FBS 1113

 A new born passes through various stages of

development like infancy, childhood, adolescence
period, adult hood and old age.
 In each of these stages there is physical, mental,
cognitive, emotional, motivational and
personality development.
(CONTD)
 The field of psychology that deals with
development of human beings is the
developmental psychology.
 Developmental psychology deals with the study of
age-related changes in behavior and mental
processes throughout the life span from conception
to death.
 PERSPECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT:

1.Nature or nurture:
 The naturists argue that human behavior and
development are governed by automatic,
genetically predetermined signals in a process
known as maturation.
 On the other hand the nurturist argue that the
development occurs by learning through
observation and experience.
(CONTD)

2.Continuity or stages:
 Some believe that development is
continuous with new abilities, skills and
knowledge gradually added at a relatively
uniform pace.
 Others believe development occurs at
different rates alternating between periods
of little change and periods of abrupt rapid
change.
3. Stability or change:
 Some say personality keeps changing on
maturation while others say its constant.
Factors influencing human development:
 Culture
 Society
 Heredity
 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

i. Prenatal Conception to birth

ii. Infancy Birth to 18 months
iii. Childhood 18 months to 12 years
iv. Adolescence 12-20 years
v. Adulthood 20-60 years
vi. Old age 60 years till death
 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

1.PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT:
Begins with conception and passes
through:
 Germinal period- from
fertilization till implantation of
the zygote in the uterine wall.
 Embryonic period- from
implantation to 8 weeks.
 Fetal period- from 3rd month till
end of pregnancy.
2. INFANCY AND CHILD HOOD:
 The key areas of development in infancy and
childhood are brain, motor and
sensory/perceptual development.

I) Brain development:
 A new born’s brain is ¼ its full adult size and will
grow to about 75% of its adult size by 2 years.
ii) Motor development:
 A new born baby born only with reflexes
transforms, into an active toddler capable of
crawling walking and climbing.
iii) Sensory and perceptual
development:
 Sense of touch, pain,
hearing, smell and taste
are highly developed in new
born.
 Sense of sight develops
little slowly and reaches
near adult level by the age
of 2.
3. ADOLESCENCE:

 Puberty or period of adolescence is when a person

becomes capable of reproduction, is a major
milestone for everyone.
 The growth spurt is characterized by drastic changes
in height, weight, breast development and
menstruation for girls and deepening voice and
beard growth for boys which are also called as
secondary sex characteristics.
4. MIDDLE AGE:
 For women- menopause, the cessation of the
menstrual cycle occurs between ages 45-55 and is
the second important life milestone in physical
development.
 For men- the physical changes of middle age are
less obvious. From middle adulthood there is
decline in the production of sperm and
testosterone.
5. OLD AGE:

There are two theories explaining aging:

Programmed theory:
• It says aging is genetically controlled.
• All human cells seem to have a built-in
life span.
Damage theory:
• Proposes that accumulation of damage
to cells and organs over a period of years
ultimately causes aging and death.
 ROLE OF HEREDITY IN DEVELOPMENT:

“Heredity is the biological process whereby genetic

factors are transmitted from one generation to
the next ”
 Everyone’s uniqueness and individuality depends
on the interaction of the many chemical
structures found inside our cells.
 Scientists learn about chromosomes, genes and
DNA in order to explain heredity.
 Genes are the basic unit of heredity.
 It is made up of certain sequence of DNA or RNA.
 Heredity is the passing on of gene from one
generation to the next.
 These gene factors are also known as traits.
 Human beings inherit behavior, mental and
physical traits.
 There are some traits that are inherited no matter
what, whereas the others if inherited affects the
way an individual grows or functions.
 Heredity is also the cause of many human
diseases and disorders.
 Hereditary Diseases occurs when there is a
defective gene
 structural defects, changes in the number of
chromosomes (more or less than normal),
interaction of genes with drugs, radiation,
vitamin deficiency, or due to viruses.
The Austrian monk,Gregor Mendel
proposed the Laws of Heredity.

They are:
1. Heredity factors do not mix but
remain segregated
2. Some factors are dominant and
others are recessive.
3. A species of parental
generation pass on half
of its hereditary
factors to each
offspring.
4. Different offspring of
the same parents
receive different sets
of hereditary factors.
i) Phenylketonuria (PKU)
 Phenylketonuria (PKU) is characterized by a deficiency in the
enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH).
 This enzyme is necessary to metabolize the amino acid
phenylalanine to the amino acid tyrosine.
 When PAH is deficient, phenylalanine accumulates and is
converted into phenylpyruvate (also known as
phenylketone), which is detected in the urine.
 Left untreated, this condition can cause problems with brain
development, leading to progressive mental retardation and
seizures.
ii) Down syndrome
 Down syndrome is set of mental and physical symptoms that
result from having an extra copy of chromosome 21.
 Symptoms of Down syndrome can range from mild to
severe.
 Usually, mental development and physical development are
slower in people with Down syndrome than in those without
it.
 They may be born with heart disease, dementia, hearing
problems and problems with the intestines, eyes, thyroid and
skeleton.
 The chance of having a baby with Down syndrome increases
as a woman gets older.
 Down syndrome cannot be cured.
iii) Hemophilia
 A rare inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does
not clot normally.
 Persons with hemophilia may bleed for a longer time than
others after an injury or accident. They also may bleed
internally, especially in the joints (knees, ankles, and
elbows).
 Babies born with hemophilia are missing or have a low level
of a protein needed for normal blood clotting or blood
coagulation.
 Hemophilia usually occurs only in males .
 A person with hemophilia has a problem with certain
proteins in the blood called clotting factors.
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