CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN

 size and structure of the internal organs and of the brain.

BEHAVIOR As a result of the growth of the brain, the child develops a
TOPIC OUTLINE greater capacity for learning, for remembering, and for
i. Introduction reasoning. He grows mentally as well as physically.
ii. Heredity and Genetics, Environmental factors that DEVELOPMENT
affect behavior  In contrast, development refers to those changes which
□ Nature of Development are qualitative in nature. It may be defined as a
□ Growth progressive series of orderly, coherent changes leading
□ Development toward the goal of maturity.
□ Maturity  As Anderson (1954, cited in Hurlock, 1996), has
□ Learning emphasized, development is not merely a matter of adding
□ Heredity inches to stature, or ability to ability; it is also a complex
 Types of genes process of integrating many structures and functions.
 Process of biological transmission Because of this integration, each change is dependent
iii. The study of Heredity upon what preceded it, and in turn, affects what will come
□ Genetics after.
□ Behavior Genetics MATURITY
□ Eugenics  Marks the end of growth and development. It is
iv. Stages of Development characterized by completion of structural changes and
□ Prenatal Period attainment of the capacity to function physically and
□ Infancy mentally in a manner characteristic of normal adult. While
□ Babyhood each change brings the child closer to the ultimate goal of
□ Early childhood maturity, it also serves as an indicator of what progress he
□ Late childhood is making along the way. In some aspects of development,
□ Puberty maturity of structure and function comes at fairly early
□ Early adolescence age, whereas in others, it comes later.
□ Late adolescence LEARNING
□ Early adulthood
 On the other hand, learning can be defined in different
□ Late adulthood
ways because it still stirs controversy. Thus, according to
□ Old age or Senescence
behaviorists, learning is a relatively permanent change in
v. Environment
behavior that results from experience. Changes in
□ Nature and Nurture Controversy
behavior also arise from maturation and physical changes,
but they are not considered to reflect learning. The
INTRODUCTION behaviorist definition is operational. Learning is defined
This module discusses the interaction of heredity and in terms of the measurable events or changes in behavior,
environment in shaping one’s behavior. This covers heredity- by which it is known.
genetics, and environmental factors that affect behavior,
 Cognitive theorists define learning as the process by
heredity and environment interaction.
which organisms make relatively permanent changes in
the way they represent in the environment because of
Intended Learning Outcomes:
experience. These changes influence the organism’s
1. Explain the interaction of heredity and environment in
behavior, but do not fully determine it.
shaping a person’s behavior
HEREDITY
2. Analyze inherited traits of family members
 Heredity (nature), environment (nurture) and maturation
MODULE 2.1 HEREDITY AND GENETICS,
are essential and mutually influential in shaping a
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT
person’s abilities, skills and psychological characteristics.
BEHAVIOR
NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT  It is the process of biological transmission of traits to the
individual from parents to offspring through germ cells or
 Many people use the terms “growth” and “development”
gametes consisting of chromosomes and genes during
interchangeably. In reality they are different, though they
CONCEPTION. Chromosomes are usually in pairs and
are inseparable; neither takes place alone. For our
each carries the genes which are true carriers of hereditary
purpose, they are distinguished accordingly.
traits.
GROWTH
There are two types of genes:
 This change refers to quantitative changes- increase in
1. Dominant gene is a gene that is phenotypically manifested
size and structure. Not only does the child become larger
when paired with another like skin color or height.
physically, but there is also an increase in the
2. Recessive gene is a gene carrying traits manifested after
being dormant for several generations; a gene that is not

