NURS1004 Physical Dimensions of Being Human
Lesley Cuthbertson
livingwellcoaching.com.au
Indigenous Welcome
Na Marni (Welcome).
I begin by acknowledging the Indigenous peoples of this
country. In particular I acknowledge the Kaurna peoples,
the traditional owners of the lands and waters of the region
on which Flinders University is located.
Stand Commitment for the Topic
• Weeks 4 & 6 to 11
• Online Lecture 1 x 50 min in preparation for
Tutorial.
• Online Tutorial 1 x 50 min. Scenarios and
Questions to prepare in the Study plan.
Tutorial Expectations
> Attend online class
– On time
– Pre reading and activities (completed)
– Remain in the class you have registered for
> If unable to attend
– Ring/email – Lecturer (whatever they negotiate with
you)
– Write down lecturer’s name, contact details and number
of the class. Include the topic code and your Student ID
in any email messages to lecturers.
This Session
• Introduction to this strand of the Topic
- Set Text
• Why Study Human Development Across the
Lifespan?
• Chronological Approach
• Influences on Human Development
• Theories of Development
Required Text
Kozier & Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing
Vol 1-3 [2nd Australian Edn] 2011
Unit 5 Lifespan Development
20 Concepts of Growth and Development
21 Promoting Health from Conception through to Adolescence
22 Promoting Health in Young and Middle-Aged Adults
23 Promoting Health in Older Adults
Educational Aim
The aim of this strand of the topic is to utilise lifespan
perspectives and theories, to enable students to develop an
understanding about the interactions between the
‘dimensions of being human’ and the developmental periods.
This assists in appreciating the choices people make about
their health from their place in life’s journey .
gameswalls.com
Why Study Human Development Across the
Lifespan?
The field of developmental psychology seeks to uncover;
• processes that underlie change
• strategies that individuals use to achieve new skills and behaviour.
The study of development has practical and policy implications:
> better information about caring for children and individuals
> advice on a wide range of issues
> information on normal development helps detect problems in physical
and mental development facilitating prevention and treatment of
developmental difficulties. (Hertherington & Parke 2003, p.4)
 By learning how people respond to the influences around them, we
can meet their needs, so they will be better equipped to fulfill their
individual potential, manage their health and their health issues.
Provides insight in to our own lives and those of others
3.Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development
Harvad Cente
Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy
development. While moderate, short-lived stress responses in the body
can promote growth, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the
body’s stress management system in the absence of protective adult
support. Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress
caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal
depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with
long-term consequences for learning, behaviour, and both physical and
mental health.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwFkcOZHJw&feature=player_embed
ded
1.52mins
Uploaded by HarvardCenter on Sep 29, 2011
Growth
• Physical change and increase in size
• Measured quantitatively
• Indicators of growth – Height, weight,
bone size and dentition (teeth)
www.education.vic.gov.au
Growth rate varies throughout the lifespan –
• Rapid during the antenatal, neonatal, infancy and
adolescent stages
• Slower during childhood and minimal during adulthood
Development
• Increase in the complexity of function and skill progression
• Capacity and skill of a person to adapt to the environment
• The behavioural aspects of growth -
• E.g. learning to walk, run, talk
www.who.int
Philosophical principles
> Development is a lifelong process.
> Development varies both between individuals and among
behaviours.
> Intra-individual plasticity.
> Evolution and individual development are inextricably
linked.
> Development as gain (growth) and loss (decline).
> Various factors interact to produce lifespan development
(age, history, normative & non-normative events).
> Each of us helps mold our own environment.
(Baltes & Reese 1984;1987 in Gething & Hatchard 1989)
Domains of Development
Biological,
Cognitive, and
Socioemotional
(psychosocial/personality) processes;
Bi-directional because each
can affect the other therefore they are
not considered in isolation.
Example
Consider a baby smiling in response to its mother’s touch.
• Biological processes – physical nature of touch and
responsiveness to it.
• Cognitive processes – ability to understand intentional acts.
• Socioemotional processes – act of smiling reflects a positive
emotional feeling & helps connect in positive ways to
others.
(Santrock 2008, p.12)
DOMAINS and associated PROCESSES OF
DEVELOPMENT
Psychosocial
Social Relationships
Personality
Emotions
Temperament
Sex Roles
Cognitive
Perception
Language
Thinking
Learning
Memory
Imagination
Judgement
Spiritual *
Life meaning
Love
Hope
Forgiveness
(Berger 1995, p.4; *Crisp & Taylor 2001, p.590)
Biophysical
Height
Weight
Head circumference
Organ Systems
Motor Skills (eg. walking,
writing)
Moral *
Moral Reasoning
Right /Wrong
Ethical values
Chronological Periods of the Human Lifespan
Chronological overview of human development
Chronological
Approach – key
sequential
changes using
an age group
framework.
Period of life
Time frame
1. Prenatal
Conception to birth
2. Infancy
Neonate Birth- 4 weeks
Infant 4weeks – 12months
3. Childhood
(a) Toddler
(b) Preschool
(c) Middle childhood (2 phases)
Onset of puberty marks the end of this
period
2 years
1 years
3 years
5 years
4. Adolescence (3 phases)
12 years to 20 years (Early, Middle.
