Characteristics of Development MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Characteristics of Development - Download Free PDF

Development is the process in which a child develops through all the aspects such as physical, social, environmental, emotional, language, cognitive, moral, etc. It happens throughout life.

Key Points

• The development follows the principle of  Spiral advancement, it can be back and forth throughout life.
• The pace of development is different from age to age.
• Example:
  • A child can learn their primary language faster than the secondary language.
  • The growth and development of the body organs of the child in the infancy stage are faster than the growth of organs after adolescence.
    • That's why option (2) is correct.

Important Points

• The principle of uniformity means that the development of every child is the same in all aspects such as Physical development, Social development, emotional development, etc, at the same pace. but it is not possible. that's why option (1) is incorrect.
• The principle of uni-directional means that development in the child is only one direction/aspect, which is wrong in the context of child development, child development is multi-directional with different aspects.
• The principle of discontinuity in child development refers to the development is not continuous but as we know that development in a child is a continuous process throughout life. So option (4) is also irrelevant.

Additional Information

• Development is not linear in shape, it is Spiral in shape.
• Development is the product of both 'Heredity' and 'Environment'.
• Development is from General to Specific.
• Development is from whole to part.

Human development is a multifaceted process that encompasses a wide range of changes and growth across different aspects of life. These changes occur in four primary domains: physical, cognitive, linguistic, and psycho-social.

 Key Points

• Each of these domains focuses on different areas of a person's growth, and they are interconnected, influencing one another in various ways as individuals mature.
•  The domain that studies changes in emotion, self-perception, and interpersonal relationships is known as the psycho-social domain.
• This domain primarily focuses on how individuals develop emotionally and socially as they interact with their families, peers, and the larger society.
• It involves understanding the complexities of human emotions, identity formation, and the ability to form meaningful relationships with others.

Hint

• Physical development involves changes in the body, such as growth, motor skills, and biological changes, but it does not directly deal with emotions or social interactions.
• Cognitive development focuses on mental processes such as thinking, learning, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making. While cognitive changes are crucial, they don't directly address emotional or social aspects.
• Linguistic development concerns the acquisition and use of language. This domain looks at how individuals develop language skills, but it does not specifically focus on emotional or relational changes.

Hence, the correct answer is Psycho-social.

Infancy is generally considered the period of life from birth to approximately one to two years of age. It's a time of rapid growth and development.

Key Points

• Neonate refers to a newborn baby, specifically from birth to 28 days of life. This period is crucial for the baby's adaptation to the external environment.
• Zygote is the earliest stage of development after fertilization, before it becomes an embryo.
• Babyhood refers to the period after infancy, typically from one to three years of age.
• Embryo is the developmental stage from conception to about eight weeks in the womb.

Thus, it is concluded that Child Infancy is called neonate.

Curiosity is the natural desire to learn, explore, and understand new things. It is a key driver of learning and innovation across all ages.

Key Points

• Childhood (3-12 years) is the stage when curiosity is at its peak.
• Children constantly ask "why," "what," and "how" about their surroundings.
• Their eagerness to explore, learn new things, and experiment is highest during this period.

Thus, it is concluded that Curiosity reaches maximum level in Childhood.

Hint

• Adolescence (12-18 years) involves curiosity too, but it is more focused on self-identity, relationships, and abstract thinking.
• Prenatal and Adulthood do not exhibit high levels of curiosity in the same exploratory manner as childhood.

Newborns exhibit several primitive reflexes, which are automatic movements in response to specific stimuli. 

Key Points

• If a baby's sole is stroked, and she first spreads her toes and then curls them, she is exhibiting the Babinski reflex. This reflex is a normal response in infants up to 12-24 months of age and indicates proper neurological function.
• When the bottom of the foot is stimulated, the big toe moves upward (dorsiflexion), while the other toes fan out.
• In older children and adults, the presence of this reflex may indicate neurological issues.

Thus, the correct answer is Babinski reflex.

Hint

• Rooting reflex: When a baby's cheek is touched, they turn their head in that direction and open their mouth, preparing for feeding.
• Moro reflex: Also known as the startle reflex, it occurs when a baby suddenly spreads and then brings their arms back in response to a loud sound or sudden movement.
• Grasp reflex: When an object is placed in a baby’s palm, they instinctively close their fingers around it.

