HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Psychology –
studies the way humans develop
and change over time
 Maturation – refers to biologically
based changes that follow an orderly
sequence, each step setting the stage
for the next step according to an age-
related timetable. Developmental
changes through aging.
 Learning – developmental changes
that can be acquired through
experiences or practice.
NATURE VS. NURTURE
HEREDITY VS. ENVIRONMENT
 Nature
 A person becomes who they
are because of heredity
 Due to biological changes,
heredity factors, and innate
personal characteristics
 Provides the potentials of
the individual
 Nurture
 A person becomes who they
are because of family life,
environment, social
experiences, and interaction
with other people and the
environment
 Strengthens or inhibits the
potentials of the individual
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

 How a person changes

and stays the same
 This could be qualitative
or quantitative
 Nature vs. Nurture
Argument
DEVELOPMENT CHANGES
Quantitative
 Change in the number
or amount of something
 Examples:
 Change in weight
 Change in height
 Change in mass
 Change in the amount of
body hair
Qualitative
 Change in kind,
structure, or organization
 Examples:
 Change in intelligence
 Change in attitude
 Change in speech
ASPECT OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
 Physical – changes in body, structure and motor skills
 Perceptual – change in sensory capabilities (sight,
hearing, etc.)
 Cognitive/ Intellectual – Mental ability, learning
capacity, memory, reasoning, thought processes &
Language
 Personality & Social – changes in self concept, gender
identity, one’s quality of relationships
 BEGINNING OF LIFE

 Meiosis is found in
sexual
reproduction of
organisms.
 Mitosis is a
process of cell
division that results
in two genetically
identical daughter
cells developing
from a single
parent cell.
BEGINNING OF LIFE

 Process of fertilization
 Fertilization or
Conception
 Process when a sperm
and ovum fuse to form a
single cell- zygote
FERTILIZATION
 Ovulation – monthly
release of an ovum (egg
cell) by the ovary
 The ovum travels to the
fallopian tube.
 If it meets a sperm cell,
fertilization happens.
 The ovum then travels to
the womb or uterus
 Uterus walls prepare by
becoming swollen with
blood.
FRATERNAL AND IDENTICAL TWINS

 Fraternal twins = Woman

releases 2 ova and is
fertilized by 2 different
sperms

 Identical twins = 1 ovum

and 1 sperm but the
fertilized ovum separates
into two identical cells
DETERMINATION OF GENDER
 Each person has 46
chromosomes (23 pairs)
 23 come from the sperm
cell and 23 come from the
ovum
 22 are autosomes or non
sex chromosomes
 The 23rd pair is the sex
chromosomes - gonosome
GENDER

 Mother’s ovum has only

X chromosomes
 Father’s sperm carries
either an X or Y
chromosome
 XX = female gender
 XY = male gender
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT STAGES

1. Prenatal 9. Early Adulthood

2. Infancy 10. Middle Age
3. Babyhood 11. Old Age
4. Early Childhood
5. Late Childhood
6. Puberty
7. Early Adolescence
8. Late Adolescence
PRENATAL STAGE

 Conception to Birth
 Four things determined:
Hereditary
endowments, sex,
number of offspring,
ordinal position in the
family
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

 Nutritional state of
mother, emotional state
of mother, chromosomal
aberration and genetic
defects
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
 Period of the Zygote – 1st phase of prenatal
development, lasting from conception until the
developing organism becomes firmly attached to the
wall of the uterus.
 Period of the Embryo – 2nd phase of prenatal
development, lasting from the third to the eight
prenatal week, during which the major organs and
anatomical structures take shape.
 Period of the Fetus – 3rd phase of prenatal
development, lasting from the ninth prenatal week
until birth; during this period, all major organ systems
begin to function and the fetus grows rapidly.
INFANCY STAGE

 Birth to two weeks

 Adjustments
 to temperature
 To Breathing
 To eating (sucking)
 To elimination of waste
(moving bowels)
BABYHOOD

 2 weeks to 2 years old

 Rapid Physical Growth
 Increase in
independence
 Decrease in
helplessness
EARLY CHILDHOOD

 2 to 6 years old
 Maximum Learning
stage – minds are like
sponges
 Characterized by
“teachable moments”
 Control of environment
is manifested
LATE CHILDHOOD

Late Childhood
 6 to 10 or 11 years of
age
 Known as “smart age”
 Also known as the
“gang age”
PUBERTY
 Overlaps the end of childhood and the
beginning of adolescence (11 to 13 years
old) – Menstruation in girls
 First Menstruation = Menarche
 Characterized by increase of hormone
activity
 Related to feeling of ambivalence
PUBERTY
 Beginning of Hormonal
Development
 Change in body size,
body proportions,
development of
primary and secondary
sex characteristics and
organs
EARLY ADOLESCENCE

 13 to 17 years old
 “Stormy Age”
 Attainment of sexual
maturity, instability,
unhappiness,
heightened emotions,

 & awkwardness of
movement and
curiosity about sex
LATE ADOLESCENCE

 17 to 21 years old
 Lessened hormonal changes and
growing stability
 Greater stability, less impulsiveness,
toning down of emotional swings
 Desire for congenial heterosexual
relationships
EARLY ADULTHOOD

 From 21 to 40 years of
age
 “Settling Down” Stage
 Adjustment to life of
work
 Adjustment to marriage
 Adjustment to
parenthood
MIDDLE AGE

 40 to 60 years old
 Hormonal Changes –
cessation of sexual
capacities (menopause
for women and
andropause for men.
MIDDLE AGE

 Most productive years

of a person’s life
 Marked by physical and
mental changes
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Old Age
 60 years and onwards

 Decline in physical pattern of behavior and

simple function
 Eccentricities, carelessness, absent-
mindedness, & social withdrawal
 Emotional deprivation, and emergence of
second-childhood