human behavior

2. • Definition:
The development of human beings'
cognitive, emotional, physical and social
capabilities and functioning over the course of
the life span, from infancy through old age

3.  This is a pattern of movement or change that
begins at conception and continues through
the life span.
 It includes growth and decline.
 Development can be positive or negative.

4.  Seeks to understand how and why people –
all kinds of people, everywhere, of every age
– change over time.

5. A. Life span: The biological limits to life’s length, determined by
speciesspecific hereditary factors
B. Life expectancy: The average length of time that a given age-
based cohort is expected to live This can be counted from birth or
from any point in life. Life span has not increased in recent decades,
but life expectancy has.
C. Life course: The term used by sociologists to refer to the normal,
expected set of events that take place over an individual’s life,
determined in many ways by the society’s norms

6. A. Nature:
Refers to the influence of genes which we inherite.
B. Nurture:
Refers to environmental influences, such as:
- health and diet of the embryo’s mother
- family
- school
- community
- society

7. A. Critical Period:
A time when certain things must occur for normal
development.
B. Sensitive Period:
It is when a particular development occurs most
easily

8. Development is multidirectional
 Over time, human characteristics change in every direction.
 Several major theorists describe stages of development;
Freud, Erickson, Piaget.
 Others view development as a continuous process.

9. Development is multicontextual
Historical Context
– All persons born within a few years of one another
are said to be a cohort, a group defined by the shared age
of its members.

10. Development is multicontextual
Socioeconomic Context
Socioeconomic status (SES)
– A person’s position in society as determined by
income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of
residence.

11. Development is multicultural
• Culture – patterns of behavior that are passed from one
generation to the next.
• Vygotsky described the interaction between culture and
education.
• Ethnic group – People whose ancestors were born in the same
region and who often share a language, culture, and religion.

12. Development is multidisciplinary
• Genetics –neuroscience are two of newer disciplines in
lifespan research..
• Every trait – psychological as well as physical – is
influenced by genes.

13. Developmental Theory
- a systematic statement of principles and
generalizations that provides a framework for
understanding how and why people change as they grow
older.

14. Psychoanalytic Theory
• A theory of human development that holds that
irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often
originating in childhood, underlie human behavior.
• Psychoanalytic theory originated with Sigmund Freud
(1856 – 1939)

15. Developmental Theory
• Erik Erikson (1902 – 1994)
• Described eight developmental stages, each
characterized by a challenging developmental crisis.
• His first five stages build on Freud’s theory; but, he
also described three adult stages.

16. Behaviorism Theory
• A theory of human development that studies observable
behavior. Behaviorism is also called learning theory,
because it describes the laws and processes by which
behavior is learned.
• Conditioning –According to behaviorism, the processes by
which responses become linked to particular stimuli and
learning takes place.

17. Behaviorism Theory
• Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov; 1894 – 1936)
also called respondent conditioning, a process in which a
person or animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a
meaningful stimulus, gradually reaching to the neutral
stimulus with the same response as to the meaningful one.

18. Behaviorism Theory
• Operant Conditioning – B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
(also called instrumental conditioning), a learning process
in which a particular action is followed either by something
desired (which makes the person or animal more likely to
repeat the action) or by something unwanted (which makes
the actions less likely to be repeated.)

19. Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura (1925)
• An extension of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence that
other people have over a person’s behavior.
• Modeling - people learn by observing other people and then
copying them.
• Self-efficacy – (how effective people think they are when it comes
to changing themselves or altering their social context.

20. Cognitive Theory
• Thoughts and expectations profoundly affect action.
• Focuses on changes in how people think over time.
• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

21. Cognitive Theory
• Assimilation, in which new experiences are interpreted
to fit into, or assimilate with, old ideas
• Accommodation, in which old ideas are restructured to
include, or accommodate, new experiences

22. Systems Theory
• Change in one part of a person, family, or society affexts
every aspect of development.
• Ecological systems approach – Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-
2005)
• The person should be considered in all the contexts and
interactions that constitute a life.

