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Human Development can be seperated into four stages:
Infancy: Birth-2 Yrs.
| Physical Development
| Body proportions change as the arms and legs grow. Muscles and motor centers of the brain also develop allowing the infant to reach, grasp, sit, crawl, etc. |
| Social and Personality Development
| As early as 2 months, infants demonstrate pattern of reaction to objects and events referred to as infant temperament. By 6 to 8 months, infants began to form attachments and by the age of 2 yrs, infants began to interact with other children.
| | Cognitive Development
| An infant's understanding of the world is based on their sensory and motor interactions with it. The infant is egocentric and is unable to conceptualize a world outside him/herself. One achievement at the infancy stage is that babies learn to represent objects and events mentally. This skill is known as the symbolic function.
| | Language Development
| Between birth and the 1st 6 months, infants communicate primarily by crying. The only other sounds they are capable of making are vowels "a and e." After a year, infants expands their speech to include consonants and by 18 months, they began to utter their first words. By 2 years old, infants are able to produce 2-3 word sentences known as telegraphic speech.
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Childhood 2-12 yrs.
| Physical Development
| Overall growth decline to a slow and steady rate by age 5 and 6. Children refine their motor coordination especially eye-hand coordination. At this stage, individual differences emerge, as children specialize in certain skills. |
| Social and Personality Development
| Children develop their own social pattern and their personality began emerging. Some children are popular, confidant and outgoing, while others are shy and feel insecure. Self-image also becomes important in this stage. Between 2-5, children's self description are categorical (gender, age, name) and from age 5-12, children's self concept broadens and they describe themselves in psychological attributes (nice, kind)
| | Cognitive Development
| From 2-5 yrs, children are able to use symbols and pictures to represent object. Problem solving skills improve but egocentrism still interferes and children at this stage cannot visualize a series of events mentally. From 6 to 12, children are much less egocentric and can look at the world more objectively. They can follow sequence of events. They master the idea of classification and they are able to use mathematical operations. Their problem solving is based on trial and error.
| | Language Development
| By age 5, most children have a vocabulary of 300 words and begin to distinguish regular and irregular words. Children also learn to use language socially by learning to listen, to take turns in conversation and to be polite.
| | Moral Development
| According to Kohlberg's Theory, from age 4-10, children's morals are guided by 2 principles. The first is obedience and punishment orientation. Children make moral decisions based on principle of avoiding punishment and obeying authority. The 2nd principle is naive hedonistic orientation where children's morality are governed by the desire to satisfy others who are important to them. From 10-12, children make choices in hopes of gaining approval. Children's decisions in this stage also reflect the desire to obey authority and avoid social disorder.
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Adolescence 12-18
| Physical Development
| Adolescence is usually associated with sexual maturation and growth spurt. Girls began their growth spurt around 10 and body shape begins to change as the hip and thigh tissues grow and the breast is enlarged. Boys began their spurt around 12 and their chest and shoulder tissues grow rapidly, followed by thickening of the vocal chords. |
| Social and Personality Development
| Adolescents establish new relationships with parents and peers and develop a sense of identity. Most adolescents began to distance themselves from their parents. Although parents still influence most adolescents' values and goals, but peers began to influence decisions on dress, language and recreation. During adolescence, young adults also began to reevaluate themselves often trying to establish their own identity and values.
| | Cognitive Development
| Thinking becomes more abstract, systematic and probabilistic. Adolescents are able to make hypothesis, to consider different possibilities and to imagine outcomes. They can also use past experiences and can reason deductively.
| | Language Development
| Increased vocabulary and more complex sentences. Adolescents and adults are also able to master fine points of grammar and understand different grammatical structures.
| | Moral Development
| Morality is viewed as a social contract where individuals derive benefits from compliance with rules. The rules can be adjusted and many adolescence try to balance the rights of individual with social stability.
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Adulthood 18+
| Physical Development
| Adults reach their peak between 18-25. By mid adulthood, physical decline becomes noticeable as the skin tone changes, the reaction time lengthens, and the sensory functions weaken. These changes are part of a natural aging process that could be influenced by lifestyle and environmental factors.
| | Social and Personality Development
| Adult social behaviors are relatively stable. Adults who are socially active will maintain their socially active behaviors. In the later years, social isolation can become a problem for adults who are facing declining health and cognitive functions.
| | Cognitive Development
| In their 20's, adults improve their ability to learn new skills and information. Adults at this age use strategies to solve problems quickly and efficiently. By mid adulthood, problem solving skills decline and some adults may have trouble doing timed tasks.
| | Moral Development
| Morality is guided by the universal ethical principle. Adults make their decisions based on conscience and principles such as justice, human rights and personal dignity. Violation of these principles is condemned.
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