INTRODUCTION TO

EDUCATIONAL PYSCHOLOGY
Introduction
this topic covers the meaning of psychology and educational psychology.
It also states the importance of educational psychology.
Meaning of psychology
Psychology is the systematic study of human and animal behavior in a particular environment. Human
being and animals respond differently to different situations and events in their physical and social
environments.

They respond individually or in groups. Their responds depends of their previous experience. If the
previous experience had caused pain the will expect a repeated occurrence of the same to produce
similar effect.
Therefore they prepare themselves to respond accordingly. On the other hand if the experience had
caused pressure the will expect the repeat of the experience to produce a pleasant effect and as a
result respond positively. The responses in this case are called behaviour.

Psychology is a systematic study of behaviour because it is carried out carefully, orderly and
repeatedly following set rules and procedures.
For example, an experiment can be carried out using an experimental group and a control group to
find out whether discovery method is better than lecture method. The results are analysed compared
and conclusions are made. Education is a process of acquiring and developing desired knowledge,
skills, attitudes and values which can be positively used by the individual and the society. Educational
psychology is therefore a systematic study of how learner acquire and develop desired knowledge,
skills, values and attitudes for the benefit of the individual and the society. The acquisition of desired
knowledge skills, values and attitudes is referred to as learning. Learning is defined as a permanent
change in learners behaviour as a result of practice, experience and observation.
the teacher provides positive stimuli for the learners to respond to respond to the environment
resulting in learning. The teacher should be aware of the learners needs, interest, situation which
bring about positive change in the learners behaviour. Education psychology helps us understand how
learning takes place so that we can plan to achieve it most effectively. The teacher provides
teaching/learning opportunities for effective interaction.
• Purpose of educational psychology importance
Educational psychology helps us to understand human behaviours in this case learners behaviour.
It also helps us to understand behaviour changes that come as a result of a teaching/learning
experience in relation to intended objectives rather than any other human experience. In summary,
educational psychology is important in the following ways:
 it helps the teacher to understand the nature nature of the learner, their needs, interests and abilities
in order to plan for their effective learning.
 It helps the teacher to understand the nature of the subject; how each subject is organised and
presented for learning purposes.
 It helps in determining the objectives that are achievable at different levels of learning.
 It determines which objectives have been achieved by different learners. Different objectives relate
other.
 It helps us determine the age at which children can join school, for example, standard one at six years.
 It helps us to understand when children are mature to understand concepts.
 It helps us select effective teaching-learning strategies for different levels and subjects.
 It helps us to select, organize and evaluate strategies effectively.
 It helps to interprete the learning outcomes, for example, to organise tests and examinations and
interprete results.
 It helps in the development of curriculum materials, for example, syllabuses and text books.
What have you learnt?
1. Define psychology
2. What makes human beings respond positively or negatively to an experience?
3. Explain how educational psychology is a systematic study of human beahviour.
4. Define educational psychology .
5. State five reasons why educational psychology is important.
6. Explain how learners’ experiences affect learning.
7. Describe factors that influence learning.
CHILD GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
• Introduction
This topic, presents various stages of child growth and development. Factors that affect child growth and
development are also explained. The topic will also discuss the implications these stages and factors have on
learning. The concept of intelligence will also be explained.
• Meaning of Child Growth and Development
The term growth refers to the quantitative changes that take place in a human being from conception to death.
This is mainly body size; height, weight, bone length, muscle size. Development means the qualitative changes
that take place in a human being as a result of maturation and environment. This includes such things as
manipulation skills, ability to talk, sociability, develoment of morality and creativity.
Growth and development are interrelated as cach one of them facilitates the other, for example, a child whose
muscles and bones are growing properly will be able to walk at the expected time of development. Two major
factors contribute to child growth and development: Heredity and Environment.
• Heredity
This refers to the physiological and biological characteristics acquired by children from their parents through
the genes. Heredity influences the general structure of the body, it's shape, size and the mental ability of a
person. Heredity controls the unborn patterns of behaviour or reflex actions. Some abnormalities such as
colour blindness, weak hearts, sickle cell anaemia and asthma may also be handed down to children from their
parents and other ancestors. Genes can be dominant or recessive. This is why at times individuals may display
characteristics not of their parents but of earlier ancestors. Some genes are common to all human beings.
These genes determine common human characteristics such as ability to walk on two legs and not on four like
other animals and smooth skin without fur.
• Environment
Environment refers to the surroundings or external factors that affect human beings and other things.
Environment influences human growth and development from conception to death.
Before birth, the baby is influenced by the pre-natal environment in the mother's womb. After birth, the child is
exposed to a more complicated environment made up of physical, social and emotional forces. This includes
such things as climatic conditions, people around the child, illness and nutrition. Note: Growth and
development is a function of both heredity and environment. Heredity sets the potential limits of growth and
development. Environment determines the level of exploitation of such limits. This means that although
heredity lays down the potential characteristics of a human being, environment could alter or change them for
good or worse.
• Stages of Child Growth and Development
Child growth and development is divided into two major stages; pre-natal and post-natal. The post-natal stage
could further be divided into the following stages:
 Infancy (0-2 years)
 Early childhood (2 -6 years)
 Late childhood (6 – 12 years)
 Adolescence (12- 18 years)
 Adulthood (18 years and above)

