1.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Most people use the terms „growth‟ and „development‟ interchangeably and accept them as
synonymous. But in reality, the meanings of these two terms are different.

1.1. GROWTH: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

Growth refers to physical increase in some quantity over time. It includes changes in
terms of height, weight, body proportions and general physical appearance. In Encyclopedia
Britannica, growth is defined as “an increase in size or the amount of an entity”. It means
growth involves all those structural and physiological changes that take place within
individual during the process of maturation. For example, growth of a child means the
increase in weight, height and different organs of the child‟s body.

Hurlock has defined Growth as “change in size, in proportion, disappearance of old

features and acquisition of new ones”. Growth refers to structural and physiological changes
(Crow and Crow, 1962). Thus, growth refers to an increase in physical size of whole or any
of its part and can be measured.

1.2. DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

Development refers to the qualitative changes in the organism as whole.

Development is a continuous process through which physical, emotional and intellectual
changes occur. It is a more wider and comprehensive term than growth. It is also possible
without growth. In Webster‟s dictionary development is defined as “the series of changes
which an organism undergoes in passing from an embryonic stage to maturity.”

In Encyclopedia Britannica is the term development defined as “the progressive

change in size, shape and function during the life of an organism by which its genetic
potential are translated into functioning adult system.” So, development includes all those
psychological changes that take in the functions and activities of different organs of an
organism. Development is continuous and gradual process (Skinner). According to Crow and
Crow (1965) development is concerned with growth as well as those changes in behavior
which results from environmental situation.” Thus, development is a process of change in
growth and capability over time due to function of both maturation and interaction with the
environment.

1.3.Comparison of growth and development

Growth refers to physiological changes. Development refers to overall changes in

Changes in the quantitative aspect is termed
as growth.
the individual. It involves changes in an
orderly and coherent type towards the goal of
maturity.
Development changes in the quality along
with quantitative aspect.
Growth does not continue throughout life. Development continues throughout life.

Growth stops after maturation. Development is progressive.

Growth occurs due to the multiplication of Development occurs due to both maturation
cells. and interaction with the environment.
Growth is cellular Development is organizational.

Growth is one of the parts of the Development is a wider and comprehensive

developmental process. term.

Growth may be referred to describe the
changes in particular aspects of the body and
behaviour of the organism
The changes produced by growth are subjects
of measurements. They may be quantified
and observable in nature.
Growth may or may not bring development.
Development describes the changes in the
organism as a whole.
Development brings qualitative changes
which are difficult to measure directly. They
are assessed through keen observation of
behavior in different situations
Development is possible without growth.

1.4. PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Developmental psychologists believe that knowledge of an accurate pattern of

development is fundamental to an understanding of children. There are several basic
principles that characterizes the pattern and process of growth and development. These
principles describe typical development as a predictable and orderly process. Even though
there are individual differences in children‟s personalities, attitudes, behavior and timing of
development, the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns.l

1. Principle of Cephalocaudal

 This principle describes the direction of growth and development.

 The head region starts growth at first, following by which other organs starts
developing. The child gains control of the head first, then the arms and then the legs.
 Infants develop control of the head and face movements at first two months. In next
few months they are able to lift themselves up by using their arms. Next gain control
over leg and able to crawl, stand, walk, run, jump, climb, day by day.

2. principle of Proximodistal

 The directional sequence of development during both prenatal and postnatal

stages may either be
 (i) from head to foot, or

(ii) from the central axis to the extremities of the body.

 The spinal cord develops before outer parts of the body.

 The child’s arms develops before the hands, the hands and feet develops before the
fingers and toes.

 Fingers and toe muscles are the last to develop in physical development.

3. principle of continuity

 Growth and development is a continuous process

 Growth and Development is a continues process from conception to death.

 In the early years of life, development consists of changes that lead the child to
maturity not only of body size and functioning, but also of behaviour.

 Even after maturity has been attained, development does not end. Changes continue
which lead to the period of life known as senescence or old age.

 These changes continue until death ends the life cycle.

4. Growth and development is orderly or sequential process

 Every species, whether animal or human, follows a pattern of development peculiar to

it. This pattern in general is the same for all individuals.

 Social and behavioural scientists increasingly have come to see development as a

relationship between organism and environment in a transaction or collaboration.

 All children follow a development pattern with one stage leading to the next.

 Ex - Infants stand Before they walk; draw circles before they make squares

5. Influenced by the genetic and environmental factors

 Individuals work with and affect their environment, and in turn the environment
works with and affects them

6. Growth and development is predictable

7. Principle of proceeding simple to complex

 Children use their cognitive and language skills to reason and solve problems

 Children at first are able hold the big things by using both arms, In the next part able
to hold things in a single hand, then only able to pick small objects like peas, cereals
etc.
  Children when able to hold pencil, first starts draw circles then squares then only
letter after that the words.

