Control or intervene in the course of events. A Framework for Studying Development Major Domains of Development Physical development entails those changes that occur in a person's body. Cognitive development involves those changes that occur in mental activity. Emotional-social development includes those changes that concern a person's personality, emotions, and relationships with others. Processes of Development Growth refers to the increase in size that occurs with changing age.
Maturation concerns the unfolding of biological potential in a set, irreversible sequence.
Learning refers to the modification in behavior that results from the individual's experience in the environment. Developmental influences must include the person's changing physical and social settings, the relationship among those settings, and how the entire process is affected by the society in which the settings are embedded. Microsystem network of social relationships and physical settings in which a person is involved each day. Mesosystem interrelationships among various settings in which a person is immersed. Exosystem social structures that directly or indirectly affect a person's life.