In the process of growth and development, various aspects have been identified; physical, social, emotional,
language, moral/spiritual and mental. Each of these will be briefly discussed.

• Physical development
Physical development refers to the increase in body size, weight and complexity which starts from conception to
the age of about twenty years. It involves the development of the brain and the nervous system, muscles, bones
and the endocrine system. Physical deveopment includes motor development; the ability to consciously control
muscles in order to make voluntary movement. Motor development depends on physical growth, leaning and
maturation.
Physical development is rhythmic not regular-growth comes in cycles, waves or phases. In some stages of
development, there is rapid growth (pre-natal, infancy and adolescence) while slow growth is noted in other stages
(early and late childhood). Physical development is influenced by both heredity and environment. Heredity
determines such things as size, shape, colour, looks of a person. Environmental factors that could influence physical
environment include; climatic conditions, socio-economic class of parents, nutrition and health.

Physical development could influence learning both directly and indirectly. Directly, the physical state determines
what one is able to do; a child who is well developed will compete with peers on the same level. Indirectly, physical
development influences attitudes to self and others; reflected in the adjustment one makes. A child who due to
physical inadequacy is unable to compete with peers may be withdrawn and unfriendly affecting his/her working
relationship with peers.

• Social Development
Social development means development of social skills that enable a person behave and live effectively in an
acceptable manner in society. It involves becoming less self centered, mixing with other people and ability to see
and accept other people's point of view.
The factors that influence social development include play, language, religious groups and child rearing practices.
Social development helps an individual know when to co-operate and when to compete. It also helps one make
friends. Learning in the classroom calls for both co- operation and competition. A child needs to be able to handle
both. There are times when friends are useful in learning, for example, in times of hardship where they offer
assistance or in group work.
• Emotional Development
The word "emotion" could be defined as a strong feeling created by the activity of inborn urges or drives. It
describes such feelings as love, sorrow, sadness, joy, hatred, anger, fear, jealousy, pity, curiosity, wonder and
anxiety.
Emotional development means not only acquisition of such emotions but ability to express and control
them appropriately. Children develop emotions related to environmental experiences mainly through imitation
and conditioning.

• Language Development
Language could be defined as a system for expression of thoughts, feelings and ideas through spoken sounds
and symbols. Language is used for communication. It is an important tool for leaning as it is used for
instruction.
Learners also use language to display their learning - this makes it a key factor in the teaching/learning
process. Factors that could influence language development include, health, intelligence, family size, ordinal
position and socio-economic status of the family.
• Moral/spiritual Development
The root of the word moral is "mores" which means manners and customs. Moral development is the
acquisition and understanding of what is right and wrong as accepted and practised by the society. Moral
behaviour therefore implies conformity with social expectations.
A person who knows what is right and wrong but chooses to do right is said to be moral. A person who knowingly
chooses to do the wrong thing is said to be immoral. An ammoral or non-moral person is the one who behaves
contrary to social expectations but due to ignorance rather than intention- such a person does not know what is right
or wrong. Moral development is influence by such factors as family values, school rules and regulations, community
norms and expectations and religion.