DAUZ, MAYNA JOY S. BAP-1A

 CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
produced when paired with a dominant one like baldness, applied to animals and plants (selective breeding) and
color of the eyes, etc. theoretically develop healthier, more intelligent, and better
offspring.
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Every new human life starts with the union of male and female
sex cells, the sperm and ovum (egg). From here, human
development can occur in an orderly and sequential pattern
that is often always predictable.
1. PRENATAL PERIOD
The orderly development of the human organism begins as
soon as spermatozoon fertilizes the ovum. This is the prenatal
period. Prenatal period extends from conception to birth and
lasts to 266 days (around nine months). During this period, a
single cell divides and grows to form 200 billion cells.
Three stages of prenatal period:
a. Period of zygote or germinal stage
b. Period of embryo or embryonic stage
c. Period of fetus or fetal stage
Characteristics:
Table 1: Process of Biological Transmission a. the hereditary endowment is fixed once and for all at
this time
Gametes/ Sex Where Process of Process of Number
Cells produced production release released
b. favorable conditions in the mother’s body can foster
Female- Ovaries Oogenesis Ovulation At least 1 development of hereditary potentials while
OVUM- or Egg ripe unfavorable conditions can stunt their development
cell ovum in
28 c. the sex is fixed
days d. proportionally greater growth and development takes
Male- Testes Spermatogenesis Ejaculation 250M- place during this period at any other throughout the
Spermatozoon 350M
or Sperm Cell individual’s entire life.
 The hereditary pattern is transmitted and mapped-out at e. it is time of many hazards.
the moment of conception, when the cell wall of the f. it is the time when significant people form attitudes
female egg cell is penetrated by a single sperm cell, toward newly created individual.
thereby fertilizing it. The union of the egg and the sperm 2. INFANCY
within the mother’s body results in a new cell called From birth to the end of the second week.
ZYGOTE. In the nucleus of the zygote, the hereditary Characteristics:
materials of the both mother and the father are combined a. the shortest of all development periods
within 24 hours there begins the development of a newly b. a time of radical adjustments because the infant learns
formed structure which divided first into two, then into to adjust to his new environment
four, and so on, and eventually, in about nine months the c. a plateau in development
complete transformation of this single zygote into a d. a preview of later development
human infant. e. a hazardous period.
THE STUDY OF HEREDITY
1. GENETICS
This is a branch of biology concerned with heredity and the 3. BABYHOOD
means by which hereditary characteristics are transmitted. From the end of the second week to the end of second year.
Characteristics:
a. the true foundation of age
2. BEHAVIOR GENETICS b. an age of growth and change
This specialization of genetics combines the methods of c. an age of decreasing dependency
genetics and psychology to study the inheritance of behavioral d. the age on increased individuality
characteristics. Behavioral characteristics are interested in the e. the beginning of the sex-role typing
degree to which psychological characteristics such as ability, f. an appealing age
temperament, and emotional stability are transmitted from the g. the beginning of creativity
parents to offspring. 4. EARLY CHILDHOOD
3. EUGENICS From two to six years old when relative dependency of baby-
This is the science of improving the genes, thus, improving the hood is over.
offspring and the human race, this would apply the same Characteristics:
principles of careful selection of parents that have long been a. Names used by parents
1.) problem age or troublesome age
DAUZ, MAYNA JOY S. BAP-1A
 CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
2.) toy age Characteristics:
b. Name used by educators a. getting started in an occupation
1.) preschool age b. selecting a mate
c. Names used by psychologists c. learning to live with a marriage partner
1.) pre-gang age d. starting a family
2.) exploratory age e. rearing children
3.) questioning age f. managing a home
4.) imitative age g. taking on civic responsibility
5.) creative age h. finding a congenial social group
5. LATE CHILDHOOD 10. LATE ADULTHOOD
From six to ten or twelve years old - age of reason to the time Extends from 40 to 60 years old.
the child becomes sexually mature. Characteristics:
Characteristics: a. achieving adult, civic and social responsibility
a. Names used by parents b. assisting teenage children to become responsible and
1.) troublesome age happy adults
2.) sloppy age c. developing adult leisure time activities
b. Names used by educators d. relating oneself to one’s spouse as a person
1.) elementary school age e. accepting and adjusting to the physiological changes
2.) critical period in the achievement drive of middle age
