Child development(concept of development & it's relationship with learning)

CTET notes

1. Concept of development and its relationship with learning Principles of Development Influence of Hereditary and Environment Yashi Verma Assistant Professor, Psychology Integral University Lucknow

2. Concept of Development E. Hurlock said, “Development is not limited to growing layer. Instead it consists of progressive series of changes Towards the goal of maturity.”. Development refers to qualitative changes taking place simultaneously with quantitative changes of growth. It may be defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent changes. The term progressive signifies that changes are directional, that they lead forward rather than backward. Orderly and coherent suggest that there is a definite relationship between the changes taking place and those that precede or will follow them. Development represents changes in an organism from its origin to its death, but more particularly the progressive changes which take place from origin to maturity. 

3. Growth,Development & Maturation Growth is a quantitative change and increase in number and size of cells. It can be measured quantitatively. Indicators of growth include: height, weight, bone size, and dentition. The pattern of physiological growth is similar for all people. However, growth rates vary during different stages of growth and development.(rapid during the prenatal, neonatal, infancy, and adolescent stages and slows during childhood & minimal during adulthood).

4. Development is an increase in the complexity of function and skill progression. Development is an increase of capacity and skill of a person through growth , maturation and learning in order to adapt to the environment. Development is the behavioral aspect of growth (e.g., a person develops the ability to walk, talk, and think ). MATURATION is the completion of growth and development within the organism, the unfolding of an individual’s inherent traits or potentials. Concept of maturation was pioneered by Arnold Gesell. It is independent on the environment but its timing can be influenced by environmental factors. The rate of person growth and development is highly individualized, however the sequence is predictable.

5. During maturation and development of locomotion, the typical infant goes through the sequence and still be considered normal. A child may progress somewhat faster or slower than this sequence and still be considered normal. It is apparent that development in early life depends on maturation rather than on practice or learning.

6. Stages of Development I) PRENATAL STAGE Embryonic stage / 1st Trimester (conception - 8th week) – Early Foetal stage / 2nd Trimester (9th - 24th week) – Late Foetal stage / 3rd Trimester (25th week - birth) ~ TRANSITION PERIOD ~   II) POST-NATAL STAGE INFANCY - Neo-natal stage (birth - 1st month) Infancy Proper (1st month – 1 year) Late Infancy (entire 2nd year) III) CHILDHOOD Early Childhood (2 – 6 years) Middle Childhood (7 – 10 years) Late Childhood (10th year - puberty) IV) ADOLESCENCE (varies with gender) V) ADULTHOOD (F: 20 – 50 years; M: 22 – 60 years) - SENESCENCE

7. Relationship between Development and Learning According to psychologist’s view-point, the organism, from the moment of birth rather from the time of conception, is surrounded by some kind of environment. The organism does not simply live in the environment but is also acted upon by it. In turn the organism also acts upon the environment. All such action-reaction behaviors involves changes and modifications in the organism. This kind of change or modification is termed ‘learning’. These changes can be intentional deliberate and controlled, or may take place without intention

8. Position 1: Development and Learning are independent of each other The first centers on the assumption that processes of child development are independent of learning It merely utilizes the achievements of development rather than providing an impetus for modifying its course. This position assumes that processes such as deduction and understanding, evolution of notions about the world, interpretation of physical causality, and mastery of logical forms of thought and abstract logic all occur by themselves, without any influence from school learning.

9. Learning is Development. The second major theoretical position is that learning is development. Learning and development as the same, or at least indistinguishable. In this view, learning is the mastery of conditioned responses, the acquisition of the range of habits and behavioral tendencies.

10. Learning depends upon development This view espouses that development is a tool for learning to use, but one that has no effect on the base. Learning is a scaffold superimposed over the innate abilities of a child, such as logic and so forth

11. Learning and Development are interdependent Learning and development as separate entities but ones that co-evolve and interact in a way that, generating one is generating the other. For example, if Billy acquires a skill, Koffka would assume that in acquiring the skill, Billy also acquired the ability to generalize that skill. Or, in other words, learning in one area affects general learning abilities.

12. Principles of Development Growth and development are continuous, orderly, sequential processes influenced by maturational, environmental, and genetic factors. All humans follow the same pattern of growth and development. The sequence of each stage is predictable, although the time of onset, the length of the stage, and the effects of each stage vary with the person. Growth and development occur in a cephalocaudal direction, that is, starting at the head and moving to the trunk, the legs, and the feet.This pattern is obvious at birth, when the head of the infant is disproportionately large. Growth and development occur in a proximodistal direction, that is, from the center of the body outward. For example, infants can roll over before they can grasp an object with the thumb and second finger.

13. Development is Continuous Development is Gradual Rate of Development Varies from Person to Person Development Proceeds from General to Specific Most Traits are Correlated in Development Growth and Development is a Product of Both Heredity and Environment Development is Predictable Development brings about both structural and functional changes. There is a Constant Interaction Between All Factors of Development

14. Influence of Hereditary and Environment Hereditary or Nature  refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics. Environment or Nurture  refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture.

15. There are two effective ways to study nature-nurture. Twin studies : Identical twins have the same genotype, and fraternal twins have an average of 50% of their genes in common. Adoption studies : Similarities with the biological family support nature, while similarities with the adoptive family support nurture.