, particularly the hip bone, than the younger individuals.
It is very much noticeable that the gradual slowdown of functioning of
the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and genital-urinary systems really
affects the movements of the late adults. It comes to a point where severe
disability or even death may occur when an injury to the body is sudden.
The elderly are more likely to experience many illnesses due to their
body's impaired resistance to them. Due to t advance learning in health care
and medicine, many of the problems faced by today's cohort of elderly may be
significantly reduced in future cohorts. This may be so, because modern
medicine and good knowledge in human behavior allow more and more
individuals to live the full length of the human life span and make all the years
of the life span good ones. it is hoped that a great number of people will survive
until age 85 or so and then die quickly and easily with a natural death.
The aging process is caused by a number of things. These are:
1. Wear and Tear. The wear and tear theory of aging states that the human body
is like a machine. The parts of a machine deteriorate and so with the human
body. The parts of the human body deteriorate as the years of exposure to
radiation, pollution, disease, inadequate nutrition, and various other stresses
accumulate.
2. Aging DNA. In the wear and tear theory of aging, deterioration may take place
molecule by molecule, as well as organ by organ. Throughout the life span,
radiation bombards the DNA in the replicating cells of the human body,
gradually creating mutations in structure in more and more cells. This means
that their instructions for performing their functions, including the production
of new cells, become inadequate. In due time, there develops an error
catastrophe, a constellation of errors that is so extensive that the body can no
longer control or segregate the error. Disease or infirmity takes place and death
occurs.
3. Molecular Aging. The biochemical process through which certain kinds of
molecules become linked with other kinds is called cross-linkage. This is so,
because certain proteins of the body, notably collagen and elastin, form
connective tissues which bind the cells of the body together. In due time the
molecules of these proteins become cross-linked or attached to other
molecules. When this happens, the proteins become less elastic and more
brittle. And so, cross-linkage could be the underlying cause of major changes
in the cardiovascular system, such as hardening of the arteries. Because of
aging that disposes the human body to the continuing increase in cross
linkage, each cell of the body becomes less flexible and adaptable.
4. Decline of the Immune System. It is a fact that the immune system protects the
human body against disease by recognizing foreign substances in the
circulatory system, and then segregating and destroying them. When the
human body gets sick, its immune system marshalls its forces to fight and
destroy the invader. There are two types of cells that the immune system can
work with. These are the B-cells which is manufactured in the bone marrow,
and the T-cells which are made by the thymus. It is true that the thymus starts
to shrink during adolescence. Researchers in this area believe that a reduction
of 11-cells may explain why the immune system becomes less efficient with
aging. Furthermore, the mechanisms that regulate B- and T-cells also become
less well adapted with age. Because of aging, autoimmune diseases, in which the
immune system attacks normal body tissues rather than the harmful invaders
become more common in late adulthood.
5. Limit in Cell Reproduction. It was Leonard Hayflick who discovered that cells
cultured from human embryos do not multiply infinitely. Cells that are
cultured from adults showed a lesser number of doublings before they stopped
dividing, with the total number of times a cell divides being generally related to
the age of the human donor. It is now concluded, based on a number of
researches, that there is a limited number of times the cells of living creatures,
even in ideal conditions, will reproduce.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Measuring Intelligence
Cross-sectional researches abroad discovered that old-er any measure of
cognitive development, individuals od e. r tian 60 do less well than individual
younger than 60, And I. individuals in their late 70's and 80's perform even
less well Longitudinal researches abroad confirm that there is. a general
decline in some cognitive abilities after age 60, and in most cognitive abilities
after age 70. The finding above is confirmed by a generalized observation
among the Filipino elderly that there is really a decline on intellectual
sharpness among the 70's and more among the 80's.
 However, these researchers abroad have been questioned by several
critics who noted that the tests commonly used may overestimate the amount
of normal decline. These comments are:

