Characteristics of Human Development from Life-span Approach

1. Development is lifelong. It does not end in adulthood. No developmental

stage dominates development.
2. Developmental is plastic. Plasticity refers to the potential for change.
Development is possible throughout the life-span.
3. Development is multi-dimensional. Development consists of biological,
cognitive and socio-emotional dimensions. Development as a process is
complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive and socio-emotional
processes.
4. Development is contextual. Individuals are changing beings in a changing
world. Individuals respond to and act on contexts. These contexts include
individual’s biological make up, physical environment, cognitive processes,
historical, social and cultural contexts.
5. Growth, maintenance and regulation are three goals of human development.
The goals of individuals vary among developmental stages.

Major Principles of Human Development

1. Development is relatively orderly. The muscular control of the trunk and the
arms comes earlier as compared to the hands and fingers. This is the
proximodistal pattern. During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at
the top – the head – with physical growth in size, weight and future
differentiation gradually working its way down from top to bottom. This is the
cephalocaudal pattern.
2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes of
developmental process and the rate of development are likely to vary
among individuals. If the child comes from a good home with loving and
caring parents, he/she may develop into warm and responsible child,
adolescent and adult. If the child comes from a deprived environment, he/she
may develop into carefree and irresponsible adolescent and adult.
3. Development takes place gradually. Individuals won’t develop overnight. It
takes years before they become one. In fact, that’s the way of nature. The bud
does not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight. While
some changes occur in a flash of insight, more often it takes weeks, months or
years for a person to undergo changes that result in the display of
developmental characteristics.
4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of
biological, cognitive and socio-emotional processes. Biological processes
involve changes in the individual’s physical nature. Cognitive processes
involve changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence and language. Socio-
emotional processes include changes in the individual’s relationships with
other people, changes in emotions and changes in personality. These
biological, cognitive and socio-emotional processes are inextricably
intertwined.

Principles of Child Development and Learning (National Association for the

Education of Young Children, 2009)
 1. All domains of development and learning – physical, social and emotional, and
cognitive – are important, and they are closely interrelated. Children’s
development and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by what
takes place in other domains.
2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented
sequences, with later abilities, skills and knowledge building on those already
acquired.
3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to child, as well
as at uneven rates across different areas of a child’s individual functioning.
4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of
biological maturation and experience.
5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and delayed, on a
child’s development and learning; and optional periods exist for certain types
of development and learning to occur.
6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, selfregulation, and
symbolic or representational capacities.
7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with
responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers.
8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and
cultural contexts.
9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them,
children learn in a variety of way; a wide range of teaching strategies and
interactions are effective in supporting all these kinds of learning.

10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as

for promoting language, cognition, and social competence. 11.
Development and learning advance when children are challenged to
achieve at a level just beyond their current mastery, and also when they
have many opportunities to practice newly acquired skills.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to
learning, such as persistence, initiative and flexibility; in turn, these
dispositions and behaviors affect their learning and development.

Now that you have read the text above, it is expected that you are

ready to answer the following exercises. Please answer them with sincerity.

Direction: Provide your answers briefly and concisely below.

1. Define human development in your own words.
Answer:
The process of expanding people's freedoms and possibilities while also
enhancing their well-being is known as human development. The true freedom
that everyday individuals have to choose who they are, what they do, and how
to live is what human growth is all about.
2. Explain briefly the two approaches to human development.
Answer:
Traditional Approach vs. Life-Span Approach. The traditional approach
emphasizesextensive change from birth to adolescence,little or no change in
adulthood, and decline inlate old age. The life-span approach
emphasizesdevelopmental change during adulthood aswell as childhood.

3. Explain briefly the characteristics of human development.

Answer:
1. Development is lifelong. In child-care, an individual in its childhood is
mostly a curious one, this curiosity is brought until its education. As
children grow, their education leads them to development, even until they
are in parenthood. This characteristic of life-span perspectiveimplies that
development occurs even until our last breath.
2. Developmental is plastic. In education, learning means being subjected to
change. In parenting, improvement due to any deliberate effort to help
parents be more effective in caring for children is development. As the
child grows, one's parenting style should develop and match with the
child's needs. Those needs must be provided for a child's welfare.