8. Certain stage of Growth and development are more critical

9. Growth is uneven

10. There is co-ordination between increase in size and maturation

 Maturation refers to the sequential characteristic of biological growth and

development.

 The biological changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities.

 Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. And help
children to improve in thinking and motor skills.

 Children must mature to a, certain point before they can progress to new skills.

11. principle of individual difference

 The tempo of development is not even. Individuals differ in the rate of growth and
development.

 Boys and girls have different development rates. Each part of the body has its own
particular rate of growth. Development does not occur at an even pace.

 There are periods of great intensity and equilibrium and there are periods of
imbalance.

 Development achieves a plateau and this may occur at any level or between levels.

12. Rate of growth and development is interrelated

13. Neonatal reflexes need to be lost

14. Skills are learned by practice

15.Growth comes from with in

 One or surrounding environment can encourage or can hinder the energy of a child,
but the drive force that pushes a child to grow is carried inside him.

 Parent or teacher job is to clear the track, guide the child with loving acceptance and
then relax and enjoy.

16. Growth has certain characteristics common at particular age

17. Proceeds from general to specific

  Development proceeds from general to specific. In all areas of development, general
activities always precedes specific activity. For example;

 The foetus moves its whole body but incapable of making specific responses

 Infants wave their arms randomly. They can make such specific responses as
reaching out for an object near them.

1.5. FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Human development is the process in which the changes occur in all the aspects of an
organism from conception to death. It is a natural process for each and every child to grow.
But it is observed that all children do not grow in the similar fashion. The children differ
from each other because several factors influence on their development. Some of the
important factors have been enumerated below:

1) Hereditary Factors:-

Heredity exerts an influence on human development. The child carries genetic

endowments from his/her parents. It is genetically transmitted characteristics from one
generation to the next. The physical characteristics like height, weight, eye colour etc. and
psychological characteristics such as intelligence, personality, creativity and so on are
innately determined and hereditary. The genetic code provides the base on which brain and
body grow and manifest in observable appearance and behaviour.

2) Environmental Factors:-

Another important factor of human development is the environment where an

individual lives. The child lives and grows in his environment. Environment consists of a
wide range of stimuli and it provides the necessary input and experiential base for
development of the child. Enrichment or impoverishment of the environment would produce
differences in his abilities. For example, a child may have inherited music talent from his
parents through transmission of genes, but he may not excel in music field if he does not get
the proper environment and support to develop his innate ability.

3) Home Environment:-

Home environment exerts tremendous influence on child‟s understanding of the

external world. It builds self-concept and prepares him to face the external world. The child
begins to acquire knowledge through interaction with parents and other family members.
During his early years of development, the behaviours of the child are modulated by the
home environment. The environment of the family can be supportive or stressful for the
child. If it is supportive, warm and harmonious environment, the child develops normally. In
unsupportive and stressful home environment, broken families or uncaring parents in the
family, children may develop as maladjusted persons.

4) Cultural Factors:-
 Culture refers to a system of beliefs, attitudes and values that are transmitted from
one generation to the next. It is a product of past human behavior and is also a shaper of
future aspirations. The development of the child is influenced by family as well as by the
society. The child learns the habits, beliefs, attitude, skills and standards of judgment through
the socialization processes. The socialization processes of the child take place according to
the culture, customs and traditions of the society. For example, greeting someone is a familiar
experience but behavioral experiences are different in different cultures. In Indian culture,
people greet others by saying namaskar, folding hands or lying down near the feet but in
Western culture, people greet by handshake or kissing or saying hello etc.

5) Socioeconomic Status (SES):-

Socioeconomic Status plays a pivotal role in human development. The index of

socioeconomic status is determined by parental education, occupation and income. The
children of low socioeconomic status may develop as mal-nourished, suffer from lack of
knowledge in many aspects and their normal development may get hampered. The parenting
in high socioeconomic status families would be different from low socio-economic status
families. Children of the high socioeconomic groups of the society get better social
opportunities, are nurtured with better nutrition, good medical treatment and are exposed to
more intellectual stimulation than low socioeconomic group.

6) Normative influences:-

Normative influences occur in a similar way for majority of people in a particular

group. These influences may be biological or environmental. For example, biological events
like sexual maturity or deterioration in old age. Environmental events, like entering the
school at about 6 yrs of age, parenthood etc. have the same influences on individuals. Most of
the people of the same age, at same place and time and generation have common biological
and environmental influences such as floods, famines and other natural disasters. Non-
normative influences include the unusual life events in an individual‟s life. For example,
death of a parent when a child is young or birth defects etc.