Mental Development
Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist developed a theory which explains how children's mental ability grows and develops.
He called this "Theory of cognitive development". The word cognitive comes from "cognition" which refers to all
activities of the mind. Some of such activities are; knowing, thinking, remembering, recognising, understanding,
applying and relating. As in physical development, Piaget has put cognitive development into four stages which run
almost parallel to the physical stages. These are:
• Sensori motor stage (0 - 2 years)
• Pre-operational stage (2 -7 years)
• Concrete operations stage (7- 1l years)
• Formal operations stage (11 - 15+ years)
Mental development is influenced by heredity, environmental and maturation. As most learning is dependant on
mental activity, mental development is central to any learning experience – it determines what a learner is able to do.
We shall now discuss the stages of child growth and development bearing in mind the mentioned aspects of
development.
• Pre-natal Stage
The pre-natal period is the time between conception and birth-the pregnancy period. Conception occurs when the
sperm unites with the ovum and fertilisation takes place. The period between conception to birth is divided into three
periods as follows:
• Period of the Ovum (The first two weeks)
During this period, there is rapid internal development and implantation into the uterine wall.
• Period of the Embryo (2 -8 weeks) All important internal and external features of the body develop and begin to
function, for example, a primitive heart begins to beat at three weeks. The placenta, umblical cord and amniotic sac
develop. Sex organs are developed enough to distinguish the sex of the baby. By the end of this period, the embryo
is about 4 centimetres long and weighs about 25 grams.
• Period of the Foetus (8 weeks to birth)
Internal and external features continue to grow and develop. Internal organs assume nearly adult size. Foetal activity
such as kicking begins between the second and third months of pregnancy.
By the end of the sixth month, the baby is developed enough to survive under special care without too many
complications if born at that time. It is important to ensure that the prenatal environment is conducive for proper
development of the baby. Various factors have been known to adversely affect development of the foetus and the life
of the child to be born as a whole. Some of these factors are discussed as follows:
• Maternal Malnutrition
If the mother is malnourished during pregnancy, it means the foetus does not get adequate nourishment. This could
lead to premature delivery, damage to the brain or the child being born underweight and possibly stunted in growth.
• Age of the Mother
It has been observed that the older the mother, the greater the incidence of abnormalities of the central nervous system
leading to mental retardation. This is probably because as a woman grows older, hormonal activity gradually reduces.
• Maternal Health
Endocrine disorders and infectious diseases in the pregnant woman could affect the unborn baby. Such diseases as diabetes,
syphillis, small pox may cause mental subnormality in the baby. Venerial diseases have been known to cause blindness and
deafness in the baby. German measles or rubella could lead to cataracts, deafness and mental retardation in the baby.
• Rhesus Factor
Incompatibility between the father's and mother's blood types causes damage to the cells of the foctus. This could result to
physical or mental complications which may at times lead to permanent injury to or death of the baby.
• Exposure to Radiation
It has been proved that when an expectant mother is exposed to radiation especially during the embryonic stage, the child
may be born with mental or physical defects. This was clearly demonstrtaed by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during the
Second World War. Many women who were pregnant and experienced the bomb, gave birth to children with cleft palates and
deformed jaws.
• Drugs Taken During
Pregnancy Some drugs taken by the pregnant mother may affect the baby. In the early 1960s, the drug thalidomide was
prescribed to pregnant women to make them more comfortable. Many of the babies born to those women were born with
shortened limbs or with no limbs at all. Malaria tablets with too much quinine may lead to deafness in the baby.
• Smoking
Nicotine narrows blood vessels. If this happens to the placenta, food and oxygen supply to the foctus is reduced. This affects
the rate of the foetal heart. Development is slowed down. The baby may be born underweight and so vulnerable at birth.
Nicotine could also affect the chemical content of the foetal blood.
• Emotional State of the Mother
if a pregnant mother is stressed, the foetal heart rate has been known to increase. An extremely negative
emotional state of the mother could interfere with her feeding habits which in turn may curtail food supply to
the foetus. This could lead to negative effects on the baby's mental and physical development.
• Uterine Crowding
When the mother is carrying more than one baby in the womb at the same time as in the case of twins and
triplets, the uterus is crowded and so foctal activity which is important for normal development is reduced.
• Prolonged Labour or Difficult Birth
The biggest danger at birth is the baby failing to get enough oxygen which could lead to brain damage and
mental retardation. If instruments such as forceps are used to deliver a baby, they could cause physical or brain
damage.
Infancy (0 - 2 years)
• Physical Development
At birth, a baby possesses all the characteristics of a human body although not in proportion, for example, the
head is too big and the legs are too short. The baby is not able to make voluntary movements as motor
development has not taken place. The nervous system is not adequately developed and so the baby reacts with
the whole body mass even when stimulation such as pain is on only one part of the body. This is a period of
very rapid growth and development and so by the end of it, the baby has not only grown in size and structure
