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Social and Emotional Influences on Human Development: Perspectives from Developmental Neuroscience

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The impact of emotional and social processes has been a longstanding topic in developmental psychology. Developmental science has examined which kind of emotional and social processes play a prominent role in particular phases of development and how their impact changes during life-span. For example, ...

Keywords : developmental science, neuroscience, emotion, social processes, developmental theory

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88 Human Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best human development topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on human development, ❓ essay questions about human development.

• Human Development Index: Limitations and Benefits The development of education in the country is based on the mean of years among adults aged 25 years and the expected schooling duration of children at the time of schooling age.
• Human development index It is important to note that the origin and development of the human development index is closely linked to the United Nations, to be more precise, to the United Nations Development Program’s annual development reports.
• Erikson’s Theory of Human Development and Its Impact on My Life The criticism and the thin skin aspects became evident to me in my adolescence when I was looking for an explanation of my issues with establishing social relationships.
• Human Development: Nature or Nurture? With studies and theories carried out to examine the impact of nature on the personal development and personality traits, heredity is an important factor in the development.
• Human Development and Groundwater Sustainability The experiment aims to address the impact of human development on the sustainability of groundwater. This aggregation of waste to the landfill is a threat to groundwater and the environment.
• The Effect of Emotions and Desires on Individual Development As a result, the urges and the desires are forced into the unconscious mind in order to stop any damage of the individual.
• Friendships in Human Development In this stage, positive interactions and mutual activities no longer serve as an excuse for betrayed trust and a lack of dependability, and children begin to understand the role of apologies in reestablishing friendships.
• Human Development Theories: Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget Much attention should be paid to the way in which these psychologists explain the role of culture that includes a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes that shape the behavior of an individual.
• Freud’s Theory as to Human Development In the beginning, a person is driven primarily by the id or the part of the psyche that focuses on instinctive needs and desires.
• Learning and Cognition: The Purpose of Human Development Visual learning is a type of learning that involves the use images to pass on information and ideas to the learner.
• Cognitive Growth Stages: Piaget & Freud The pre-operational stage: At the pre-operational stage, the child learns to exercise language and to characterize things by words and images. At this stage of development, the anus acts as the centre of attraction of […]
• Aspects of Human Development Stages These are the people in her immediate surroundings, and she can impact their impressions of her. Since she has confidence in her ability to be independent, she is unafraid and confident.
• Auditory and Vestibular Systems in Human Development A specific feature of the vestibular system is that a significant part of the sensory information processed in it is used for the automatic regulation of functions performed without conscious control.
• Aspects of Lifespan Human Development Thus, I decided not to stop there and continue to build my life in a way that would make my grandmother proud of me.
• New Theories of Human Development At the beginning of the course, it seemed quite natural to measure development by a degree of rational thinking and independent analysis. Overall, the hierarchical model seems to be largely irrelevant in the context of […]
• The “Human Development and Faith” Book by Kelcourse The authors who provided their essays to this editor also have a religious or psychology work background.”Human Development and Faith” by Kelcourse help one explore the context of human development, the specifics of each stage […]
• Faith and Other Areas of Human Development From my point of view, there is undoubtedly a certain kind of connection between the development of faith and other areas of human development.
• Human Development in Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Indeed, information from a mental status exam can be combined with that of family and individual historical background help in the establishment of timely assistance to be accorded to the patient.
• Discussion of Human Development Human development refers to individuals’ social, psychological, physical, and cognitive development throughout their lifespan, from prenatal development to late adulthood. Physical development includes growth in motor skills and brain, body, sense, and health development.
• Human Development in the Elderly Phase Therefore, the elderly are in need of a sense of love and belonging from their friends and family members. The community and the church have a role in providing older adults with avenues to meet […]
• The Relationship Between Human Development Index and Socio-Economic Variables The HDI is derived from or directly linked to the life expectancy of people and the gross national income of the county’s population.
• The Human Development and Political Indexes The Brand Development Index for this product can be calculated by dividing the number of brand sales by that of households in countries A and B.
• Jigsaw Model: Human Development and Learning The steps of jigsaw include; The teacher creating groups and giving an assignment on the following topic; salt marshes Each learner should get a sub-topic on the salt marshes.
• Human Development: A Life-Span Approach The motor activities of a child also represent his mental growth and development. The other important element to know is the factors affecting the development- the environment of the child.
• Elementary Education, Human Development and Learning In a classroom environment, it is normally important that the teacher helps the learners to develop high self esteem. The introduction of competition in the groups is a motivating factor that will boost the learners’ […]
• “Eight Stages of Human Development” by Erik Erikson This is important because it helps the child to develop essential skills of the will. It is not surprising therefore that the crucial relationship at this stage is with buddies and marital partners.
• Erik Erikson Human Development Theory Eriksson’s concept is simple and neat, however, it is very sophisticated, and the concept is a base for extensive or complex discussion and examination of personality and behavior. This is the infant stage; the infant […]
• Human Development and Issues in Clinical Practice At the same time, Ego views it as a matter of consideration for the social worker only as of the one who is interested in the efficiency of his work and fulfills all the ethical […]
• Human Development: Term Definition According to Kohlberg’s gender identity development theory, “young children learn to understand about their gender and the meaning of being that gender in their each and everyday life”.
• Social-Emotional Learning in Human Development This paper analyzes the skills, or personal capabilities, that contribute to positive social development in children, addressing the school and the family environment qualities that encourage or inhibit this development. A Teacher’s Use of the […]
• Human Development In Different Ways Using Theories He is the one who has sent us in this world to live and to do various types of activities so that we can understand that what actually life means. And the answer is that […]
• The Psychological Aspects of Human Development Despite the possibility of analyzing human aggression in the context of several areas of psychology, the social sphere is the most suitable for integrated assessment and work.
• Human Development in the Ecological Context Though I spent the most of my life in boarding schools, my caregivers provided me with the required portion of support and understanding.
• Nature vs. Nurture Factors of Human Development Advocates of the nurture concept believe strongly that the natural environment reshapes the behaviors of many people. That being the case, people should consider the role played by the environment towards reshaping their experiences and […]
• Wellbeing and Human Development While assessing the wellbeing of people in a country, a person should look at a series of indicators that can throw light on the degree of human development in a certain region or state.
• Social Psychology Role: Self-Esteem and Human Development The relation between the concepts and the response is closely analyzed to determine the most important criteria people’s actions can be judged by. A person is stereotyped and the thinking leads to over-generalize towards others.
• Human Development Theories: Adolescence and Adulthood In the growth and development stage of a human being, the adolescent period has been considered to be a natural stage found between childhood and adulthood.
• Technology and Human Development This paper discusses video games as learning tools to highlight the kind of knowledge that they present to learners and their effectiveness in enabling people to acquire the knowledge.
• Measuring Economic Development: Human Development Index This paper discusses the economic development of China and India on the basis of the Human Development Index. The purpose of this paper is to compare the economic development of India and China.
• Human Development Index in Economic Measuring The study had several objectives, including classifying the scientific approaches to the formation and development of human potential, determining the core of the HDI in a system of quantitative and qualitative economic parameters, and determining […]
• Stress Impacts on the Human Development To narrow down on the diverse nature of stress, this paper will focus on one of the mechanism that has been identified as a possible solution of controlling stress levels in individuals.
• Human Development: Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents The independent variable of the research is the age of the participants, while the dependent variables are different social environments that children derive sexual information that influences their sexual development.
• Human Development: Democratization and Economy’ Relations Economic development refers to the increase in the wellbeing of a society both qualitatively and quantitatively. In a nutshell, democratization and economic development are complementary issues in the process of human development.
• Lifespan Perspectives on Human Development This makes it necessary for individuals to understand the human development process, a function that they can achieve using the human lifespan perspective. Finally, because the context of occurrence of different activities is important in […]
• Nurture and Human Development It is notable that parents are the ones who are normally the closest people to their offspring during the processes of early growth and development.
• Human Development. Role of Agriculture. Importance of Technology and Foreign Aid in Mozambique The access to wage labor, which enhances the state of agriculture and the whole country, depends on the people’s education. The rapid development of the agriculture is connected with foreign investments and earnings, as they […]
• Incorporating Human development theory It is understandable to establish various components of human development in the realms of drug abuse, addiction, and other relevant provisions applicable in this context.
• Whether China Has Done a Good Job Promoting Human Development and Well Being Since 1949 This era was marred with challenges such as domestic wars among the communities in china, international feuds in Asia and the world at large, economic challenges like the great depression of the 1920s and the […]
• Gender specific health issues in Medium Human Development Countries Gender issues in health between women and men are different and there is a disparity in how the health systems respond to men and women issues.
• Human Development and Learning A teacher can ask students that lack social skills to monitor the class activities and report about those in the end of every day.
• Human Development and Learning: Analysis of the Lesson For instance, in the video the teacher asked a student to remind who can talk to her and talk to the messenger instead of talking to her.
• Contrasts and similarities of Indonesia and Brazil’s human development condition Human development in Brazil over the last ten years is a clear indication to other countries of the world that economic growth is possible despite lack of expansive economic level. The crises led to increased […]
• Critically Discussion: Nature is Solely Responsible for Human Development Human development is influenced in a great way by nature, but this is not to say that nature is solely responsible for human development.
• Human Development: Adolescence as the Most Important Age Range The stage is therefore very important in understanding the behavior of an individual. This is a stage when the life of an individual is either made or destroyed.
• The Bioecological Model of Human Development The aspects related to the school attended by a child have also been observed to have impacts on the performance of the child and the general development of the child.
• Theory, Methodology and Human Development: HIV/AIDS and Education in African Countries This is correct despite advances of remarkable nature in our comprehension of the virus’s molecular biology and its effects on the body; advances that have resulted to therapeutic findings in the second decade of the […]
• First Look into Human Development in United Arab Emirates The Prime Minister of the UAE is in charge of all activities of the government. The UAE has a diverse and multicultural society and the influence of Islam is evident in its development.
• Can Only Democracies Enhance “Human Development”?
• Can Relationships Affect Human Development?
• Does Diversity Impair Human Development?
• Does Economic Freedom Promote Human Development?
• Does Global Fertility and Cultural Transition Affect Human Development?
• Does Human Development Index Provide Rational Development Rankings?
• Does Human Development Influence Women’s Labor Force Participation Rate?
• Does Infrastructure Affect Human Development?
• Does Political Competition Influence Human Development?
• Does the World Bank Have an Impact on the Human Development of the Poorest Countries?
• How Does Culture Affect Human Development?
• How Does Eye Development Affect Human Development?
• How Should Human Development Research Inform Educational?
• How Nature and Nurture Affect Human Development?
• How Psychologists Integrate the Study of Human Development With Theories?
• How Are Relationships Important for Human Development and Growth?
• How Do Theories and Perspectives Inform Our Thinking About Human Development?
• What Can Psychology Teach Us About Human Development?
• What Does the Human Development Index Tell Us About Convergence?
• What Drives Human Development in Nigeria?
• What Makes the Study of Human Development a Science?
• Education and Human Development: How Much Do Parents Matter?
• How Human Development During Trauma and Does Spirituality Help?
• Human Development Index: Are Developing Countries Misclassified?
• What Are the Five Main Stages of Human Development?
• What Is the Importance of Human Development?
• What Is an Example of Human Development?
• What Are the Four Principles of Human Development?
• What Is the Meaning of Human Development?
• What Is the Most Important Aspect of Human Development?
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• Review Article
• Published: 26 April 2024