3. Development is multi-dimensional. Life-span perspective says that

development is established in the processes of physical, mental, and socio
emotional aspects of a person. To promote children's physical
development, external forces should be done such as provision of healthy
foods to eat and inauguration of exercises. For the mental development,
they should be exposed in healthy environment and teach ther meditation.
4. Development involve growth, maintenance and regulation.In parenting,
growth becomes obvious as one feels the need to become abetter parent, so
maintenance in terms of physical fitness and regulation for the mindset
becomes a necessity. In education, growth is symbolized because of
knowledge one has acquired, so maintaining good study habits and
regulating the knowledge input is established.
5. Development is contextual. Life-span perspective implies that
development is based on a person's background such as their culture,
 beliefs, and physical environment. In child care, for example, most of the
time when a guardian is strict, the child responds to them with fear. The
child then will probably develop into a parent who will do the same to his
or her children.

4. Explain briefly the different major principles of human development in

your own words.
Answers:
1. Development is relatively orderly
During infancy, the greatest growth always occurs at the top – the head – with
physical growth in size, weight and future differentiation gradually working its
way down from top to bottom. This is the cephalocaudal pattern. The muscular
control of the trunk and arms comes earlier as compared to the hands and
fingers.

2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes

of developmental process and the rate of development are likely to
vary among individuals.
If a child comes from a good home with loving and caring parents, he/she may
develop into warm and responsible child, adolescent and adult. If they come
from a deprived environment, they might develop into carefree and
irresponsible adolescent and adult.

3. Development takes place gradually.

The bud does not blossom suddenly. The seed does not germinate overnight.
Individuals won't develop overnight. It takes weeks, months or even years for
a person to undergo changes that result in the display of developmental
characteristics. That's the way of nature.
4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of
biological, cognitive and socio-emotional processes.
Changes in the individual's physical, cognitive and socio-emotional processes
- such as thoughts, emotions and personality - are part of a person's
development over time. Biological processes involve changes in the
individuals' physical nature, while cognitive processes include changes in
thought, intelligence and language. Changes in relationships with other people
and emotions are also part of development.

5. According to NAEYC (2009), there are different principles of child

development. Give the summary using your own words.

Directions: Write inside the circle the appropriate information being

asked for. You can list down as many as you can.
Directions: Give at least 3 situations where the two approaches
become evident.
 Approaches to Human Development
Traditional Approach
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Since you are done with all the activities above, it’s time for you to
reflect about the topic. Are you ready?
Life - Span Approach
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 Directions: Write 3 most important things that you have learned from this
module. Limit your ideas to 150 words only.

From the topic about human development, I realized that…

Human development is a process of continuous physical, behavioral, cognitive,
and emotional growth and change. Infancy, childhood, adolescence, and maturity
are the early life phases where this process begins and where significant changes
occur. Each person grows a unique set of attitudes and values during this
process, which influences their decisions, interpersonal interactions, and
comprehension. Sexuality, a lifetime process, is another crucial stage of
development. Sexual beings include infants, kids, teenagers, and adults. In
addition to fostering a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive development, it
is crucial to establish the groundwork for the development of their sexuality.

1. Corpuz, B.B., Lucas, MR. D., Borabo, HD. L. & Lucido, P. I. (2018). The
Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles, Lorimar
Publishing Inc., Quezon City, Philippines.
2. Corpuz, B.B., Lucas, MR. D., Borabo, HD. L. & Lucido, P. I. (201 0). The
Child and Adolescent Development: Looking at Learners at
Different Life Stages , Lorimar Publishing Inc., Quezon City,
Philippines.
3. Hurlock, E. B. (1982). Developmental Psychology: A Life -span
Approach, 5 th
ed., McGraw -Hill, Inc., Philippine Copyrig ht by
National Book Store, Manila, Philippines.

Prepared by:

Jun P. Dalisay, LPT, RGC, Ph.D.-Psy

Maria Charmaine R. Gaa, LPT, MA-SPED
Jacquelyn Rose A. Fajilagutan, LPT, MAEd-GC
Charry F. Mayuga, LPT, MA-Psy
Precelita G. Manliguez Ph.D.
Professors/Instructors