GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

• Growth refers to quantitative changes in size and

weight. Development involves a series of
progressive, orderly and meaningful changes
leading to the goal of maturity.

• Crow and Crow defined that growth refers to

structural and physiological changes while
development refers to growth as well as changes in
behavior.
 Definition

Anderson states, “development does not

consist merely of adding inches to one’s
height or improving one’s ability. Instead
development is a complex process of
integrating many structures and function.”
Hurlock defines, “Development means a
progressive series of changes of changes
that occur in an orderly predictable pattern
as a result of maturation and experience. “
Differences between Growth & Development

Growth Development

It refers to overall changes

It refers to change in the
resulting in improved
body.
function.
It refers to changes in both
It refers to changes in
quantitative and qualitative
quantitative aspects.
aspects.
 Cont….

It will not continue

It is a continuous process.
throughout life

It is narrow in meaning and

It is wider and
one of the aspects of
comprehensive
development

It may or may not bring It is possible without

development growth
 Cont….

It is observable because the

It is measuring because the results of development are
quantitative changes are quite complex and difficult
specific to measure

It is physical and external in It is internal and can be

nature physical, social, emotional
and intellectual
 Principle of Development

• Development is a product of interaction:

development is a process which is the result of
constant interchange of energy within the organism and
his environment. Thus hereditary forces interact with
environmental forces and the process of development
goes further.
• Development follows an orderly sequence: the rate
of growth & development is different in different
individuals depending on number of factors but it
follows as orderly sequence in all the individuals.
• Development is a continuous process: development is a
continuous process which begins from the time of
conception in the womb of the mother & continues till
death. But this process is not always smooth or gradual.
• Development goes from bilateral to unilateral trend:
infants up to age 2.5 years use both of their hands with
equal ease.
• Inter-relationships of different aspects of development:
different aspects of development are interdependent and
inter related. eg – child’s social behaviour is inter related
with his physical development.
• Development is individualized process: all individuals
develop in their own way depending on their genetic
characteristics & the training received from the
environment. Thus each child has his own rate of physical,
cognitive, social or emotional development.
• Development is positive & negative both: up to a certain
period of human’s life all the faculties of the individual
develop but after that retardation starts specially after the
age of 70.
• Development is cumulative: certain changes impress the observer
& it looks as these changes are sudden but actually they are not
sudden. They are the cumulative effect of all the changes in the
individual.

• Development proceeds from general to specific: in all types of

development we find the principle of mass differentiation &
integration.
• Rate of development differs with sex: there is slight difference in
the process of development between boys & girls. Girls mature
earlier than boys at least emotionally. Girls are taller and heavier
than boys in pre adolescence period but by the end of this period
boys surpass them.
STAGES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
 STAGES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
• Pre Natal Period
• Infancy
• Childhood
• Adolescence
• Adulthood
• Senescence
• Old Age
STAGES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
 Germinal Stage
• Begins at conception when the sperm and egg
cell unite in one of the two fallopian tubes.
• The fertilized egg is called a zygote.
• Just a few hours after conception, the single-
celled zygote begins making a journey down the
fallopian tube to the uterus.
• Cell division begins approximately 24 to 36
hours after conception.
• Through the process of mitosis, the zygote first
divides into two cells, then into four, eight,
sixteen, and so on.
 Embryonic Stage

• At this point, the mass of cells is now

known as an embryo.
• The beginning of the third week after
conception marks the start of the
embryonic period, a time when the mass
of cells becomes distinct as a human.
• The embryonic stage plays an important
role in the development of the brain.
• Around the fourth week, the head begins to form,
quickly followed by the eyes, nose, ears, and
mouth.
• During the fifth week, the arms and legs appear.
• By the eighth week of development, the embryo
has all of the basic organs and parts except those of
the sex organs. At this point, the embryo weighs
just one gram and is about one inch in length.
• By the end of the embryonic period, the basic
structures of the brain and central nervous system
have been established. At this point, the basic
structure of the peripheral nervous system is also
defined.
 Fetal Stage
• Once cell differentiation is mostly complete, the
embryo enters the next stage and known as
a fetus.
• This period of development begins during the
ninth week and lasts until birth.
• This stage is marked by amazing change and
growth.
• Between the ninth and twelfth week of
gestation (at the earliest), reflexes begin to
emerge. The fetus begins to make reflexive
motions with its arms and legs.
• During the third month of gestation, the sex
organs begin to differentiate.
• By the end of the month, all parts of the body
will be formed. At this point, the fetus weighs
around three ounces.
• The fetus continues to grow in both weight
and length, although the majority of the
physical growth occurs in the later stages of
pregnancy.
• The end of the third month also marks the
end of the first trimester of pregnancy.
• During the second trimester, or months
four through six, the heartbeat grows
stronger and other body systems become
further developed.
• Fingernails, hair, eyelashes, and toenails
form.
• Most noticeably, the fetus increases
about six times in size.
• During the period from seven months
until birth, the fetus continues to
develop, put on weight, and prepare for
life outside the womb.
• The lungs begin to expand and contract,
preparing the muscles for breathing.
STAGES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
 Postnatal stages
From birth to 2
1. Infancy stages
years
 2. Childhood