but is also capable of various motor skills.
• The following are some physical changes that take place in most infants:
4-6 months - child may begin to sit.
6-9 months - weight increases to double or more of birth weight, may crawl, first milk teeth may appear.
9- 12 months - rate of physical growth, begins to slow down, may stand and walk.
1-2 years - rate of growth is further reduced, weight is three times the birth weight, height may be 82centimetres.
Note: Motor activities at this stage are those that require gross motor skills. These are activities which involve control of big
muscles as in sitting, standing, walking, jumping and running. Finer motor skills which involve ability to control small muscles as
in writing, focussing on small letters, playing musical instruments are learned later and more slowly.
• Social development
At birth, the baby is too egocentric to be concerned with existence of others. Later, the baby begins to take interest in people
who are in close contact with him or her. The following are examples of social behaviour to be found in infants:
3 months -- smiles back.
4 - 5 months -- recognises individual persons.
6 months 1 year -- begins to differentiate familiar people from visitors and strangers. Attempts to secure and influence the
behaviour of adults in his or her life through crying.
By the end of the second year, most babies have become quite socialised as illustrated by the following:
-Baby can keep social contact with two other infants at the same time.
-Can imitate simple actions such as reading, sweeping.
-Engages in solitary play preferably with adults around.
• Emotional Development
At birth, the baby is in a state of excitement. All other basic emotions develop through maturation and learning. Basic
emotions such as love, affection, security, fear and joy develop through interaction with the people around the baby, for
example, in cuddling the baby, the emotions of love and security are developed. Emotions to be found in an infant include
disgust, fear, joy, jealousy, anger and affection.
• Language Development
A baby comes into the world with no language but with the ability to learn any language. At birth, the baby is able to cry and
make other noises such as sneezing and burping. The following is noticed in most babies during infancy:
Birth – 1 month – makes guttural sounds from the throat.
5-6 weeks – begins to vocalise by cooing and gurgling in response to being talked to.
3 months – begins to control muscles of lips, tongue and the larynx.
When talked to, the baby responds through babbling.
9 months – makes a variety of noises such as goo, kah, deh. Spends a lot of time practicing
such sounds.
9 months – has sounds such as kaka, tata, mama, dada. At first, these words may mean nothing
but the baby learns later they can be connected with people or things for example,
dada for daddy and mama for mummy.
1 year – has learned some words with definite meaning and can use them. However, one word can
mean many things, for example, saying daddy can mean "Where is daddy?", "I can see
daddy", "I want daddy". The child can also obey simple rules, for example, "Give it to mummy".
2 year – the infant has a vocabulary of about 50 words or more.
• To facilitate language development, babies need to:
- be talked to.
- be listened to.
- get questions answered.
- read stories to.
- exposed to correct language- people around infants should avoid baby talk.
• Moral Development
At this stage, the child is egocentric and personal satisfaction is the major need - the concept of morality is
remote and the child could be said to be amoral. Children like to imitate parents and other adult behaviour and
therefore should be given good examples.
• Mental Development
According to Piaget's categorisation, this stage is called sensori-motor stage. This stage has been given the name
because a child's earliest signs of intelligence are shown by the way the baby senses (sensori) things in the
environment and the way he or she uses physical (motor) abilities to react to such sensation, for example:
- Eyes follow a moving object.
- Head turns towards direction of a loud noise.
- Reaches for and grasps toys.
The following examples of signs of mental development noted in most infants:
Soon after birth - learns a few things through trial and error, for example, puts fist in mouth accidentally
and finds it pleasurable. Soon learns to do it at will.
8-12 months - intentional behaviour begins. The child may push away an object that is blocking access
to a toy.
- Achieves object constancy. Before 8 months, anything out of sight ceases to exist.
After experience with objects that swing, roll or drop, the baby learns things
can still exist even when out of sight.
By 18 months - learns to use new means to an end, for example, he or she could bring objects
on the table down by pulling the table cloth.
By 2 years - although all things appear the same; is not able to distinguish big or small, good or bad,
the child is able to distinguish people from objects.
Major achievements at this stage include:
- Achievement of object constancy.
- Discovering certain actions produce certain results.
- Some understanding of space and time, for example, can locate toys.
Learning at this stage is through the use of senses, not reasoning. Activities which require extensive use of senses should be
encouraged.
• Early Childhood (2-6 years)
• Physical Development
Physical development slows down although there is a steady increase in size. At the end of this stage the child
could weigh about 20 kilograms and be 115 centimetres in height. The child gains control over his or her body
and is therefore able to develop manipulative skills such as running, throwing, climbing and jumping. Children
get excited about this achievement and could become hyperactive.
There is better control of eye muscles which enables concentration on small objects. Eye-hand co-
ordination also improves. As a result of such development, skills such as reading and writing can be developed.
At six years, the child could have one or two permanent teeth.