The development of human causal learning and reasoning

• Mariel K. Goddu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-7948 1 , 2 , 3 &
• Alison Gopnik 4 , 5  

Nature Reviews Psychology ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Causal understanding is a defining characteristic of human cognition. Like many animals, human children learn to control their bodily movements and act effectively in the environment. Like a smaller subset of animals, children intervene: they learn to change the environment in targeted ways. Unlike other animals, children grow into adults with the causal reasoning skills to develop abstract theories, invent sophisticated technologies and imagine alternate pasts, distant futures and fictional worlds. In this Review, we explore the development of human-unique causal learning and reasoning from evolutionary and ontogenetic perspectives. We frame our discussion using an ‘interventionist’ approach. First, we situate causal understanding in relation to cognitive abilities shared with non-human animals. We argue that human causal understanding is distinguished by its depersonalized (objective) and decontextualized (general) representations. Using this framework, we next review empirical findings on early human causal learning and reasoning and consider the naturalistic contexts that support its development. Then we explore connections to related abilities. We conclude with suggestions for ongoing collaboration between developmental, cross-cultural, computational, neural and evolutionary approaches to causal understanding.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge their funding sources: the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Templeton World Charity Foundation (0434), the John Templeton Foundation (6145), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (047498-002 Machine Common Sense), the Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Initiative (Self-Learning perception Through Real World Interaction), and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Catalyst Award. For helpful discussions, comments, and other forms of support, the authors thank: S. Boardman, E. Bonawitz, B. Brast-McKie, D. Buchsbaum, M. Deigan, J. Engelmann, T. Friend, T. Gerstenberg, S. Kikkert, A. Kratzer, E. Lapidow, B. Leahy, T. Lombrozo, J. Phillips, H. Rakoczy, L. Schulz, D. Sobel, E. Spelke, H. Steward, B. Vetter, M. Waldmann and E. Yiu.

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Emerging Perspectives on Human Development Research

• Published: 04 February 2014
• Volume 58 , pages 349–352, ( 2013 )

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• Girishwar Misra 1 &
• Nandita Babu 1  

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The study of human development is currently witnessing an exciting new phase of growth. There are concerted attempts to move beyond the Euro-American theories and explore culturally rooted perspectives. This trend is reflected in many ways including the use of indigenous concepts, methodological innovations and choice of research issues and problems. In this respect particular mention may be made of the endeavours aimed at identifying and analyzing various culturally embedded phenomena and exploring specific contextual influences on development. This special issue of Psychological Studies brings into focus an illustration of such efforts.

In the disciplinary discourse it is being increasingly realized that the notion of ‘development’, which has been traditionally treated as ‘systematic and successive change in human functions’, does not represent an empirical concept. Also, there is a move to go beyond the various binary categories (e.g. nature vs. nurture, continuity vs. discontinuity and stability vs. instability) in accomplishing descriptions and explanations of developmentally important phenomena. These classic splits are being overcome by the relational meta theory of development (Overton 2010 ). It allows fusion of categories and acknowledges bidirectional influences emanating from multiple levels of existential organization (e.g. biological, individual, cultural, ecological and historical). The emerging relational meta theory maintains that the individual-context relationship may be studied in a fused, dynamic and integrated manner. It views ‘diversity’ or the intra-individual and the inter-individual differences as genuine and significant as they constitute the reality of multiple contexts of development. The focus is more on the study of multiple and varied developmental trajectories of both--individuals and groups--and the way they interact to facilitate the emergence of specific developmental patterns. Currently, new perspectives such as dynamic system theory, dialogical approach to self development, and analyses of the uses of various symbolic resources in human development have influenced research on families, relationships, schooling and social negotiation with reference to issues such as gender, caste and religion.

The process of development involves a dynamic relationship of the developing person with the socio-cultural environment. The intentionality and agency of the individual and the attributes of the socio-cultural environment constitute the core of this process. The meaning of life course or stages of development, the parenting practices and beliefs, disciplining techniques, teaching practices, privileges, rights, duties and responsibilities of children are culturally constructed and are transmitted across generations. However, the processes of industrialization, globalization, and revolution in the information and communication technology, are drastically transforming the pattern of interaction and modes of social life. Via media and travel, people are getting constantly exposed to values, norms and practices of other cultures. It is leading to creation of a hybrid culture. Its effect is visible in the practices of socialization and parenting. In traditional joint family setting child was as collective responsibility in which multiple caretakers were available. In today's nuclear families parents are bound to send their children to day-care centres. Similarly the practice of storytelling by grandparents is being taken over by television. The emerging scenario has serious implications for understanding the dynamics of life stages, preparing the institutions of society to facilitate adaptation and growth; and evolving effective strategies to address the various problems encountered by them.

Contemporary studies tend to suggest that the development cannot be characterized solely as a process of cognitive restructuring directed towards a single, universal endpoint, and consummated within an individual. They question the centrality of an autonomous and individual subject. Instead, attention is directed towards social relationships, emotions and contexts. Concomitant to this is the shift of inquiry from laboratory and experimentation to encompass newer methodologies including ethological and ethnographic approaches, interpretive analyses, narrative inquiry and other types of research. The reflective awareness on the part of researchers and theorists has also led to increased awareness of social positions and responsibilities, and of values in terms of which research outcomes are evaluated. Of significance is the attention paid to the societal institutions in which children grow and become adults.

In recent years researchers have shown a major concern for appreciating developmental phenomena from cross-cultural and cultural psychological vantage points. Instead of being a static set of values and practices as independent variable, culture is continuoually created and recreated as people question, adapt and redefine their values and practices owing to changes within a given cultural context as well as increasing intercultural contact in the globalizing world. These trends bring home the fact that the goals toward which development moves, as well as the nature of cultural practices that children and adults are engaged in while development takes place, are divergent in different cultural contexts (Anandlakshmy 2013 ; Sharma and Chaudhary 2009 ).

As Bruner ( 1996 ) has argued, the evolution of human mind is critically linked to the development of a way of life where ‘reality’ is represented by a symbolism shared by the members of a given cultural community. This symbolic mode is not only shared by a community, but conserved, elaborated, and passed on to succeeding generations who, by virtue of this transmission, continue to maintain the culture’s identity and way of life. In the last few decades attention to culture in the developmental context has been receiving significant attention in multiple ways wherein it is recognized in terms of tools (Cole 1996 ), making of an intentional world (Shweder 1991 ), ways of relating to environment (Valsiner 1989 , 2007 ) social-historical context (Vygotsky 1978 ), and guided participation (Rogoff 1991 , 2005 ). While deliberating about culture, mention may be made of several myths that have prevailed in the political as well as academic circles. For instance, some cultures are seen and defined as ‘more developed’ and some as ‘less developed’. Similarly it is often held that cultural diversity inevitably leads to clashes in values. In other words, cultural diversity is taken as a hindrance to development rather than a context and meaning system that allows a range of possible ways of living life. Culture is to be appreciated as one of the new resources to achieve sustainable and equitable development.

This special issue of Psychological Studies presents a cross section of studies that evinces a cultural contextual approach to development, and showcases some of the new initiatives in the field of human development research. The contributing scholars with varied perspectives offer a comprehensive picture of the multifaceted nature of human development in a culturally diverse country like India. With cutting-edge discussion of theory and research, the contributors have addressed several socially pertinent issues including the lived experience of Indian adolescents and street children, changing meaning of romantic relationship of young adults, institution of marriage, spirituality and career development. The discussion by two contributors on the role of family in the nurturance of creativity in children and adults adds to the existing research on socialization of cognition in diverse family contexts. Research on cognitive assessment and cognitive development in school children has also been analyzed in two articles. Contributions in the current issue enrich the current debate on emergent perspectives and paradigms of research in the field of human development. A brief introduction to all the contributions to this issue seems to be in order.

