Developmental Process by King Kashif

Somebody asked me about the clear cut difference between Growth and Maturation. I thought I should
share it here on this group aswell so if anyone else has got similar problem, they should benefit from it.
Okay, so Growth and maturation are parts of a Deelopmental !rocess. " deelopmental process of a
child is drien by Growth, Maturation and "daptation. I will briefly e#plain these three now.
Growth: It is actually the oerall increase in the body si$e with changes in muscle, bone and fat etc
and this affects our motor skills. In case you don%t know what motor skills are, I will briefly e#plain
them for you. &ell, a motor skill is actually an organism%s ability to utili$e its skeletal muscles'"
muscle attached to skeleton( to produce a smooth, efficient action. )or e#ample, when you are walking,
you are making use of your motor skills.
Growth is complicated because different parts of the body grow at different rates* and periods of
growth start and stop at different times.
Maturation: It is the genetically programmed series of changes leading to maturity. "ctually, these
changes occur in the same sequence in each and eery person, but there are great indiidual
differences in timing. )or e#ample, all of us, especially girls, remember the day we entered our puberty,
but did we all enter into our puberty at same age+ ,o, some might hae entered into their puberty at -.
while some at -/, for e#ample.
0o make it easier for you, I will gie you an e#ample here.
1ou and I are about to race. 0he route that we are going to go through is from location " to 2. ,ow of
course, as I run faster I will reach first at my destination 2. 3ut you and I are going to follow the same
route. &e are going to start off at ", then reach 3, then 4 and eentually reach 2. &e must follow the
same se5uence. 0he only difference here is that as an indiidual I might reach eery destination first
than you could. Similarly is the case with Maturation. &e are programmed with a se5uence of steps
that must happen in that se5uence.
Adaptation: It occurs as a result of e#ternal rather than genetic factors. )or e#ample, when you go
through some intensie training, adaptation to that situation occurs. "nother e#ample would be that you
were not genetically programmed to become a 4S!, but you worked hard and became one. 0his is
adaptation.
If you hae any other 5uestions or concerns in !sychology, you could email me at linu#tist6gmail.com
howeer I can not guarantee a reply to each and eery 5uestion. "lso, I am no authority on psychology,
I am 7ust a person who loes psychology and eerything related to it. !lease read the disclaimer below.
Disclaimer: Although I have made every effort to ensure that the information in this short
explanation was correct, I do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any one for any loss,
damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from
negligence, accident, or any other cause.