• Social Development
From about two years, children enjoy the company of others though not sharing things with them. They like to
play alongside other childron without necessarily showing concern about their presence or activities- this is
called parallel play. At around the age of four years, children begin to engage in co-operative play. This means
they are able to play with others, share things and give in to them at times. However, this co-operation is not
very strong and could be broken and restarted easily. This is the time most children enter school where
socialisation is developed further through co-operation, sharing and competition.
• Emotional Development
As the child develops more independence in physical movement, the environment expands in terms of
contact with people and objects. Initially the child will show fear towards strange people, animals and objects
as the child becomes familiar with situations and experience widens, this fear decreases.
Other emotions develop as the child interacts with more people especially after entering school. It is at
the earlier years of this stage that children at times express their displeasure by throwing tantrums. Foundation
for emotional control should be laid down at this stage. Children's skills and experiences should be increased,
positive emotional reactions should be reinforced while negative ones should be discouraged.

• Language Development
At this stage, there is a rapid increase in vocabulary due to interaction with more people. In school, children
listen to stories being read or told and they also get plenty of chances to practise language use. Children also
learn simple rules of grammar such as plurals and tenses. As the rules of grammar become more complex,
children at times get confused and they may treat irregular words as regular. It is quite common to hear
children at this stage give sentences such as "mummy comed yesterday" or "my picture is gooder than yours".
• Moral Development
The child begins to develop an idea of what is right and what is wrong depending on what the parents forbid or
allow, reward or punish. The child accepts the dictates of the parents who are considered to know everything.
Play at this stage is often imitation of adult life such as playing "at house", "at church", "at school". Adults
therefore need to be role models.
Although children at this stage know there are certain rules which govern play group, home and school,
they do not always keep them because they lack adequate experience. This is a good time to introduce
religious education because it could play a role in moral development as it is based on relationships.

• Mental Development
This stage is parallel to what Piaget calls the pre-operational stage (2-7 years). The word operations as used by
Piaget means mental activities or actions in thought as opposed to physical activities.
At this stage, the child is mentally egocentric, finds it hard to put himself or herself in the position of
somebody else and thinks the world is created for him or her and so can control it. A child's language illustrates
this as it is full of "me", "mine", "myself". The child gets upset if the rain falls as he or she plans to go out to
play-thinks the rain should wait. The child finds it hard to understand why a sick mother would want quietness
when the child wants to play.
he child is also animistic. All nature is seen as alive. The child may see the moon "following" or the ball
"refusing" to be kicked straight while a "naughty" table might bump him or her. Piaget divides this stage into
two:
• Stage of Pre-concepts (2-4 years)
A concept is a collective name for a class or a group. During this period, the child is beginning to build concepts
from experience- this is the child's first attempt at generalisation. As a result of inexperience, the child at times
confuses a class and representatives of that class, for example, he might call all men daddy, a dog a goat, a
butcher a doctor, a table a chair, a lemon an orange.

Intuitive or Perceptial Stage (4–7 years)

The term intuition means ability to understand something without conscious reasoning. The word perceptial is
from perception which refers to what is physically visible. The stage is characterised by pre-logical thought and
the child is often deceived by appearances. This is because a child's interpretation is purely dependent on
sense perception.
The child at this stage lacks the concepts of conservation and reversability as illustrated in Piaget's
famous experiments. Conservation means ability to realise certain attributes of an object remains constant
even if it changes in appearance. Reversability means the ability to think back to the time the object had not
undergone change.
• The following are examples of these experiments:
Conservation of Liquid

If children at this stage are shown two identical glasses, A and B, most will agree the amount of water in both is
the same. If however, the water in B is poured into a shorter but wider glass, C, in their presence, many will say
the amount of water is different. They will say the water in Cis less because the level is lower- they fail to see
the water is spread over a wider surface. However, if the water in C is put back in glass B, children will say the
amount in A and B is the same.
Conservation of number

B
• If children at this stage are shown two rows of bottle tops matched one to one as in A and asked which row
has more, they will agree that the two rows have the same number. However, if one row is compressed in
their presence as in B, they will say there are less bottle tops in the second row because it is shorter.

Conservation of substance

A B C
If children are shown two identical balls of clay, A and B, they will agree that the amount of clay in both is the same.
However, if ball B is rolled into a sausage shape C, the children might say that C has more clay as it is longer. Others
might say ball A has more clay as it is higher from the surface. If shape C is rolled back into a ball, they will say it has the
same amount of clay as A.
These experiments show that children at this stage are deceived by appearance. Their perception is
immediate and limited to the present - their attention is centred on only one aspect, for example, C has more clay
because it is longer- they fail to see it is also thinner. This is why Piaget says that children at this stage have not acquired
conservation and reversability. Children have not yet acquired preservation of constance of matter in thought. They are
only able to think clearly of what is immediately before them.
A major achievement at this stage is ability to deal with symbols. This helps children understand how letters can
be combined to symbolise words. Other mental activities that the child acquires at this stage and which are important in
school include recalling, counting, remembering, recognising and differentiating