Development can be defined as the change of shape, size, health, or change in psychology. The development of human beings is divided into different stages: Infancy, Early childhood, Late Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood.

Key Points 'Adolescence' comes from the Latin word 'Adolescere' which means 'to grow to become mature'. It a stage which lies between the age of '12 to 19 years'.

• Adolescence is the transitional stage of childhood and adulthood when a child develops physically and psychologically into an adult.
• It is a stage of storm and stress because in this stage children are in conflict with their parents, are moody, and tend to spend more time with their peers.
• It is also known as the problem age because the rapid physical growth leave teenagers often feel awkward, self-conscious, uncoordinated, embarrassed, and even confused.

Hence, it could be concluded that 'Smart age' is not the other name of Adolescence.

Additional Information

Characteristics of Adolescence Stage:

• Maturity in sexual organs
• Start thinking about future career
• Attraction towards the opposite sex
• Becoming conscious about outward appearance
• Heightened emotions such as getting easily frustrated
• Cognitive developments such as the ability to think abstractly
• Physical changes such as an increase in height, weight, and body composition

Development refers to qualitative changes in an individual. It involves the processes that are genetically programmed as well as those that are influenced by the environment.

• Development takes place in all aspects such as physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, and others. 
• Development is governed by certain principles which are applicable to all individuals. 

Key Points

Direction of development is proximodistal and cephalocaudal:-.

• Each child may have a different rate of development. In some areas, the body growth may be rapid, while in others relatively slow. However, the development of all human beings follows a similar pattern, similar sequence, or direction.
• Sequential pattern of development can be seen in two directions:
  • Cephalo-caudal sequence: It means that development spreads over the body from head to foot, i.e. individual begins to grow from head region downwards.
  • For example, The child first gain control on her head, then she could catch hold of objects, sit, crawl, and later she could stand and walk.
  • Proximodistal sequence: It means that the development proceeds from the central part of the body towards the peripheries. In this sequence, the spinal cord of the individual develops first, and then outward development takes place.
  • For example, Functionally, the child could use her arms before her hands and use her hands before she could control the movement of her fingers.

Thus, it is concluded that 'Direction of development is proximodistal and cephalocaudal' principle suggests that different body parts develop at different rates at various stages of development.

Hint

• Development is Multidimensional: Multidimensionality refers to the fact that development cannot be described by a single criterion such as increases or decreases in a behavior. It occurs in the biological, cognitive, and social-emotional domains.
• Development is Multidirectional: The principle of multidirectional maintains that there is no single, normal path that development must or should take. In other words, healthy developmental outcomes are achieved in a wide variety of ways.
• Development is a continuous process: No development whether physical, mental, or speech, occurs suddenly. It takes place at a slow, regular pace. Growth starts from the time of conception of the baby and continues till maturity. Physical and mental traits continue to develop until they reach their maximum level of growth.

The development includes a series of qualitative and progressive changes. Development can be defined as the changes in the structure, thought or behaviour, of a person that occurs as a function of both biological and environmental influences. 

Key Points

Principles of Human Growth and Development:

Development is Life-Long​/Principle of continuity:

• This principle defines that development is a life-long process as it does not stop at maturation and continues gradually until reaching its maximum growth. 

Development is modifiable​: 

• Development may be explained as the series of overall changes in an individual due to the emergence of modified structures and functions that are the outcome of the interactions and exchanges between the organism and its environment. 

Development follows a pattern:

•  Prenatal (before birth) and postnatal (after birth) development of human beings follow a pattern or a predictable sequence. Physical development, motor or language development and intellectual development take place in definite sequences.

Product of hereditary and environment:

• Hereditary and environment play a vital role in determining the development of an individual as:
  • all the mental and social traits depend on the environment.
  • all the inborn traits, instincts, potentials, and I. Q. depends on heredity.
• Development = Heredity * Environment 

Hence, from the above points, we can clearly infer that Development is Modifiable.

