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Human beings keep changing. During their lives, they change in size, appearance, and psychological makeup. The way they change differs from individual to individual.

• But the fundamental underlying patterns of growth and development remain more or less the same and take place in an orderly way.
• Each individual, with his unique heredity and the way he is nurtured, determines the way he traverses the broad highway of his life at his rate of progress.
• They will attain the size, shape, capacities, and developmental status in a way that is peculiar to them at each stage of life.

Key Points

• Development refers to qualitative changes taking place simultaneously with quantitative changes of growth.
• It may be defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent changes.
• The term progressive signifies that changes are directional, that they lead forward rather than backward.
• Orderly and coherently suggest that there is a definite relationship between the changes taking place and those that precede or will follow them.
• The development represents changes in an organism from its origin to its death, but more particularly the progressive changes which take place from origin to maturity.
• Thus, development may be explained as the series of overall changes in an individual due to the emergence of modified structures and functions that are the outcome of the interactions and exchanges between the organism and its environment.

Hence, taking into account the above statements, we can conclude that option a is the wrong statement because we need to understand the individual differences existing among individuals.

The term development means a progressive series of qualitative changes that occur as a result of maturity and experience.

• Thus at each stage certain developmental processes bring changes in the individual in different aspects of life: physical, social, psychological, and emotional.

Key Points

• Development refers to qualitative changes taking place simultaneously with quantitative changes of growth.
• The development represents changes in an organism from its origin to its death, but more particularly the progressive changes which take place from origin to maturity.
• It may be defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent changes. The term progressive signifies that changes are directional, that they lead forward rather than backward.
• Orderly and coherently suggest that there is a definite relationship between the changes taking place and those that precede or will follow them.​

Hence, development occurs when there are orderly and progressive changes in a human being due to maturation and experience.

Hint 

• Growth - Growth is sometimes used to designate all the quantitative changes brought about in the structure and functions of the human anatomy and physiology.

Childhood refers to the period of the human lifespan, ranging from birth to puberty. It is further divided into early childhood and later childhood.

• The Early childhood period (2-6 years) is of greater importance to you as a pre-primary teacher.
• At this stage, the young children become stubborn and disobedient and start negotiating.

Key Points

The characteristics of early childhood are explained below:

• Pre-gang age:
• ​During early childhood, children are mainly self-centered. Their behavior is self-conscious and they are more self-aware.
• But during later childhood, they want to be an active member of their peer group and feel accepted by them. So, later childhood is called "gang age" and the age before that i.e., early childhood is known as the "pre-gang age".
• Imitative age:
• As children during their early childhood tend to imitate their elders i.e., their way of walking, talking, eating, etc.
• That's why early childhood can be considered an "imitative age".
• Questioning age:
• Every object or situation holds such wonder for the young child that they are very curious to know the what, why, how, when, etc. to reach the deep roots of a matter.
• They ask several questions to satisfy their curiosity which is why early childhood is an age of "questioning".​​

Confusion Points

• Early childhood is also a toy age because most of the time children are engaged with their toys. These toys are also helpful to educate children. Toys are an important element of their play activities.
• Thus, it is marked as a Bonus point in REET Official Answer Key.

The human species is the most complex and advanced of all life forms. Human's intriguing nature of understanding the world and the universe has indeed created many sciences.

The term human development is a field of science devoted to understanding the developmental process of the human species from conception to death.

Key Points After decades of arguments over this nature-nurture controversy, scholars in the field of human development have arrived at a common consensus that human development is the outcome of the interaction between hereditary and environmental factors. Nature and Nurture-

• Nature refers to the hereditary influences on human characteristics which include physical characteristics, intellectual capacities, personality traits, and patterns of social interactions.
• Nurture as a concept, encompasses all of the environmental factors, including the physical and cultural environment that influences the developmental outcomes in an individual.

Hence, we conclude that the Nature and Nurture debates refer to genetics and the Environment. 

Additional Information Factors affecting the development of the child are:

• Genetically Determined Factors: most of the inherited characteristics are essentially influenced by the environment.
• For example, a child may be endowed with the hereditary potential for physical growth, but his/her potential may be stunted due to various reasons such as lack of nutrition or illness or being forced to do too heavy work for the body.
• Non-genetically Determined Factors: There are many non-genital factors that affect the development of the child these are- 
• Conditions in the Pre-natal Environment
• Maternal nutrition
• Maternal health
• Nutrition
• Physical  effects and illness
• The Psycho-social Environment of family and Culture, and many more.

Intelligence refers to the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. It is the ability to solve problems, learn from experiences, and apply knowledge to deal with new situations.

Key Points “IQ” stands for “intelligence quotient.” A person's IQ is a score derived from standardized tests that were designed to measure human intelligence and intellectual potential. IQ tests include a variety of questions that measure reasoning and problem-solving skills.

• The table for the I.Q. for the reference of the person with a different I.Q.

Thus to the above references, the IQ of talented students is 140.

Important Points  In 1912, William Stern suggested the concept called Intelligent Quotient (IQ). It refers to the score of a standardized test that assesses and measures human intelligence.

• An individual’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is determined by the formula given below,
• \({\bf{Intelligence}};{\bf{Quotient}};\left( {{\bf{IQ}}} \right) = \frac{{{\bf{Mental}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{MA}}} \right);}}{{{\bf{Chronological}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{CA}}} \right)}} \times 100\)

Where,

• Mental Age is based on intellectual development.
• Chronological Age is the number of years a person has lived.

It is often said that no two individuals are exact duplicates, they differ from each other in some way or the other. Hence the job of the psychologist is to identify and understand this uniqueness in individuals. Such a similarity or difference between persons reveals individual differences.

