Patterning of Development

There are three main levels of analysis to be taken

into consideration for the study of development of an

individual:

i) Biological System: The closely coordinated

Physiological interactions within the body.

ii) The Psychological System or Personality: It

involves the organized interaction of motives,

abilities, assumptions, and defenses integrated

around the self, and

iii) Sociological or Group System: It involves the

interactions of the individual in his family or

broader group contexts.

These three factors or levels of analysis are important

to gain a complete view of the individual and his

functioning. These factors play an important role in

shaping the personality of an individual and affect the

growth and development of personality.

Thus it is important to keep in mind that development

or change in a person is always a patterned change.

All the interactive component systems are involved in

shaping the pattern of these changes.

Development Schedule

Human development is found to follow a definite

schedule not only in the domain of physical and motor

development but also in the domain of emotional,

intellectual, and social development. Thus an infant

crawls and sits up before she begins to walk; her

early generalized emotional reactions become

differentiated into love, humor, grief. The language

behaviour also progresses from random vocalization to

words which eventually become vehicles for thinking.

The process of development is regulated by the forces

of maturation and learning. Maturational processes

guide the development of our bodily structure and

pave the way for learning, but what we can learn in

any situation depends both on maturational readiness

and on what we have learned in the past. It is also

observed that each new phase of development is limited

by previous development and, in turn, influences and

remains a part of successive stages of development.

Development Tasks

The human development has been broadly divided into

6 major stages. At each stage maturational and social

pressure impose certain specific tasks which the

individual must master if she is to maintain normal

course of development. When the various tasks are

not mastered during the appropriate developmental

period, the individual suffers from immaturities and

incompetencies which persist and handicap her

adjustment during later developmental stages.