In the opening article, Saraswathi and Oke have articulated the features of developmental ecology of the Indian adolescents. Backed by empirical data from several sources they document serious inequities in adolescent experiences by region, gender, caste and social class. The contrast between the socially disadvantaged and privileged suggests that they belong to different worlds characterized by the differences in the experience of “freedom”. The authors have attended to the prevailing situation in the area of education, health and nutrition. They note that the country has registered literacy during the past decade, but universalization of primary education is still a remote goal. The right to education has raised optimism but the domains of health and nutrition continue to remain grave concerns. In particular, poor reproductive health, especially of young women at risk of early marriage and pregnancy, contributes to the cycle of deprivation, poor nutrition, ill health and low levels of well-being. Inadequate implementation of good policies and programs often cause despondency. As the nation stands at the crossroads of economic development with a large expanding pool of adolescent population who can become contributing members of the society, investment in their education and health is critical.

Sharma and Verma, in the second article have focused on the problems of street girls and their fight for survival in the context of developing countries The authors analyze the pathways of risk and protection among the female street children. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data from the cities of New Delhi (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Manila (Philippines), and Pretoria (South Africa) the authors capture the contextual environment and nuances of the daily experiences of the girls. The female street children were at maximum risk of being involved in antisocial activities with peers, are low on problem solving, and high on depression and mental health related problems. Unexpectedly the participants were high on community engagement, religiosity, and individual attributes of self esteem, self efficacy, and resilience. Given the vulnerable position of the girl child on the streets, programs that directly address the well-being and health of the girl child, especially those who are street based, need to be urgently examined.

Sharma Sen and Sharma document the results of a longitudinal study of the familial context of creative children. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews and naturalistic observations the dynamic nature of the relationships within the family setting was found to lead to the discovery of the child’s talent, and its nurturance. Detailed case profiles showed that these families were cohesive, with the members sharing a commonality of purposes. Parents actively fostered their children’s abilities by allocating resources and introducing the child to the domain and the field of creativity. being closely involved in the learning process; and expressing appreciation. The quality of cultural capital available to the child is very significant. It was also noted that children provided the motivational source for parenting. The nurturance of creativity demonstrated the synchronicity of purpose created by strong parental motivation to nurture their child’s potential, and the strong internal motivation of the child to persevere in the talent domain. The issue of creativity among adult musicians is explored in another paper by Upadhyay and Dalal. They examined aspects of creativity among masters of Hindustani music. Using in-depth interviews of vocalists and instrumentalists, they found the role of developmental factors, preferred settings for music practice ( riāz ), and salience of Guru .

The relevance of cultural context in the cognitive domain has also been dealt with by researchers. Das, Mehta, Nakayama and Janzen report cognitive processes of children in India, Canada, and Japan. The study extended the validity of measures of Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processing. Results of average and low achieving school children in India were low on all processing measures. Among Canadian Native children, Simultaneous processing was stronger and Successive was poorer. The Japanese children yielded the same 4 PASS factor structures as in the American CAS. However, Indian children scored higher than American norm for Successive scale; only those Canadian Native children who were poor in reading performed poorly in Successive scale, and among the Japanese, Simultaneous processing was higher. Results implicate the influence of cultural context and school instructions.

In an interesting study on schooling, Mishra and Dasen found that Sanskrit medium school children used more geocentric language and encoding than their Hindi medium counterparts. The effect of age was significant only for encoding, and not for language. Geocentric spatial cognition was associated with basic spatial cognitive ability. The results suggest that the use of the ability can be sharpened by its practice in everyday activities. The relationship between language and encoding was moderate, thereby suggesting that geocentric cognition is not a function of language alone, but also depends on the features of the immediate eco-cultural context of the children.

Gideon has addressed the processes by which career choices are made. He argues for the need to attend to the unique cultural, social, and economic factors that shape career development in the Indian context. To this end he has proposed a cultural preparation process model as a framework for the development of a career psychology in the Indian context. Using the data from a survey, Gideon has discussed the occupational and career interests which are central to career guidance. He notes that parental approval and the attribution of prestige, influence the formation of occupational and career interests. He advocates creating a platform that may integrate the diverse factors shaping career development in the Indian context.

Romantic relationships and its consequent developmental outcomes during emerging adulthood have been dealt by Gala and Kapadia. They used a mixed-method approach and found these relationships more satisfying than dissatisfying. A positive change in the quality of life, which included positive feelings of happiness and reducing negative states such as anger and sadness, were noted. Paradoxes and contradictions in relationship experiences and processes were also highlighted.

In the discussions on development, the role of social institutions is diminishing and often gets marginalized. However, in traditional societies they continue to play a key role in regulating the life course, particularly in the less urbanized sections of society. In this context, the institution of marriage is very significant. It redefines the social space available to married women. Following the narrative approach Shubha has examined women’s lives in the specific setting of Mahanubhav healing temples in the State of Maharashtra. She has shown that possession can be a part of the tactics, adjustments and negotiations in everyday attempts to cope and survive, rather than resistance strategies. Such tactics and negotiations make unbearable situations more tolerable. In Maharashtra, married women are ‘permitted’ to maintain their ties with their natal families and are even provided ritual occasions to visit their natal homes from time to time. Thus, women who refer to the temple as their m ā her seek to access their privilege to go to the temple “just as” they would go to the natal home. The temple stay thus becomes a culturally mediated means of processing psychosocial stress in a socially sanctioned manner. The narratives illustrate that temple communities offer some sort of a “substitute kin group” that gradually comes to act as an alternate home. Thus, by making available to women alternative spaces and subject positions, possession and healing in the temples emerge as powerful expressions of women’s agency.

The article by Bakshi and Thaly qualitatively explored the meaning of spirituality. They noted that being spiritual stood for transcending a particular religion and abstracting universalities across religions. Additional features included observing and experiencing unity between self and others, experiencing equanimity or inner peace, and being guided by the spirit of a religion rather than the letter. Some of the themes characterizing a spiritual person were counter-opposed to those characterizing a religious person; a few themes were qualitatively independent, and some were consonant. The authors propose for an inclusive conception of religiousness that may bridge the distance between spirituality and religiousness.

The issue of personal growth has been attended to by Bhattacharya and Mehrotra. Their qualitative exploration of personal growth processes in young adulthood showed that individuals actively striving towards personal growth often endorsed incremental theory beliefs (considered their current self as mutable) which is not the case with people not working actively on their personal growth goals. The latter had salient fixed or entity theory beliefs (belief that their attributes could not be changed). Personal growth goals were congruent with possible selves and were seen as instrumental in helping individuals achieve their desired possible self, avoiding their feared self as well as functioning as a means of attaining other important life goals.

Taken together the articles included in this issue of Psychological Studies furnish the ground for productive dialogue among scholars whose work is at the intersection of the cultural and the developmental. They present an array of exciting studies of developmental phenomena and offer insights into the lived experiences of adolescents and young adults.

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Rogoff, B. (2005). The cultural nature of human development . New York: Oxford University Press.

Sharma, N., & Chaudhary, N. (2009). Human development: Context and processes. In G. Misra (Ed.), Psychology in India (Vol.1) Basic psychological processes and human development (pp. 69–109). New Delhi: Pearson.

Shweder, R. A. (1991). Thinking through cultures: Expeditions in cultural psychology . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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Valsiner, R. A. (2007). Cultural psychology . New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The developmental of higher psychological processes . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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Misra, G., Babu, N. Emerging Perspectives on Human Development Research. Psychol Stud 58 , 349–352 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-013-0234-6

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Developmental Psychology Topics

Topics for research, papers, and other projects

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

• Childhood Topics
• Adolescence Topics
• Adulthood Topics
• How to Choose
• Tips for Students

Are you looking for a developmental psychology topic for a psychology paper , experiment, or science fair project? Topics you might pick can range from prenatal development to health during the final stages of life.

Developmental psychology is a broad topic that involves studying how people grow and change throughout their whole lifetime. Topics don't just include physical growth but also the emotional, cognitive, and social development that people experience at different stages of their lives.

At a Glance

The following are just a few different topics that might help inspire you. Remember, these are just ideas to help you get started. You might opt to explore one of these areas, or you might think of a related question that interests you as well.

Developmental Psychology Topics on Childhood

• Could packaging nutritious foods in visually appealing ways encourage children to make healthier food choices?
• Do children who listen to music while studying perform better or worse on exams?
• Do students who eat breakfast perform better in school than those who do not eat breakfast?
• Does birth order have an impact on procrastination ? Are first-borns less likely to procrastinate? Are last-borns more likely to put off tasks until the last minute?
• Does teaching infants sign language help or hinder the language acquisition process?
• How do parenting styles impact a child's level of physical activity? Are children raised by parents with permissive or uninvolved parents less active than those raised by parents with authoritative or authoritarian styles?
• How does bullying impact student achievement? Are bullied students more likely to have worse grades than their non-bullied peers?
• Which type of reinforcement works best for getting students to complete their homework: a tangible reward (such as a piece of candy) or social reinforcement (such as offering praise when homework is completed on time)?

Developmental Psychology Topics on Adolescence

• What factors tend to influence the onset of depression in teens and young adults?
• How do peer relationships influence identity formation during adolescence and young adulthood?
• What impact do parent-child relationships have in predicting substance use among teens and young adults?
• How does early substance use during adolescence impact impulsivity and risk-taking during early adulthood?
• How does technology use during adolescence influence social and emotional development?
• How does social media use influence body image among teens?
• What factors contribute to success during the transition from the teen years to early adulthood?
• How do cultural differences impact different aspects of adolescent development?