7) Education and Training:-

Each child is equipped with certain abilities which need to be nurtured through proper
education and training. Therefore, the first and foremost step is to identify and recognize the
ability of the child and the next step is to provide adequate opportunities to develop the same.
If proper identification of the ability is not possible and adequate facilities are not available to
the child, then his innate ability may not be developed. Thus, adequate education and training
have influence on human development.

1.6 DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS AND HAZARDS

Developmental task
 A developmental task is a task that arises at or about a certain period in life,
unsuccessful achievement of which leads to inability to perform tasks associated with the
next period or stage in life.

Meaning of Development Tasks

According to R.J Havighurst (1953)" A development task is a task which arises at or

about a certain period in the life of the individual, successful achievement of which leads to
his happiness and to success with later task,
" Development task are based in the aspiration and need of the society. B.L
Neugarten ( Development tasks are based in the aspiration and need of the society.
B.L Neugarten (1969) says that " Every society is age -graded and every society has a
system of social experiences regarding age -appropriate behaviour. The individual passes
through a socially regulated cycle from birth to death as inexorably as he passes through the
biological cycle, and there exist a socially prescribed time-table for the rendering of major
life events. Although the norms vary somewhat from one socio-economic, ethnic or religious
group to another, for any social group it can easily be demonstrated that norm and actual
occurrences are closely related."

1.6.1. Characteristics of Development Tasks

1. Every society or culture has certain norms.

2. Method should follow these norms.
3. These norms are in term of certain essential skills.
4. Mastery over these skill lead to happiness, and failure leads to unhappiness.
5. Skill are related to age groups
6. Norms very from one from one socio -economic group to another

1.6.2. Purpose of Development Tasks

According to Elizabeth B. Hurlock, development tasks server the following three purposes.
1. They are guidelines to enable this individual to know what society experts from him at a
given age.
2. Development tasks motivate the individual to do what the social group expects him to do
certain things during his life.
3. Development tasks server to show the individual what lies ahead and what he will expected
to do when he reaches the next stage of Development in the life span.
1.6.3. Development Tasks at Various Stages
A. Birth to 5 year
1. Learning to walk
2. Learning to talk soild food
3. Learning to talk
4. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes
5. Learning sex difference
6. Achieve physiological stability
7. Forming simple concepts of social and physical reality
8. Learning to relate oneself emotionally to parents, sibling and other people.
9. Learning to distinguish right and wrong and developing a conscience.

B.6 to 12 years

1. Learning physical skill, ordinary games.

2. Building wholesome attitude towards oneself as a growth organism.
3. Learning to get along with age - mates.
4. Learning appropriate sex role, ie., masculine or feminine role.
5. Development fundamental skill in reading, write and calculating.
6. Developing concerts necessary for everyday living.
7. Developing conscience, morality and values.
8. Achieving personal independence.
9. Development attitudes towards social group and institutions.

C.Adolescence one's ( 12 to 20 year )

1. Accepting one's physique.

2. Accepting a masculine or feminine role.
3. Gaining emotional independence from parents and other adults.
4.Establishing new relations with-age -mates of both sexes.
5. Achieving assurance of economic independence.
6. Selecting preparing for a vocation.
7. Developing necessary concept for civic competence.
8.Developing intellectual skills.
9.Development socially acceptable behavior.
10. Preparing for marriages and family life.
11. Developing harmonies moral and scientific values.
1.6.4 Hazards Related Development Task

Even when the developmental pattern is progressing normally, there are likely to be,
at every age, hazards in some areas of development that interfere with this normal pattern. As
Erikson has explained, “The struggles that inevitably characterize all growth that inevitably
characterize all growth can generate utterly reliable talents as well as intractable problems”.
Some of these hazards are environmental in origin while others originate from within.
Regardless of their origin, hazards can and do affect the physical, psychological, and social
adjustments the child is attempting to make. As a result, they change the developmental
pattern by producing a plateau in which no forward movement occurs or they cause a
regression to a lower stage. When this happens, the child encounters adjustment problems
and is said to be ‘poorly adjusted’ or ‘immature’.

Some of the hazards are

1. Inappropriate expectation - physical or psychological limitations of the individual.

2. By passing a developmental stage.Each stage must be lived through.
3. Lack of opportunity to learn the development task.
4. Lack of guidance.
5. Lack of motivation.
6. Poor health.
7. A low intellectual level.
Factor promoting Development Tasks
1. Provision of opportunity to learn the developmental task.
2. Adequate guidance in learning the developmental tasks.
3. Development motivation.
4. Good health.
5. Appropriate level of intelligence.
6. Creativity.

2. PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Physical development

 It refers to a process which brings bodily and physiological changes –internal as well
as external- in an organism from the conception till his death.

Motor development

 Motor development means the physical growth and strengthening of a child’s bones,
muscles and ability to move and touch his/her surroundings.
 A child’s motor development falls into two categories: fine motor and gross motor.

