Motor Development
GROWTH:
o Growth refers to physical increase in some quantity over time. It includes changes in
terms of height, weight, body proportions and general physical appearance.
DEVELOPMENT:
o Development refers to the qualitative changes in the organism as whole.
o Development is a continuous process through which physical, emotional and intellectual
changes occur.
o It is a more wider and comprehensive term than growth. It is also possible without
growth.
Comparison of Growth and Development
GROWTH DEVELOPMENT
Growth refers to physiological changes. Development refers to overall changes in the
individual.
It involves changes in an orderly and
coherent type towards the goal of maturity.
Changes in the quantitative respect is termed Development changes in the quality along
as growth. with quantitative aspect.
Growth does not continue throughout life Development continues throughout life.
Growth stops after maturation. Development is progressive.
Growth occurs due to the multiplication of Development occurs due to both maturation
cells. and interaction with the environment.
Growth is cellular Development is organizational.
Growth is one of the part of the Development is a wider and comprehensive
developmental process. term.
Growth may be referred to describe the Development describes the changes in the
changes in particular aspects of the body and organism as a whole.
behavior of the organism.
The changes produced by growth are Development brings qualitative changes
subjects of measurements. They may be which are difficult to measure directly. They
quantified and observable in nature. are assessed through keen observation of
behavior in different situations.
Growth may or may not bring development. Development is possible without growth.
Principle of human development
1. Development involves change:-
– The human being is undergoing changes from the moment of conception to the time of
death.
– There are different types of change occur such as, changes in size, proportions,
disappearance of old features and acquisition of new features etc.
2. Development is a continuous process:-
– Development continues throughout the life of an individual. This process takes place in
interaction with the environment in which a person lives.
– One stage of development is the basic framework for the next stage of development.
3. Development follows a direction and uniform pattern in an orderly manner:-
– Development proceeds from the center of the body outward.
– This is the principle of proximodistal development that describes the direction of
development (from nearer to far apart). It means that the spinal cord develops before
outer parts of the body. The child’s arms develop before the hands and the hands and
feet develop before the fingers and toes.
– Development proceeds from the head downwards. This is called the cephalocaudal
principle. According to this principle, development occurs from head to tail. The child
gains control of the head first, then the arms and then the legs.
4. Individual Differences in the Development Process:-
– Even though the pattern of development is similar for all children but the rate of
development varies among children. Each child develops as per his abilities and
perception of his environment.
– Children different from each other both genetically and environmentally.
– So, both biological factor and environmental situations have their impact on individual’s
development which leads to individual differences in development.
5. Development depends on maturation and learning:-
– Maturation refers to the sequential characteristic of biological growth and
development.
– The biological changes occur in sequential order and give children new abilities. Changes
in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes in the
brain and nervous system account largely for maturation.
– The child’s environment and the learning that occurs as a result of the child’s
experiences largely determine whether the child will reach optimal development.
– An enriched environment and varied experiences help the child to develop his/her
potential.
6. Development is predictable:-
– Human development is predictable during the life span. Although this development is
influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, however, it takes place in a pre-
defined manner.
– Specific areas of development, such as: different aspects of motor development,
emotional behavior, speech, social behavior, concept development, goals, intellectual
development etc. follow predictable patterns.
– For example, the growth of the child in height and weight etc. continue up to a certain
age. In general, it is also found that all children follow a commonality in the
development periods of life. All children generally grow following the periods like
prenatal period and postnatal period. The postnatal period includes infancy, babyhood,
childhood, puberty and so on.
7. Early development is more critical than later development:-
– Milton writes " The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day." Similarly,
Erikson views
– "Childhood is the scene of man’s beginning as man." He explains that if parents gratify
the needs of the child for food, attention and love etc.
8. Development involves social expectations:-
– In every society there are certain rules, standards and traditions which everyone is
expected to follow.
– Social expectations are otherwise known as "developmental tasks".
– Having Hurst defines developmental task as a "task which arises at or about a certain
period in the life of an individual.
– Developmental tasks arise mainly
a. as a result of physical maturation,
b. form the cultural pressures of society,
c. out of the personal values and aspirations of the individual
9. Development has potential hazards:-
– Development may be hampered by various hazards.
– Hazards may be of physical, environmental or psychological type. These hazards may be
originated from the environment in which the child grows or due to hereditary factors.
They have negative impact on physical as well as sociopsychological development of the
child.
– The growth of the child may be retarded, he may be an aggressive person or he may
encounter adjustment problems. For example, if a child is slurring or stammering and
parents neglect the child, the child may continue with this problem.
[Link] varies at different periods of development:-
– Happiness varies at different periods in the development process. Childhood is the
happiest period of life and puberty is the most unhappy.
