Arnold Gesell's maturation theory

Each child and each adolescent develops according to the context in which he develops in the course of his daily life. The Arnold Gesell's maturation theory states that, although it is true that variables that affect this development may arise, such as the social context or the unforeseen events that occur in the world, each human being usually follows a line of maturation and development that is carries out from delimited stages.

If you have any person who is in contact with children and/or adolescents, this data may be useful, since it will allow you to know them in greater depth. In turn, understanding these stages can strengthen the link between children, adolescents and adults. ¿You want to know more about this? In this psychology-online article, we bring you information about the Arnold Gesell's maturation theory.

1. What is Arnold Gesell's maturation theory
2. What are the stages of development according to Arnold Gesell
3. Methodology of Arnold Gesell's maturation theory
4. Criticism of Arnold Gesell's theory

What is Arnold Gesell's maturation theory

Arnold Gesell's maturation theory refers to learning and development process of the human being during childhood and adolescence. In a more specific way, it is the study of behaviors, both children and adolescents, by observing them.

In order to determine maturation, Arnold Gesell took into account two relevant variables in the study of children and adolescents:

• Environment: Understands everything that happens in the person's environment in the process of maturation.
• Genes: the influence of genetic inheritance that results in people's behaviors.

What are the stages of development according to Arnold Gesell

In order to make a more focused distinction of children's maturation, Gesell proposed a division of the stages of development. We see them below:

1. First quarter (0 to 3 months): Among the achievements of this period, the acquisition of the ocular movement, the motor control of the hands, the observation of faces with the gaze and small guttural sounds include.
2. Second quarter (3 to 6 months): They learn to control the muscles that allow them to hold their heads, the emergence of laughter, murmur, the game with their hands and the visual recognition of the bottle.
3. Third quarter (6 to 9 months): They acquire domain of the trunk, manipulate objects with both hands, learn to vocalize and dominate the foot game.
4. Fourth quarter (9 to 12 months): They have a greater acquisition of fine motor skills with hands and feet. The child can remain seated, Gatea, can imitate lines with pencils, recognizes his own name, eat alone and can control sphincters.
5. Second year (12 to 24 months): The child here can already run and articulate phrases and words. In addition, it has the possibility of controlling the bladder and the rectum, mimics circular lines with pencils, includes short orders and plays with dolls.

In this article you will find more information about the stages of baby psychomotor development.

Methodology of Arnold Gesell's maturation theory

Unlike other researchers who studied human behavior over time, Arnold Gesell used as the main methodology the Observation of minors behaviors to be able to carry out the maturation theory.

Moreover, this implies having a passive attitude towards the actions of the human being, but also intervening on those behaviors that are not consistent with the development of each stage in order to avoid greater complications in the future.

Criticism of Arnold Gesell's theory

Despite these considerations, the truth is that Arnold Gesell's maturation theory has received some criticisms. In this section, we will present the most relevant criticisms:

• Importance to physiological maturation: The theory makes special emphasis on the physiological issues that children are going through to achieve higher levels of development. However, the point here lies in the fact that the influence of children's experiences from the environment is relegated.
• Reduced selection of children examined: Gesell focused on the approach of children originating from middle class families in the United States. In this sense, it could be said that it still remains to know if the stages of maturation could be carried out in other social sectors.
• Excessive generalization: In relation to the previous points, the author proposes that all children go through the stages of development above described. However, this leads to the problem of ignoring the particularities of each case according to the characteristics of each person.
• Invisibilizes singularity: If the maturation by which each person passes through the possible inconveniences that can be deployed in each individual according to the experiences he has had is adopted as a general pattern.

If you want to know more about other behavior theories, do not lose these articles on the theory of reasoned action and the theory of rational choice.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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