Fine motor skill

 Fine (or small) motor skills involve the smaller muscles in the fingers, toes, eyes and
other areas.
 The actions that require fine motor skills tend to be more intricate, such as drawing,
writing, grasping objects, throwing, waving and catching.
 Fine motor skills refer to small movements in the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips
and tongue.

Gross motor skill

 Gross (or large) motor skills involve the larger muscles including the arms and legs.
 Actions requiring gross motor skills include walking, running, balance and
coordination.
 When evaluating gross motor skills, the factors that experts look at include strength,
muscle tone, movement quality and the range of movement.
 Gross motor skills involve motor development of muscles that enable babies to hold
up their heads, sit and crawl, and eventually walk, run, jump and skip.

Physical development during childhood

 Children’s bodies change a lot during this development.

 broaden and lengthen dramatically.
 In general, children will grow an average of 2-3 inches taller each year throughout
this stage.
 As young children enter to this period, boys are generally taller than girls, but at the
end of middle childhood, the growth trend in height will reverse.
 Furthermore, both boys and girls are building muscle.
 Generally, children will gain 6 to 7 pounds a year each during the period.
 Girls tend to retain more fatty tissue than boys in preparation for puberty.

Motor development during childhood

Gross Motor Skills Development

 During middle childhood, children can do large-scale body movements. Typically,

boys develop these skills slightly faster than do girls, except for skills involving
balance and precise movements such as skipping, jumping and hopping.

 Children in this stage also refine their control over gross motor skills.
 They are able to gain this improved control and coordination due to increases in their
flexibility, equilibrium, and agility.
  They also learn how to synchronize the movement of their body's various parts,
allowing for the development of smoother, more coordinated whole-body movement
routines such as are needed for participating in organized sports.

Fine motor skill development

 Children in middle childhood also continue to hone their fine motor skills.
 Contrary to gross motor skills development, girls tend to develop fine motor skills
slightly faster than do boys.
 Specifically, middle-childhood-aged children show dramatic improvements with their
penmanship.
 Their artistic ability can truly begin to shine during this period as they also develop
the ability to draw complex and detailed pictures incorporating depth cues and 3D
elements and they become more imaginative.
 During this stage, children also learn how to use their hands to successfully complete
manual activities other than drawing or writing.
 For example, they become capable of executing complex detail-oriented craft projects
involving beading, sewing, scrap booking, building models, and good at using simple
tools

Physical development in Adolescence

 During this developmental stage, adolescents experience two significant changes in

physical development.

These are:

1. Adolescent or Pubertal Growth Spurt.

This refers to the rapid acceleration in height and weight. Girls enter
the rapid growth earlier than boys. Girls may begin as early as age 9 or as late as age 12,
while boys may begin as early as 12 or as late as 16. Typically, the spurt for girls occurs two
years earlier than boys. Aside from growing taller and heavier, the body assumes an adult-
like appearance.

2. Puberty

 This is the emergent of primary and secondary sex characteristics, and the
point which the individual becomes physically capable of sexual reproduction.
 · Primary sex characteristics include development of gonads (testes for boys and
ovaries for girls), and production of sex hormones.
 · Secondary sex characteristics include development of body form (triangular for boys
and hourglass for girls), growth of pubic hairs, and menarche (first menstrual period
for girls) and penis growth for boys.
Motor development during adolescence

Gross Motor Skills Development & Fine Motor Skills Development

 Gross and fine motor skills improve continuously during adolescence.

 Adolescents can do more complex and strenuous activities compare when they were
in their middle childhood.

factors affecting physical growth and development

 Genetic History
 Nutrition

Maternal Nutrition

 Maternal Nutrition during Pregnancy Women’s nutrient needs increase during

pregnancy and lactation.

 It is essential to increase the nutrient requirements to protect maternal and infant

health. Otherwise, it may lead to serious problem for women and infants.
 During pregnancy, all women need more food, a varied diet and micronutrient
supplements as prescribed by doctor.

Maternal nutrition during lactation

 Lactation places high demands on maternal stores of energy, protein, and other
nutrients.
 Eating foods which provide energy and rich in protein and other nutrients help to
produce adequate amount of breast milk and sustain milk production.
 Mothers who do not get ample energy and nutrients in their diets risk maternal
depletion.

 Brest milk is best for baby because it contains all the vitamins and nutrients that baby
needs for growth and development during the first six months of life

Child nutrition

 Child nutrition does not mean allowing your children to eat what they want but it
should be a balance between nutrients and energy as required in their developmental
stage.
 Child’s diet should be focused on natural, fresh of nutrient and energy that are found
in milk, fruits, and vegetables.
 Parents should encourage their children to have a positive attitude towards healthy
eating and should also avoid fad foods and drastic dieting for their children.
  Exercise
 Sleep
 Emotional Well-Being

3. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognition

Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding

through thought, experience, and the senses.