1. The tests measuring cognitive abilities are generally designed to test

younger adults on school-related skills. The older adults of course have had
fewer years of school than younger adults and whatever the formal education of
older adults, it is many more years behind them than is that of younger adults.
2. The speed of response is often factored into the score; but speed may
indicate little about the quality of thought among the elderly.
The declines found in the research are the mean scores or averages
based on the scores of many individuals. It cannot be ignored that some older
individuals are intellectually superior to the average younger adults, and some
do not show any decline at all between ages 70 and 80.
The Information-Processing Approach
Another very helpful approach in measuring the cognitive abilities of
older adults is the information-processing approach. This model compares the
human brain to a computer. This means that to understand thinking, you
must consider the information fed into the brain (the input), the way that
information is organized (programmed) and stored (in memory) Within the
brain, and the ability of the brain to communicate (Output) information when
necessary.
Definite differences exist between the younger person and the older one
in the way information comes into the brain. For the late adults, the receptors
of information, usually the eyes and the ears, are less adept at picking up
sensory input than the younger individuals. It is very noticeable that
perceptual
processes including body movements, reaction time, and speed the peed at
which the brain registers new information slow down with age.
The ability to remember which is called memory declines with age,
although to some elderly, memory loss is a minor problem and it may occur
only in some types of memory. There are four types of memory that are affected
by age, each lasting longer than the other. The first type is sensory register,
which is the momentary afterimage that occurs in the brain after a person
perceives something. The second one is primary memory, which is memory
over a short period of time. The third type is the secondary memory, which is
stored for several minutes or hours. This memory shows the greatest loss with
age. And the fourth one is tertiary memory, which is memory for information
stored in the mind relatively long ago.
As generally observed older adults are less efficient than younger adults
at organizing new information, particularly when presented with test problems
requiring logical analysis. And the least apparent is in the ability to express
information. Since vocabulary and language skills are built as earlier skills,
many older people continue to improve in self-expression.
Learning in Old Age
It is a fact that older adults can and do learn many new skills and
behaviors. But it cannot be denied that older adults learn less well than
younger adults do.
Dementia
A person does not become senile simply because he becomes old.
Symptoms of senility which include severe memory loss, rambling
conversation, disorientation, and personality change occur because of a
disease. A disease called Dementia, refers to a pathological loss of intellectual
functioning, does occur more often more often with age. When it happens
before 60, it is call dementia, the presenile dementia; after age 60 it is called
senile dementia. The chronologic cut-off point is arbitrary, for the symptoms the
same for senile and presenile is dementia. that one individual in ten over age
60 suffers from some dementia.
There are three identifiable phases of dementia. The first is with a
general forgetfulness, particularly of names. The second is of more general
confusion, with notable deficits in concentration and recent memory. The third
phase begins when people are no longer able to take care of their basic needs
because they are so forgetful.
Alzheimer's disease is the first major cause of dementia which is no longer
considered the disorder for people with dem-entia under age 60. This is due to
the new techniques used for analyzing brain tissue with certain abnormalities
called plaques and tangles, which destroy the same parts of the cortex no
matter what the age of the victim.
The causes of Alzheimer's disease are still unknown. It may be a slow
virus, or a genetic predisposition; or errors in DNA and RNA replication; or an
autoimmune disease; or poi-sons accumulated from the diet or the
environment; or, most likely, a combination of several of these factors.
The second major cause of dementia is called multi-infarct dementia (MID).
In MID, there is the destruction of some of the brain tissue which occurs
because an infarct, or temporary obstruction of the blood vessels, prevents a
sufficient supply of blood from reaching that part of the brain. The result of
this is a stroke or ministroke; which is often so small the person is unaware
that it has occurred. The underlying factor of such obstructions is general
arteriosclerosis or the hardening of the arteries.
There are also other organic causes of dementia. Parkin-son's disease,
often produces dementia as well as the distinctive rigidity and/or tremor of the
muscles. Down's syndrome and brain tumors can cause dementia, as so can
head injuries that result in an excess of fluid pressing on the brain.
A small group of elderly are demented because of psychological factors. In some
cases, the person is unusually anxious and under pressure. And of course,
depression may make an older person seem to be irreversibly demented. Drug
and alcohol abuse can affect the intellectual functioning of the person.
New Cognitive Development in Late Life
It is true that there is a decline in some aspects of cognition, but there
are positive changes in other aspects of their life.
When people get older, they seem to see art and nature in a deeper, more
appreciative way. For many older people, this heightened appreciation leads to
