Developmental Stages in Childhood and Young Adulthood - Literature review Example

Topics Reviewed In Chapter 9 &10 Developmental Stages in Childhood and Young Adulthood Early Childhood Childhood is characterizedby three stages of development which includes early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. The constituents of early childhood development stages are defined by the major tasks of development in each stage. Early childhood is the period from birth to eight Years. In this stage, the child is actively growing both physically and intellectually. The major development task in early childhood is the development of various foundational skills where, by the time the child is three years old the height doubles, weight quadruple and has mustered a number of skills. This skill includes walking, using a spoon, toilet training, scribbling, sitting, and sufficient hand-eye coordination (Tomonari et al, 2003). Between the ages of three and five, growth in children continue rapidly and are characterized by changes in interest towards fine-motor skills. Most children show fairly complete control of pencils, crayons, and scissors by the time they are five years of age. However, as they approach the age of six years, they start to acquire gross motor skills which are the abilities to skip or balance on one foot. In the late years of childhood, seven and eight years of age, there is significantly a slow pace in growth since the body is getting used to motor skills. Physical transformation in early childhood occurs hand in hand with rapid changes in the childs language development and cognitive. During the age of three, they develop spoken words of between 300 and 1,000 words, which increase to approximately 1,500 words by the time the child is five (Tomonari et al, 2003). During this period they can construct 5 to7 word sentences or even tell stories with pictures as cues. They are also able to use language in communicating with each other or even in solving problems. By the age of eight years, kids can comfortably show some basic understanding on shallow concepts that include time and money. Emotional attachment between children and their parents is very important from the early days of childhood. This is because it forms the foundation of other relationships the child might have in the future. By the time they are eight they are already making friends and relating with people. Middle Childhood According to Tomonari (2003), this stage is characterized by sexual and aggressive urges repression, improvement of cognitive skills, character, inter-personal relationships, and motivation. The major development task in this stage is integration where children learn the society values. Physical growth is not as manifested as it is in early childhood or adolescence, not until the onset of puberty. Children at this age tend to build upon Skills gained in early childhood, this time in a more mature way. Children are more enthusiastic to learning and work where achievements become a motivating factor towards building capabilities and self-esteem. Although, at this stage, the children growth is peer oriented they strongly value their family. They gain social skills from peers and family which help in building interpersonal communication skills. Adolescence Adolescence is a stage that starts on the onset of sexual maturity and ends on the onset of adulthood when an individual realizes his identity. Therefore, the primary developmental task in this stage is identity formation. Unlike in middle childhood, growth in this stage is pronounced where in a period of one year a person can increase in height by four inches and a gain weight of about eight to ten pounds. This growth varies in females and males. Females’ development begins earlier than that in males. Apart from sexual maturity adolescence is an important stage in cognitive development, reasoning and idea formulations. Adolescents, encounter a number of diverse changes a time, from physical changes, new circumstances, tasks, and people. Emotional development includes mood swings, aggression, sex, and concern on standards of beauty (Tomonari, 2003). Young adult In this stage, the primary developmental task involves dramatic change in thinking capacity as well as the brain size. An individual concentrates on what he or she is reasoning about in a more complex manner. Young adults focus more on moral standards, relationships, and how they can offer upright and powerful thoughts. Physical changes in this stage are not as pronounced as emotional changes. Research shows that environmental demands and biological factors contribute to most of the changes in this stage. When teens enter this stage, their ability to control emotions, relationship skills, and thinking capacities are not developed fully to cope easily with the levels of global demands, technological developments, and rapidly-changing world (Tomonari, 2003). Therefore, the mind development characterized in this stage is in respond to these circumstances. Lovervinger’s theory of self development in adolescents and adults Loevinger developed a model consisting 11 levels of self development, to describe ego development in adolescents and adults. The first stage is pre-social symbolic stages which refer to adults who lack a sense of self, relay on others and are driven by personal needs. This stage mostly reflects in adolescents although, some adults are still stuck in this stage. The second stage is impulsive stage where progress to ego development is noted but, the individual is still reliant and need oriented. The third stage is self protective where an individual sees the world from the point of their wants rather than their impending. They control their situations, hoping to benefit from them. The fourth stage is rule oriented where an individual life is determined by society rules. People in this stage believe that if they do others good, good will be done to them. For example, they are much concerned with their public appearance (Katherine et al, 2004). The fifth stage is conformist