Monday, December 24, 2018

PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ::
FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.






In our previous blog we have learnt about 'Growth' and 'Development'. Before we concentrate on the factors affecting growth and development. Let's take a quick look at the difference between growth and development.

Growth is indicative i.e. increase in body, size, weight etc.   It is quantitative progress.  It is a physical change. It is external in nature. It stops at certain stage and is a physical progress.

Development is not indicative. It qualitative progress.  It is psychological change.   It is internal in nature.   It is continuous process and is a cognitive progress.

Human growth and development is affected by a large number of factors. These factors include internal factors and external factors. Internal factors are conditions within the body.


The integrated nature of growth, maturation and development are largely maintained by a constant interaction of genes, hormones, nutrients and other factors. These factors also influence physical performance. Some are hereditary in origin. Others, such as season, dietary restriction, severe psychological stress, originate in the environment and simply affect the rate of growth at the time they are acting. Others again, such as socio-economic class, reflect a complicated mixture of hereditary and environmental influences and probably act throughout the whole period of growth. 
Human organism is the product of heredity and environment. Potentialities of development, and not acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes are handed down from parents to their off-springs. Again, favourable environmental influences and specific training are required to develop a superior personality or to improve a weak one.
To better understand the concept the nature-nurture both influence the growth and development of an individual. The final end product that we obtain is the product generated after the influence of the internal and external factors. Let's learn in detail about these factors.



Internal Factors Include:
1.Hereditary factors
2.Biological or Constitutional factors
3.Intelligence 
4.Emotional factors
5.Social factors.
Internal factors are the factors which are within the individual. 



Hereditary factors:  Hereditary factors play their part at the time of conception in the mother’s womb. A person’s height, weight and structure of the body, colour of hair and eye, intelligence, aptitudes and instinct are all decided by these hereditary influences. Hereditary factors play a very important role in the growth and development. The foetus hereditary is influenced by the generational characters transmitted by the parents to the child. The nerves system, physical structures and physiological functions all are demonstrated by the hereditary thus passed, if it is dominating in an individual, environmental influence is minimum.



Biological and Constitutional factors: A child’s constitutional make-up, somatic structure, physique and body chemistry influences his growth and development throughout his life. The growth and development of an individual is influenced by the body structure, physique and body chemistry of an individual. I the body structure, physique i.e. the individual has any organ deformities or say undeveloped or underdeveloped nervous system, the individual cannot function normally. It effects the cognitive and physical functioning. The chemistry of the body is also affected if the body of an individual has a malfunctioning in the secretions of the endocrine glands. 

Endocrine glands are commonly referred to as ductless glands, or glands of internal secretion. They secrete chemical substances, hormones directly into the bloodstream. Human growth is affected by biochemical products such as hormones. Hormones are regarded as growth promoting substance. Probably all the endocrine glands influence growth. Most of the hormones are secreted by the endocrine glands and play a significant role in regulating the pattern of growth and development as per instructions of the genes.  


 The most important hormone controlling growth from birth up to adolescence is growth hormone or somatotrophin. This is in fact a polypeptide secreted by the pituitary. It helps growth of bones and thereby increases the height of persons. Growth hormone controls the rate at which growth takes place up to the time of steroid - induced adolescent spurt.
Its administration causes the amino acids to be incorporated into tissues to form new protein. It also causes an overall growth rate of most of tissues including brain.
 Thyroid hormone plays a vital role throughout the whole of growth. The activity of the thyroid, judged by the basal metabolic rate, decreases gradually from birth to adolescence. In hypothyroidism growth is delayed, skeletal maturity; dental maturity and growth of the brain are all affected. During adolescence a new phase of growth occurs under the control of steroid hormones secreted by the adrenals and gonads. The gonads of both sexes secrete estrogens in small quantities from the time of birth onwards. At puberty the estrogens level rise, sharply in girls and to a much more limited extent in boys; the sex differences is possibly due to an inhibitory hormone secreted by the seminiferous tubules of the testicle. Testosterone, produced by the testicle, is important in stimulating growth and it is responsible for the greater growth of muscle. Gonadotrophins are responsible for the growth of the ovaries and testis, and later on the secretion of the amounts of estrogens and testosterone responsible for the growth and development of secondary sex characters.  

Intelligence:  Intelligence contributes to the growth and development of the individual. Intelligence is the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, adjust, interact with the environment and take right decision at right time. It affects the social behaviour, moral judgment and emotional growth.  Low grade intelligence is associated with retardation, slow learning and poor performance. On the other hand, high grade intelligence is associated with acceleration which includes social amicability, emotional stability, moral judgement, fast decision making, adjustment with the environment, quick learning and excellent performance.