23. Systems Theory
Five Components of Bronfenbrenner’s System
• Microsystems, (elements of the person’s immediate
surroundings, such as family and peer group)
• Exosystems, (local institutions such as school and church)
• Macrosystems, (the larger social setting, including cultural
values, economic policies, and political processes)

24. Systems Theory
Five Components of Bronfenbrenner’s System
• Chronosystem, (literally, “time system”), which affects
the other three systems.
• Mesosystem, consisting of the connections among the
other systems.

26. 1. Prenatal Stage:
This is a stage where conception occurs and relative development
begins. At this stage, all major structures of the human body are being
formed. this is quite a delicate stage because, the individual is yet to
proceed from the mother and so, the well being of the person is attached
to the well-being of the mother.

27. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid):
 Molecule that contains the chemical instructions for cells to
manufacture various proteins
 Promotes growth and sustains life
Chromosomes:
 Molecules of DNA
 DNA consists of 46 chromosomes arranged in 23 pairs

28. Gametes:
 Reproductive cells (sperm and ova)
 Each gamete consists of 23 chromosomes.
Zygote:
 Two gametes (sperm and ovum) combine and produce a new
individual with 23 chromosomes from each parent.
Genes:
 Specific sections of a chromosome that carry instructions via four
chemicals.
 Chemicals are organized in four pairs (AT, TA, CG, GC).
 Each person has about 3 billion pairs.

30. Genetic Variations and Similarities
Genes are passed down
from generation to generation
 Genotype:
An organism’s genetic inheritance, or genetic
potential
Unique for each organism
 Phenotype:
The observable characteristics of an
organism, including appearance, personality,
intelligence, and all other traits.

31. Genetic Variations and Similarities
• Many genes are identical for every human
being.
• Some genes vary slightly in their codes from
one person to another.
Allele:
• Variation of a gene or any of the possible
forms in which a gene for a particular trait
can occur.
• Effects of variations vary greatly from
causing life-threatening conditions to having
no detectable effect at all.

32. Genetic Variations and Similarities
• Genetic Diversity
 Distinguishes each person
 Allows the human species to adapt to pressures of
the environment (e.g. climate changes, illnesses).
• Genome:
 The full set of genes that are the instructions to
make an individual member of a certain species
Similarity between two people: 99.5%
Similarity between humans and chimpanzees:
98%
Similarity between humans and every other
mammal: 90+%

33. 2. Infant Stage (1-2 yo):
This stages marked the birth of the individual and recorded
for the first year of the person’s life. Sometimes it could exceed a year
but certainly not more than two. This stage is characterized by
dramatic display of emotions and growth. Expressions are quite
different and unintelligible as the person cries most of the time as a
way of expressing needs with blurred vision and subtle auricular
capacity, movements are limited to body parts.

34. 2. Infant Stage (1-2 yo):
Their safety at this point are also dependent on their
caregivers so also their well-being. There is also the issue of identity
placement, the child is keen on identifying some of the closest people
through the kind of care they offer. A sucking child identifies the
mother first.

35. Infant’s Emotional Development:
Smiling and Laughing
Social smile (6 weeks): Evoked by viewing human faces
Laughter (3 to 4 months): Often associated with curiosity
Anger
First expressions at around 6 month
Healthy response to frustration
Sadness
Indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by increased production of cortisol
Stressful experience for infants

36. Infants’ Emotional Development:
Fear: Emerges at about 9 months in response to people, things, or situations
Stranger wariness:
Infant no longer smiles at any friendly face but cries or looks frightened when
an unfamiliar person moves too close
Separation anxiety:
Tears, dismay, or anger when a familiar caregiver leaves.
If it remains strong after age 3, it may be considered an emotional disorder.

37. 4. Early Childhood: Early childhood can equally pass off as the
preschool stage. It is the primary stage succeeding the toddler stage
and usually begins from the 3rd year of the person’s life. At this
stage, Language development are being processed as well as
auricular capacity being advanced. The child could hear more and
attempt to process a language and even issue a response.