stage, which is associated, with the individual need to fit in a group sanctioned rules. In case they break this rule they feel ashamed and guilty, this means they try and project a good image of them self through their action so that they can belong to a certain group. In this stage, the individual psychological scope expands hence, self control, enhanced reasoning, analyzing problems and making the right choices (Katherine et al, 2004).The sixth stage is conscientious stage where a person establishes personal goals and standards with a self conviction to be the right thing to do. People in this stage find themselves different from others with a sense of responsibility and mutual sharing. The next stage is individualistic stage where a person considers himself as a unique being and independent from others. An individualistic person has inner and outer person distinctively separated. The person is more concerned with social problems in the community. The next stage is autonomous phase where an individual reaches self realization and valid commitment. They also accept the existence of inner conflict and its inevitability. Therefore, the person can handle both inner and external conflicts. The other stage is post- autonomous stage where individuals establish how to lead their lives. People in the final stage of penultimate integrated stage develop a collective vision and experience peace within themselves (Katherine et al, 2004). Generativity and adult development Generativity is the concern showed by adults toward the future generations by creating a better world for them. Generativity and adult developments occur in the middle adulthood years. According to Erikson on generativity versus stagnation, since adult developmental generativity is an issue of the middle-adulthood years, generativity should expand in midlife. This expansion includes adult’s involvement in community projects and society expectations in general. The society depends on the adult’s leadership skills, obligation, and overall generative deal of mature men and women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and older (Hart, 2001). The psychosocial view about generativity is that it shows adult’s involvement and commitment in family and friendship relationships, how the adult relate with his neighbors, his contribution to the community activities, as well as communal settings. For example, a decision by a35-year-old woman to instruct Sunday school children at her church may be influenced by a number of internal and external factors. The first external would the woman was asked to teach by the priest. The second one would be that her husband demanded of her to teach on his behalf. The third would be the woman has a child that attends the same class she is supposed to teach and that she want her to do it. In addition to external factors, there are external factor that would influence her decision. The first one is that she would feel guilty to say to the priest request. The third would be a conviction that she is an effective Sunday school teacher. The other internal factor would be she find pleasure and joy in teaching. Along with these inner tendencies of the human being, we discover the cultural demands that exist as external motivational factors that influence generative behavior. From the historical context, where human and as their culture establish a strong influences on both the form and measure of the generative expression. Narrating mind Narratives define the role of language in the growth of children narrative skills and development of young human primates socially skilled. Narrative psychology refers to stories as the most professional and natural human way of communication. According to Dautenhahn (2002) “stories are generally basic to discussion and make sense on developmental and cross educational studies. The study proposes that, humans have shown readiness from the beginning of life to hear and comprehend stories. The Narrative Intelligence Hypothesis suggests that the originality of passing information through stories telling co-evolved with escalating social dynamics among generations. Thus, in human evolution, there is an evolutionary drift from material contact to vocal contact and language to contact in stories correlated with an increase in intricacy and sophistication of communal interaction and contact. This drift demonstrates the evolution of increasingly efficient mechanisms for time-sharing the processes of social bonding.” Judging from the general experience in the society, communicating via language is proving to be the principal mechanism in preserving social organization. Humans use narratives to learn about other people, to manipulate people, to unit with people, break up or strengthen relationships. Studies show that people spend about 60 % of discussions, gossiping about their personal affairs and experiences. Thus, the primary role of narratives was communicating about social issues, to get to know an individual, a group, or to maintain group cohesion(Dautenhahn, 2002). References Hart, M, H. (2001). Generativity and Social Involvement among African Americans and White Adults. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CG0QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Facademic.udayton.edu%2Fjackbauer%2FReadings%2520595%2FHart%252001%2520gen%2520bw.pdf&ei=R7GcUI2hM4LP0QWa_YCQDA&usg=AFQjCNFxFzH1QzuqcUzQU-wu5d6xVfsqOw Dautenhahn, K. (2002). The Origins of Narrative. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CG0QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Facademic.udayton.edu%2Fjackbauer%2FReadings%2520595%2FHart%252001%2520gen%2520bw.pdf&ei=R7GcUI2hM4LP0QWa_YCQDA&usg=AFQjCNFxFzH1QzuqcUzQU-wu5d6xVfsqOw Tomonari, Dana, Feiler, Rachelle. (2003). Child Development, Stages of Growth. Encyclopedia of Education. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403200106.html Katherine,H,H, & Hauser,T,S. (2004). Adolescent Ego-Development Trajectories and Young Adult Relationship Outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1847419/ Read More