Late)
5. Young adulthood
20 years to 40 years
6. Middle age
40 years to 65 years
7. Old age (3 phases)
(a) Young
(b) Middle
(c) Old
65 years
65 years
70 years
85 years
to teens
to 3 years
to 5 years
to 12 years (5-8; 9-12)
+
to 70 years
to 85 years
+
Influences on Human Development
Critical periods in Development
period of time when a given event will have its greatest impact, eg.
foetal development; emotional attachment; language; Erikson’s Eight
Stages of Life (developmental theorist) constitute critical periods for
social & emotional development.
Categories:
Normative age-graded – occurs in a highly similar way for all individuals in
a given group of people; biological & cultural (eg. puberty, menopause;
entry to education, retirement)
Normative history-related – common to people of a particular generation
or cohort; world wide & cultural (economic depression, famine,
changing roles of women, impact of computer technology)
Non-normative life events – those that don’t happen to most people and
have a major impact on individual lives requiring adaption; positive or
negative (eg. death of a parent, life threatening illness, disability,
sudden wealth, living in a new country)
(Baltes, Reese & Lipsitt 1980; in Gething & Hatchard 1989)
In Brief: The Foundations of Lifelong Health
Harvard Centre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v
=o_mCNW4kb6M#!
This edition of the InBrief series explains why a vital and productive
society with a prosperous and sustainable future is built on a
foundation of healthy child development. The video summarizes
findings from The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early
Childhood, a report co-authored by the National Scientific Council on
the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood
Policy and Programs.
Uploaded by HarvardCenter on Jan 11, 2011
7.13mins
Principles of Growth and Development
• Growth and development
occur in a proximodistal
direction: from the centre
of the body outward
• Growth and development
occur in a cephalocaudal
direction: from the head
down the body.
Factors Influencing Growth and Development
•Genetics – Established at conception and determines gender,
physical characteristics and temperament
•Temperament – The way individuals respond to their external
and internal environment
•Family – Dependent upon the child’s perception of depth of
support, encouragement and the level of adult involvement in
their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being
Factors Influencing Growth and Development
inc.
•Nutrition – Adequate nutrition from conception and throughout
the lifespan
•Environment – Accessibility of services
•Health – Illness or injury can alter the rate and patterns of
growth and development
•Culture – Social and community practices
Theories of Development
Aim: Show the diversity of different theoretical
approaches.
 No one theory is able to account for all aspects of
human development.
 No one theory is universally accepted by life span
researchers.
 Different theories have different perspectives for
looking at the way people develop. (guides
questions asked, research methods and way data is
interpreted).
What do theories do?
- Attempt to organise data or information to explain why
certain events occur.
- Without a theory data/information is only a collection of
facts.
Theories provide:
 a set of inter-related statements about a phenomenon.
 formulations of general laws or principles.
 clarify & interpret observations, & suggest new hypothesis
(potential explanations) to be tested.
The value of a theory is measured by
how useful it is.
(Berger 1995, p.41)
Developmental Theories
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Biological – behaviour influenced by genetics (Gesell)
Psychoanalytic – unconscious process (Freud)
Psychosocial – unconscious & social (Erikson)
Behaviourist – learning environment (Skinner)
Cognitive – thinking/thinking processes (Piaget,
Information Processing)
Sociocultural - (Vygotsky)
Cognitive-Moral – moral behaviour (Piaget, Kohlberg,
Gilligan)
Ecological – environmental/social determinants
(Brofrenbrenner)
Humanistic – self concept/actualisation (Maslow, Buhler)
Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology uses a chronological age as an
important guide to the science of development (Peterson
2001 in Peterson 2010).
‘Developmental psychology is the discipline that seeks to
identify and explain the changes that individuals go through
from the moment of conception until they die’ (White, Hayes
& Livesey, 2010, p.2).
‘A developmental theory is a systematic statement of
principles that explains behaviour and development and
guides developmentalists’ investigations of new questions’
(Berger 1995, p.41).
Biophysical Theory
• Describes the development of the physical body – how it
grows and changes
• These changes compared with established norms
• Child development is maturational process based on an
inborn ‘timetable’
• Bee and Boyd (2004) indicate that developmental psychologists
have often placed too little emphasis on physical growth.
Biophysical developmental
An understanding of physical development is an absolutely
critical first step in understanding children’s progress for a
least four reasons (Bee and Boyd 2004).
The child's growth :
• makes new behaviours possible
• determines experience
• affects other's responses
• affects self-concept
Biophysical developmental theories
> Arnold Gessell (1880-1961) observed and described the
pattern of children’s development, which he outlined as a
fixed sequence of events, the blue print of anatomical and
physiological changes.
> It is an area that is often evident in descriptions of
childhood development but may not be as well considered
in relation to adult development.
> Other theories of physical development tend to be linked to
the aging process and fall into 3 primary areas: genetic
theories of aging, non-genetic cellular theories and
physiological theories of aging (Crisp & Taylor 2001, p.156).
