Development

DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES A CONTINUING PROCESS OF REORGANIZATION

May be structural (prenatal development from embryo to fetus)

May be behavioral (development of cries into full-blown language)

DEVELOPMENT THE RESULT OF THE INTERACTION OF NATURE, NURTURE, AND DEVELOPMENTAL UNKNOWNS

Nature – genetic endowment, people’s physiology, neurology, etc.

Nurture – People’s learning, the environmental forces to which they are exposed

Developmental unknowns – Those elements allowing for development that are neither nature nor nurture

THERE ARE TWO DIRECTIONS OR GRADIENTS OF DEVELOPMENT:

• Cephalocaudal
• – Head to toe; development begins at the head end of the person and moves downward toward the feet and toes

• Proximodistal
• – Development occurs first in the middle of the organism and then proceeds to the extremities (arms and hands, legs and feet)

• SEVERAL AREAS OR CATEGORIES OF DEVELOPMENT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED
• Early LAP: sees six (6) areas of development:
• Gross motor- large muscle activities
• Fine motor – small muscle activities
• Self help – child’s ability to help self in toileting, eating, dressing, and the like
• Social – child’s ability to interact with others and influence others socially
• Language – ability of child to communicate, both receptively (understand) and expressively (use oral language to communicate)
• Cognitive – how well the child understands the way the world works and the “laws of science”

• Denver Developmental Screening Test says that 4 areas comprise development:
• Personal social – a combination of LAP’s social and self-help areas
• Fine motor-adaptive – combining the LAP’s fine motor and cognitive areas
• Language – similar to LAP’s view of receptive and expressive language
• Gross motor – how well the chid can use his or her large muscles

• The Bayley Scales of Infant Development see development being made up of 3 areas:
• Mental development – how aware the child is of the world and how the child can use this awareness to accomplish objectives
• Motor development – how well the child uses and controls both big and small muscles
• Social orientation – the child’s recognition and response to the social context of his or her behavior and the people in that context

The point of the above discussion of approaches to organizing areas of behavior is to suggest that such categories are inventions to help understand and describe development. They do not represent naturally occurring areas of development but rather a short-hand method of bringing order and understanding of how children develop.

The sequence of development appears to be universal, the RATE of development seems very individualistic.

These factors concern the workings of NATURE. Can distinguish between genetics and inheritance in the following fashion.

Genetics: The mechanics or biology of heredity

• •The control of characteristics of structure and potential from one generation to the next is accomplished by DNA organizes into genes located on the chromosomes.
• ∆ There are 46 chromosomes in every cell of the human body, with the exception of the reproductive cells (sperm and ovum)
• ∆ These 46 chomosomes are organized into 23 pairs; 22 autosomal chromosomes and one sex-determining pair
• ∆ Each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes is made up of one member from the mother and one member from the father.

• •Reproductive cells contain only 23 single chromosomes; 22 autosomal and 1 sex-determining.
• • When conception occurs, the 23 chromosomes from the mother (ovum) and the 23 from the father (sperm) mix to provide the resultant offspring a normal number of 46.

INHERITANCE: The rules or regularities of heredity

• • Several approaches used to understand how particular characteristics come to be expressed in an individual.
• • One model speaks of the expression of characteristics reflecting the action of the Major genes (with one pair of genes operating to control the expression of some characteristic.
• ∆ Characteristics are DOMINANT or RECESSIVE.
• ∆ Dominant inheritance means a characteristic controlled by a gene will be expressed no matter what the genetic code is of the other gene pair. The characteristic which is dominant dominates the other gene.
• ∆ A Recessive characteristic will be expressed only if both members of the gene pair possess the same coding.

• • The Polygenic approach sees the expression of a characteristic as determined by the interaction of several gene pairs working together.
• ∆ Several gene pairs determine the characteristic
• ∆ These several pairs determine a "range of potential outcomes" in regards the expression of a trait or characteristic.
• ∆ The particular outcome seen also reflects the influence of the environment.
• • Sex-linked or X-linked inheritance sees certain characteristics as being expressed differentially in males and females.
• ∆ Suggests that certain traits are recessive in nature and located on an "X" sex-determining chromosome.
• ∆ In the female (XX), it is likely that a gene controlling a "normal" characteristic will dominate this gene (with normal gene contained on the second "X" sex-determining chromosome).
• ∆ In males (XY), it is much more likely that "abnormal" characteristic will be expressed, as it is more likely to have no normal gene to offset it.
• ∆ In males missing "leg" of "Y" sex-determining chromosome does not contain "normal" gene.

