HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

- Is the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the
lifespan
- development includes growth and decline

MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. Development is relatively orderly
- it follows a proximo distal and cephalo caudal pattern
2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the outcomes of developmental
processes and the rate of development are likely to vary among individuals
3. Development takes place gradually
4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological, cognitive and socio-
emotional processes.

TWO APPROACHES TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
1. TRADITIONAL APPROACH
- emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence, little to no change in adulthood, and
decline in old age
2. LIFE- SPAN APPROACH
- emphasizes developmental change throughout childhood and adulthood

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE- SPAN DEVELOPMENT
1. Development is lifelong
2. Development is multi-dimentional
3. Development is plastic
4. Development is contextual
5. Development involves growth, maintenance and regulation

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENTAL TASK

1. PRE- NATAL PERIOD (from conception to birth)
- It involves tremendous growth from a single cell to an organism complete with brain and
behavioral capabilities

2. INFANCY (from birth to 18-24mos)
-A time of extreme dependence on adults
- Many psychological activities are just beginning- language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor
coordination and social learning

3. EARLY CHILDHOOD (end of infancy to 5-6 yrs)
-These are the pre- school years
-Young children learn to become more self- sufficient and to care for themselves, develop
school readiness skills and spend many hours in play with peers

4. MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD ( 6-11 yrs of age, the elementary school years)
- Mastery of fundamental skills such as reading, writing, maths.
-Exposed to large world and associated culture.
-Self-control increases and emphasis on achievement.


5. ADOLESCENCE ( 10-12 yrs of age ending up to 18-22 yrs of age)
- Begins with rapid physical changes- dramatic gains in height and weight changes in body
contour and the development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement of the breast,
development of pubic and facial hair, and deepening of the voice
- Pursuit of independence and identity are prominent
- Thought is more logical, abstarct and idealistic
- More time is spent outside of the family

6. EARLY ADULTHOOD ( from late teens or early 20s lasting to 30s)
- it is a time of establishing personal and economic independence, career development,
selecting a mate, learning to live with someone in an intimate way, starting a family and rearing
children

7. MIDDLE ADULTHOOD ( 40- 60 yrs of age)
- It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next
generation in becoming competent and mature individuals; and of reaching satisfaction in a career

8. LATE ADULTHOOD (60S and above)
- It is a time for adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, and adjustment
to new social roles.

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
- Sigmund Freud (1961) - Father of Psychiatry
- First to identify personality development by stages
- First 5 years of Childs life is considered to be the most important in development of personality
since all basic characters are developed in first 5 years of age.

STRUCTURE / COMPONENETS OF PERSONALITY

1. ID
- The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our
basic needs met.
- Id is based on our pleasure principle (In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the
time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation.)
- When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs
to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just
wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.
2. EGO
- Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second
part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego.
- The ego is based on the reality principle.
- The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being
impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run.
- Its the ego's job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the
situation.
3. SUPER EGO
- By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the Superego develops.
- The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints
placed on us by our caregivers/ parents.
- It is likened to conscience because it exerts influence on what one considers right or wrong

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE MIND

1. CONSCIOUS
- It includes all memories that remain within an individuals awareness.
- It is the smallest of all the three levels.
- Events and experiences that are easily remembered or retrieved are considered to be with in
ones Conscious awareness.
- Examples: Telephone numbers, Birthdays of self and Significant others.
- The conscious mind is thought to be under the control of ego, the rational and logical structure
of the personality.

2. PRECONSCIOUS
- It includes all memories that may have been forgotten or are not in present awareness, but
with attention, can readily be recalled into consciousness.
- Example: Feelings associated with significant life events that may have occurred sometimes
in the past.
- It is thought to be partially under the control of the super ego, which helps to suppress the
unacceptable thoughts and behaviors.

3. UNCONSCIOUS
- It includes all memories that one is unable to bring to conscious awareness.
- It is the largest of the three topographical levels.
- Unconscious material consists of unpleasant memories or non essential memories that can be
repressed and can be retrieved only through therapy, hypnosis and with certain substances
that alter the awareness and have the capacity to restructure repressed memories.
- Unconscious material may also emerge in dreams and in seemingly incomprehensible
behavior.

The Psychosexual Stages of Development

- Freud felt our development was driven by sexual energy, or libido
- At particular points in the developmental process, a single body part is particularly sensitive to
sexual, erotic stimulation, and is referred to as the erogenous zone
- The child's libido centers on behavior affecting the primary erogenous zone of his age; he
cannot focus on the primary erogenous zone of the next stage without resolving the
developmental conflict of the immediate one.
- Fixation refers to a persistent focus of the ids pleasure-seeking energies on an earlier stage
of psychosexual development. A fixation occurs when an issue or conflict in a psychosexual
stage remains unresolved, leaving the individual focused on this stage and unable to move
onto the next stage.

1. Oral stage: (birth-18 months): erogenous zone is the mouth and sucking and biting lead to
satisfaction
- oral receptive- a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, and overeat
- oral aggressive- tendency to bite his /her nails, use curse or even gossips.
- primary conflict: weaning : deprives the child of the sensory pleasures of
nursing and of the psychological pleasure of being cared for, mothered, and held

2. Anal Stage (18-36 months): obsession with the erogenous zone of the anus and with the
retention or expulsion of the feces- conflict with parents/societal pressures
- anal expulsive character: messy, disorganized, reckless, careless, and defiant.
- anal retentive character: neat, precise, orderly, careful, stingy, withholding,
obstinate, meticulous, and passive- aggressive
- The resolution of the anal stage permanently affects the individual propensities
to possession and attitudes towards authority.

2. Phallic Stage: (3- 6 years):
- The phallic stage is the setting for the greatest, most crucial sexual conflict in Freud's
model of development. In this stage, the child's erogenous zone is the genital region.
- The conflict, labeled the Oedipus complex (The Electra complex in women),
involves the child's unconscious desire to possess the opposite-sexed parent and
to eliminate the same-sexed one.
- Castration anxiety- the fantasized fear of injury or loss of the genital organs, often as
the reaction to a repressed feeling of punishment for forbidden sexual desires.
- Employs the defense mechanism of identification, becoming as much like the same
sex parents as possible, indoctrinating them into their appropriate sexual role in
life.
- Fixation at the phallic stage develops a phallic character, who is reckless, resolute,
self-assured, and narcissistic--excessively vain and proud.
- Failure to resolve the conflict can also cause a person to be afraid or incapable of close
love;
- Freud also postulated that fixation could be a root cause sexual deviances ( both
overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused identity

4. Latency Period ( 6yrs- puberty):
- a period in which the sexual drive lies dormant.
- during the latency period, children pour this repressed libidinal energy into asexual
pursuits such as school, athletics, and same-sex friendships.

5. Genital Stage (puberty onwards):
- Sexual urges are once awakened
- In the earlier stages, adolescents focus their sexual urges towards the opposite sex
peers, with the pleasure centered on the genitals.