Human Development and Services
Scope
Human Development and Services examines developmental stages, care-service procedures, communication, and person-centered support. The exam tests whether you can match a client's behavior to a developmental concept and choose a safe, respectful service response.
Core rules
- Piaget's preoperational stage (about 2-7 years) features centration and failure to conserve; concrete operational thought (about 7-11 years) enables conservation.
- Erikson's stages pair each developmental period with a psychosocial task, such as trust versus mistrust in infancy.
- Care services should be person-centered: assess needs, involve the client, maintain dignity, and protect confidentiality.
- Communication with older adults or children should match cognitive and sensory ability, not just chronological age.
- Safeguarding requires recognizing signs of neglect or abuse and reporting through proper channels.
Worked example
A 4-year-old sees the same amount of water poured into a tall narrow glass and a short wide glass and says the tall glass has more. This is preoperational centration on height. A 9-year-old usually says the amounts are equal because concrete operational thought allows conservation. Reasoning: identify the concept being tested, then match the behavior to the stage rather than to the child's age alone.
Traps
Labeling a stage only by age ignores individual variation. Treating a person-centered plan as a fixed task list removes client choice. Sharing care information casually breaches confidentiality. Missing a safeguarding sign because the client is polite is a serious error.