Key PointsIndividual differences refer to the extent and kind of variations or similarities among people on some of the important psychological aspects such as intelligence, personality, interest, and aptitude. Individual differences among children play an important role in education. 

Schools should cater to individual differences by-

• The teacher must know the potentialities and capacities of each and every child in his/her class so that he may exploit them to the maximum for the benefit of the individual and society.
• The teacher must know the basic principles of growth and development and the characteristics which emerge at different age –levels in various developmental dimensions to provide effective guidance for the harmonious development of children.
• Understand why students are able or unable to learn.
• Meets the needs of the child for security through the teacher’s affection, understanding, and consideration and through the accepted place of the family in the community its unity, and its economic stability.
• Provides opportunities for mental development through encouragement.

Hence, Schools should cater to individual differences to Understand why students are able or unable to learn.

Intelligence is known as the ability to learn, the ability to deal with abstractions, and make adjustments to new situations. Several experiments have concluded that intelligence is the product of heredity and the environment.

• The measurement of intelligence involves the comparison and establishment of a relationship between CA (chronological age) and MA (mental age). This relationship is expressed by the term I.Q. (intelligence quotient).

Key Points 

• I.Q. was introduced by the German psychologist William Stern which was widely spread by Terman.
• It can be calculated with the formula - \({\bf{Intelligence}};{\bf{Quotient}};\left( {{\bf{IQ}}} \right) = \frac{{{\bf{Mental}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{MA}}} \right);}}{{{\bf{Chronological}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{CA}}} \right)}} \times 100\)
• The concept of I.Q. and scores on intelligence tests have been found useful in labeling the individual as gifted, average (normal), or subnormal (retarded).
• Chronological Age is the number of years a person has been alive.
• In the above question,  CA=16, IQ= 75,

\({\bf{Intelligence}};{\bf{Quotient}};\left( {{\bf{IQ}}} \right) = \frac{{{\bf{Mental}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{MA}}} \right);}}{{{\bf{Chronological}};{\bf{Age}};\left( {{\bf{CA}}} \right)}} \times 100\)                     

                    75 = (MA/CA)*100 = (MA/16)*100

                    MA  = 75*16/100 = 12

Hence, it is clear that If A child of 16 years of age, scores 75 on the I.Q. test. His mental age will be 12 years.

Important Points IQ Rating Scale:

Thomson has accordingly proposed a sampling theory, which maintains that every test samples a certain range of elementary abilities; some with a wide range and some with a narrow range.

• The degree of correlation between any two tests depends upon the number of units of ability they have in common.

Key Points Important points for Thomson's Theory -

• According to Thomson, abilities combine in such a way that their correlations approach Spearman's hierarchical order.
• Thomson believed in a “general ability” like Spearman’s “g”, but according to him it was not a basic entity; it was rather a constant combination of the ability elements.
• In like manner, the group factors are combinations of more limited collections of ability elements, while specific factors are composed of elements that restrict their appearance to single tests.
• Guilford (1953) has refuted Thomson’s contentions saying that “there seems to be little likelihood of demonstrating experimentally the existence of the elements hypothesized”.

Hence, Each person’s work is a reflection of certain abilities, in performing any particular task, a person selects some of his mental abilities as a model. which was given by Thomson.

Additional Information

• Thorndike has given the Multi-Factor Theory of Intelligence.
• Spearmen have given the Two Factor Theory of Intelligence.
• Guilford has given Structure of Intellect.

Projective Techniques are an indirect and unstructured method of investigation which have been developed by psychologists and used in a projection of respondents for inferring underline motives, urges, or intentions that cannot be secure through direct questioning as the respondent either resists revealing them or is unable to figure out himself. 

Key Points Projective Tests of Personality include:

• Rorschach Ink Bolt test
• Thematic Appreciation test
• Sentence Completion
• Projective Drawings

Thus by all these references, we can conclude that the Thematic appreciation test is the projective test of personality.

Hint

• Rating Scale: A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative attribute.
• Observation: The teacher observes the behavior and learning of children.

Important Points The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):

• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) test was developed by Henry Murray. It is a projective technique used to investigate a person's unconscious self.
• The test consists of 30 black and white picture cards and one blank card. Each picture card depicts one or more people in a variety of situations. Each picture is printed on a card. Some cards are used with adult males or females. Others are used with boys or girls. Still others are used in some combinations.
• More specifically, this test can uncover a person's true personality, their capacity for emotional control, and their attitudes towards aspects they encounter in everyday life (wealth, power. gender roles, racial and religious attitudes, intimacy, etc.).

Additional Information  Projective techniques of personality measurement are the tests that are designed to:

• reveal those central aspects of personality that lie in the unconscious mind of an individual.
• evaluate a person's interests, attitudes, the pattern of thought, etc. while giving responses to ambiguous test materials.
• The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach inkblot test.

Creativity is the phenomenon whereby imaginative and original ideas are turned into reality. It is a cognitive ability to produce something novel by offering a fresh perspective.

• There are some elements that create hindrances to creativity such as Functional fixedness, Convergent thinking, and Mental set but Divergent thinking is not a hindrance to creativity.

Key Points Creativity is related to the concept of 'divergent thinking' as creativity to the ability to identify or prepare original and divergent solutions to problems. 

Divergent thinking refers to:

• a way of solving problems with more than one approach.
• an act of working with open-ended questions using creativity.
• a process that includes brainstorming, out-of-the-box thinking, etc.
• the ability possessed by the people who are creative, persistent, and imaginative.

Hence, it could be concluded that Creativity is usually associated with Divergent thinking.​

Hint

Convergent thinking:

• It refers to thinking where thinking converges towards one right answer instead of exploring the extra information.
• It hinders creativity as it doesn't let the learners think in a divergent way.