38. 4. Early Childhood:
However, these secondary characters are/ quite at it’s formulation
and developmental stages and so, might not yet be ready to be used
in full capacity. Another unique characteristics of this stage is fear
and subtle conceptions about basic things but they are or usually at
a very small degree. So, a child might not be so scared at this point
but might at some point react in a way that shows fear for example,
if something goes close to the eyes , he might decide to close it.

39. 4. Early Childhood: Brain Development
• By age 2, a child’s brain weighs 75 percent of what it will in
adulthood, and extensive sprouting and then pruning of dendrites
has already taken place.
• The brain reaches 90 percent of adult weight by age 6.
• From ages 2 to 6, maturation of the prefrontal cortex has several
notable benefits:
- Sleep becomes more regular.
- Emotions become more nuanced and responsive.
- Temper tantrums subside.

40. 4. Early Childhood: Thinking During Early Childhood
Piaget: Preoperational Thought
• Preoperational means “before (pre) logical operations (reasoning
processes).”
• The child’s verbal ability permits symbolic thinking. Language
frees the child from the limits of sensorimotor experience.

41. 4. Early Childhood: Thinking During Early Childhood
Characteristics of preoperational thought:
• Centration- A characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a
young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others.
• Egocentrism- Piaget’s term for young children’s tendency to think
about the world entirely from their own personal perspective.
• Focus on appearance- A characteristic of preoperational thought
whereby a young child ignores all attributes that are not
apparent.

42. 4. Early Childhood: Thinking During Early Childhood
Characteristics of preoperational thought:
• Static reasoning- A characteristic of preoperational thought
whereby a young child thinks that nothing changes. Whatever is
now has always been and always will be.
• Irreversibility- A characteristic of preoperational thought whereby
a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot
be restored to the way it was before a change occurred.
• Conservation- The principle that the amount of a substance
remains the same (i.e., is conserved) when its appearance changes.
• Animism- The belief that natural objects and phenomena are
alive.

43. Vygotsky: Social Learning
• Every aspect of children’s cognitive development is embedded in
the social context.
• Apprentice in thinking- Vygotsky’s term for a person whose
cognition is stimulated and directed by older and more skilled
members of society.
• . Zone of proximal development (ZPD)-Vygotsky’s term for the
skills—cognitive as well as physical—that a person can exercise
only with assistance, not yet independently.
• Scaffolding- Temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s
needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the
next task in a given learning process.

44. 4. Early Childhood: Thinking During Early Childhood
Vygotsky: Social Learning
Private speech- The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk
to themselves (either silently or out loud).
Social mediation- Human interaction that expands and advances
understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain
something to another.

45. Lack of emotional regulation may be an early sign of
psychopathology
Externalizing problems
Involves expressing powerful feelings through uncontrolled physical
or verbal outbursts, as by lashing out at other people or breaking
things
Internalizing problems
Involves turning one’s emotional distress inward, as by feeling
excessively guilty, ashamed, or worthless

46. Neurological and hormonal effects:
Boys tend to be aggressive (externalizing)
Girls tend to be anxious (internalizing)
Psychopathology is not typical!
Children of both sexes usually learn to regulate their emotions as
their brains mature and their parents nurture them

47. • Play is the most productive and enjoyable activity that children
undertake
• Play is universal
Archeologists find toys that are many thousands of years old
Anthropologists report play in every part of the world
• Form of play changes with age and culture
Increasingly complex social play is due to brain maturation coupled
with many hours of social play
Children must learn how to make, and keep, friends

48. Peers:
• People of about the same age and social status
• Provide practice in emotional regulation, empathy, and social
understanding
• Children usually prefer to play with each other rather than with
their parents

49. 5. Middle Childhood (6 – 12 yo):
At this stage, the child is exposed to other people without rules. They
are left to experience and experiment life without any sense of
restrictions as to rights or wrong or liabilities and responsibilities.