Cognitive development

Cognitive development is an area of study in both psychology and neuroscience

which focuses on a child’s development when it comes to the generating, processing and
conceptualizing of information, perception, learning of languages and how this is used to
express one’s self, as well as other areas of brain development as compared to an adult’s
point of view.

In simpler terms, it is the study of how the brain develops to gain the abilities of
thinking and understanding

Piaget theory of cognitive development

The most extensive and well-known study on a child’s cognitive development was
done by Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist.

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

According to Piaget, there are four stages of development that children go through:

1. Sensory motor stage 0-24 months

• In this stage, a child’s cognition is dependent on physical aspects – things that can be
seen, touched, and done, and how the child processes information based on that.
• The child starts to develop reflexive actions such as sucking and grasping
• The child starts to repeat these actions if he realizes he can do it again – as an
example, opening and closing of the fingers
• The child continues to repeat these actions, but now to produce results that are
interesting to them – as an example, kicking his feet to move an object
• The child then understands that his actions can produce desirable consequences – as
an example, reaching into a box to get a toy
• They can think about an object existing even if it is no longer in front of them, which
is also called object permanence
 • The child then begins to perform actions that will yield the same results – as an
example, pulling a ball towards him so he can roll it again
• At the end of this stage, the child starts to exhibit some problem solving skills, instead
of just acting on instinct
•

2. Pre-operational stage 2-7 years

• The child first goes through the preoperational phase, where they can now use words
to express their thoughts
• Egocentrism is evident – in which a child only sees a situation from his point of view
and disregards other’s
• They are now able to perform symbolic play – the ability to inject abstract concepts
into physical objects. This is called animism, where a child gives an inanimate object
human-like attributes and qualities
• At age four, the child goes through the intuitive phase, where he becomes more aware
of his surroundings
• The child begins to understand logic, but they are irreversible topics that are set in
stone. They are not yet as flexible, and are still unable to understand the why’s behind
things

3. Concrete operational stage 7-12 years

• The child now shows evidence of logical and structured thinking

• The child can classify tasks, to place objects in a sensible sequence, and understand
the principle of conservation
• The child’s thinking is less egocentric compared to before
• The child’s thinking is now also tied to a concrete reality

4. Formal operational stage 12+

• The child can incorporate abstract thoughts while considering the concepts of formal
logic. Thus, the child’s thinking is not as concrete as before, and is now more flexible
and adaptable
• The child can now formulate hypothesis, understand causality, and generate abstract
ideas that he would not have when he was younger

Cognitive development in adolescence

• Has some experience in using more complex thinking processes

• Expands thinking to include more philosophical and futuristic concerns
• Often questions more extensively
• Often analyzes more extensively
• Thinks about and begins to form his or her own code of ethics (for example, What do
I think is right?)
 • Thinks about different possibilities and begins to develop own identity (for example,
Who am I?)
• Thinks about and begins to systematically consider possible future goals (for example,
What do I want?)
• Thinks about and begins to make his or her own plans
• Begins to think long-term
• Uses systematic thinking and begins to influence relationships with others
• Uses complex thinking to focus on less self-centered concepts and personal decision-
making
• Has increased thoughts about more global concepts, such as justice, history, politics,
and patriotism
• Often develops idealistic views on specific topics or concerns
• May debate and develop intolerance of opposing views
• Begins to focus thinking on making career decisions
• Begins to focus thinking on their emerging role in adult society

Factors affecting cognitive development

1. biological factors

(a) Sense organs

 Sense organs are important because they receive stimuli from the
environment.
 Their proper development helps in receiving correct stimuli and the correct
concepts are formed.
 Defective sense organs collect defective stimuli and as a result wrong concepts
can be formed and the cognitive development will not be perfect

(b) Intelligence

 It has been seen that cognitive development of intelligent children is better.

 Children with low Intelligence Quotient are not able to receive stimuli from
the environment properly, thus their cognitive development lags behind.
Intelligence affects all mental capacities.

(c) Heredity

 Cognitive development is also influenced by the hereditary traits; one gets

from his parents. Their development is similar to their parents cognitive
development.

(d) Maturation
 As the child gets matured he gets more interactive with his environment. For a good
cognitive development interaction with environment is very necessary which the child does
with the help of his mental and motor maturation. They help directly in the development of
cognition.

2. Environmental factors

(а) Learning opportunities

The opportunity a child gets to learn affects the cognitive development. The more
opportunities he gets the better is the cognition, because he will be able to add to his mental
capacities by learning through these opportunities.

(b) Economic status

Economic state of the family also helps in the development of cognition. Children
from better economic status get more opportunities and better training and it helps in
cognitive development

(c) play

Play is also quite important in developing cognition. Through play activities, the child
interacts with the environment, receives stimuli and responds to them.

