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Growth and Development: Concept, Principles and Stages
Growth = quantitative physical change (measurable, stops at maturity). Development = qualitative, sequential, lifelong change across all domains. Principles: continuous, sequential/predictable, general-to-specific, cephalocaudal (head-to-toe), proximodistal (center-to-periphery), individual differences exist but sequence is universal, all domains interrelated, product of heredity x environment. Piaget's 4 stages: Sensorimotor (0-2, object permanence), Preoperational (2-7, egocentrism, no conservation), Concrete Operational (7-11, conservation, reversibility, logical thought on concrete objects), Formal Operational (11+, abstract/hypothetical reasoning). Erikson's 8 psychosocial stages run across the full lifespan with a specific crisis at each stage (e.g., Identity vs Role Confusion in adolescence). Kohlberg's moral development has 3 levels/6 stages: Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional.
Important topics
- Difference between growth (quantitative, physical) and development (qualitative, lifelong)
- Principles of development: continuity, sequence, general to specific, individual differences, interrelation
- Cephalocaudal principle (head to tail) and Proximodistal principle (center to periphery)
- Piaget's four stages of cognitive development with age ranges
- Object permanence, egocentrism, conservation and reversibility as Piagetian markers
- Erikson's eight psychosocial stages across the lifespan
- Kohlberg's three levels and six stages of moral development
- Role of heredity and environment in shaping development