Developmental Psychology Topics on Adulthood

• Are older adults who rate high in self-efficacy more likely to have a better memory than those with low self-efficacy?
• Do the limits of short-term memory change as we age? How do the limits of short-term memory compare at ages, 15, 25, 45, and 65?
• Do mental games such as word searches, Sudoku, and word matching help elderly adults keep their cognitive skills sharp?
• How do explanations for the behavior of others change as we age? Are younger adults more likely to blame internal factors for events and older adults more likely to blame external variables?

Choosing Developmental Psychology Topics

Developmental psychology is a huge and diverse subject, so picking a topic isn't always easy. Some tips that can help you choose a good developmental psychology topic include:

• Focus on a specific topic : Make sure that your topic isn't too broad to avoid getting overwhelmed by the amount of information available
• Have a clear question or hypothesis : Your research question should be focused and clearly defined
• Do some background research : Spend some time reviewing the existing literature to get a better idea about what you want to cover with your topic
• Consider developmental theories : You might consider analyzing your topic through the lens of a particular theory of developmental psychology
• Check out recent research : Use research databases to find the most recently published research on your topic

Before you start working on any paper, experiment, or science project, the first thing you need to do is understand the rules your instructor has established for the assignment.

Also, be sure to check the official guidelines given by your teacher. If you are not sure about these guidelines, ask your instructor if there are any specific requirements before you get started on your research .

If you are going to actually conduct an experiment , you need to present your idea to your instructor to gain their permission before going forward. In some cases, you might have to also present your plan to your school's Institutional Review Board.

Tips for Researching Developmental Psychology Topics

After you have gotten to move forward with your chosen topic, the next step is to do some background research. This step is essential! If you are writing a paper, the information you find will make up your literature review.

If you are performing an experiment, it will provide background information for the introduction of your lab report . For a psychology science project, this research will help you in your presentation and can help you decide how to best approach your own experiment.

What This Means For You

Choosing a topic for a developmental psychology experiment, paper, or project can be tough! The ideas above can be a great place to start, but you might also consider questions you've had about your own life. Once you have a general idea for your topic, narrow it down, do some background research and talk to your instructor.

Nielsen M, Haun D. Why developmental psychology is incomplete without comparative and cross-cultural perspectives .  Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci . 2016;371(1686):20150071. doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0071

Leite DFB, Padilha MAS, Cecatti JG. Approaching literature review for academic purposes: The Literature Review Checklist .  Clinics (Sao Paulo) . 2019;74:e1403. Published 2019 Nov 25. doi:10.6061/clinics/2019/e1403

Grady C. Institutional review boards: Purpose and challenges .  Chest . 2015;148(5):1148-1155. doi:10.1378/chest.15-0706

Kim WO. Institutional review board (IRB) and ethical issues in clinical research . Korean Journal of Anesthesiology . 2012;62(1):3-12. doi:10.4097/kjae.2012.62.1.3

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

108 Human Development Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on human development, ✍️ human development essay topics for college, 👍 good human development research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting human development research titles, ❓ human development research questions.

• The Impact of Communication on Human Development
• Theories of Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead about Human Development
• Sustainable Human Development
• Human Development Psychology
• The Role of the Environment and Genes in Human Development
• Bioecological Model of Human Development
• Art Education and Human Development
• Developmental Research: Human Development Developmental research determines progress and development. This can be done by examining the relationship between factors contributing to that development.
• “Lifespan Human Development” by Sigelman, Carol, and Elizabeth Rider In his theory, Jean argues that we absorb information and knowledge according to our brain constructs that are developed from our past experience with certain concepts in the world
• Human Development in Early Adulthood During their life, a person goes through many developmental stages, each associated with specific activities. This paper examines early adulthood.
• Human Development and the Security and Safety Index The objective of this research was to look at the connection between human development and the security and safety index.
• Child Labor’s Negative Impact on Human Development This paper argues that child labor is by far the worst form of atrocities because it inhibits positive development by robbing children of the opportunity to gain life skills.
• Analysis of Human Development Theories The paper focuses on the human development theories, such as classical conditioning, Hierarchy of Needs Theory, and social learning theory.
• Human Development Theories: The Science of Learning and Development There are many theories on how human development through different stages of life affects an individual’s life and mental health.
• Human Development: Key Aspects The ecological perspective studies humans from an environmental standpoint, which includes social, emotional, and biological influences.
• Global Poverty and Human Development Poverty rates across the globe continue to be a major issue that could impair the progress of humanity as a whole.
• Cognitive Changes in Human Development Cognitive development is part of human development and refers to the abilities of individuals to acquire thinking, problem-solving, concept understanding.
• Human Development Theories by Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson Several perspectives on the phenomenon of human development exist. These are represented by the framework designed by Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson.
• A Unified Theory of Human Development In the paper, the definition, benefits and disadvantages of a unified theory on human development will be discussed.
• Research Designs in Human Development Studies This paper analyzes several types of research design, which include observational research technique, longitudinal design, cross-sectional research, and sequential research design.
• Why Adolescents Take Drugs: Human Development Delinquent and irresponsible behaviors such as substance abuse, violence, and unsafe safe practices produce serious social and health implications.
• Adolescence and Human Development Challenges There are various questions about how puberty affects adolescents concerning the fact that not all people are impacted in the same way.
• Human Development Psychology: Stages, Socio-emotional Development, and Emotional Attachment Lifespan development is the growth of the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes that incurs throughout life.
• Human Development Psychology Issues This paper summarizes learned information on the development of human, in particular transgender disorders and homosexuality, and personality development.
• Pregnancy, Human Development and Heredity This paper presents the physiological concepts that revolve around pregnancy and their implication in human development.
• Technologies Growth: Significance for Human Development Nowadays, various types of technologies are acknowledged to have become an integral part of people’s life. It is reasonable to claim that such progress might have a positive impact.
• Global Social Progress and Human Development The global social progress concept provides an opportunity to look at the development of the humankind as the process enhanced by a combination of multiple factors.
• Human Development in Zimbabwe The report covers’ human development’, it’s meaning, and measures within the context of Zimbabwe development by incorporating aspects of the United Nations Development Program.
• Mobile Phones’ Social Impacts on Sustainable Human Development
• Addiction and the Effects on Human Development
• Child Health and Human Development Over the Lifespan
• Foreign Direct Investment According to Different Countries’ Stages of Human Development
• Biological and Environmental Factors and Human Development
• How Nature and Nurture Affect Human Development
• Corruption and Human Development Correlation in Western Balkan Countries
• Determining the Relationship Between Happiness and Human Development
• Psychology and Human Development: Theory of Radical Behaviorism
• Human Development and Quality of Institutions in Highly Developed Countries
• Computers and Their Influence on Human Development
• Economic and Human Development in Global North and Global South
• Measuring Human Development and Environmental Sustainability in European Countries
• Developmental Psychology and Human Development
• Rainbows: Jean Piaget and Human Development
• Cognitive Development and Erikson’s Stages of Human Development
• Animal and Human Development Throughout the Ages
• Human Development and Income Inequality as Factors of Regional Economic Growth
• Genetic and Environmental Influences on Human Development
• Economic and Social Determinants of Human Development
• Capitalism, the State, and the Underlying Drivers of Human Development
• Human Development and Its Impact on the World
• Biological Human Development and Its Interaction With Environmental Influences
• Environmental Degradation and Inclusive Human Development in Sub‐Saharan Africa
• Civil War and Human Development: Impacts of Finance and Financial Infrastructure
• Natural Environment and Early Human Development
• Factors Affecting the Human Development Index
• Aid, Conflict, and Human Development
• Comprehensive Human Development: Realities and Aspirations
• Education and Human Development: How Much Do Parents Matter?
• Democratization and Human Development
• Poverty, Human Development, and Growth: An Emerging Consensus
• Human Development and Regional Disparities in India
• Ecological System and Its Effects on Human Development
• Dynamic Linkage Between Economic Growth and Human Development
• Climate Changes and Human Development
• Gender and Regional Inequality in Human Development
• Behaviorism and Human Development
• Migration, Poverty Reduction Strategies and Human Development
• Anxiety Disorder, Socialization, and Human Development
• Circular Migration and Human Development
• Economic and Human Development Policies Since Independence
• Gender Codes and the Human Development Indicator
• Counseling and Human Development in Multicultural Society
• Global Governance for Human Development
• Freud’s and Erikson’s Perspectives on Human Development
• Shaping the Future: How Changing Demographics Can Power Human Development
• Cultural and Political Influences on Human Development
• Energy Consumption Transition and Human Development
• Faith and Successful Human Development
• What Happens at Each Stage of Human Development?
• How Have the Natural Characteristics of Melanesia Affected Human Development?
• How Does Cultural Anthropology Influence Human Development?
• What Research Designs Are Used to Study Human Development?
• How Do the Foundations of Human Development Influence the Work of Mental Health Counselors?
• What Are the Main Theories of Human Development?
• How Does the Impact of the Human Development Process Differ From Learning?
• How Does Biology and the Environment Affect Human Development?
• When Was Sigmund Freud’s Theory on Human Development First Published?
• How Does Culture Affect Human Development?
• What Is Human Ecology about Human Development?
• How Does “Nature vs. Nurture” Influences Human Development?
• How Did Erik Erikson Apply the Epigenetic Principle to Human Development?
• How Do Heredity and Environment Interact to Influence Human Development?
• What Variables Does the Human Development Index Incorporate?
• Why Do Many Countries With High Gross Domestic Product Have a Low Human Development Index?
• How Many Stages Does the Human Development Have?
• Why Lifelong Motor Development Is a Vital Part of Human Development?
• What Factors Best Explain Human Development?
• At What Stage During Human Development Does the Lumbar Curve of the Spine Develop?
• What Does the Science of Human Development Seek to Understand?
• What Period of Human Development Brings About the Most Rapid Change?
• What Importance Does Social or Moral Development Have for Human Development?
• What Is the Critical Period Hypothesis of Human Development?
• How Do Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology Each Relate to Human Development?
• How Does Neuroscience Relate to Human Development?
• What Makes the Study of Human Development a Science?
• What Is the Cognitive Domain in Human Development?
• Is Human Development a “Means” to Achieve Economic Growth?
• How Does Physical Geography Impact Human Development and Settlement?

