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Human Development and Family Studies is a degree category that consists of the following common degrees:
- Read more about Human Development
Human development practitioners understand how humans grow and develop throughout the lifecycle. While they apply their knowledge in a wide variety of settings, their goal is always the same – to support the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in diverse communities.
Degree programs in this field explore physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development through each stage of human life – prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood, and death and dying.
The physical domain is concerned with growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive human development comprises learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships. Students learn how these three domains of human development influence and impact every aspect of our lives – from self-respect and self-esteem to how we interact with family, peers, and society at large.