Psychosocial Theories
•Refers to the development of personality
•Personality – The outward (interpersonal) expression of the
inner (intrapersonal) self
•Encompasses a person’s temperament, feelings, character
traits, independence, self-esteem, self-concept, behaviour,
ability to interact with others and ability to adapt to life changes
Psychosocial Theories
Erikson
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
proposed that individuals go through distinct,
universal stages of development.
Psychosocial stages. Erikson’s theory includes eight stages
of human development. Each stage consists of a unique
developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that
must be resolved.
Each stage requires a balancing of the positive and negative
tendency. The positive should predominate but some
degree of negative is needed as well.
Successful outcome of each stage is the development of a
particular virtue (or strength).
Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development
Erikson’s Eight Life-Span Stages - Strength
Infancy: Virtue = Hope
Early childhood: Virtue = Will
Play Years: Virtue = Purpose
School Age: Virtue = Skill
Adolescence: Virtue = Fidelity
Young adulthood: Virtue = Love
Middle adulthood: Virtue = Care
Mature Age: Virtue = Wisdom
Cognitive Development Theory
•Cognitive development - Manner in which people learn to think,
reason and use language
•Involves:
• Intelligence
• Perceptual ability
• Ability to process information
• Memory storage
dwb4.unl.edu
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
>
>
>
Organisation – organise via schemes (categories)
Adaption – assimilate new information and
accommodate it into existing structures
Equilibration – constant striving for balance
According to Piaget, how a child thinks - not how much
the child knows - determines the child’s state of
cognitive development
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage:
The infant constructs an understanding of the world
Birth to 2 by coordinating sensory experiences with physical
years of age actions: progressing from reflexive, instinctual action
at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward
end of the stage.
Preoperational Stage:
2 to 7 years
of age
The child begins to represent the world with words
and images. These words and images reflect
increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the
connection of sensory information and physical action.
Concrete Operational Stage:
7 to 11 years
The child can now reason logically about concrete
of age
events and classify objects into different sets.
11–15 years
of age
through
adulthood
Formal Operational Stage
The adolescent reasons in more abstract idealistic
and logical ways.
Developmental Health
A comprehensive understanding of the expected patterns will
form the basis for appreciating the emerging concept of
‘developmental health’ (Silburn 2003).
Developmental health describes aspects of development
that significantly affect the quality of life, health and
opportunities across the lifecycle (Silburn 2003).
- exploring casual dynamics & interrelation of factors
- considering the risk and protective factors that individuals
and populations that relate to desirable and undesirable life
outcomes.
WHO - The Millennium Development Goals
> An eclectic theoretical orientation subscribes to
a synthesis of the best features of individual
theories that shed light on the developmental
process (Santrock 2004). This is perhaps what is most
useful orientation in nursing practice.
> Nurses can support individuals in adjusting to and
maintaining a successful developmental and
ageing process.
Final Thoughts
There is nothing permanent except change.
(Heraclitus, fragment [6th century B.C.] in Papalia Olds and Feldman 2009)
In every child who is born under no matter
what circumstances, and of no matter what
parents, the potential for the human race is
born again
(James Agee).
URL clips to watch for Week 4
 Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development Uploaded by
HarvardCenter on Sep 29, 2011 1.52 mins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwFkcOZHJw&feature=player_embedded
 In Brief: The Foundations of Lifelong Health Harvard
Centre Uploaded by HarvardCenter on Jan 11, 2011, 7.13mins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o_mCNW4kb6M#!
References
Allender, J & Spradley B 2001, Community Health Nursing, concepts and practice, Lippincott,
Philadelphia.
Bee, H and Boyd, D 2004 The Developing Child. 10th edition, Pearson Education, Sydney.
Berger, K 1995, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 4th edn, Worth Pub.Inc.,
New York.
Crisp, J. & Taylor, C. 2001, Potter, & Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing, Harcourt Australia,
Marrickville, NSW.
Edelman, C & Mandle, C 2006, Health Promotion throughout the lifespan, Mosby, St Louis.
Gething, L & Hatchard, D 1989, Lifespan Development, First Australian Edition. Mc Graw Hill, Australia
Hertherington, E & Parke, P 2003, 4th ed, Child Psychology- A Contemporary View, McGraw Hill, Sydney.
Lyons, A & Chamberlain, K 2006, Health psychology, A critical introduction, Cambridge.
Papalia D, Olds S and Feldman R 2009, Human Development 11th Edn, Mc Graw Hill, NY.
Peterson, C 2010, Looking Forward through the Lifespan, Developmental Psychology, 5th Edn, Pearson,
Australia.
Santrock, J 2004, Child Development, 10th edition, Mc Graw Hill, Sydney.
Santrock, J 2008, Child Development, 11th edition, Mc Graw Hill, Sydney.
Silburn, S 2003, Guest editorial ‘Improving the developmental health of Australian children’, Australian eJournal for the Advancement of Mental Health, vol. 2, no. 1, viewed 23 January 2004,
http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/journal/vol2iss1/silburn.pdf