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These essay examples and topics on Human Development were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

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Top Human Development Topics for Research Paper

Human development is a field of study that is an offshoot of psychology. It focuses on the psychology and biological evolution of man from infancy to adulthood. Human development is dubbed as psychology development in some schools. It is a comprehensive course of study and involves a handful of researches.

Writing a research paper in human development like every other science course can be tedious. However, research writing challenges are just a step away from being solved when you already have your topic.

Not just any topic though, having the best of topics is equally important. The topic chosen must be relevant and researchable. We have compiled some human growth and development topics you can consider.

How to Get Human Development Paper With Ease

Writing a research paper is not always an easy task, even when writing is your hobby. It requires some systematic steps: topic selection, research activity, analysis, and paper writing. All of these might be a great deal for a student involved in a lot of activities.

Your responsibility becomes more straightforward when you have got the best topic related to human development. Hence, you can brainstorm to gather ideas needed for writing. However, if this still seems to you as a big deal, you can seek the help of professional writers who help with “ write my thesis “, “write my paper” requests. Likewise, you can make use of assignment writing services that can be of help.

Good Research Topics on Human Development in Psychology

Human development and human psychology are two inseparable entities. Writing a research paper on one might imply writing on the other. We have compiled human growth and development research topics related to psychology to aid easy research paper writing. They are as follows;

• Cartoons and animation: Roles and impact in children learning and unlearning
• Impact of child abuse on the cognitive ability of a child
• Research on the connection of sleeping disorders and mental illness
• Research on the psychology of the aging process
• Effect of horror movies and violent video games on children’s development

Human Development Research Topics in Philosophy

Human development students might be required to research as it relates to philosophy. Reasoning is part of human life. As such, humans are not out of place if your research is tailored towards philosophy. These are human growth and development research paper topics you may consider;

• Research on the use of social media and its impact on human behavior and upsurge in case of violence
• Genius: What the term means, and are they made or born?
• Research on the definition and the implication of mood-freezing
• The role of color in human reasoning and its ability to enhance a human’s mood
• The role of good parenting and child upbringing in curbing serial killing

Some Current Human Growth and Development Topics

Human development has to do with human behavior. Therefore, as man evolves, there are always new things to research and talk about. You might need to focus your research on trending and current events. The following are human development paper topics you can lay your hands on;

• A study on transgender and its rising campaign among the youth
• Study on the impact of stress and peer pressure on rising cases of depression among teenagers and students
• Research on the influence of sexuality on human physical health and mental health
• Swift personality change: Possibilities and factors responsible in this generation
• The roles of religion in spiritual and moral development in humans

Some Easy Human Growth and Development Research Topics

No doubt, human development is a broad field of study. At the same time, you can find some human development essay topics that are pretty easy. These are research topics that you can quickly develop without much stress. You find such topics below;

• Study on the function and dysfunction of the brain when someone is in love
• Research on how helpful yoga is in human growth and development
• Dementia: Causes, symptoms, and its remedies
• The role of divorce in the emotional and behavioral development of a child
• Introversiveness: Advantage, disadvantage, and general evaluation

Human Lifespan Development Paper Topics

Human development encompasses human life from birth to death. Your research paper might have to deal with the human lifespan. The following are research topics for human development as it relates to lifespan;

• Research on the relationship between psychology and aging.
• Is it possible to have an abnormal aging process, and what are the factors responsible?
• Controlling depression and anxiousness about death
• Research on the phases of human growth and development.
• Study on coping mechanisms and managing loneliness through the human lifespan

Human Development Research Paper Topics in Sociology

Society is made up of humans. Hence you can not separate human development and sociology. Studying human development might imply a study of society. It is vital to have some research paper topics and human development thesis topics in sociology.

• Racism: Effects on the society and the factors responsible for it
• Study on gender roles in society
• Homophobia: Definition, psychological aspect, and its effect on society
• Research on eliminating gender discrimination and enhancing gender equality
• Bullying and its effect on the social interaction of a child in high school or colleges

Human Development Topics in Biology

You can find some human development topics as it relates to biology. Perhaps you need some human resources development thesis topics about biology. Some of such topics are;

• The relationship between human physical growth and mental growth
• Happiness as a genetic condition: Exploration using biological and psychological constructs
• Research on prenatal memory and child choices while growing.
• The impact of maternal stress in pregnancy on a child’s cognitive ability
• Research on hormones responsible for growth, emotion, and aging in humans

Education Topics on Human Development

Writing a research paper might be for education. Generally, every research paper is expected to educate the reader. For the sake of education, the following are human growth and development research paper topics you may want to consider;

• Autism in human psychology.
• Memory loss: Causes and when does it happen in the human development phase?
• Speech disorder and cognitive development in kids: The relationship and the resultant effects
• Research on the possibility of recovering memory loss.
• What is attention span, and how does it affect children’s cognitive behavior?

Writing a human development research paper can be hard at first. You will find it easier when you have the best research topic. The next step is to brainstorm ideas necessary to develop your arguments.

Above are human development topics as it relates to many other fields. As such, it is safe to say you have taken a step toward getting a good grade. However, you can get professional help to increase your chances of getting good grades.

At our reputable writing service, we understand the challenges that come with crafting a thesis in the field of human development. That’s why we’re here to offer you expert assistance to help you write your thesis. Our team of experienced writers specializes in human development topics, equipped with in-depth knowledge and a thorough understanding of the subject. When you reach out to us and say, “ Help me write my thesis ” we are ready to guide you through the entire process.

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Childhood Development — Human Growth and Development

Human Growth and Development

• Categories: Childhood Development

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Words: 481 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 481 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Theoretical foundations of human growth and development, physical development, cognitive development, social and emotional development, environmental and genetic influences on human growth and development, lifespan development.

• Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition, 7, 123-255.
• Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
• Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.

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• Human Development Research Paper

This sample anthropology research paper on human growth and development features: 7200 words (approx. 24 pages) and a bibliography with 41 sources. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.

Physical anthropology, developed in the 19th century before Darwin’s theories of natural selection and Mendel’s work on genetics, is one of the oldest subfields of anthropology. Physical, or biological, anthropology was originally defined as “the natural history of the genus homo ” by its principle founder, Paul Broca (1871). In 1918, Aleš Hrdlicˇka defined physical anthropology as the study of man’s variation, including racial anatomy, physiology, and pathology (p. 4). Today, biological anthropology includes the study of the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetic inheritance, human adaptation and variation, human growth and development, primate behavior and morphology, and our hominin ancestry.

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Many anthropologists specializing in human growth and development are found in departments of medicine, health sciences, and anatomy (Stein & Rowe, 2005, p. 2). However, it is not just biological anthropologists who study growth and development. The development of medical anthropology as a subfield has, among many other contributions, brought attention to the relationships among growth, development, and culture. There are also countless specialties in the health care professions that concentrate on human growth and development studies.

Human growth and development is an extensive field of study. A thorough investigation of the field would include a study of measurement, mathematical models, assessment strategies, birth weight standards, fetal growth, breastfeeding, weight and height ratios, childhood maturation, disease, and treatments, to name just a few components. Here, anthropometry as a means of quantifying human growth will be discussed, along with measurement, rates of growth, and fetal and childhood development. The history of anthropometry will also be discussed at length because it is integral to human growth and development studies. In addition, the use of statistical models, anthropometric instruments of body measurements, and standards of measurements are all important developments in the field. With this, the current and new directions of the discipline will be introduced.

Last, the research paper will cover how malnutrition is a major barrier to proper growth and development and how anthropologists use anthropometry to assess malnutrition. The four major classifications of malnutrition will be addressed, along with malnutrition’s effect on growth and development, how culture can contribute to malnutrition, and examples from around the world of chronically malnourished populations. In its many forms, malnutrition remains a global health challenge around the world and an obstacle to proper growth and development (World Health Organization [WHO], 2004).

Anthropometry

Anthropometry, defined as the measurement of the body and its proportions, is one of the oldest branches of biological anthropology. Frenchman Alphonse Bertillon first defined anthropometry in 1883 as an early system of classifying individuals. The beginnings of forensic anthropology are rooted in anthropometry because it was understood that certain measurements of the body and the skeleton could distinguish individuals.

Anthropometry as a scientific endeavor entered mainstream anthropology in the 19th century as a reliable, quantitative way to study the human body. While anthropometry has a wide variety of uses, here we are concerned with this methodology in determining health and patterns of growth and development. Anthropometric data consist of important metrics of growth and development such as stores of fat, muscle, and even calcium in the form of bone mineral. Anthropometry is a dynamic field as changes in lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations can lead to changes in body dimensions around the world. A major challenge for anthropologists, then, is the troubling issue of setting standards suitable for people across the globe with very diverse diets and cultural practices. To assist, a standard defines a recommended pattern of growth that is associated with specific health outcomes (Butte, Garza, & de Onis, 2007, p. 154). Anthropologists are continuously updating the standards and searching for new measurement techniques.

Anthropometry is important for measuring growth and health status because it is generally noninvasive. The standardized methods and relatively inexpensive medical instruments of anthropometry are also used around the world. Since anthropometry measures the body’s surfaces rather than the precise growth and development of cells or organs (Johnston, 1998, p. 27), it is only one of many tools that can be used in diagnoses. This is an important distinction to make, because while abnormal nutritional status begins with cellular changes, chronic malnutrition is later manifested in altered body measurements (Devlin & Horton, 1988; Waterlow, 1986).

