Overview of Human Growth and Development

OVERVIEW OF HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Erford, B. , Hays, D. , Crockett, S. ,Miller, E. (2011). Mastering the National Counselor Examination and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination. Upper Saddle, N. J.: Pearson Education, Inc.

Development1

Involves the changes in human beings between conception and death.

Influenced by genetic and environmental conditions

Described within the physical, cognitive, moral, emotional, personality, and social development domains.

Developmental stages Prenatal period (conception to birth) Infancy (birth to 2 years) Toddlerhood ( 2 – 3 years) Early childhood (3 – 5 years) Middle childhood ( 6 -12 years) Adolescents (13 – 19 years) Young adulthood (19 – 30 years) Middle adulthood (about 30 – 60 years) Late adulthood ( about 60 – 75 years) Old age ( about 75+)

Types of Aging2

Biological aging – metabolic changes Anabolism: the body building to peak

potential and occurs from birth to an age that varies by individual.

Catabolism: the body’s usually slow deterioration from peak through an individual’s death.

Types of Aging cont. Psychological aging: one’s perception of

personal age. E.g. one may “feel” young or “feel” old.

Social aging: how one’s chronological age is viewed within the societal or cultural context and is affected by vocation and socioeconomic status. E.g. how aged citizens are regarded in Eastern cultures vs Western cultures.

Categorizing theories of human development3 Learning theories Cognitive Psychoanalytic (psychodynamic) Humanistic Ethological to study a behavioral process (e.g. aggression) in a number of

unrelated animals rather than one particular animal group.)

Language Development Physical Development Moral Development

Categorizing theories of human development

Nature vs Nurture Continuous Development Discontinuous Development Active and Reactive theories

Special Designs in Human Development Research 4

Case study Naturalistic study Survey research Correlational research Cross-sectional design studies Longitudinal design studies Time-lag studies

The Central Nervous System5

Human development relies heavily on cognitive and physical processes, thus making development and maturation of the central nervous system critical.

Development of the Central Nervous System Central nervous system: Brain and spinal cord Peripheral nervous system: the network of

nerves that connects the central nervous system to the rest of the body (e.g. fingers, arms, toes, legs)

Growth of the brains involves: the addition of new neurons and interconnectedness of these neurons and myelination (i.e. insulation of the neuron to enhance speed of neural transmissions).

The Brain The hindbrain: responsible for life maintenance and

survival functions (medulla oblongata, cerebellum, pons, reticular activating system)

The midbrain: connects the hindbrain and the forebrain, controls eye muscles, relays auditory and visual information to the brain’s center for higher level thinking.

The forebrain: consists of the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for higher order behavior and conscious thought (left and right hemisphere, corpus callosum, cerebral cortex –occipital lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, frontal lobe)

Other structures in the brain Thalamus Limbic system Hypothalamus Amygdala Hippocampus Hemispheric specialization or

lateralization

Genetic disorders6

Autosomal diseases Phenylketonuria Sickle cell anemia Tay-Sachs disease X-linked diseases Sex chromosomal diseases Turner syndrome Klinefelter’s syndrome

Learning theories7

Learning = a relatively permanent change in behavior or thinking resulting from an individual’s experiences.

Learning theorists propose that individuals observe and react to their environment.

Stimulus-response theories and social learning theories.

Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov – studies on the salivation of

dogs when presented with food powder. Classical conditioning experiments Unconditioned Stimulus (US) – meat

powder Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – neutral –

tone, bell.. Conditioned Response (CR)

Establishing a classically conditioned response Simultaneous conditioning: US and CS

presented at the same time. Delayed conditioning: CS begins first but

overlaps presentation of the US – most effective Backward conditioning: The US is presented

before the CS. Extinction Spontaneous recovery Stimulus generalization Stimulus discrimination

John B. Watson “father of American behaviorism” “if you cannot observe it, it doesn’t exist” Development involves learned associations

between stimuli and responses. “Little Albert” experiment – Watson

attempted to condition a phobia into an 11-month-old infant and then attempted to decondition the phobia.

CS (white rat) w/ US (loud noise) caused UR (startled response).

Joseph Wolpe Applied classical conditioning procedures

to psychotherapy The principle of reciprocal inhibition Systematic desensitization Other techniques based on classical

conditioning: counterconditioning; aversive counterconditioning; flooding.

Operant Conditioning Edward L. Thorndike – Law of Effect B.F. Skinner – positive reinforcement;

negative reinforcement; punishment Reinforcers – primary or secondary Reinforcement schedules

Social Learning We observe and learn from what we

experience in the social context by considering new information, constructing meaning from it, and using it in future interactions, frequently without receiving any overt reinforcement.

