MODULE 2

Human Development: Meaning, Concepts and Approaches

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this Module, you should be able to:

 Define human development in your own words.
 Distinguish between the traditional and life-span approach of development.

Two types of approaches in human development

1. Traditional - extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood and
decline in late old age your approach to development is traditional.

2. Life-Span - If you believe that even in adulthood developmental change takes place as it does
during childhood your approach is life-on approach.

Characteristics of Human Development from a Life-Span Perspective

by Paul Baltes (Santrock, 2002)
1. Development is lifelong - it does not end adulthood.

2. Development is plastic - Plasticity refers to the potential for change. Development is

possible throughout the life span.
No one is too old to learn. There
are no such things as "I am too
old for that".
Aging is associated with
declines in certain intellectual
abilities. These declines can be
prevented or reduced
3. Development is

multidimensional - Development consist of biological, cognitive and socio emotional

dimensions.
 Biological process - involves changes in the individual’s physical nature.
 Development is relatively orderly - the muscular control of the trunk and the arms cares
earlier as compound to the hands and fingers this is to proximodistal pattern. The
greatest growth always occurs at the top to the head while physical growth in size, weight
and future differentiation gradually workings it’s a way down from the top to bottom (ex.
neck, shoulder, middle trunk round and so on.) This is to cephalo-caudal pattern.

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  Development takes place gradually.
 Cognitive Process - involves changes in the individuals thought, intelligence and
language.
 Socioemotional Process - include changes in the individual’s relationship with other
people, change in emotions and change in personality.

4. Development is contextual - Individuals is changing beings in changing world.

Individuals respond to and act on contexts. These contexts include the individual's biological
make up, physical environment, cognitive process, historical, social, and cultural contexts (Santrock,
2002).
5. Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulations - Growth,
maintenance, and regulations are three (3) goals for human development. The goals of
individuals lay among developmental stages. For instance, individuals reach middle and late
adulthood, concerns with growth gets into the backstage while maintenance and regulation take
the center stage.

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