more active interests. Some of them begin gardening, bird-watching, pottery,
painting, or playing a musical instrument.
A number of older individuals become more philosophical and reflective
than they once were, showing a rise in inferiority, It is observed that those
individuals who are considered especially wise, philosophical, and spiritual
have usually become aged.
Very much related to the idea that the old are more philosophical than
the young is the idea that the elderly are more spiritual. In many societies, the
very old have been the spiritual leaders. Observations show that the older the
individual is, in our society, the more likely he or she is to consider religion to
be very vital or important.
To view cognitive development in an adaptive perspective, there is what is
called as the charming magical thinking of the preschooler, the idealistic logic
of the adolescent, the pragmatic, acquisitive learning of the adult, and the
wisdom and spirituality of the old which are adapted to the needs of each
particular age. For a society to be complete, we need the modes of thinking that
characterize each age group.
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Theories
 Some of the theories presented here attempt to characterize or describe
psychosocial development, in late adulthood. However, no one of these theories
is really applicable to all people. The disengagement theory is the most
controversial theory of development in old age. This particular thing explains
that in old age the individual and society mutually withdraw from each other.
Disengagement happens through a combination of four processes:
1, As early as in late middle age, an individual's social sphere becomes
increasingly narrow.
2. Individuals anticipate these changes and accept their participation in this
"narrowing."
3. As individuals become less role-centered, their style of interaction changes
from being active or dynamic to a less dynamic or a passive one.
4. Due to the change in their style of interaction, older people are less likely to
be taken for new roles.
Another theory is the activity theory which is the opposite of the
disengagement theory. It is true that disengagement does occur for some
elderly individuals in some areas of life. It is also observed that disengagement
in one area can lead to reengagement in other areas. The more activities older
people engage in, and the more roles they participate in or play, the greater or
better their life satisfaction.
The other theory is that of continuity and discontinuity. In the continuity
theory, old age makes people neither more nor less engaged in life than they
were; rather, older people are essentially the same in their approach to living as
they were when they were younger. According to this theory, basic personality
characteristics, whether genetic or the result of experiences, remain stable with
time. Opposite to this theory is the discontinuity that can be caused by
occurrences that may alter cognitive and behavioral patterns. This theory
explains that in late adulthood, life events such as retirement, change of
residence, failing health, and death of a spouse may cause substantial
discontinuity in personality and behavior.
The last is the diversity theory. This theory explains that the patterns of
psychosocial development in late adulthood are at least as varied as in earlier
periods. It is believed by gerontologists that variability and diversity increase
with age; so, by late adulthood, the multiplicity of patterns and personalities is
greater than at any other age.
Changes in Achievement Patterns
 It is a fact that at every age, self-esteem derives partly from knowing that
one is involved in the performance of something meaningful. The elderly can
manage to keep them-selves busy and also try to derive a sense of achievement
and satisfaction from their work or activities. It is also observed that a number
of late adults are still working for economic reasons. Even those who have the
retirement benefits still continue to work to keep themselves busy. Retirement
for them is not the end of employment, but may signify the beginning of self-
chosen activities. And most retirees are able to carve out a new center for their
lives.
There are other achievements in late adulthood. Retirement for them can
be seen as an opportunity to develop old interests and discover new ones.
Many of these late adults find ways in which to express their cultural interest
and interest in practical arts and become more active church members.
Affiliation Needs
In late adulthood, affiliation needs are more important than achievement
needs. For a number of elderly, family bonds and friendship are important to
their well-being.
To generalize, older husbands and wives tend to be happier with each
other, and with their marriages, than they have been since they were
newlyweds. It is true that marriage tends to improve with age because some of
the usual sources of conflicts in marriage, such as money, sex, and in-laws,
raising children, and others already have been settled.
It is also noticed that when the married late adult’s compare their lives to
the lives of their unmarried contemporaries, they are likely to consider
themselves fortunate, and that it is usually far better to be married than
unmarried. Not only are the married generally satisfied and happier than the
widowed and separated; they are likely to be healthier.
Also, interaction with friends is an important variable for well-being in
late adulthood as an addition to their inter-action with family members. This
does not mean that family members play an unimportant role, the overall
relationship between parents and their grown children is usually strong and
close.
 Children spending time to celebrate special occasions such as golden wedding
anniversary, birthday, etc. of aging parents give the latter the feeling of importance
and contentment.