50. 5. Middle Childhood (6 – 12 yo):
They are open to imagination and curioucity but they only
have little to be curious about as they are still in the growth and
developmental stage and so, some biological characteristics that
would have spurred intense curioucity are yet to be fully developed
and launched. At this stage, the individual is inquisitive but quick to
withdraw if he or she encounters any form of challenge.

51. 5. Middle Childhood (6 – 12 yo):
Signs of Psychosocial Maturation (Ages 6 and 11)
- Children are more likely to have specific chores to perform at home
- Likely to have a weekly allowance
- Expected to tell time, and they have set times for various activities
- Have more homework assignments, some over several days
- Less often punished physically, more often with disaaproval or withdrawal
of privileges
- Try to conform to peer standards in such matters as clothing and language
- Influence decision about their after-school care, lessons, and activities
- Use media (TV, computers, video games ) without adult supervision
- Given new responsibility for younger children, pets, or , in some cultures,
employment
- Strive for more independence from parents

52. 6. Adolescence:
Adolescence is a more advanced stage than the middle
Childhood. This stage is full of curiosities and desire to try new
things. It is a stage of intense learning as the person is ready,
physically, mentally and biologically ready to experiment new ideas.
It is quite crucial and sensitive. This is also due to the fact that at
this stage, there has been a an attainment of growth on an advanced
level. This is a period also known as puberty.

53. 6. Adolescence:
The person has gotten to experience physical and biological
developments that are new and unusual to them and are inquisitive
about them, in this stage, the desire for detailed learning is hightened.
This is the stage where the sense of fear, love, hate and other strong
emotions and desires are built and developed but are relatively new to
the individual and so, they need explanations to them otherwise, they
venture out for answers.

54. 7. Young Adulthood:
The Young adulthood stage is factored in the twenties and
thirties of an individual. Just after adolescence. at this stage, some
mistakes are encountered, and there are urge to figure out
somethings and provide solutions to some mind bugging challenges.

55. 7. Young Adulthood:
Feelings and affections of all kind are hightened and the will
for self control are yet to be fully understood and used. This calls for
guidance from guardians and parents in order to set the individual
on a right track with less urge and vulnerability to mistakes.

56. 8. Middle Adulthood:
This stage is said to span through late thirties to the mid-
sixties. Concerns begins to change and get diversified. There is also
shift in priorities and the much needed experience gathered from the
early years to correct some mistakes and forge new paths.

57. 8. Middle Adulthood:
At this stage, it about a sense of Achievement and
responsibilities. Other features like aging sets in to change the
individuals physical appearance. Productivity and growth becomes
imperative.

58. 9. Late Adulthood:
This period or stage can be looked at from two
dimensions or categories which are the young old people and
the very old people. The young old people are those considered
to be in their mid-sixties and the late seventies. This stage is a
stage of retirement and rest, it is characterized by
organization and the sense of legacy. It is a stage when the
individual wants to leave a foot print and so, most live actions
are no longer as important as they used to be, the individual
has father’s enough knowledge and experience and so, a legacy
becomes more important.

59. 9. Late Adulthood:
Then there is the very old stage which is characterized by
pride, satisfaction or regrets. It is a stage of reflection and taking
account if life’s experience and the decisions taken. It begins from the
eighties. This stage is characterized by more visible physical changes
and most times, biological changes as well.

60. 10. Death:
Death is a stage in life and even though it is not mostly
considered or factored as a life stage by many writers it remains an
inevitable human stage when the individual is looked upon as ripe or
likely to die. This is a stage of total surrender and peace. The
individual is at this stage feeble and ripped off of most of their
strength.

61. Conclusion:
It is very important to know and understand that life is built
and lived in stages and each stage has its own peculiar
characteristics that the individual displays. This will help us
understand life, people’s actions and inactions at some point in their
lives and help relate with others more efficiently.

62. References:
bscholarly.com/stages-of-life