GENERAL

PRINCIPLES OF
HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT

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DEFINING DEVELOPMENT
Development = changes occurring throughout the lifespan
orderly
adaptive

Physical, cognitive, social

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 Development is orderly and somewhat predictable.
GENERAL Children develop at different rates.

PRINCIPL Development occurs in spurts and plateaus.

ES Heredity and environment interact.

 Maturation = genetically programmed aspects of development

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 ENVIRON
MENTAL “Bronfenbrenner’s theory”

INFLUENC “Layers” of environment affect development

 family
E:  neighborhood/community
 state/province and country
BIOECOLO Influence of culture in all layers
GICAL Dynamic interaction between and among layers
SYSTEMS
THEORY
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The child brings certain individual characteristics (e.g.,
unique temperaments and physiological features) and age-
related developmental acquisitions (e.g., cognitive abilities
and interpersonal skills) that influence the child’s
behaviors in any given situation.
The child is regularly immersed in certain microsystems—
certain everyday contexts (e.g., family, school, friendships)
that both influence and are influenced by the child’s
characteristics and behaviors.

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The microsystems in which a child lives and grows
influence one another in what Bronfenbrenner has
called a mesosystem.
For example, a temperamentally hyperactive child
might initially elicit stringent disciplinary actions at
school (one microsystem) but concerned parents
(another microsystem) might actively seek out the
child’s teachers and suggest alternative strategies that
can channel the child’s behaviors into productive
activities.

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Encompassing the day-to-day contexts in which a child
lives, works, and plays is a broader exosystem, which
includes people and institutions that indirectly affect the
child’s development through their influences on various
microsystems.
For example, the nature of parents’ employment can affect
their ability to provide adequate living quarters, nutrition,
and health care for their family, and a good social support
network can give parents assistance, and emotional support
in challenging circumstances. Meanwhile, local and federal
agencies and policies may or may not support teachers and
schools in their efforts to nurture children’s cognitive
development and social well-being.

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A child’s exosystem is enmeshed within an even
broader macrosystem, which includes a society’s
general beliefs, ideological perspectives, and behavior
patterns, as well as far-reaching current events (e.g.,
war, migration patterns, ongoing social or political
strife).

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Children and the systems in which they grow up are
by no means static entities. Instead, they all change
over time—in part because they influence one another
—in what Bronfenbrenner has called a chronosystem

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For example, teachers’ instructional practices might change as academic researchers
report new research findings, government agencies might provide websites that help
parents and teachers more effectively foster children’s cognitive development, and
society’s general beliefs and practices can change as two or more subgroups
regularly interact.
In general, children’s environments are dynamic systems encompassing mutually
influencing variables that are in constant flux.

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Culture is pervasive in many aspects of a child’s home environment—for instance,
in the behaviors parents and other family members encourage, the disciplinary
practices parents use, the books children have access to, the television shows they
watch, and so on.

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Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems: 5 Forces Impacting Our Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6pUQ4EDHeQ

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THE ROLE OF THE
BRAIN
THE BRAIN IS MADE UP OF SEVERAL
TRILLION CELLS
Neurons
Communicate across synapses
via release of neurotransmitters
Grouped for specialized function

Glial cells
Enhance the functioning of neurons
“Keep the brain going”

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THE BRAIN AND LEARNING
Many parts of the brain are specialized, but they work in harmony.
Complex, conscious thinking takes place primarily in the cortex,
which rests on the top and sides of the brain like a thick, lumpy toupee.
The part of the cortex located just behind the forehead, known as the
prefrontal cortex, is largely responsible for a wide variety of very
human activities, including sustained attention, planning, reasoning,
decision making, coordination of complex activities, and inhibition of
nonproductive thoughts and behaviors.

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Brain 101 | National Geographic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRFXSjkpKWA

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Learning involves changes in neurons, glial cells, and synapses.
Changes in the brain enable development of thought processes.
synaptogenesis & pruning
myelination
 The brain is adaptable throughout life.

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How do nerves work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU_4uA6-zcE

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Neurons begin to form synapses long before a child is born. But shortly after birth, the rate
of synapse formation increases dramatically. Neurons sprout new dendrites in many
directions, and so they come into contact with a lot of their neighbors, especially in the first
2 or 3 years of life.
Much of this early synaptogenesis appears to be driven primarily by genetic programming
rather than by learning experiences. Thanks to synaptogenesis, children in the elementary
grades have many more synapses than adults do.

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As children encounter different stimuli and experiences in their daily lives,
some synapses come in quite handy and are used repeatedly.
Others are largely useless, and these gradually fade away through another
genetically driven process known as synaptic pruning, a process that
continues throughout the elementary and secondary school years and into
adulthood.
Most synaptic pruning is a good thing—not a bad one—because it eliminates
“nuisance” synapses that are inconsistent with typical environmental events
and appropriate responses.

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Another important developmental process in the brain is myelination.
When neurons first develop, their axons have no myelin sheath.
As they acquire this myelin over time, they fire much more quickly, greatly
enhancing the brain’s overall efficiency.
Myelination continues throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood,
especially in the cortex.

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1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNNsN9IJkws
2. Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_5u8-QSh6A&t=1s
3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwFkcOZHJw

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