History of Anthropometry and Growth Studies

Human growth and development have been studied for centuries, possibly as early as 2000 BCE with ancient Sumerian references to the stages of human gestation (Boyd, 1980, pp. 2–4). By the end of the 18th century, the field of medicine had well-established vital statistics of birth and death, as well as standards of body measurements, especially those of fetuses and neonates. In 1806, Sir Charles Bell, a Scottish anatomist and surgeon, published Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression , which detailed the changes in proportions of the human face and head from birth through adulthood. This was remarkable work for the time because it disregarded classical ideas of facial proportions and focused on the underlying structures of the face and head (as cited in Boyd, p. 313).

Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon’s Natural History: General and Particular, translated and updated in 1812 by William Smellie, contained the first comprehensive study of human growth rates from birth to maturity and served as an integral treatise on rates of growth in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This book underwent hundreds of editions and is considered by many to mark the beginning of modern anthropometry (Hrdlicˇka, 1918).

In 1833, Lambert Adolphe Quetelet, a statistician and astronomer, published an article accompanied by drawings that acknowledged the differences between modern rates of growth and those body proportions idealized by ancient Greek and Roman sculptors. Quetelet also took into account that people’s rates of growth may vary around the world and that people with certain diseases, such as dwarfism, may grow at different rates. Quetelet’s 1835 landmark work, titled Sur l’homme et le développement de ses facultés, ou essai de physique sociale, marked the origins of the systematic and quantitative study of rates of human growth and development. His theory of anthropometry was based on the notion that the distributions of anthropometric data follow the laws of chance (Boas, 1982, p. 77). Quetelet also developed a simple but revolutionary measure that classified people’s weight compared with an ideal weight-to-height ratio. The Quetelet index, more commonly called body mass index (BMI), is the most widely used measure of malnutrition and obesity worldwide (Eknoyan, 2008, pp. 47–51).

Sir Francis Galton was another important figure in the development of anthropometry. Like Quetelet, he began as a statistician and branched out into measuring human growth and development. Galton started an anthropometry laboratory in which he published research from 1874 until the turn of the century. His innovative research during this period included the use of “fingerprints” in criminology studies, a technique already in use in Bengal, India.

Fetal and Childhood Growth

The study of fetal and childhood growth is almost as old as the study of growth and development itself. An early article titled “Foetus” published in the Dictionnaire des Science (1816) by Murat reported the length of fetuses during their 9-month gestation. Quetelet used Murat’s values and in 1835 constructed an equation for the total period of fetal and childhood growth (Boyd, 1980, p. 303). However, the study of child growth rates was still considered underdeveloped at the turn of the 20th century. Hrdlicˇka stated in 1918 that the study of fetal and childhood growth was far from complete despite the progress of neonate studies in America. He recognized that studying child growth and development had an impact on the health of individuals later in life and that anthropometry was especially helpful in detecting and treating individuals with abnormal growth or pathological development (Hrdlicˇka, 1918, pp. 20–21).

In 1876, Galton had discovered what appeared to be a correlation between weight and height for 14-year-old boys: As their height increased by an inch, their weight increased by 4 pounds (Galton, 1876, pp. 174–180). Growth status and rates of growth in children are related to later growth, composition, and proportions of the body in those individuals. These growth measures can be associated with current and future risk factors for serious diseases, such as the various forms of malnutrition.

Population Growth

Investigators of human growth and development did not recognize the degree of population differences for quite some time. Louis René Villermé was the first statistician of public health in the early 19th century to note that the height of a population correlated positively with the productivity of the soil. He found that stature was greater and rates of growth were faster in wealthier countries. Villermé may have been one of the first scientists to recognize a correlation between malnutrition and growth stunting of different populations.

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie also crossed an important threshold as one of the first historians to systematically investigate the geographic variation and the socioeconomic correlates of human height in 19th-century France. In a series of publications beginning in 1969, he showed that the physical stature of French soldiers born in the late 1840s correlated positively with their education and wealth. Those who were able to read and write were 1.2 cm taller than their illiterate counterparts. It was presumed that literate men came from wealthier families and spent more time and money on education and less at manual labor than did illiterate people (Komlos, Hau, & Bourginat, 2003, p. 1).

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, anthropologists were preoccupied with measurements of skulls, cranial capacities, and facial angles of both the dead and the living, which were often used to reach racist conclusions. In fact, much of the history of anthropometry is published in books and articles about race and evolution. William Stanton’s 1960 work highlights the history of anthropometry in America in the context of race, evolution, and religious debates.

In 1842, Anders Adolf Retzius introduced an equation of head-width to head-length ratios to distinguish the dolichocephalic (long-headed) from the brachycephalic (short-headed), which remained the main cephalic index used through the 20th century. Many Native American skeletal remains were unearthed and beheaded for such measurements, often used to conclude their smaller cranial capacities or differing cranial dimensions indicated aboriginal inferiority (Wade, 2000).

Instruments to measure cranial angles and capacities were in heavy use in the late 19th century by biological anthropologists. These instruments included sliding calipers, craniographs, stereographs, goniometers, a number of instruments for studying the interior of the skull, and osteometric boards. Many of these were developed and/or modified by physician Paul Broca (as cited in Hoyme, 1953, pp. 418–419), the most prolific scientist of cranial measurements in the 1860s and 1870s.

The emphasis on cranial measurements declined in popularity in the late 1800s, and many anthropologists shifted to studying the total physical type of man. They attempted to describe and compare tribes and races as biological units, and define the normal physical status of man, “preferably the white race” (Hrdlicˇka, 1918, p. 9). Additionally, Hrdlicˇka stated that the paramount scientific aim of biological anthropology was the complete study of the “normal white man living under ordinary conditions” (p. 9). Contemporary anthropologists believed that “the yellowbrown or black man would serve equally well, if not better, were we of his blood and were he as readily available” for anthropometric study (Hrdlicˇka, p. 18). At this time, “abnormal” ethnic and racial composition and admixture of populations was considered a messy situation that could not be properly studied. Some studies in the early 20th century, however, were without implications of racial inferiority. These studies provided the research essential for anthropometry to become a legitimate field of study that contributed to the larger study of human growth and development of populations (Hoyme, 1953, pp. 422–423).

Despite this change in status of biological anthropology and anthropometry, Hrdlicˇka wrote that not many institutions were devoted to instruction of anthropometry and complained that the more “attractive” subfields of anthropology—namely archaeology and ethnology—were diverting average anthropology students away from anthropometric studies. He stated that progress of anthropometric studies at the turn of the century was stalled due to a lack of trained professionals and interested students, and that “a new competent physical anthropologist is almost an accident” (Hrdlicˇka, 1918, p. 11).

Franz Boas, credited as a pioneer of the four-fields approach to American anthropology, was also well versed in German mathematics and applied his research to human growth rates from 1883 to 1912. He is most wellknown for his research with Eskimo and Inuit populations, but he also collected anthropometric data on the Cheyenne, Cherokee, Oglalla, Omaha, Chippewa, and Winnebago tribes as well as European migrants, among others (American Philosophical Society, 2006).

Although anthropometric data between populations were gathered in the 19th century, it has been only recently that these data were systematically collected around the world. Documenting and analyzing the growth patterns of people around the world can tell us much about adaptability and the complex human-environment interactions. The greatest differences found in human growth and development are largely attributed to environmental factors, as they are between industrial and nonindustrial nations, and between wealthy and poor groups within nations. For example, developing countries tend to exhibit low birth weight.

Current and Future Trends in Anthropometry

Today, many anthropologists specialize in biological or anthropometric studies. Current trends in anthropometry seek to understand the genetic component of human growth and development that may account for interpopulation growth differences. Anthropometric instruments and measurements have been standardized for international reference. These measurements are referred to as either standards or references in the literature. A reference describes the growth pattern of a defined population that is not necessarily associated with good health (Butte et al., 2007, p. 154). A growth reference is a table or chart that is meant to account for differences of age and sex in anthropometry (Cole, 1998, p. 80). A challenge to using a growth reference is the variability in rates of growth that occur in school-age and pubescent children. The “peaks” of weight and height are obtained over a wide range of ages, and thus a reference tends to flatten out the median curve, especially during puberty. Also, modern anthropologists are concerned with the validity of international standards because, even after socioeconomic factors are controlled for, there remain differences in rates of growth between populations of the world (Ulijaszek, 1998).

To combat some of the challenges of using international standards for all children around the world regardless of their current health status, growth charts have been made for children suffering from specific diseases. Growth charts currently exist for such diseases as achondroplasia, Marfan syndrome, sickle cell disease, and Turner syndrome that allow the growth of affected children to be judged in relation to others with the same disease (Roche & Sun, 2003, pp. 66–67). Identifying unusual growth patterns in children given their primary diagnosis can help to identify comorbidity, children with more than one disease or illness.

Height and weight are highly heritable traits, and limited data are available for interpopulation effects of genes on growth during childhood and adolescence. In an attempt to eliminate genetic or cultural bias, the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study of 2006 collected primary growth data from 8,440 children from Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman, and the United States. The resulting growth curves constituted new international standards for growth and development for children from birth to 5 years old (WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group, 2006). Growth rates vary more for children over age 5 between populations. The current WHO growth reference for older children and adolescents is based on 1977 data and growth charts that are in need of updating. Cole (1998) states that growth references need to be updated every 10 to 15 years to capture secular trends in height and weight (p. 82). In order to produce international growth and development standards for older children, Butte et al. (2007) outline a number of factors that need to be considered with new data collection. Samples of healthy children from around the world must take into account the environmental influences on growth of children and adolescents: proper nutrition, lack of endemic infections, socioeconomic status that does not limit growth, low levels of environmental pollution, and populations without high levels of psychosocial stress (p. 155).

