Human Growth and Development Workbook
FOREWORD
Human development can be described as the pattern of movement or change that
begins at conception and continues throughout the lifespan. This includes growth,
decline and finally death.
Some developmental specialists focus on physical development, examining the ways in
which the body’s makeup—the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the
need for food, drink, and sleep—helps determine behaviour. For example, one
specialist in physical development might examine the effects of malnutrition on the
pace of growth in children, while another might look at how athletes’ physical
performance declines during adulthood. Other developmental specialists examine
cognitive development, seeking to understand how growth and change in intellectual
capabilities influence a person’s behaviour. Cognitive developmental specialists
examine learning, memory, problem-solving skills, and intelligence. For example,
specialists in cognitive development might want to see how problem-solving skills
change over the course of life, or whether cultural differences exist in the way people
explain their academic successes and failures. They would also be interested in how a
person who experiences significant or traumatic events early in life would remember
them later in life.
Finally, some developmental specialists focus on personality and social development.
Personality development is the study of stability and change in the enduring
characteristics that differentiate one person from another over the lifespan. Social
development is the way in which individuals’ interactions with others and their social
relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life. A developmental
specialist interested in personality development might ask whether there are stable,
enduring personality traits throughout the life span, whereas a specialist in social
development might examine the effects of racism or poverty or divorce.
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