Having grandchildren is an important source of pride and gratification

for many grandparents. A number of them develop a close meaningful
relationship with their grand-children. And some of them are central to the
lives of their grandchildren, and are treated with respect, affection, or fear with
authority.
The Special Elderly
In the final years of life, at some point the old persons are so ill or
disabled that they no longer can bathe, dress, or prepare a meal. Almost all of
the infirm elderly are cared for by Close relatives at home. Very rarely, nursing
homes are looked upon as a last resort.

Conclusion
Gerontophilia, or reverence for tile old, is still Ow norm in the Philippines. It is
hoped that the Philippines will not go into the period of gerontophobia, or fear of
the aging.
KEY IDEAS
1. Generally, Filipinos view their late adults with respect that ageism does not
prevent the Filipino elderly from living as actively and happily. A few, however,
has the negative stereotype about elderly.
The aging process is caused by a number of factors such as wear and tear,
aging DNA, molecular aging, decline of the immune system, and limit in cell
reproduction.
3. Observations among the Filipino elderly show that there is really a decline
on intellectual sharpness among the 70's and more so among the 80's.
4. Symptoms of sensivity which include severe memory loss, rambling
conversation, disorientation, and personality change occur because of
dementia, a pathological loss of intellectual functioning.
5. While there is a gradual decline of cognition in older life, older people see art
and nature in a deeper, more appreciative way.
6. There are several theories to characterize the psychosocial development in
late adulthood. Some of these are the disengagement theory, activity theory,
continuity and discontinuity theories and the diversity theory.
7. In late adulthood, affiliation needs are more important than achievement
needs.

ACTIVITY NO. 1

Name ___________________________ Section ___________________________

Key Terms/Concepts to Define
 1. geriatrics

2. senescence

3. osteoporosis

4. ageism

5. gerontology

6. dementia

7. gerontophilia

8. activity theory

9. continuity theory

10. disengagement theory

ACTIVITY NO. 2

Name: ______________________________ Section __________________________

Identify five key persons in late adulthood and describe their contribution.
1.____________________________________________________________________________
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2.____________________________________________________________________________
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3.____________________________________________________________________________
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4.____________________________________________________________________________
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5.____________________________________________________________________________
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ACTIVITY NO. 3

Name: _______________________________ Section: ______________________

identify five researches in late adulthood and describe their significant findings.
suggested Model Describing Research
Title:_________________________________________________________________________
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Researcher(s):________________________________________________________________
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Date:________________________________________________________________________
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Findings:____________________________________________________________________
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conclusions:_________________________________________________________________
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1. Research No. 1:
________________________________________________________________________
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2. Research No.2:
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3. Research No. 3:
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 ________________________________________________________________________
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4. Research No. 4:
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5. Research NO. 5:
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ACTIVITY NO. 4
Name: ______________________________ Section _____________________________

1. Describe the physical development in late adulthood.

2. What are the mechanics of the body that may produce aging? Explain.

3. Do you agree that different measures of cognition may be added to

assess thinking in older adults? Why?

4. How does learning take place in old age?

5. Describe two theories of psychosocial development in late adulthood.

6. Describe the changes in achievement patterns in late adulthood.