The American psychologist and pediatrician Arnold Gesell proposed at the beginning of the last century a theory about how children developed behaviorally, which has been of great importance in the field of educational psychology and pediatrics.

Arnold Gesell’s theory of maturation tries to explain the order in which the main learning and skill development takes place during childhood, as well as to give an explanation, from the physiological point of view, of why this specific order is given.

This theory, like so many others in developmental psychology, has not been without its critics, although it can be said that almost a hundred years after it was formulated it still carries a lot of weight in this branch. Let’s see in more detail what this is all about.

Arnold Gesell’s theory of maturation

The theory of maturation was introduced in 1925 by the American psychologist Arnold Lucius Gesell, who was also a pediatrician and educator. The studies carried out by Gesell focused on to find out how development took place during childhood and adolescence , both in children without any psychopathology and those who showed a different pattern of learning and development than expected.

During the more than fifty years in which Gesell carried out his observational researches, mostly in the Yale Clinic of Child Development, this American psychologist and his collaborators described a series of more or less predictable behaviours in childhood.

According to their theory of maturation, all children go through the same stages of development following the same order but not necessarily presenting them at the same time. That is, each child goes at his or her own pace, but it is to be expected that they carry out their learning following the same sequence.

This theory, although quite classic considering that it was exposed almost a hundred years ago, has permeated many aspects of educational psychology especially as far as parenting methods are concerned.

Definition and direction of maturation

Arnold Gesell considered that genetics and the environment play a very important role on the development of the person, however his research focused especially on the physiological part of development. Using his language, the term ‘maturation’ for Gesell refers to a process that is more biological than social, in which the influence of genes is given more weight than the environmental factors to which the person is exposed.

In the research carried out by this psychologist, he was able to observe that development occurred following a fixed sequence in terms of organ formation and physical development that occurred both as an embryo and during childhood. The physiological development always occurred from head to toe (cephalo-caudal direction), both before and after birth.

When you are still an embryo, the first organ to develop is the heart, followed by the central nervous system and then the more peripheral organs, such as lungs, liver, intestines and so on. Once you are in the world, the first thing babies do is learn to control their mouth, lips and tongue. Later on, they begin to acquire better control of their saccadic movements, movements of the neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, legs and feet.

For the more complex behavior, babies learn first to sit, then stand without adult support, walk, and finally run. All babies learn these skills in this same order according to theory, and the basis for this is that the nervous system develops in the same way in all people, although at different rates.

There are multiple environmental factors to which the child is exposed throughout his development , such as the socioeconomic status of his family, the relationships with his parents, types of food, among others.

However, the theory holds that each baby has its own pace of maturation, which will be optimized if the social environment is aware of how the child is developing and gives the necessary social stimuli given at the right time. From the theory, it follows that once the child has acquired the full development of his or her nervous system, the child will be able to master multiple capacities both individual and social.

Highlights of the theory

From Arnold Gesell’s theory of maturation we can highlight a series of aspects that, although they have been introduced in previous sections of the article, will be described in more detail below.

1. Study of behavioral patterns

Throughout his professional career, Gesell studied the motor behaviours of babies . Based on what he observed, he concluded that the behaviour was better studied not in a quantitative way but according to behavioural patterns.

Behavioral pattern means any behavior that is defined in terms of shape or size. In other words, basically whatever the baby does, from a simple blink of an eye to throwing a ball with a baseball bat.

So, Gesell observed a series of behaviours that all babies show sooner or later , following the same pattern and sequence.

This is quite remarkable in comparison with development models such as those of Jean Piaget and Erikson, who although they carried out part of their research in an observational way, most of the stages they proposed were more theoretical.

2. Reciprocal interlocking

This term proposed by Gesell, in English ‘reciprocal interweaving’, refers, both at a motor and personality level, to how the baby behaves in a way that seems to follow two antagonistic tendencies , with the intention of finally finding the balance.

In other words, if we observe young children, they are still in a state of personality formation, which makes their relationship with others ambivalent in many contexts, being their dealings with some people more extroverted while with others they become more closed .

Thus, progressively, throughout development, the child’s personality reaches a balance between the two extremes and his or her personality traits are finally established.

This can also be seen at the motor level, with many children in the first months of life making fairly balanced use of both hands, without being totally ambidextrous. Later, a greater lateralization is reached in terms of their actions, becoming definitely right-handed or left-handed.

3. Self-regulation

This is possibly the most striking aspect of Arnold Gesell’s theory, since he went so far as to ensure that newborns are able to regulate their own behavior , and are even able to determine their own sleeping and eating schedules.

His research suggests that he can also control his personality and behavioral and motor balance.

4. Generalization and individuality

The theory of maturation maintains, as already mentioned, that all children develop following the same sequence in terms of their behavioral and physiological development, however, it also points out that each one does it at his own pace.

Thus, there is a generalization as to how the main behavioural milestones are acquired during childhood, but it is taken into account that each individual, due to individual differences , does so following his or her own maturation.

How should children be cared for?

Arnold Gesell considered that each child had his own rhythm of development, although the main learning was based on the development of the nervous system, which followed the same pattern and order in all individuals.

However, despite generalizing about the acquisition of the main abilities during childhood, Gesell maintained that the closest environment should become aware of the rhythm of their own child , besides understanding that the fact that their son or daughter did not develop at the same rhythm as the other children of their age did not necessarily mean a pathology nor a delay.

The best way to ensure that satisfactory maturation is acquired and that the individual acquires the behaviours that allow him/her to develop fully both socially and intellectually is to make the family aware of the speed at which this same maturation is taking place . Parents must learn to recognize how their child’s development is biologically programmed.

Criticism of the theory

Although nowadays Gesell’s theory of maturation is quite extended and applied in the field of educational psychology, many critical voices have pointed out some limitations of the model.

The main one is that Arnold Gesell focused too much on what he understands by physiological maturation , leaving aside aspects more related to the environment and the multiple social stimuli that the infant will receive throughout his development.

A very remarkable environmental aspect that Gesell ignores in his theory is the teaching, both at school and at home, a very powerful stimulus as for the formation of the child’s personality and intelligence.

Another aspect that has also been criticized is that generalizes too much in terms of the order in which this maturation takes place . Neither does it specify what variability is expected for each behaviour and learning, nor if there is the possibility that some of them may change their order of acquisition.

It should be said that Arnold Gesell’s research has a very striking limitation, which is the fact of having researched only children coming from middle class American and white families . This means that his observations cannot be generalized to other socioeconomic statuses or other cultures.

From Gesell’s model it can be wrongly interpreted that all children, sooner or later, are going to end up developing in the same way, so it is not necessary to give them educational supports in case they are not developing in the same way as the rest of their congeners. This is very detrimental in the case that the child has a real disorder , in which early intervention is necessary to ensure that he or she develops as fully as possible.

Bibliographic references:

  • Crain, W. (2011). Theories of development concepts and applications. Boston, MA: Pearson.
  • Daly, W. (2004). Gesell’s Infant Growth Orientation: A Composite. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 31, 321-324.