(d) Various types of stimuli

• As child grows, he gets various stimuli from environment through his senses and
perceives their meanings.
• These stimuli form concepts and symbols.
• Parents and other people around the child could assist him get the right meanings of
stimuli.

(e) Family and society

• Family is very important from the point of view of providing the child hereditary
traits, which are the of development family also providing opportunities to learn, good
encourage atmosphere to the child if the family provides such atmosphere to the child
in which he maximum stimuli from the environment, would be encouraged to learn
and with his environment. .
• The child learns observing and imitating others. He learns language, habits, by
observing family and people around them. If society provide encouraging atmosphere,
facilities gaining knowledge like good schools, librarian’s healthy recreation facilities,
health facilities etc. to the children, they will develop possibility and good cognitive
capacity. So we see the family and society both play an important role.
Ways to encourage cognitive development

• Talking with the baby and naming commonly used objects.

• Letting the baby explore toys and move about.
• Singing and reading to your baby.
• Exposing the toddler to books and puzzles.
• Expanding on the child's interests in specific learning activities. For example, the
toddler might show an early interest in dinosaurs, so you can take him/her on a trip to
the natural history museum to learn more about the time that these creatures roamed
the earth.
• Answering the child’s “why” questions.
• Include him or her in discussions about a variety of topics, issues, and current events.
• Encourage the child to share ideas and thoughts with you.
• Encourage the child to think independently and develop his or her own ideas.
• Help the child in setting goals.
• Challenge him or her to think about possibilities for the future.
• Compliment and praise the child for well-thought-out decisions.
• Help him or her in re-evaluating poorly made decisions

4. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The word emotion is a derived from the Latin word ‘emovere’ which means ‘to stir up or
agitate or excite’.

The mental thinking or feeling of a person at a particular instant of time knowingly or

unknowingly is called emotion.

Emotions are complex psychological and biological responses consisting of subjective

feelings, physiological reactions and expressive behaviours to internal and external stimuli.

What is emotion

 Emotion is the all around state of the organism marked by increased bodily activity
and strong feelings directed to some subject.” Kimball Young

• According to crow and crow “An emotion is an affective experience that accompanies
generalized inner adjustment and, mental and physiological stirred up states in the
individual and that shows itself in his overt behaviour”

Emotional development is a process that a child develops from dependence to a fully

functioning adult and applies to most life forms.

Emotional development refers to the ability to recognize, express, and manage

feelings at different stages of life and to have empathy for the feelings of others.
Characteristics of emotions

• The core of an emotion is feeling.

• Emotional experiences are associated with some instincts or biological drives.

• Emotions are the products of perception.

• Every emotional experience involves several physical and physiological changes in

organism.

• The basic ways of expressing emotions are inborn and it develops through
maturation.

• Emotions rise abruptly and die slowly.

• Same emotion can be aroused by a number of different stimuli.

• Emotions have the quality of displacement.

Common emotional patterns

• Fear

• Anger

• Jealousy

• Greif

• Curiosity

• Joy, pleasure and delight

Kinds of emotions

• Positive emotions: Pleasant emotions which are helpful and essential to the normal
development of individual are termed a positive emotions Eg: love, amusement, curiosity,
joy,…

• Negative emotions: Unpleasant emotions, which are harmful to the individual’s

development, are termed as negative emotions Eg: fear, anger, jealousy, guilt etc

How the emotions develop

 As Spitz (1949) has observed, “Emotions are not present ready-made from birth.
  Like any other sector of the human personality they have to develop.”
 Emotional development is due to
 1. Maturation
 2. learning

not to either one alone.

Emotional development during childhood

Early childhood:(2-5yrs/3-6yrs)

 At 24 months, delight was further differentiated and joy appears.

 At 5 years (60 month), fear is again differentiated into shame and anxiety.
 Anger is again differentiated into disappointment and envy. From delight, hope is
again differentiated.
 Child cannot control their emotional expressions in social situations. They express
their emotion at the time of the perception.
 • Emotional expressions become less diffuse, random and undifferentiated. The
emotion cannot be spread to other social situations. There is a mixture of emotional
expressions related to a particular stimulus and cannot be differentiate it. Eg.
Excitement is accompanied by fear
 • Emotions are expressed in the absence of concrete objects. In this stage the child
need any physical object to express his emotions.
 • Emotions are most contagious. Because children are most suggestible and
dependence on others. The emotional expressions he share to elders.
 • Cannot hide their emotions.
 • As the child grows the strength and intensity of the emotion varies.

Emotional development during adolescence

1.Complexity

• An adolescent person has undergone a lot of stress and strain-ful situations.

• We cannot understand him by his overt behaviour.