Albert Bandura John Dollard and Neal Miller

Albert Bandura Social learning theory – based on the

principle that people learn through observation, imitation, and modeling.

An individual can observe a model perform some behavior, then imitate that behavior without receiving any tangible reinforcement, thereby demonstrating new learning even in the absence of a contingency.

Bandura cont. Observational learning: learning through

passive observation. Modeling: demonstrating how a behavior is

performed so that it may be learned and passed on.

Effective modeling: Attention; Retention; Reproduction; Motivation

Modeling more effective: observers and models are of similar demographics or have positive interpersonal attributes

Bandura cont. Self-efficacy: refers to an individual’s

confidence in his or her ability to perform a given behavior or accomplish a given task.

The Dollard and Miller Approach

Influenced by the psychoanalytic, behavioral, and social science

“Drive” or incentive theorists. Anxiety and psychological disturbances were learned from experiences.

As people develop, they form habits that allow them to respond predictably to social and other stimuli.

Three primary types of conflicts: approach-approach; approach-avoidance; avoidance-avoidance.

Cognitive Development8

How individuals construct meaning from their experiences by using thought processes across various developmental levels.

Cognitive complexity is strongly related to reasoning and behavior

Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

J. P. believed that growth in mental development depended on one’s ability to order and classify new information = organization

Adaptation Assimilation Accommodation A schema Equilibrium

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2) Preoperational stage (2 – 7) Concrete operational stage(7 – 11) Formal operational stage (11+ years)

Lev Vygotsky’s Cognitive developmental theory

A Russian psychologist who developed a constructionist, cognitive developmental theory that integrated language as well as social and cultural influences.

Cognitive progress facilitated by language development and occurred in a social context.

Zone of proximal development Scaffolding

Cognition and memory Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory Encode Retrieval theory Interference theory Retroactive inhibition Proactive inhibition Yerkes-Dodson law

Other important concepts in cognitive development

Cognitive dissonance Confirmatory bias Attribution theory Imaginary audience Personal fable Intelligence; crystallized intelligence Creativity

Language development9 Learning theory: children acquire language by

observing and imitating other who are using language

Nativist approach (Noam Chomsky):the human brain is genetically programmed to enable people to create and understand language. Humans have the capacity to learn any language through exposure.

Interactionist approach: a combination of learning and nativist approaches is responsible for language development through social and cultural influences.

Important concept of language development Psycholinguistics Language Semantics Pragmatics Phonology Morphology Dialect Bocca’s area Wernicke’s area Arcuate fasciculus Milestones in early language development Communication disorders

Personality development10

Sigmund Freud – Psychosexual theory Erik Erikson – psychosocial theory Loevinger – ego development theory Maslow’s humanistic theory Ethological theories of Lorenz, Bowlby,

Ainsworth, Harlow

Sigmund Freud (1925) Libido Id Ego Superego Defense mechanisms: repression,

regression, displacement, projection, rationalization, compensation, denial, reaction formation

Freud cont. People must resolve various conflicts

resulting from the psychic or libidinal energy focused within different parts of the body as one matures.

Fixation: an inability to resolve an important conflict, either due to an overgratification or undergratification of a need in any stage.

Oral stage; Anal stage; Phallic stage; Latency stage; Genital stage

Psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson

Focused on an individual’s learned social interactions within the environment as a key influence on ego development

Erikson believed that personality continues to evolve throughout the lifespan and that people can reconstruct their personalities at any stage of the lifespan.

Basic trust vs. distrust; Autonomy vs. sham and doubt; Initiative vs. guilt; Industry vs. inferiority; Identity vs. role confusion; Intimacy vs. Isolation; Generativity vs. stagnation; Integrity vs. Despair.

Ego development theory of Jane Loevinger An ego development stage theory that explained human

personality development progression and fixation: Presocial stage Symbiotic stage Impulsive stage Self-protective stage Conformist stage Self-awareness stage Conscientious Individualistic Autonomous Integrated

Humanistic theory of Abraham Maslow

Holistic and views humans as intrinsically good. People make choices about themselves based on self-

perceptions and perceived circumstances. Hierachy of needs – humans have an innate desire for

self-actualization Physiological, belongingness, esteem, self-

actualization needs. Self-actualization needs not usually met until middle

adulthood (over 60). Characteristics: acceptance of self and others, spontaneity, autonomy, creativeness, resistance to enculturation, problem centering, and continued freshness of appreciation.

Ethological theories of Konrad Lorenz, John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth, Harry Harlow

Konrad Lorenz – experiments on imprinting; duck attaches to first moving object it encounters after hatching; Imprinting is irreversible and example of a critical period or sensitive period.