c. Names used by psychologists f. reaching and maintaining satisfactory performance in
1.) gang age one’s occupational career
2.) age of conformity g. adjusting to aging parents
3.) creative age 11. OLD AGE OR SENESCENCE
4.) play age starts at 60 and extending to the time of death.
6. PUBERTY Characteristics:
From ten or twelve to thirteen or fourteen years – period when a. adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health
child changes from asexual and sexual being. b. adjusting to retirement and reduced income
Characteristics: c. adjusting to death of spouse
a. an overlapping period d. establishing an explicit affiliation with members of
b. a short period one’s group
c. divided into three stages: e. establishing satisfactory physical living arrangements
1.) prepubescent stage f. adapting to social roles in a flexible way
2.) pubescent stage
3.) post pubescent stage
d. a time of rapid growth and change
e. a negative phase ENVIRONMENT
f. occurs at a variable age  It includes all the conditions inside and outside an
organism that in anyway influence its behavior, growth,
development or life processes. This takes place AFTER
7. EARLY ADOLESCENCE CONCEPTION.
From the stage begins from 13 to 14 to 17 years of age. – NATURE AND NURTURE CONTROVERSY
regarded as terrible teens.  The question of whether heredity (‘nature”) or
Characteristics: environment (“nurture”) is more important in determining
a. an important period the course of human development has been debated
b. a transitional period through the centuries. For example, the seventeenth
c. a period of change century British philosopher John Locke rejected the
d. a problem age prevailing notion of his day that babies were miniature
e. time of search for identity adults who arrived in the world fully equipped with
8. LATE ADOLESCENCE abilities and knowledge and who simply has to grow in
Starts at late 17 and ends when he is 21. order for these inherited characteristics to appear.
Characteristics:  Locke believed that the mind of a newborn infant is a
a. transitional period “blank slate”, or tabula rasa, as Aristotle thought so, too.
b. build up confidence in oneself What gets written on this slate is what the baby
c. makes decisions about one’s future experiences-what he sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.
d. beginning of independence According to Locke, all knowledge comes to us through
e. period of stability and less impulsiveness our senses. It is provided by experience; no knowledge or
9. EARLY ADULTHOOD ideas are built in.
Begins from 21 to 40 years old.
DAUZ, MAYNA JOY S. BAP-1A
 CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
 The advent of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
(1859), which emphasizes the biological basis of human
development, led to a return to the hereditarian viewpoint.
With the rose of behaviorism in the twentieth century,
however, the environmentalists’ position once again
gained dominance.
 Behaviorists such as John B. Watson (1920, 1930) and
B.F Skinner (1953) argued that human nature is
completely malleable; early training can turn a child into
any kind of adult, regardless of his or her heredity.
Watson stated the argument in its most extreme form
which is presented in our activity.
 Today most psychologists agree not only that both nature
and nurture play important roles but that they interact
continuously to guide development. For example, we shall
see that the development of many personality traits, such
as sociability and emotional stability, appear to be
influenced about equally by heredity and environment;
similarly, we shall also see that mental disorders can have
both genetic and environmental causes.
 Behavior geneticists are attempting to sort out the relative
importance of nature and nurture influences in the
development of various behavior patterns. Psychologists
are especially interested in the roles of nature and nurture
in intelligence (Plomin and Defries, 1998), abnormal
behavior patterns such as schizophrenia, and social
problems such as sociopathy and aggression.
 In general, it can be argued that all behavior reflects the
influence of both nature and nurture, all organisms inherit
a range of structures that set the stage for certain
behaviors. Yet environmental influence such as nutrition
and learning also help decide whether or not genetically
possible behaviors will be displayed.
 Today, however, nearly all researchers would agree,
broadly speaking, nature and nurture interact as the
individual develops.

REFERENCES -
1.) Carson-Arenas, Aggie. Introduction to Psychology:
Understanding Human Behavior. Rex Book Store, 2004.
2.) University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. (2015).
Retrieved on March 17, 2021 from
https://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/
3.) General Psychology: Revised Edition. (2007). University
of Baguio, Baguio City Introduction to Psychology.
(2014). Retrieved on March 16, 2021 from
https://phlconnect.ched.gov.ph/admin/uploads/add217938
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DAUZ, MAYNA JOY S. BAP-1A