– The patterns of happiness vary from child to child and it is influenced by the rearing
process of the child
Paul B. Baltes stated six principles of development of life span approach. The six principles of
development are mentioned below:
1) Development is a lifelong process- Development is a process which continues
throughout life. It begins at birth and ends in death of an individual.
2) Development includes both gain and loss during life span. The child may develop in one
area and lose in another area.
3) Development is influenced by the biological factor and environmental situations- The
human development is influenced by biological and environmental factors. For example,
the body strength of the child develops in the early period but may deteriorate during
old age.
4) Development involves changing allocation of resources. It states that during different
developmental periods, resources such as; time, money, social support etc. are used
differently. For example, during old age people require more money to maintain their
proper health.
5) Development can be modified- This principle reveals that through proper training
development can be modified. For example, an individual can maintain his proper
health by doing different exercises even in old age.
6) Development is based upon historical and cultural environment-The child grows,
develops, acquires knowledge about the traditions, rules, regulations of society
according to his historical and cultural environment
Factors affecting human development
1-Hereditary Factors:-
o genetically transmitted characteristics from one generation to the next. The physical
characteristics like height, weight, eye color etc. and psychological characteristics such
as intelligence, personality, creativity and so on are innately determined and hereditary.
o The genetic code provides the base on which brain and body grow and manifest in
observable appearance and behavior.
2-Environmental Factors:-
o Another important factor of human development is the environment where an
individual lives.
3-Home Environment
o The environment of the family can be supportive or stressful for the child.
o If it is supportive, warm and harmonious environment, the child develops normally.
o In unsupportive and stressful home environment, broken families or uncaring parents in
the family, children may develop as maladjusted persons.
4-Cultural Factors:-
o Culture refers to a system of beliefs, attitudes and values that are transmitted from one
generation to the next.
o It is a product of past human behavior and is also a shaper of future aspirations
o For example, greeting someone is a familiar experience but behavioral experiences are
different in different cultures. In Indian culture, people greet others by saying namaskar,
folding hands or lying down near the feet but in Western culture, people greet by
handshake or kissing or saying hello etc.
5-Socioeconomic Status (SES):-
o Socioeconomic Status plays a pivotal role in human development. The index of
socioeconomic status is determined by parental education, occupation and income.
6-Normative influences:-
o Normative influences occur in a similar way for majority of people in a particular group.
These influences may be biological or environmental.
o For example, biological events like sexual maturity or deterioration in old age.
o Environmental events, like entering the school at about 6 yrs. of age, parenthood etc.
have the same influences on individuals.
o Most of the people of the same age, at same place and time and generation have
common biological and environmental influence such as floods, famines and other
natural disasters.
o Non normative influences include the unusual life events in an individual’s life. For
example, death of a parent when a child is young or birth defects etc.
Education and Training:-
Each child is equipped with certain abilities which need to be nurtured through proper
education and training.
Therefore, the first and foremost step is to identify and recognize the ability of the child and
the next step is to provide adequate opportunities to develop the same. If proper
identification of the ability is not
possible and adequate facilities are not available to the child, then his innate ability may not
be developed. Thus, adequate education and training have influence on human development.
PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT
Perhaps you have three: infancy, childhood, and teenagers.
Developmentalists(those that study development)break this part of the life span into these
five stages as follows:
1. Prenatal Development (conception through birth)
2. Infancy and Toddlerhood (birth through two years)
3. Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)
4. Middle Childhood (6 to 11 years)
5. Adolescence (12 years to adulthood)
This list reflects unique aspects of the various stages of childhood and adolescence that will be
explored in this book. So, while both an 8-month-old and an 8-year-old are considered
children, they have very different motor abilities, social relationships, and cognitive skills. Their
nutritional needs are different and their primary psychological concerns are also distinctive.
Prenatal Development
□ Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are
forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern.
□ Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth
defects), and labor and delivery are primary concerns
Infancy and toddlerhood
□ The two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change.
□ A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a
walking, talking toddler within a relatively short period of time.
□ Caregivers are also transformed from someone who manages feeding and sleep
schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic
child
Early Childhood
□ Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years and consists of the years which
follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling. As a three to five-year-old, the child
is busy learning language, is gaining a sense of self and greater independence, and is
beginning to learn the workings of the physical world.
□ This knowledge does not come quickly, however, and preschoolers may initially have
interesting conceptions of size, time, space and distance such as fearing that they may
go down the drain if they sit at the front of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long
something will take by holding out their two index fingers several inches apart.
□ A toddler's fierce determination to do something may give way to a four-year-old's
sense of guilt for action that brings the disapproval of others.