Additional Information

• Development is multidimensional, meaning it involves the dynamic interaction of factors like physical, emotional, and social development.
• Development is multidirectional and results in gains and losses throughout life.
• Development is a continuous process influenced jointly by Heredity and environment. It is not fully genetically pre-planned.

Development refers to an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs. It is a product of the interaction of hereditary and environment.

• The major domains of development such as physical, cognitive, social-emotional and language are developed in an integrated and holistic process.

Important Points 

Let's Understand in Brief:

Key Points

These Domains of Development are Interconnected as:

• a child's ability to speak two or more languages fluently is related to his/her cognitive skills.

• a child's ability to learn new things is related to his/her ability to interact with others or society.

• a child's physical inability (hearing loss) is related to his/her inability of participating in the classroom.

Hence it could be concluded that the domains of development are developed in an integrated and holistic process.

Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions, especially because education is strongly linked to earnings. Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum. 

• A number of questions arise when we commit ourselves to the study of human development. There are a number of issues and themes that need to be addressed at the outset of this field of study, which runs right through the experiences and theorizations on human development. 

Key Points

• Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for children’s long-term social, emotional, and cognitive development.  And because those influence educational success and later earnings, early childhood experiences cast a lifelong shadow.
• Contemporary theorists assert that not only early life experiences but later experiences have an influence on development as well. However, what remains unanswered, is the degree of change that can take place.
• It is believed that much of a child's personality is completely established by the age of five. If this is indeed the case, those who have experienced deprived or abusive childhoods might never adjust or develop normally.
• A child’s earliest experiences strongly influence his later development. Ideally, children spend their earliest years in nurturing surroundings that promote optimal brain development and provide young children with a solid foundation on which their later skills and abilities will be built.
• Conversely, when children grow up in an environment characterized by toxic stress, chaos, and uncertainty, their ability to develop to their full potential is hindered.

Hence, we can conclude that the early-later experiences issue aptly describes Raghav's case.

Hint

• Nature-nurture issue: Nature refers to the hereditary influences on human characteristics which include physical characteristics, intellectual capacities, personality traits and patterns of social interactions. Nurture as a concept, encompasses all of the environmental factors, including physical and cultural environments that influence the developmental outcomes in an individual.
• Continuity-discontinuity issue: The continuous-discontinuous issue addresses how developmental events manifest a smooth progression across the life stages (continuity) or a series of distinct stages (discontinuity). 

The development process occurs multi-dimensionally in various stages and in different proportions like for a newborn child the physical growth is more significant than the mental growth and as we grow older mental growth rate increases. 

Key Points

• The development of the child occurs in different stages. Each stage has certain unique characteristics. There are individual differences in the rate of growth and development.
• Therefore, the age limit for different stages should be regarded as just approximate. All children pass through these stages of development at or around the age levels suggested for them.
• The continuous-discontinuous issue addresses how developmental events manifest a smooth progression across the life stages (continuity) or a series of distinct stages (discontinuity).
• The discontinuity approach considers development as occurring in distinct and abrupt changes, with an emphasis on qualitative experiences that are different at each stage.
• 'Discontinuity' in the developmental process refers to new ways of understanding the world that emerge during the process of development.
• The discontinuity approach gives rise to “stage theories”, where development is illustrated with a metaphor of "climbing the stairs" where each step signifies an advanced way of functioning than the previous step.
• This suggests that the individual undergoes rapid changes as they step up to a different developmental stage, where change is considered to be sudden rather than gradual.

Hence, it could be said that 'Discontinuity' in the developmental process refers to new ways of understanding the world that emerge during the process of development.

Development refers to an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs. It is a product of the interaction of hereditary and environment.

• The major domains of development such as physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and language are developed in an integrated and holistic process.

Important Points

Cognitive development, also known as mental development is a major domain of development. It refers to the development of intelligence as:

• It refers to the development of the ability to understand, learn, reason, think, perceive, and solve a problem.
• It is the development of the ability to explore and process information to learn and understand the things around him.
• The more opportunities a child gets the better his cognition because he/she will be able to add to his mental capacities by learning through these opportunities.

​Hence, it could be concluded that cognitive development means development of intelligence.