Three-dimensional body imaging, an emerging trend in anthropometry, was first developed in 1973 using light sectioning. These early attempts were laborious, timeconsuming, and not entirely accurate. Today’s computer three-dimensional systems have dramatically increased the usability of 3D body scans for surface anthropometry. There are currently at least four body-imaging systems in use in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. The primary use of body-imaging technology is to identify distortions of body shape, such as those related to skeletal pathologies like scoliosis or facial abnormalities. Body imaging can also be used for producing prosthetics or measuring arthritic swelling and tumors, among other important applications (Jones & Peters, 1998, pp. 30–33). However, 3D body imaging has its limitations. First, the human body has external and internal factors that are always changing its form. These small-shape changes cause the computers to record an error factor that is even affected by skin and body-hair pigmentations. Additionally, no current medical computer system is able to record 100% of the body’s surfaces. Despite these current limitations, 3D imaging may become more useful in the future as technology becomes better able to handle the unique challenges of measuring the human body.

Malnutrition

Now that we have discussed how to measure the body, let us discuss conditions in which measuring the body is important for diagnosis. Anthropometric measurements are compared with international standards in order to identify diseases such as malnutrition. Malnutrition is defined as a medical condition that is caused by improper diet. Nutrition is a multidisciplinary science including food science, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, epidemiology, anthropology, and psychology. Nutrition studies are relatively young compared with growth studies and biological anthropology, which developed over the past 150 years. Today, there are four recognized manifestations of malnutrition: overnutrition, secondary malnutrition, micronutrient malnutrition, and protein-energy malnutrition:

• Overnutrition occurs when nutrients are oversupplied relative to the amounts required for normal growth, development, and metabolism. The term can refer to obesity brought on by general overeating, as well as the oversupply of a specific nutrient.
• Secondary malnutrition is not a direct result of the person’s diet but describes an illness or condition that prevents absorption of nutrients, increasing excretion, or causes the body other damage that is triggering a response to increase its required nutrients.
• Micronutrient malnutrition is caused by lack of sufficient micronutrients, such as vitamin A or zinc, in the diet that can impair normal growth and development, as well as make the individual susceptible to diseases.
• Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is caused by underfeeding and is expressed in two forms: kwashiorkor and marasmus. Kwashiorkor is caused by a diet consisting of carbohydrates with insufficient protein intake and is identified by the potbelly-like appearance of sufferers that is caused by edema and an enlarged liver. Kwashiorkor usually presents at age 2 to 3 years and lasts for a few weeks, resulting in either recovery, if one is given proper nutrition, or death. Marasmus presents as a result of low caloric intake and is also referred to as wasting, where the sufferer has an emaciated appearance. Marasmus, more common than the fatal kwashiorkor, often develops before the child is 1 year old due to lack of breastfeeding and lasts several months.

Micronutrient and PEM malnutrition are both classified as primary malnutrition, or undernutrition. Within the category of undernutrition, varying degrees of severity are expressed as either first-, second-, or third-degree malnutrition with third degree being the most severe. In addition, some authors also use the terms acute and chronic undernutrition to refer to the length of time the sufferer has experienced periods of undernutrition. Case studies used in this research paper discuss second- (acute) and thirddegree (chronic) malnutrition in populations in various regions of the world.

Effect of Malnutrition on Growth and Development

Deficiencies in protein and calories are more severe than the specific nutrient deficiencies mentioned above because protein and calories are essential for growth, health, activity, and survival. Calories provide the energy the body needs for involuntary functions such as blood circulation, breathing, and maintaining body temperature. Protein is needed in the diet because the body does not produce enough amino acids to build essential proteins—it is essential for building cells, carrying nutrients to and from the body’s cells, and developing antibodies.

Anthropologists can assess malnutrition visually in a number of ways. Radiographs can indicate the presence of lines of arrested bone growth. These lines are generally believed to be caused by undernutrition. They are identified as dense lines that form at the epiphyses of long bones and can continue to form parallel lines down the bone shaft if periods of undernutrition are chronic and recurring. They occur most often in the bones of the leg, particularly the distal tibia. Regular occurrences of dense lines may be an indication of repeated periods of undernutrition or seasonal food shortages (Walimbe & Gambhir, 1990).

Dense lines on the leg bones were first detected and described by Ludloff in 1903, but in 1921 Stettner was the first to interpret them in terms of arrested growth. Asada (1924) and Harris (1933) induced line formation in experimentally starved laboratory animals, and it was Harris’s research that dubbed them Harris lines. The precise mechanism of line formation remained obscure until the research of Park and Richter in 1953 (as cited in Mays, 1985, p. 207). They were able to show that periods of undernutrition cause the bone growth to form transversely, instead of in normal, vertical columns. The impact of Harris lines on bones was articulated by Scrimshaw, Taylor, and Gordon (1968), who stated that Harris lines can result in permanent stunting of the skeleton (pp. 56–57) and result in short-statured individuals.

Park (1964) has stated that Harris lines do not form with a mere slowing of growth; arrested growth needs to be complete to form Harris lines (p. 823). In addition, after growth arrest, sufficient recovery from undernutrition is needed to restore bone growth (Mays, 1985, p. 209). Marshall’s 1968 longitudinal study has found there is a significant correlation between periods of malnutrition/ infection and the presence of Harris lines. Mays states that the probability of line formation is significantly increased by a period of nutritional stress or disease, but there is not a simple, direct correlation where Harris lines always indicate undernutrition.

Another way to assess undernutrition is by visual inspection of teeth. Dental hypoplasia can be identified as striations on the teeth that indicate severe periods of undernutrition. Dental hypoplasia is the loss of thickness of surface enamel due to periods of arrested growth during the development of the teeth; it can be viewed as a line or a groove in the tooth, called linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH). LEH can be present in adult or deciduous (baby teeth) dentitions. Like Harris lines, LEH indicates a recovery from malnutrition, in that the tooth shows a period of arrested growth in the form of a groove or line and the recovering period of normal enamel deposition below the LEH. Researchers sometimes use dental hypoplasia analyses to assess adults who have experienced childhood undernutrition and its recovery and to document famine cycles.

Most commonly, individuals can also be assessed by anthropometric measurements of skin-fold thicknesses, BMI, and weight:height, weight:age, and height:age ratios. These ratios can be interpreted differently by researchers, and many studies have differing parameters to determine malnutrition. Today, the various WHO standards tend to be the reference point that anthropometric measurements are evaluated against. The WHO standards indicate measurements of healthy individuals, and deviations from these standards can aid in malnutrition diagnoses.

Consequences of Malnutrition

Comorbidity refers to the presence of one or more diseases in addition to a primary disease in an individual. Undernutrition lowers resistance to infectious diseases resulting in comorbidity. Of most concern to malnourished children of developing countries are diarrheal disease and pneumonia. Tuberculosis, malaria, measles, whooping cough, and intestinal worms follow. Measles is another concern, which results in extremely high mortality rates in the developing world because of malnutrition at weaning age and lack of vaccinations. In developing countries, childhood death rates due to measles can be up to 83 times higher than in the United States.

There is another manifestation of undernutrition called nutritional growth failure, or stunting. Stunting appears as children, and then later adults, come to lie outside the normal range of body weight and/or height for their age. Short-term undernutrition is indicated by wasting, and long-term, chronic undernutrition can result in growth stunts (McElroy & Townsend, 1996, p. 220). While growth stunting does not present itself with kwashiorkor or marasmus symptoms, individuals are likely to suffer from physical underdevelopment and mental impairments.

Culture and Malnutrition

Culture plays an important role in dictating food consumption, as well as defining and treating nutritional illnesses. Since food is a basic necessity that is often part of a frequently repeated family routine, attitudes and usages centered on food are intimately connected with individual and family life (Black, 1943, p. 142). Acceptable foods to eat, dietary restrictions, religious fasting, healing rituals, and many other cultural factors may hinder proper nutritional status. For example, African mothers often put children affected by diarrheal diseases on a prolonged starvation diet that causes acute forms of malnutrition, also making them susceptible to other infections (Konczacki, 1972).

Differences in the nutritional status of children in Mexico are attributed largely to cultural food styles and/or available income of a household. In many studies, it has been concluded that nutrition is better in rural mestizos, individuals of mixed native and Spanish ancestry, than rural Indians and worst in urban mestizos (Balam & Gurri, 1992; Malina, Himes, Stepick, Guiterrez Lopez, & Buschang, 1981; Muñoz de Chávez et al., 1974). Rural Indians and mestizos may both be extremely poor, but nutritional differences may lie in the narrow scope of foods used by more “traditional” Indian families, who rely mainly on staples such as maize and beans. However, in Mexico, Baer (1998) states that women are contributing more to household income and are thus making more important spending decisions. As this area is largely reliant on imported and store-bought foods, the mother’s education level is thought to be directly related to the dietary status of her children. Baer goes on to state that the imported foods in the local stores are unfamiliar and that women do not know their nutritional value—a problem exacerbated by local advertising of these unfamiliar and high-priced foods as being “healthy” regardless of their nutritive qualities (p. 5). Baer’s study concluded that people of low income in the Sonoran region consume greater amounts of beans and grains while the higher income households consume more fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat (p. 43). These findings are consistent with areas where there is a high prevalence of malnutrition and diet is restricted to local or ethnic foods such as maize and beans. These foods do not contain sufficient amounts of protein or calories. However, this is not to say that all “traditional” foods are deleterious.

