Concept of Human Development

Concept of Human Development

Development in Indian Literature

BG: 2.28 – “All bodies are latent in the beginning, they manifest in the middle, O Bhaarata. In the end, they will become latent again, so why should you grieve about this”.

            It means that life emerges from oblivion, manifests itself and finally dissolves into oblivion. ‘Manifests itself’ is the space where development occurs in the city of nine gates (BG: 5.13). The control & purification of ‘mind’ is the fundamental in the process of development during the manifestation process.

            BG: 13.6 – The field of activities  (body) is composed of the five great elements, the ego, the intellect, the unrevealed primordial matter (prakṛiti), the eleven senses (daśhaikaṁ) (five knowledge senses, five working senses, and mind), and the five objects of the senses.

(i)        pañcha-mahābhūta (the five gross elements—earth, water, fire, air, and space),

(ii)       Five knowledge senses (ears, eyes, tongue, skin, and nose),

(iii)      The five working senses (voice, hands, legs, genitals, and anus), and

(iv)      mind.  

            BG: 13.7 – Desire and aversion, happiness and misery, the body, consciousness, and the will—all these comprise the field and its modifications.

            The body is the field of activities.  It undergoes six transformations until death

(i)        asti (coming into existence),

(ii)       jāyate (birth),

(iii)      vardhate (growth),

(iv)      viparinamate (reproduction),

(v)       apakṣhīyate (withering with age),

(vi)      vinaśhyati (death). 

It supports the soul in its quest for happiness.

Psychologists who Studied Development

(i)        Jean Piaget (Cognitive Development),

(ii)       Urie Bronfenbrenner (Contextual View of development),

(iii)      Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (Social Development Theory),

(iv)      Durganand Sinha (Ecological Model),

(v)       Harry Frederick Harlow (Effect of Attachment on social and cognitive development),

(vi)      Erik Erikson (Psychosocial Development), and

(vii)     Lawrence Kohlberg (Moral Development).

Meaning of Development

            The gradual qualitative and quantitative changes or acquiring new stages over life span by human being from conception to birth and to old age is the process of development. The development is a structural and functional flow through the cycle of life. The pattern of development is similar but the manifestation of it is unique in each human being.

Major Developmental Stages

(i)        Prenatal Stage (40 weeks/9 months)

(ii)       Infancy (up to 2 years)

(iii)      Childhood (3 to 11 years)

(iv)      Adolescent (12 to 17 years)

(v)       Adulthood (18 to 60 years)

(vi)      Old age (> 60 years)

Definition - “Development is the pattern of progressive, orderly, and predictable changes that begin at conception and continue throughout life”. It involves both growth and decline in physical, psychological and social domains of human being.

Few Examples of Developmental Changes:

(i)        Physical – Muscular & bone strength changes etc.

(ii)       Psychological – Changes in cognitive system such as thinking pattern, problem solving ability, attention and perceptual process etc.

(iii)      Social – Changes in interpersonal relations, social adaptation, social behaviour etc.

Development is not an isolated phenomena, it is the interplay of Biological, Cognitive and Socio-emotional processes.

(i)        Biological – The genes inherited from parents influences the development of height, weight, brain, heart, lungs, and physiological features comes under biological processes.

(ii)       Cognitive – The changes in mental faculties such as memory, recognition, understanding abstraction etc.

(iii)      Socio-emotional – The changes in social interaction, emotional response and in personality etc. For example child’s hug or manifestation of sorrow by an adolescent on losing a competition etc.

Life Span Perspective on Development

(i)        Development is life long (gain and loses).

(ii)       Development is multidirectional.

(iii)      Development is highly plastic i.e. within person it is modifiable (skills and abilities can be improved)

(iv)      Development is influenced by historical conditions. For example the experiences of 20 years olds who lived through the freedom struggle in India would be very different from the experiences of 20 years olds today.

(v)       Development is studied by psychology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience etc.

(vi)      The individual responses are context dependent i.e. individual responds on the basis of inheritance, immediate environment, social set up and cultural factors.

Major Terms

(i)        Development – A process by which an individual grows and changes throughout the life cycle.

(ii)       Growth – It refers to an increase in the size of body parts or of the organised as a whole. It can be measured or quantified.

(iii)      Maturation – It refers to the changes that follow an orderly sequence and are largely dictated by the genetic blueprint which produces commonalities in our growth and development.

(iv)      Evolution – it refers to species specific changes. Emergence of human beings from great apes about 14 million years ago.