Additional Information 

All domains of development:

Development refers to qualitative changes in an individual such as a change in personality or other mental and emotional aspects. It takes place in all aspects such as physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, and others.

Key Points

Characteristics of development:

• Development of children is influenced by their social context: Socio-cultural context emphasizes the role of culture and social interaction in the process of child development. It focuses that a child’s thinking does not develop in a vacuum but rather is influenced by the sociocultural context in which s/he grows up.
• Development involves change: The human being is never static. From the moment of conception to the time of death, the person is undergoing changes. The major changes include changes in size and proportions, acquisition of new mental, motor, and behavioral skills. 
• Development is predictable: Because the rate of development is constant for a child, it is possible to predict certain development outcomes at an early age. The X-ray of the wrist will predict the approximate height of the child.

Thus, it is concluded that the development of children is influenced by their social context statement is correct with respect to the development of children.

Hint

• Development is a smooth and continuous process for all children: The process of development is continuous starting from conception through birth to lifelong, i.e., from womb to tomb but it is not smooth as it has to pass through different stages.
• ​Domains of development are distinct and unrelated from one another:- It is not a correct statement with respect to the development of children. There are different domains of development. All domains of development, i.e. physical, mental, social, and emotional, are related to each other. E.g. a child, who is physically healthy is likely to have superior sociability and emotional stability. The child develops as a unified whole. Each area of development is dependent on the other and thus influences the other developments.
• Different theories of child development agree on the same ideas regarding the development of children: It is also not a correct statement as the development theories like socio-cultural theory, cognitive theory, Psychosexual stage theory are different and idea regarding child development is also different.

Development describes the growth of humans throughout their lifespan, from conception to death. It refers to development as patterns of change over time. It does not just involve the biological and physical aspects of growth, but also the cognitive and social aspects associated with development. Basically, the development of a child is considered in five stages-

• Pre-natal period (conception period)
• Infancy period (0 to 2 years)
• Early childhood period (2 to 6 years)
• Later childhood (7 to 11 years)
• Adolescence ( 12 to 19 years)

Key Points

• The development of a child continues throughout life. But it is important to focus much on the development of the child from infancy to adolescence. 
• Children learn many skills in their life from infancy to adolescence, such as interaction with others, their daily tasks such as drinking water, how to wear clothes, etc.
• The period from infancy to adolescence is also called the sensitive period of development because in this period child learns basic norms of life.

Thus by all these references, we can conclude that Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Important Points

• Infancy period: During this stage, adjusting to the new non-uterine environment becomes the major goal or focus in the life of the neonate. Adjusting to room temperature. Breathing independently, sucking and swallowing the milk, eliminating body, and waste are prime areas that the newborn needs to master. 
•  Early childhood period: The period from birth to six years is a time for rapid development. In this stage, the absence of experience and deprivation can be detrimental to growth. Care and stimulation are critical during early childhood or the first three years.
• Later childhood: During this stage children develop marked negativism and because of their desire for independence seldom obey their parents. The child begins going to school and learns the rudiments of knowledge essential for successful adult life. The peer group assumes great significance and children of this age 'crowd together, thus earning the name gang age'.  
•  Adolescence: Adolescence literally means 'to grow to maturity. It is an intermediary stage between childhood and adulthood characteristically possessing qualities of both stages, although not fully in either of them. The age range is from 12-19 years. It is the threshold to adulthood. There are rapid physical changes taking place including sexual maturity which is attained during adolescence. 

Development is the study of the way people change, from the first moments of conception right through the life span to old age and death. Development begins from the moment conception occurs. The definition emphasizes that development is an ongoing process, right through life until the moment of death. This definition also states that development is about a person changing in some way.

Key Points 

Changes within the development can be examined in two ways:

• Quantitative changes look at measurable changes in a person’s development. It occurs when individuals acquire novel information and experiences like, the individuals become stronger, bigger, gain more weight or height.
• Qualitative changes reflect a new stage that is different, in quality, from what was happening before. Examples would be going from crawling to walking stage or beginning to talk using words from a babbling stage. These examples show a change in the quality of movement and the quality of communication.

Hence, we can conclude that in the context of children, 'development' includes both qualitative and quantitative changes.