• They learn to hide their emotions from others.

• So it is very complex to identify the individual.

2.Development of abstract emotions

• They needn’t any concrete objects to express their emotions.

• It is highly individualized and can’t be identified it proper root.

 5. Emotional feelings are widened

• The social contacts of an individual are more widen.

• He is related to classmates, elders and young people, emotionally attached heros etc. the
influence of all these which sharpen their emotions.

• They develops an integrity about their past experiences and future expectations.

• So they become more patient and tolerate any delay in their life circumstances.

4. Bearing of emotions

• They can tolerate stress and tensions in various life situations.

• So they develop a sense of self control.

5. Capacity of sharing emotions

• They have a tendency to consider others feelings and share their emotions to others.

• Sharing of emotions reaches its peak at this stage.

• Satisfication of others is important.

• So they engaged in the activities of others and take role for others.

6. Loyalty expands

• Their social contact expands to neighbors and other social organizations.

• So they maintain a loyalty towards others.

7. Realism in emotional experiences

• He entered into the world of reality.

• He becomes aware of his strength and weakness.

• This awareness reflect in their emotional expressions.

8. Reviewing hopes and aspirations

• It is period of high expectation for his future. Some realistically hard-work for it.

• So they feel a positive emotion in it.

• Others engaged in day dreams, fantasy or remain in illusion.

• Later they became unrealistic

9. Tolerance of aloneness

• Develop a feeling of aloneness.

• So they like to be alone in homes.

10. Increased compassion

• Develops sympathy & empathy.

• Can enter into his own feelings and appreciate the feeling of others.

Factors influencing emotional development

 Some similarities are found between the emotional development of parents and
children. These are the hereditary factors.
 As your child develops mentally, she also becomes emotionally matured.
Psychologists say that the child’s emotions depend upon her maturity level.
 John B. Watson, an American psychologist, has stated that children learn from
conditioning. An experiment was conducted on a nine-month-old baby, who was
shown a rat to the child and a lot of noise was made in the background. Later it was
observed that baby started crying by merely looking at the rat.
 Likewise, if there is an expression of physical love in the family, the baby also
expresses her love by contact, kisses, or hugs.
 Children who have sound health can control their emotions in a better way while
those who remain weak show irritability, excitement and unstable emotions.
 Intelligent children are also emotionally stable. Those with low intelligence are low in
stability as well.
 Relations in the family and the way they express their emotions affect the emotional
development of a child. If the parents have stability in their behavior and express their
feelings in a balanced manner, the children also follow in their footsteps.
 If parents are violent, children also adopt the same. If you over pamper your children,
there are chances for them turning indiscipline and obstinate. On the contrary, if you
do not show any affection, they become introvert and submissive.
 Just like family, the society, too, influences a child’s emotional development. If the
environment is emotionally charged, the child becomes emotionally unstable. If
people are stable and have control over their emotions, the child also remains so. They
learn to control their emotions and try to conform to socially acceptable behaviour.
 Managing emotions for a sound physical and mental health is necessary. When your
child is emotionally charged, several changes, like a change in pulse rate, blood
 circulation, stretching of eyes, an effect on the digestive system and more, occur in
the body.

5. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Language is a system of communication using gestures, sounds, or written symbols

that have significance for those who use the language and follow its rules.

Language development is the process by which children come to understand and

communicate language during early childhood

From birth up to the age of five, children develop language at a very rapid pace.

The stages of language development are universal among humans.

Stages of language development

 The pre-lingustic stage 0-6 months

Children at this stage send and recieve messages and use reflexive crying to
communicate with care givers

 The holophrase or one word sentence7 – 12 months

Children at the one word stage begin imitating inflections and facial
expressions of adults.

 The two word sentence13-24 months

At the two word stage children begin producing rudimentary types of

phrases

 Multiple word sentences

The child reaches this stage between the age of two and two and a half. The
child can now form sentences with a subject and predicate

 More complex grammatical structures

Between two and half and three years. In this stage child can form more
complex sentences

 Adult like language structure

The five to six years old child reaches this development. Complex structural
distinction can now be made.
  Physical conditions
 Emotional developments
 Level of intelligence
 Number of children in the family
 Socio economic status of the family
 Teachers language

Role of the teacher in language development

 The teacher should provide rich language experience to the children in

preschool by talking them on diverse but familiar matters.
 While talking to children talk slowly clearly and short sentences

Speech difficulties

The term speech defect refers to incorrect speech habits developed by the
individual on account of slow maturation or ineffective learning.