Emotional factors:  Emotional factors include fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy etc. They have adverse effect towards physical, social, mental, emotional and language development. Emotional maturity plays a very important role in the growth and development of the child.



Social factors: Social factors affect a lot towards an individual's adaptability. It helps an individual to adjust to the society and his environment.

The expression of feelings about self, others, and things describe emotional development. Emotional and social development are often described and grouped together because they are closely interrelated growth patterns. 

The sex of an individual also affects growth and development. At birth, boys are slightly bigger in size than girls. When the process of growth sets in after birth, girls exhibit rapid growth and attain full size earlier than boys. 


External factors: External factors influence growth and development; they are outside or from external source as the environment.  Much of the physical growth depends partly upon such environmental factors as sunlight, fresh air, conditions of climate and partly' upon food and nutrition.

When we talk about the environment, it can be the environmental influence on the foetus and environmental influence after the birth of an individual.



Environmental influence on the foetus happens when the foetus is still in the mother's womb. It includes the effect of radiation, pollution, malnutrition, heavy work by the mother and lack of proper care and affection from others.



Environmental influences after birth include lack of proper care after the birth of a baby. After birth proper care is required to avoid complications. Accidents and incidents make the growth and development to lapse. If any damage occurs in brain, it renders proper growth. Love, affection, good physical environment, proper nourishment, medical care can bring harmony in growth and development.

There is a well-marked seasonal effect on velocity of growth visible in most human growth data. Growth in height is on average fastest in spring and growth in weight fastest in autumn. This is true at all ages, including adolescence. The mechanism of the seasonal effect is not known; probably variations in hormone secretion are involved. Climate seems to have a very minor effect on overall rate of growth in man. It has been suggested that each major race of mankind varies in stature according to the climates in which they live.  Seasonal variation in growth has also been observed in many studies. Longitudinal studies have shown that only about 30% of the children have cycles of increase and decrease in growth velocity which are strictly seasonal. The remaining children show accelerations and decelerations of growth which cannot be clearly related with seasons. 


Growth is closely related with nutrition. A sufficiency of food is essential for normal growth. An adequate supply of calories is naturally essential for the normal growth of humans and the need varies with the phase of development.  Nine different amino acids have been claimed to be essential for growth and absence of any one will result in disordered or stunted growth. Other factors are also essential for growth. For example, zinc plays a part in protein synthesis and is a constituent of certain enzymes; a deficiency of zinc causes stunting, interference with sexual development and falling out of hair.  Iodine is needed for the manufacture of the thyroid hormones. Bone will not grow properly without an adequate supply of calcium, phosphorus and other inorganic constituents such as magnesium and manganese. Iron is required for the production of haemoglobin. Vitamins play an important part in growth. Vitamin A is thought to be control the activities of osteoblasts. In vitamin C deficiency the intercellular substance of bone is inadequately formed. Vitamin D deficiency is the cause of rickets. Malnutrition during childhood delays growth, and malnutrition in the years proceeding adolescence delays the appearance of the adolescent spurt. Growth studies have demonstrated that malnutrition may cause serious impairment of growth. The term malnutrition generally refers to the effects of an inadequate intake of calories or other major dietary components such as proteins.  


Malnutrition may also result from diseases which decrease the appetite or interfere with digestion and assimilation. 

The physical growth of human beings is definitely affected by cultural factors. Culture differs from ethnic group to ethnic group. The body growth differences correlate with varied cultural groups.  The physical growth of the body follows some adaptations in different geographical areas of distribution of the groups. 


Socioeconomic influence on human growth is also a well known factor. Children from different socioeconomic levels differ in average body size at all ages that have been investigated. The upper groups being always more advanced along the course to maturity.   The cause of this socio - economic differential are probably multiple. Nutrition is almost certainly one, and with it all the habits of regular meals, sleep, exercise and general organization that distinguish, from the point of view, a good home from a bad one. Growth differences are more closely related to the home conditions than to the strictly economic status of the families and home conditions reflect the intelligence and personality of the parents. Size of family exerts an indirect influence on the rate of growth. In a large family with limited income the children do not get proper nutrition. As a result the growth is affected. The number of children in the family exerts an effect on the children’s rate of growth. Children in large families have been shown to be usually smaller and lighter than children in small families. Possibly this is because in large families children tend to get less individual care and attention.   

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