Impact of Bodily Growth and Changes on Development - Essay Example

Introduction Development normally begins at conception with most eventful and unique foundations for adult years happening at the childhood level. These developmental stages include the infancy from birth to 24 months, at childhood, 2-11 years, adolescence, childhood to early adulthood and early adulthood, late teens to thirties (Bjorklund and Blasi, 2011). Development is a complex process that involves seven different dimensions. These are the physical, biological, cognitive, social, emotional, personality and spiritual dimensions.

This paper looks at the developmental changes on the childhood and adolescent stages by focusing on the effects it has on psychological, social and emotional dimensions. The Infancy Stage It is noteworthy that each of the dimensions is equally indispensable in the development of ever, and each dimension influences all the others, for the body works as a system. For example, cognitive development affects social development that is normally tied to physical development of an individual. Therefore, this means that to achieve a successful development there must be integration of all these dimensions.

Thus, why an adult is not in any position to determine the growth of a child, for the child has a powerful obligation to build up and gain mastery in all the dimensions (Bjorklund and Blasi, 2011). The infancy stage is one of the important stages of child development as regards the social dimension that occurs between the ages of 0-2. It is at this stage that the social dimension is determined, and it is dependent on the key role of attachment. First rapid growth characterizes the first year of a child’s development, but this slows down after the first birthday until the teenage years when the height and weight increases (Damon et al, 2006).

Psychological Dimension Four areas are crucial in the cognitive dimension of an infant that occur mostly during the first year. At this stage, the bodily growth and changes mostly affect the perception, recognition, categorization and memory of cognitive dimension. Social and Emotional Dimension On the social and emotional level, the changes that occur have an influence on determining the child’s trust or mistrust of people. This is because direct from the beginning babies are social beings, meaning that one has to be aware of the social affairs that manipulate and intermingle with the budding child.

Therefore, the manner in which these changes influence the trust of the child will eventually influence the social development. Therefore, the key task of the changes in the development to social and emotional dimensions is for the child to form a secure attachment to his parents. This is because this attachment to the parent or care giver is sure to provide the basis of healthy emotional and social development. Therefore, when a child achieves this security of attachment, the child becomes emotionally secure and subsequent healthy emotional and social relationships with others (Damon et al, 2006).

In addition, this leads to increased ability of a child becoming independent in the later years. Adolescent Stage The exact time of adolescence is dependent on the surrounding culture and the biological factors of an individual. Early adolescence is characterized by physical maturation, which reduces gradually towards the late adolescent’s stage. This stage of puberty is also characterized by dramatic and complex hormonal changes with hormones like androgens in males and estrogens and progesterone, in females beginning to be produced.

However, girls begin their puberty stage almost two years before boys, and most thoughts of these boys and girls revolve around sex and body image (Damon et al, 2006). Psychological Dimension At these stage adolescents’ cognitive processes are not restrained to actual and concrete occurrences, for they are capable of both abstract and deductive thoughts. They are also capable of making logic deductions, which is a characteristic of absolute idealism (Bjorklund and Blasi, 2011). Therefore, they can easily evaluate situations and make comparisons among different aspects of life.

These cognitive processes lead to adolescents thinking differently about themselves with some being perplexed or proud of changes. The different maturation rate of boys and girls is to blame for these mixed reactions. Social and Emotional Dimensions At this stage, boys who mature fast than other boys always perceive themselves as positive and successful manner. This is the same for girls too although, not with the same enthusiasm as boys. Egocentrism is the greatest characteristic of adolescence that affects the social and emotional behavior (Bjorklund and Blasi, 2011).

Therefore, most of the times, these boys and girls act as though they have been preoccupied by their feelings and thoughts. This is the number one cause of their boorishness and their constant preoccupation with their bodies. In addition, these challenges are characterized with a strong push for autonomy and taking to responsibility. Therefore, this is the cause of the conflicts between them and their parents who think that they are losing grasp of their children. It is noteworthy that this is a normal occurrence that comes with the changes of development.

Therefore, the three developmental tasks achieved t this stage that has an effect on the social and emotional dimension of adolescents include the maturity of sense of personal identity. This is, in addition to the process of, establishment of committed and intimate relationships as well as decision making about future. Conclusion It is evident that each stage of development of a person comes with changes that affect the seven dimensions of life. At infancy, the sense of attachment is the attribute that affects psychological, social and emotional well being of a person.

In the adolescent stage, these three dimensions are affected by improvement in decision making, establishment of intimate relationships and a growing sense of personal identity. All these are essential in the normal growth of a person. List of references Bjorklund, D.F. and Blasi, H.C. (2011). Child & Adolescent Development: An Integrated Approach. New York. Cengage Learning. Damon, W., Eisenberg, N. and Lerner, R.M. (2006). Social, emotional, and personality development. New York, John Wiley and Sons.