Correct Answer - Option 4 : Conception to death
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 related to the development.
The important characteristics of development are:
-
Development is lifelong:
- The potential for development extends across the entire life span, development may involve processes that are not present 13 at birth but emerge throughout the life span. No age period dominates during development.
- Development begins before birth. Development begins from the moment conception occurs.
- The development follows the principle of continuity which starts with conception and ends with death. It is a never-ending process in life.
-
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 is multi-dimensional as 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 Plastic:
- Plasticity refers to the variability within a person which is possible for a particular behavior or development.
- For example, infants who have a hemisphere of the brain removed shortly after birth (as a treatment for epilepsy) can recover the functions associated with that hemisphere as the brain reorganizes itself and the remaining hemisphere takes over those functions.
-
Development is Multidisciplinary:
- The study of developmental psychology is multidisciplinary. That is, the sources of age-related changes do not lie within the province of any one discipline. For example, psychological methodologies may not be appropriate for understanding factors that are sociological in nature.
Thus from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that the development includes changes from conception to death.