John Bowlby –infants being born with an innate potential for attachment. Infants have the ability to form a natural bond with a caregiver, thus enabling the infant to explore the environment without fear of abandonment. A failure to attach to a caregiver early in life is believed to affect trust and intimacy in latter development. Three stages in infants exposed to prolonged separations: protest; despair; detachment.

Cont. Mary Ainsworth – four patterns of

attachment: Securely attached Avoidantly attached Ambivalently attached Disorganized attachment

Cont. Harry Harlow – experiments with infant

rhesus monkeys placed in cages with wire surrogate mothers, one with a bottle to provide food and another with a terry cloth covering (comfort and warmth). Preferred contact comfort with the terrycloth monkey.

Ethological theory Is helpful in explaining two normal

developmental phenomena observed in human infants:

Stranger anxiety (6 months –fearful of presence of strangers – enhanced visual acuity, onset of object permanence, increasing cognitive awareness)

Separation anxiety (in infants 1 -2 years; extreme distress when separation from a primary caregiver occurs. Anxiety is short lived after the disappearance of the caregiver.

Identity development Identity means an understanding of oneself as

a separate, distinct individual and springs from a synthesis of successive identifications with other people into a consistent, coherent, and unique whole.

Student, athlete, peer/friend, family member Normative identity Deviant identity Achieved identity Ascribed identity

Sex role and gender role development

Sexual identity – biological features as determined by chromosomal information

Gender identity – psychosocial awareness of one’s maleness or femaleness and thus contains an environmental or cultural component

Gender roles – socially defined behaviors associated wit a particular sex

Androgyny – gender neutral concepts (everyone drives cars, cleans living areas, establishes a career)

Gender role conflict – when an individual feels anxiety and dissonance as previously held gender expectations conflict with changing gender roles.

Social development Prosocial behavior Sociodramatic play Parten (1933) described social play

categories: nonsocial activity; parallel play; associative play; cooperative play.

Adjustment to Aging and Death Disengagement theory Activity theory Atchley (1975) proposed four stages of

retirement: Preretirement Immediately after retirement Periods of enchantment Reorientation

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – on Grief

Shock and denial Anger Bargaining and guilt Hopelessness Acceptance

Moral development Involves an individual’s growing ability to

distinguish right from wrong and to act in accordance with those distinctions.

Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development – most influential

Kohlberg – see 3 levels and 6 stages

Carol GilliganThree stage theory:1. Orientation to Individual Survival2. Goodness as Self-Sacrifice3. Morality of Nonviolence

Jean Piaget’s on morality 1. Premoral stage 2. Moral realism stage 3. Moral relativism stage

Lifespan theories: Individual task development and milestones

Developmental milestone approach by Arnold Gesell

Robert Havighurst’s developmental task approach

Roger Gould’s adult developmental theory Robert Peck’s phase theory of adult

development Daniel Levinson’s adult male development

theory

Women’s development Carol Tavris (1992) – The mismeasure of

woman Carol Gilligan (1982) – In a different

voice, Gail Sheehy (1976) – Passages:

Predictable crises in adult life.

Generational considerations in Human Development

General Issue (GI) generation: 1891 – 1924

Silent Generation: 1925 – 1942 Baby Boomer Generation: 1943 -1960 Generation X: 1961-1981 Millennials (Generation Y): 1982 -2000

Family developments Leaving home Joining families through marriage Welcoming children into the family Raising adolescents Launching Later family life

Parenting influences Authoritarian Authoritative or democratic or

egalitarian Permissive or laissez-faire Uninvolved

Divorce and remarriage Maternal employment Abuse

Crisis, resilience, and wellness Crisis ABC-C model of family crisis and stress

(Hill, 1949) Transcrisis Burnout Compassion Fatigue Vicarious trauma

Risk and resiliency factors The Search Institute (2005): Support Empowerment Boundaries and expectations Constructive use of time Commitment to learning Positive values Social Competence Positive Identity

Wellness Refers to an integration of mind, body, and

spirit resulting in positive well-being. Physical: exercise, nutrition Essential: spirituality, gender identity,

cultural identity, self-care Social: friendship, love Coping: leisure, stress management, self-

worth, realistic beliefs Creative: thinking, emotions, control, work,

positive humor

Disorders usually diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescents Mental retardation Learning disorders Motor skills disorders Pervasive developmental disorders Attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorders Tic disorders Elimination disorders Other disorders of infancy, childhood, or adolescents Separation anxiety disorder See DSM 5 for other mental disorders