Late Childhood (6-12 years)

• Physical development
The rate of physical development slows down further. However, there is consolidation of muscles and bones for better
use leading to refinement in motor co-ordination. Children at this stage display alot of physical energy and are very
active. This active life demands a lot of food hence many children at this stage have good appetite. It is at this stage that
differences in motor skills in boys and girls may be noticed.
This is usually as a result of the different activities that the society expects them to do. In many societies, boys could
improve on gross motor skills such as throwing, climbing and cutting while girls could improve on finer motor skills
such as sewing.
By the end of this stage, the brain is almost at its maximum size. Certain physical weaknesses such as short
sightedness may also become apparent at this time.

• Social Development
During this stage, most children are in school. They have learned enough social skills to socialise. A main
characteristic of this stage is group formation. Children form peer groups which are quite solid as they are guided by
rules and regulations which are understood by all members. Team play and games become popular. The peer groups
at this stage are charactersed by sex separation; boys form their groups known as "gangs" while girls' groups are
called "cliques".
At this stage, team spirit is very strong. Some children may participate in activities they would normally not take
part in as individuals because of peer pressure. Children who for some reason do not fit in these groups are viewed as
outcasts and may find it hard to adjust to school life. Teachers and parents need to monitor and guide these groups to
ensure they impact only positive influence. Children at this stage are old enough to understand the social norms, they
should be taught what is socially acceptable and be expected to comply.
• Emotional Development
At this stage, the society expects children to display emotional control. However, children are still not mature
enough and find it hard at times to control their emotions, this at times could make them moody.
Children at this stage are able to hold their emotions for long periods and are able to adjust their emotions and
moods to fit in different environments or situations. At this stage, physical aggression observed at an earlier age is
gradually replaced by verbal aggression. Children are more likely to shout and argue than physically attack source of
frustration.
• Language Development
At this stage, the child's language is so well developed in grammar and vocabulary that it is possible to use it as a
medium in teaching and learning. Children are able to listen attentively and are able to convey messages. It is at this
stage that most children acquire literacy skills. They need to be encouraged to use grammatical language in both
spoken and written language. Where children have learned more than one language, they need to be encouraged to
use only one at a time rather than mixing them as this interferes with grammar.
• Moral Development
Until the age of about ten years, children are still rather vague about the concept of morality. The children's moral
development is influcnced by parents, teachers and peer group, thus can at times be confusing especially where
different people have different values or rules. Children may pick up moral instructions through conditioning
especially by parents. It is at this period when children may obey rules, not because they understand them or their
valuc, but because they are afraid of consequences of breaking them.
From the age of 10 - 12 years, children begin to understand the value of rules and may obey them for such.
This is the stage ofequity, children expect justice and fairmess in everything and get upset when other people fail to
keep to that expectation.
• Mental Development
This stage runs parallel to Piaget's stage of "concrete operations", 7-11 years. At this stage, the child begins to
think logically. However, the logical thinking is only about concrete or existing objects and people. The following
are examples of mental development by children at this stage.
• Conservation
Children are no longer confused by immediate physical appearance. They are now able to realise certain
characteristics remain the same inspite of physical appearance. They are able to mentally go back, reverse, to
the time before the change took place.
• Mental Representation
Children at this stage are able to have a mental picture of various things or sequence of events, for example,
they are able to give directions from one place to another. Children are also able to put down their mental
representation on paper and understand it. This makes it possible for children to understand diagrams, charts
and maps.
• Classification
Children at this age are able to understand classes and sub-classes and can think about both
simultaneously, for example, a girl is also a human being. This understanding helps children in such subjects like
mathematics and science where classification is important.
• Seriation
At this stage, children are able to arrange things in order of given dimensions, for example, length, size and width.
Seriation helps children to understand place and number value which is necessary in learning mathematics. •
Substitution Children at this stage are able to learn different ways of getting the same thing. This is clearly
demonstrated in mathematics where they are able to learn such relationships as;
12 = 6+6 = 3 +9= 1- 11 = 7+5

• Adolescence (12-18 years)

Adolescence is the transitional stage which marks the end of childhood and beginning of adulthood. At this stage,
the individual reaches maturity in all aspects of development. Adolescence is also called the stage of puberty.
Puberty comes from the latin word "pubertas" meaning "age of manhood". During this stage, the whole body goes
through internal and external changes which influence both the structure and functioning of the body.
These changes are caused by increased hormonal activity during adolescence. The physical changes in the body are
often accompanied by changes in attitude and behaviour of the adolescent.