Incorrect speech may be in the form of omission of letters, incorrect pronunciation,

and wrong application of the rules of grammar or failure in regulating speed of
talking

Common speech difficulties

1. lisping

 Child finds difficulties to pronounce certain words correctly

 It involves change of sound of letters and words
 Its main cause is the continuity of the infantile mode of teaching

2. Slurring

 Slurring is caused by running words together, by which the child is unable

to pronounce correctly.
 Sometimes this is due to too much haste on the part of the child because he
wants to express everything in no time.
 Slurring may be due to emotional tension arising out of excessive fear, or
due to some defects in vocal organs

3. Stuttering and stammering

 In stuttering the child pronounce the same letter repeatedly before

pronouncing a word.
 In stammering the child fails to produce any sound for sometime which
result in embarraing types gestures and facial expression
  Both these defects are caused by emotional difficulties such as anxiety fear
frustration hostility insecurity ete

Chomsky on Language Acquisition

 Noam Chomsky postulated that the mechanism of the language acquisition

is derived from the innate processes. Innate is something which is already
there in mind since birth.
 The theory proposed by Chomsky is proved by the children living in same
linguistic community. Moreover, they are not influenced by the external
experiences which bring about the comparable grammar.
 He thus proposed his theory on language acquisition in 1977 as "all children
share the same internal constraints which characterize narrowly the grammar
they are going to construct." He also proposed that all of us live in a
biological world, and according to him, mental world is no exception.
 He also believes that as there are stages of development for other parts of
the body, language development can also be achieved up to a certain age.
 Chomsky's theory shows the way children acquire language and what they
learn it from.
 He believes that from birth, children are born with the inherited skill to
learn and pick up any language.
 He noted that children don’t learn language from the imitation; they pick up
nouns, verbs which become imprinted upon their brain.
 A known fact shows that all children (despite their intellectual ability) can
become fluent within their native language within only 5 years of learning.
 Noam Chomsky suggested that learning language is a lot like learning to
walk, although you learn from practise. We are all born with an
understanding of how to walk, in addition to language.

Evidence to support his theory

 His evidence proves that the theory is correct as it is known that if a adult
was talking to a child and had made a grammar mistake, the child would in
fact notice.
 He has evidence to show that children don’t learn language through
imitation, this is shown through simple grammar mistakes that children
make like “I drawed” and “ I drew”.
 When a child is in the process of learning to speak, they would most likely
always get their nouns, verbs and subjects correct and in the right order.
 It is shown that children would use and make up words whilst learning to
speak like “mamma ball” instead od mum. This shows that this wasn’t learnt
passively.
 The evidence of Chomsky's theory show that we are all prewired to learn
any required language.
Evidence against his theory

 His theory is showing that children don’t learn new language from imitation
but from knowing the correct grammar.
 However his theory doesn’t prove that children catch on easily, any
language learning could be learnt through general learning and being able to
understand interactions and abilities with other people around them.
 He claims that every child that is born with LAD (language acquisition
device

Language development by LevVygotsky

 Language is a social concept that is developed through social interactions.

 According to Lev Vygotsky, a 20th-century Soviet psychologist, language
acquisition involves not only a childs exposure to words but also an
interdependent process of growth between thought and language.
 Vygotskys influential theory of the "zone of proximal development" asserts
that teachers should consider a childs prospective learning power before
trying to expand the childs grasp of language.

Experience

 Vygotskys theory of language is based on constructivist learning theory,

which contends that children acquire knowledge as a result of engaging in
social experiences.
 "Through social and language interactions, older and more experienced
members of a community teach younger and less experienced members the
skills, values, and knowledge needed to be productive members of that
community," says Harry Daniels, author of "An Introduction to Vygotsky."

Signals

According to Vygotsky, words are signals. Rather than engage children in a

primary signal system, in which objects are referred to merely as themselves,
adults engage children in a secondary signal system, in which words represent
objects and ideas

Cognition

 A childs intellectual development is crucial to his language development.

 By interacting with his environment, a child develops the ability to develop
private, inner speech.
 "Inner speech is thinking in pure meanings; it is the link between the second
signal system of the social world and the thought of the individual,"
  Through the development of inner speech, children straddle the divide
between thought and language, eventually being able to express their
thoughts coherently to others.

Development

 The language learning process occurs as a result of give and take.

 Parents and teachers usher a child through a process of guided discovery,
addressing her learning potential.
 Eventually, children internalize language skills.
 As young learners experience language development, they "can reflect
better on their own thinking and behavior and reach greater levels of control
and mastery over their own behavior," according to Adam Winsler, co-
editor of "Private Speech, Executive Functioning, and the Development of
Verbal Self- Regulation".

Consideration

 Vygotskys constructivist language theory exists in opposition to Jean

Piagets theory of language acquisition.
 According to Piaget, children construct knowledge about language through
a complex process of assimilation, stressing the inherent capability of a
childs brain to adapt to stimulation.
 By contrast, Vygotsky stresses the social nature of language learning,
emphasizing the environment within which a child is raised.