Early childhood From 3 to 6

years
From 7 to 11
Later childhood
years
 3. Adolescence

From 12 to 19
years
 4. Adulthood
From 20 to 29
Early adulthood years
 4. Adulthood
From 30 to 50
Later adulthood years
 5. Senescence

From 50 to 60
years
 6. Old age
From 60 years
onwards
 AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Development
• Motor Development
• Sensory Development
• Speech &Language Development
• Cognitive Development
• Emotional Development
• Social Development
AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT
• Heredity Vs Environment
Heredity
• According to Peterson, Heredity may be defined as
what an individual gets from his ancestral stock
through his parents.
• Floyd L.Ruch considers heredity as the totality of
biologically transmitted factors that influence the
structure of the body.
 Laws of Heredity

• Mendel has put forward the three main

laws of heredity as follows
• Like begets like
• This law indicates that children tend to be
similar to their parents. Fair coloured
parents produce fair coloured children.
Bright people have got bright children,
dull tend to have dull, blue eyed parents
tend to have blue eyed children.
• Law of Variation
• This law explains that children are not exactly
like their parents. They may have differences &
variations of features etc.
• These differences are due to the fact that the
germ-cells of the parents have genes which
unite in various ways, and each combination
produces a different quality offspring.
• That is as many variations as there are possible
combinations.
• Law of regression
• Every point has a regressive tendency towards
the average tendency of a family. This is not
always true but sometimes this tendency takes
place. The bright parents may have the
children of average intelligence.
• According to Sorenson, “ the tendency for the
children of very bright parents to be less bright
than their parents and a comparable tendency
for the children of very inferior parents to be
less inferior is called regression.”
 Influence of Heredity on Growth &
Development

• Galton (1822-1911) has studied the life history of

997 persons of eminence. These include ministers,
judges, artists etc. He also studied 997 person’s life
histories belonging to poor families.

• The study concluded that first group have got 535

intelligent relatives while the second group found to
have only five intelligent relatives.
• Biographies of great men- Biographies of great men
like Swami Vivekanand, Swami Dayanand, Javaharlal
Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Newton reveal that they
were bright from the very beginning and got
intelligence from their heredity.

• Studies of family tree-

• Dugdale (1877) has worked on the intelligence of
inferior mentality. He studied 1,200 descendants of
the family line of a dishonest fisherman called Juke
Hunter whose wife was also corrupt. The study
revealed that that most of these descendants were
paupers and prostitutes.
• Goddard (1914) made a study of Kallikak family.
Kallikak was a soldier who married to two women,
one normal and the other was feeble-minded. The
family lines established by the normal woman
contained 496 direct descendants were found to be
normal except five.
• But while studying the 480 descendants of the feeble-
minded woman, it was found that except 46 all others
were criminals, drunkards, feeble-minded, sexually
perverted, illegitimate etc.,.
 Environment
• According to Longfield, “A person’s environment
consists of the sum total of the stimulation
which he receives from his conception until his
death.”.
 Influence of environment on Growth &
Development
• Candoel made a study of 552 persons of eminence &
found that development on intelligence depends on
environment.

• Freeman (1927) has showed that 71 children

removed from a poor environment & placed in a good
environment show an increase in Binet mental rating
up to 10 points.
• Study of Fay and Edith- two female twins namely Fay
and Edith were separated incidentally in the childhood.
They happened to marry persons with different
occupations and a marked difference in the behaviour
was noted which was due to the different environments.

• Wolf –children “Ramu”. Ramu known as wolf boy

was picked up by a wolf when he was young. He was
reared among the wolves and became wolf-like in his
food habits, walking, verbalization and in other traits.
From this study it can be proved that human being is a
mere product of environment.
• Kellogg & Kellogg- a research was conducted by the two
researchers Kellogg and Kellogg on ‘Donald’ and a
chimpanzee ‘Gua’. Both were reared in the same
environment and were given identical care as far as possible.

• The chimpanzee ‘Gua’ surpassed ‘Donald’ in motor skills

like running and jumping etc. He has remarkably progressed
and learned few social behaviours such as eating with spoon,
drinking from glass etc. and also learnt about 95 words.

• Except physical strength Donald could compete him all

other areas. It could be concluded from this study that
heredity sets limits for the development and the
environment works within that limit.
• Case of Amla & Kamla –Amla and Kamla were
two sisters of 2 and 9 years who were found in the
den of a wolf in the forest of Midnapur at Bengal
during 1920.

• All the habits performed by them were like wolves.

When they were taken to hospital for rehabilitation
Amla died in the hospital and Kamla was trained to
walk, eat and speak like human child by providing a
suitable environment.
 Environmental Factors Affecting Growth &
Development

• Physical factors of the • Social roles

environment • Self concept
• Family of the individual • Identification
• School • Living standard
• Teacher • Cultural heritage
• Language