• Physical Development
Various physical changes are noted in the adolescent as follows: The first physical change noted is in body size. In
the first two or three years of this stage, there is a spurt in the rate of physical growth. Children grow at a faster rate
than at other stages since infancy.
Boys could grow by as much as 25 cm while girls could add as much as15 cm to their height.
Most individuals reach 98% of their adult height during adolescence. Girls tend to reach the rapid spurt of
growth earlier than boys. However, the boys later overtake the girls especially in height. This rapid growth demands
good food especially rich in proteins. Adolescents need vigorous exercises. Apart from growth in size, the
adolescent body changes in proportion. Adult body proportions are realised during this stage. These changes do
not occur regularly, for example, a boy's legs could grow faster than the arms making him grow out of his trousers
before growing out of his shorts. These proportion changes are not only external but internal, for example, in
childhood, the heart is small and the arteries big. After adolscence the reverse is true.
Another change that takes palce during adolescence is in the primary sex charateristics. The sex organs in
childhood are small and functionally immature. At the beginning of this stage, they begin to enlarge and are ready
to function. On the average, the ovaries begin to produce mature ova at the age of thirteen when most girls
experience their first menarche (menstruation) or monthly period. For the boys, the testes are ready to function; at
an average age of fourteen, many boys experience wet dreams. When these changes take place, an adolescent is
said to be sexually mature.
Another physical change at adolescence is development of secondary sex characteristics. These are features that
distinguish a female body from that of a male. The boys develop hair on the face and body including pubic hair.
They may also develop muscles and broad shoulders. their voices also break. In girls, these changes are noticed in
development of breasts and widening of hips. They also develop pubic hair and the skin texture may become
smooth and soft.
Adolescents do not go through these changes at the same time. Some experience the changes in early
puberty (early bloomers) while others go through the changes in late puberty
(late bloomers).
• Social Development
This is the stage when adolescents develop self awareness. As result of the changes that take place, the young
people begin to see themselves as either men or women. They form a strong alliance with their peers and show
marked interest in the opposite sex. This interest could be narrowed to an individual and dating could commence.
Young people at this stage are very conscious of their appearance and often set out to impress and attract
the opposite sex. The adolescents have a romantic view of life and often seek role models in famous characters and
celebrities. They are also fashion conscious and their social values often differ from the adults which at times leads
to conflict. Girls generally mature earlier than boys and so tend to socialise with older boys. The greatest social
need at this stage is social approval and success.
• Emotional Development
As a result of the physical changes, adolescents' emotional tendencies tend to increase. They are very conscious of
their bodies which at times make them shy. They become very sensitive to any criticism or negative remarks from
peers or adults, this at times makes them moody and sulky. Other emotions such as love, hatred, jealousy and
anger become intense as a result of experience and understanding. Adolescents also learn to control their emotions
better than children in the younger stage. Emotionally, adolescents have a great need for independence and social
approval.
• Language Development
By the end of the adolescent stage, young people have mastered grammatical language. If they are students, they
are able to express themselves both orally and in writing. Adolescents also develop peer language such as "sheng".
This is usually to confuse and cut off adults from their conversation. Peer language could be useful to adolescents as
it enables them discuss their fears, intimacies and emotions without fear of the wrath of adults.
• Moral Development
During adolescence, young people are fully aware of what is moral or immoral as accepted by the society. However, they
begin to rationalise morals and therefore question those which do not make sense to them. As a result of this, some
adolescents may break away from religion and the socially accepted norms, they tend to go by the virtues of their peers. By
the end of this stage, adolescents can be said to be morally mature, they are able to make independent moral decisions.
• Mental Development
The adolescent stage corresponds with Piaget's stage of "Formal Operations" which runs between 11 15+ years. By the end of
this stage, the children could be said to be mentally mature. The following points illustrate this mental maturity. Adolescents:
• Are systematic and logical in their thinking.
• Display critical thinking, able to consider all options before taking a decision.
• Are able to construct hypotheses.
• Are scientific in their thinking even about abstract ideas.
• Are able to plan for the future.
• Are able to deal with complex relationships such as ratio and percentages.
• Are at times critical of existing systems and could advocate for revolutionary changes.
Adulthood (18 years and above)
Although the legal age that marks adulthood is eighteen years, many people are not independent until their mid twenties.
Early adulthood (18-24 years) is considered as continuation of adolescence in many ways, for example, many people are still in
school and financially dependent on their parents.
As the individual takes on adulthood, he or she takes a firmer place in society, usually holding a job,
contributing to community development and raising a family. The adult has roles relating to the family,
community and occupation. If such people should still be in school, special consideration should be accorded to
them to enable them go through school with minimum adjustment problems.

