The following course in Human Growth and Development is provided in its entirety by Atlantic International University's "Open Access Initiative " which strives to make knowledge and education readily available to those seeking advancement regardless of their socio-economic situation, location or other previously limiting factors. The University's Open Courses are free and do not require any purchase or registration, they are open to the public.
The course in Human Growth and Development contains the following:
The Administrative Staff may be part of a degree program paying up to three college credits. The lessons of the course can be taken on line Through distance learning. The content and access are open to the public according to the "Open Access" and " Open Access " Atlantic International University initiative. Participants who wish to receive credit and / or term certificate , must register as students.
Human Growth Development Stages: Human stages of growth and development are differentiated by age and key stages of scientifically supported psychomotor development. Psychomotor development is progress in mental and motor skill activity. The process of growing and developing begins on the cellular level even before conception in the womb and continues throughout life until death. The scientific community divides human growth into stages according to age and assesses psychomotor development as a human develops motor skills and reaches cognitive milestones.
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Life begins at conception when a new organism is created with the mother’s ovum fertilized by the father’s sperm. From that point till death an individual keeps on growing and changing. Such changes are not random but orderly and they generally follow a pattern. Development is the process by which organisms grow and change systematically over the entire life period i.e., from conception till death. Developmental changes are not only growth or additions to human organisms, they also involve decay.
Lecture MaterialsLesson 3: Early Childhood Development Theories
Abstract Developmental theories are useful towards understanding how children learn and grow, and by what means their trajectories can be supported. Most theorists agree that both biology and experience are key factors that shape developmental outcomes. Risk and protective factors are said to contribute to development and often can be modified through intervention efforts. The prevention model emphasizes a foundation of supports and services aimed to foster healthy development.
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Lesson 4: The Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Behavior
Abstract Human ethology, which was established on the basis of classical zooethology, can be an inspirational contribution to the study of human behavior. The study of behavior in natural conditions is stimulating as well as the primary interest of ethologists in such behavioral patterns showing evolutionary success and benefits and which are called inborn or innate.
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Lesson 5: Physical Development
If we are to organize information about human development from a variety of perspectives, we need some sort of framework that is both meaningful and manageable. Studying human development involves considering many details simultaneously. A framework provides us with categories for bringing together bits of information that we believe are related to one another. Categories let’s simplify and generalize large quantities of information by clustering certain components. A framework helps us find our way in an enormously complex and diverse field.
Lecture MaterialsLesson 6: Time of Developmental Events
Time plays an important role in development. Traditionally, the passage of time has been treated as synonymous with chronological age, emphasizing changes that occur within individuals as they grow older. More recently, social and behavioral scientists have broadened their focus. They consider changes that occur over time, not only within the person but also in the environment, and examine the dynamic relation between these two processes. Paul.
Lecture MaterialsLesson 7: The Nature of Developmental Research
The Nature of Developmental Research The task of science is to make the world intelligible to us. Albert Einstein once observed that ―the whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.‖ So we do scientific research in much the same way that we ask questions and come to conclusions in our everyday lives. We make guesses and mistakes; we argue our conclusions with one another; we try out our ideas to see what fits, and we get rid of what doesn’t.
Lecture MaterialsLesson 8: The Aspects of Language
There are four basic aspects of language that have been studied: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Phonology is the study of the sounds of a language. (To remember this term, think of the sounds that come from your telephone, or the word cacophony, meaning a lot of loud, annoying sounds!) Syntax is the grammar of a language—that is, how we put words in order and how we change words (for example, play becomes played when we talk about the past) so they make sense to our listeners.
Lecture MaterialsLesson 9: The Theory of Human Development: A Cross-Cultural Analysis
This lesson demonstrates that socioeconomic development, emancipative cultural change and democratization constitute a coherent syndrome of social progress – a syndrome whose common focus has not been properly specified by classical modernization theory. We specify this syndrome as ‘human development’, arguing that its three components have a common focus on broadening human choice.
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Lesson 10: Creativity, Intelligence, & Personality
Divergent thinking; creativity in women; hemispheric specialization opposing right brain to left as the source of intuition, metaphor, and imagery; the contribution of altered states of consciousness to creative thinking; an organismic interpretation of the relationship of creativity to personality and intelligence; new methods of analysis of biographical material and a new emphasis on psychohistory; the relationship of thought disorder to originality; the inheritance of intellectual and personal traits important to creativity; the enhancement of creativity by training; these have been the main themes emerging in research on creativity since the last major reviews of the field (Stein 1968; Dellas & Gaier 1970; Freeman, Butcher & Christie 1971; Gilchrist 1972).
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