In addition to providing food, in many societies the family also delivers most of the health care. Studies have shown a positive correlation between poor health outcomes and the level of stress in the home (Loustaunau & Sobo, 1997, p. 24). This implies that stressed families of malnourished individuals may not be seeking or have access to outside health care. In the following examples, it becomes apparent that different forms of malnutrition are prevalent in different areas of the world due to cultural norms of food consumption and recognizing malnutrition.

Examples of Malnutrition Worldwide

Protein-calorie malnutrition in mesoamerica.

In 1988, 14.2% of children under age 5 in Mexico were considered underweight, and 22.8% of them were short for their age, as stated by Long-Solis and Vargas (2005). These authors also stated that short stature is a sign of chronic malnutrition and higher risk of disease. They also conducted a survey in 1999 and found that the percentage of underweight children dropped to 7.5 and those considered to be short for their age was down to 17.7%, reduced by 22%. In addition, the authors found that half of the indigenous children surveyed were considered to be too short for their age, or stunted, with implications on their nutritional status (Long-Solis & Vargas, 2005, p. 165).

Malina et al. (1981) researched undernutrition in Oaxaca because it is among the poorest states in Mexico, with high child mortality rates. They analyzed children by weighing and measuring stature, arm circumference, and the triceps skin fold of 1,410 children 6 to 14 years of age. Excluding the children of wealthier families, the authors found that in categories of weight and stature, the rural mestizo children were healthier than the rural, indigenous Zapotec children. In addition, urban mestizo and indigenous children were found to be smaller and more underweight than the rural mestizos. This study shows that the move to cities does not necessarily lead to improved growth status (p. 269).

However, within chronically malnourished areas, there exist children with good nutrition; not every child in the community will be undernourished. Muñoz de Chávez et al. (1974) examined the epidemiology of good nutrition in these areas to find factors that lead to some children being better nourished than others in families of similar size and economic status. It was found that large family size was not a factor because many well- as well as ill-nourished children were from families of the same size. The difference lies in the composition of the family; those with more working adults had better nourished children while families with more children than adults did not have good nutrition (p. 224). The families with more working adults had greater income and were observed to have spent more of their earnings on food than the families of undernourished children. In addition, in support of Baer, this study found that families that were more “indigenous” had more undernourished children than the “occidentalized” families. Maize and beans were the staple foods in the families with more traditional cultural views, while the families that had more Western concepts and culture actively sought out other food items for their children (p. 225).

Secondary Malnutrition in Africa

Individuals suffering from certain diseases may become susceptible to undernutrition due to the nature of their illness. In many parts of Africa, adults and children have been found to have high rates of secondary malnutrition due to HIV infection. The undernutrition is due to decreased nutrient intake, malabsorption, and altered metabolic rates due to HIV infection. Secondary malnutrition of this nature has even been identified as the cause of death in AIDS patients due to the depletion of body mass (Gramlich & Mascioli, 1995, p. 2).

In fact, HIV-infected African children were 17 times more likely to suffer from undernutrition than uninfected children (Mgone et al., 1997). In South Africa, marasmus, or wasting, was more strongly associated with HIV-infected children than kwashiorkor. This study also found that HIV-infected children had higher rates of mortality than uninfected children (Yeung, Wilkonson, Escott, & Gilks, 2000, p. 108).

Micronutrient Malnutrition in Asia

Micronutrient malnutrition can occur in any population in which the local diet lacks one or more essential nutrients for proper growth and development. In Southeast Asia, many people subsist on a diet lacking in green and yellow fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin A. The symptoms of vitamin A deficiency begin with impaired vision and night blindness, leading to xerophthalmia and total blindness. Xerophthalmia is an ocular condition that leads to opaque spots on the eye and degeneration of the cornea. Additionally, individuals suffering from micronutrient malnutrition may also exhibit signs of undernutrition such as wasting or stunting.

Vitamin A deficiency is considered a significant public health problem in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines. A study in India estimated that the prevalence of xerophthalmia in children under age 6 was 8.7%. A study among children in Yemen showed that night blindness was found in 0.5% of the children. In northeastern Thailand, the prevalence of night blindness in rural areas was 1.3%, and among children of the Orang Asli of Malaysia night blindness was found in 16.0% of the children (Ngah et al., 2002, p. 88).

Overnutrition in the Western World

Overnutrition often refers to being overweight or obese, the general condition of overeating foods high in calories, surpassing the amounts needed for proper growth and development. Overweight is defined by a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 (kg/m 2 ), and obesity is defined by a BMI greater than 30. Overnutrition is a growing problem in developed countries. In 2006, Dr. Barry Popkin from the University of North Carolina stated there were now more overweight people worldwide than undernourished people. He reported to the International Association of Agricultural Economists that the number of overweight people had topped one billion (of which 300 million are obese), compared with 800 million undernourished.

In 2003 and 2004, 17.1% of U.S. children and adolescents were overweight and 32.2% of adults were obese. Approximately 30% of non-Hispanic white adults were obese, 45.0% of African American adults, and 36.8% of Mexican American adults. Among adults age 20 to 39, 28.5% were obese, 36.8% of adults age 40 to 59 years were obese, and 31.0% of those age 60 or older were obese in 2003 and 2004 in the United States (Ogden et al., 2006, p. 1549). In England, rates of overweight and obesity are also growing, with 23.1% of men and 24.8% of women classified as obese in 2005 (The Information Center, 2006).

Overnutrition and excessive body weight in developed countries is brought on by a host of conditions. Increased sedentism, lack of exercise, increased use of packaged and processed foods, fast-food consumption, poor diet choices, and general overeating are all contributing factors. Excessive body weight is associated with various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. As a result, obesity has been found to reduce life expectancy.

This research paper examined human growth and development through two perspectives: anthropometry as a means of quantifying growth and development, and malnutrition as a major obstacle to proper growth and development worldwide. The long history of anthropometry began in 1883, contemporaneous to the development of physical, or biological, anthropology. Anthropometry benefited the field of anthropology as it provided a quantifiable way to measure the human body and its parts.

Many scientists played a part in the development of anthropometry as a scientific endeavor, including Quetelet, Broca, Boas, Galton, and Hrdlicˇka. These individuals developed mathematical and statistical models of human growth rates, developed the instruments of anthropometry, and set standards for anthropometric measurements and population studies. These “founding fathers” of anthropometry helped pave the way for anthropometry as a widely accepted means of measurement of the human body worldwide. But of course, this was not a totally smooth transition. The history of anthropometry was marred by a period of racist thinking and conclusions. The fields of anthropometry and biological anthropology have since distanced themselves from those racist ways of thinking and have developed into reputable fields of scientific inquiry. Today, anthropometric measurements and methods are widely accepted and practiced, and can even be used to diagnose abnormal growth patterns such as those characteristic of malnutrition.

A major barrier to proper growth and development is malnutrition. Malnutrition comes in four major forms: (1) overnutrition, (2) protein-calorie malnutrition, (3) micronutrient malnutrition, and (4) secondary malnutrition. Taken together, malnutrition remains a formidable obstacle to proper growth and development worldwide, and much of the earth’s population suffers from one type of malnutrition or another. Protein-calorie malnutrition is referred to as undernutrition and manifests as wasting or stunting. Chronically stunted populations, like those of Mexico, provide an example of where culture and diet may play a part in the prevalence of undernutrition.

Micronutrient malnutrition refers to a condition where individuals are not receiving adequate amounts of the vitamins and minerals the human body needs for proper growth and development. In Asia, populations that subsist mainly on rice and have low intakes of green and yellow fruits and vegetables tend to be deficient in vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency leads to blindness and remains a problem in certain areas of India and Southeast Asia.

Overnutrition tends to be a disease of the developed nations but is now found all over the world in people with abundant food resources. The United States remains one of the fattest countries in the world, where overindulgence has led to high rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

There are many ways to approach a synthesis of human growth and development. Much of the literature in the field today is housed in medical journals. However, biological anthropologists remain at the forefront of developments in anthropometric techniques and instruments. Anthropologists are also leaders in the study of how culture and population differences play a part in proper growth and development around the world.

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Research paper on human development.

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Human development as a subject of study is consistent changes in human being in time and related to this facts and phenomena of mental life. Almost all researchers agree that human development can be defined as the change in time: the concept on the changes and their occurrence in time is undeniable. Another thing is to answer the questions what changes and how. This is where the differences begin.

In modern science, the development is almost never understood as growth. Under the growth is understood the process of quantitative change (accumulation) of the external features of the object, measured in height, length, width, thickness, weight, etc. This means that, firstly, the growth is just one of the aspects of human development, i.e., there are other, and secondly, that the growth is only an external indicator of the development, saying nothing about its nature, and thirdly, the growth can only be a quantitative characteristic of the development.

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Human development as maturation is definition, which is primarily used in everyday thinking. Under the maturation is understood reduction, curtailment of the development to morphological changes occurring under the direct control of the genetic apparatus. This means that such a definition exaggerates the value of biological inheritance and thus underestimates the importance of other aspects of human development.

Human development as improvement. This definition is often used in teaching and is teleological in nature, i.e., it was originally supposed having a goal (telos), which acts as a kind of stimulus to reach perfection, i.e., the best model, an ideal form of the development. In this case, first, it is unclear, who could set such a goal: whether it is externally (by God, education, the environment), or internally defined (by the hereditary apparatus). And, secondly, it is not clear why this form of the development should be considered as the best, perfect, and not any other (who sets the criteria of “excellence”?).

Human development as a universal change. As one of the criteria for determining the development is a requirement of generality and universality of change. This means that the same changes should occur in people of different cultures, religions, languages, ??and levels of development. With clear evidence of this requirement, it is not feasible. First of all, you cannot really determine what changes may be attributed to general, universal, and which are regarded as particular. And, secondly, the large mass of particular changes in this approach will generally be denied to be the subject of human development.

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