• The Concept of Intelligence

Intelligence is basic to any learning and so it is important for teachers to understand what it is. Psychologists
have found it easier to define intelligence in terms of what it does rather than what it is. They usually define it
according to their purpose and tasks. It is therefore not possible to come up with one commonly agreed on
definition of intelligence. The following are commonly used phrases to describe intelligence:
• Ability to learn.
• Ability to solve problems.
• Ability to comprehend relationships.
• Abstract reasoning.
• Effective interaction with the environment.
• Ability to manipulate symbols.
• Ability to think rationally and act purposefully.
From these phrases, the following definitions of intelligence have been used:
• Capacity to think rationally, act purposefully and deal effectively with the environment. A person's intelligence
depends on mental growth which follows the physical growth of the brain – the brain reaches the full size at
about the age of 18 to 20 years.
• Ability to use past experiences to solve present and future problems.
• Cognitive ability to learn from experience, to reason well, to remember important information and to cope with
daily demands.
• Ability to manipulate symbols, to act purposefully and to think rationally and purposefully.

• Factors that Influence Intellectual Development

Development of intelligence is influenced by both heredity and environment, usually referred to as the nature
and nurture factor. Heredity Heredity sets the potential limits of a person's intellectual capacity. The following
points illustrate this:
• On the whole, children whose parents have high intelligence tend to have high intelligence. Children of parents
of low intelligence tend to have low intelligence.
• Research has shown that adopted children have less correlation of intelligence with their foster parents than
children brought up by their natural parents.
• Identical twins brought up together have closer correlation in intelligence than between fraternal twins or other
siblings.
• Environment
Heredity sets up the potential limits of a person's intelligence but environment determines to what extent that
potential is exploited. A lot of research has been done on identical twins to demonstrate this. It has been found
that identical twins brought up in different and varying environment tend to have less correlation in intelligence
than those brought up in the same environment. The following are examples of environmental factors that could
influence intellectual development:

(a) Diet
Inferior diets which lead to malnutrition disorders such as kwashiokor and marasmus affect development of the
brain. This lowers intellectual capacity and may result to mental retardation in severe cases.
(b) Sickness
Severe and chronic illness may lower a person's capacity to think and reason critically.
(c) Inadequate stimulation and encouragement
For maximum intellectual development, the mind needs to be stimulated through learning materials,
opportunities and challenges. Children brought up in a highly stimulating environment have been found to be
superior to those brought up in the environment that has little stimulation. This is why children from orphanages
and poor homes may appear to have lower intellectual capacity than those from socio-economically well to do
homes. The children from poor homes may be unable to exploit their potential due to lack of stimulation.
.
(d) Culture
Cultural practices could affect intellectual development. For example, some communities do not encourage
formal education, children are therefore not given opportunity to develop their abilities. In some communities,
children are discouraged from asking too many questions, this kills their natural curiosity which in turn
negatively affects intellectual development.
(e) Accidents
Accidents that may injure the brain could affect a person's intellectual development.
(F) Psychological factors
Psychological factors such as stress, fear and anxiety could interfere with an individual's adjustment to daily
living. This could interfere with an individual's ability to think clearly and reason logically, seek out learning
opportunities or make worthwhile discussions.
Note: Ways of measuring intelligence is discussed elsewhere in the book.
Questions on Child Development
1. Define the term child growth and development.
2. Explain the relationship between heredity and environment in the growth and development of a child.
3. Discuss how various pre-natal environmental factors could affect development of a baby.
4. (a) Explain the various aspects of development in late childhood.
(b) Discuss how the teacher's understanding of these aspects help in the teaching- learning process.
5. (a) Define intelligence.
(b) Discuss factors that could influence intellectual development.
Reference
1) Introduction to Psychology, L.D Dodge Ferdnald and Peters S Fernald (2005) Introduction to
Psychology, 5th Edition, C Brown Publishers, USA. Robert A Baron (2001) Psychology Allyn and
Baron, USA.
2) Principles and Practice of Education, New Edition, J. S. Farrant, Longman, England, 1982.
3) Child Study, Norman Maynard, Oxford University Press (London), Reprinted 1980.
4) A New Introduction to Educational Psychology, M.O.A Durojaiye, Evans Brothers Limited,
London, Reprinted 1983.
5) Child Development, Elizabeth B. Hurlock, McGraw Hill, U.S.A, Reprinted 1972.
6) Modern Educational Psychology for Teachers Colleges, Albert Mundia, Triton Publishers,
Machakos, 1993.