Processes in Lifespan Development - Research Paper Example

? Processes in Lifespan Development o There are numerous attributes that scientist have constantly used to describe development. For instance, it can mean endless change in functional capacity or accumulative process in nature. Living organisms always develop but the amount of change can either be easily noticed or not realized throughout the lifespan (Santrock, 2006). Moreover, development has been found to be linked (but not reliant) to age and as one gets older in age, then the rate of development can either be fast or slow. This also depends on the individual in question when holding other factors like age constant. More importantly, as one becomes elderly, this does not automatically mean that development experience is concurrent. Development occurs through out the life of an individual and it is a sequential process, where one step leads to another and this takes place in an orderly and irreversible pattern. The end result is normally a product of the interaction between the individual and the external environmental conditions. According to Santrock (2006) motor development refers to the advancement of the movement capability. Those who study motor development get involved mostly with the development changes accompanied by the underlying factors affecting the changes. For those changes associated with experience or practice, motor learning is the termed used since they are acquired through training in a particular game or profession. Fast progress in motor or movement abilities takes place during childhood or infancy. Children, who exhibit good motor developments in most cases, are able to control and direct their voluntary muscle movements. In the olden days, a child’s motor development was based on their ability to pose and move during the first few years after birth. However this has been overtaken by a new perspective known as developmental biodynamics. This is explained through a combination of biomechanics, neurosciences and behavioral sciences. Motor skills are branded as either gross or fine. Gross motor sills is where large muscles are involved for instance in walking or getting the arms being moved whereas for fine motor skills are those that involve refined movements such as finger agility. Motor skills are important since they are a sign that the infant for instance is ready for the next experiences or stage in life. This will make sure that the experience the baby is introduced to will not be a burden or dangerous to the baby by the time of introduction. Ensuring that the child is able to sit upright on her own before being given a solid food to chew or swallow. Sensory/cognitive abilities ascend steeply from infancy to young adulthood and thereafter retained in at the same level or descend to old age depending on the precise ability. There exists a balance to our physical lives, in that we are independent and robust in youth and middle age and reliant and weak in old age and infancy. Sensory also tries to follow the same trend of building up and wearing down. There have been outstanding few integrated scenarios of lifelong changes in cognitive ability, meaning exceptions would be worth noting. It has been noted that sensory development relies on connections among generic, environment and social factors. Processing speed is found to increase from childhood to young adulthood before taking a decline mode as one approaches old age. This provides an explanation for the cause of age linked decline in cognitive performance (Haywood & Getchell 2005). Lots of emphases have been put on cognitive abilities with little being done on development and aging of perceptual functions. For those who tries to study perceptual development, it is either they are focusing on child development or aging separately. This would mean that there is lack of studies to explore representative samples across the human life span. In order to air out this underlying issue, it is necessary to apply a lifespan perspective that has the goal of differentiating between mechanisms contributing to child development and aging and similarities to the same. Claims have been put forward that anything gained in processing efficiency through development from childhood to adolescence is lost through aging. For instance, when it comes to visual information, there are some general similarities that occur in both childhood and in old age. It should be noted that there are also differences that clearly separates the two life periods. The most recent studies shows that perceptual capabilities increase during childhood and adolescent and decline in the early childhood and late adulthood. Development during childhood and adolescence are basically driven by biological factors or cognitive mechanics and contrary to this observation, performance differs in later life although, it is supposed to reflect a decrease of cognitive mechanics and neurobiological processes. The Role of body and brain development According to Woodfield (2004) the frontal lobes of the brain perform a very vital duty in setting up, decision-making, conflict resolution and executive functions. Form this idea, people or patients with lesion on their brain frontal lobes will exhibit action driven by current context. For instance, seeing food will induce eating and this can be justified by the fact that external environment controls certain actions. The frontal lobes are the last parts to mature in children and be first to be damaged in old age. Because of this, executive functions tend to grow in children and decline in adulthood. From this argument it is evident that children and elderly persons will be vulnerable to environmental influence than the middle aged individuals. These observations are further echoed by Haywood & Getchell (2005), who argues that the major role of executive function is to overcome automatic behavior and instead instill selective attention and making choices driven by current objectives. Physical exercise can be termed as any form of bodily activity that aim at enhancing or maintaining physical fitness and health in general as well as wellness. People engage in such exercises because of various reasons including but not limited to strengthening muscles, cardiovascular system, perfecting on athletics skills, weight loss or upholding as well as simple enjoyment. It has been proven that habitual and frequent exercise enhances the immune system and helps in reducing diseases associated with wealth or riches such as heart related diseases, diabetes, uncontrollable weight gain (obesity) and cardiovascular diseases (Gran, 2011). Mental health also records an improvement with regular exercise and thus reduces depression. It also encourages or sustains positive self esteem and increases one sex appeal or bodily image, all these are found to be linked with optimistic self esteem. Since obesity in both children and adult has been an issue that is raising concern in the recent days, physical exercise assists in reducing some of these effects of obesity in adults and children. Practitioners in this field have regarded physical as a “miracle” since it can cure or alleviate a wide range of diseases and illnesses without one being subjected to medication. As far as brain function is concerned, it has been proven that physical activity accompanied by particularly aerobic exercise, improves cognitive/sensory function in older adults. In addition, physical exercise has been proven to be neuro-protective in numerous neurodegenerative and neuromuscular illnesses and diseases. Some of the examples include low risks of developing dementia when one indulges in regular exercises. Anecdotal evidence has the suggestion that exercise may undo alcohol-stimulated brain damage. According to Gran (2011) there exist numerous possibilities for why exercise is of benefit for the brain (Haywood & Getchell, 2005). These include but not restricted to improving blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing development factors that assist in generating new nerve cell and enhance synaptic flexibility and raising chemicals in the brain that aid in cognition, chemicals are glutamate, dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. In conclusion, physical activity encompass other beneficial effects linked to cognition as it drives up the levels of nerve growth factors as these factors encourage the survival and development of a number of neuronal cells. References Gran, P. (2011). Anabolic signalling in skeletal muscle impact of diet and disease. New York: Thomson/South-Western. Haywood, K., & Getchell, N. (2005). Life span motor development (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Santrock, J. W. (2006). Life-span development (10th ed.). Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill. Woodfield, L. (2004). Physical development in the early years. New York: Continuum. Read More