• PHYSIOLOGICAL:
• Genetic Neurological
• Glandular Maturational

• ENVIRONMENTAL
• Social Cultural
• Affectional Physical

• PSYCHOLOGICAL
• Personality Cognition
• Intelligence Values and attitudes

• METAPHYSICAL
• Source of life Life-forces
• Life Choices Life values

• Biology and Experience
• · NATURE: The biological “givens” (genetics, inheritance, physiological structure) that provide for development

· NUTURE: The experiences a person has (learning, relationships, context interaction) that provides for development

Connectedness vs. Discontinuity in development

· Is development connected and continuious (i.e. earlier development related to and predictive of later development)?

· Is there QUALITATIVE changes in development with new and unique characteristics emerging?

· Or is development more a QUANTITATIVE process, with development resulting in “more of the same” in terms of abilities or characteristics?

What is the level of study in terms of describing and explaining development

· Is explanation at the molar level, with a few general statements leading to specific predictions (For example, Heinz Werner’s general laws of development)?

• · Or is explanation at the molecular level, with investigation of an individual’s specific development, with commonalities collected and turned into a more
• general statement of developmental change (Daniel Levinson’s investigation of specific middle-aged adult men’s development, with those insights gathered into
• a more general statement of how development occurs during middle adulthood)?

What “frame of reference” should we adopt in studying development?

· Should we look at development from the point of view of the developing individual? (Subjective frame [Qualitative approach])

· Should we examine phenomena from an external point of view (Objective frame [Quantitative approach])

TRAIT MODELS (Costa and McCrae, 1990) – This approach suggests there are five traits that are consistent throughout development, with this consistency predicting the evolution or development of personality across the lifespan

NEUROTICISM – This trait associated with anxiety, depression, hostility, vulnerability, impulsiveness, and self-consciousness

EXTRAVERSION- This characteristic is related to excitement seeking, assertiveness, activity, warmth, positive emotions and gregariousness

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE – This involves fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas and values

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS – Related to achievement striving, deliberation, competence, self-discipline, order, dutifulness.

AGREEABLENESS – This trait associated with altruism, compliance, tender-mindedness, straightforwardness, trust, and modesty

Costa and McCrae found much stability in these five domains. They did report some shift in personality during the latter part of young adulthood. They concluded that personality takes its final form sometime during the decade of the twenties.

NORMATIVE CRISIS model: This approach sees everyone following the same basic “ground plan” for development, with the details of the particular stage changing

This ground plan consists of a sequence of age-related social and emotional changesChanges are “normative” in that they seem common to most members of a population and they emerge in successive periods, phases or stages, with emotional crises often requiring resolution for development to continue.Theories of Erikson, Vaillant, and Levinson are examples of theories employing normative-crisis approach.

TIMING OF EVENTS model: This approach views life events as markers of development

• In childhood and adolescence, internal maturational events signal transition from one developmental stage to the next. In adulthood, according to this
• approach, adults develop in response to the times in their lives when key events do or do not occurSuch events, if they occur more or less when they are “supposed to” occur are “on time” (i.e. graduation from high school, entry into first job sometime during early adulthood). Events that occur at unexpected times are considered to be “off-time” (widowhood in the 20’s , parenthood in the early teens or early 40’s, premature physical decline in middle adulthood).

• So events can be of two types:
• NORMATIVE LIFE EVENTS – those events that happen to most adults, such as parenthood, employment, retirement
• NON-NORMATIVE LIFE EVENTS – events that are not anticipated, such as a traumatic accident, an unanticipated promotion, winning the lotterySometimes cultural events that happen not just to individuals but to entire societies may also influence development (economic depression, war, natural disasters, famine, or even
• something less dramatic, such as onset of “information age.”)Issue not really what the life event is, but rather when it happens in the person’s life. There certainly is a cultural element, which determines the “right” times for certain happeningsIn past 50-70 years, the definition of what is “right time” for certain events has become much less restrictive, so that “timing” issue not as clear cut as it once was (parenthood, education, retirement)

• HUMANISTIC model: This approach conceptualize the person as continually developing, with the potential to develop to the fullest extent possible. This approach
• emphasizes the human qualities of the person being able to take charge of their own circumstance and foster their own development (Example is Maslow)