Life Stages in Human Development - Case Study Example

Life Stages in Human Development Life Stages in Human Development Prenatal Development, Infancy and Early Childhood (Todd Simmons) During their early childhood years, children undergo a number of developmental changes that impact their communication, physical and motor, social and behavioral as well as their cognitive development. To better illustrate the developmental advances of children in this life stage, I will opt to use the example of my three year old nephew Todd Simmons who is currently in this stage of development. Language / Communication Development: During the early months of a child’s development ranging up to about 6 months, According to Neaum (2010), crying is generally perceived to be the primary mode of communication for children as it aids in evoking a variety of caregiver responses. Todd just like other children was seen to normally resort to making sounds such as crying noises and sucking for a myriad of reasons ranging from their being hungry to if they happen to wet themselves or are sick. He was also constantly attempting to try and repeat the sounds being produced by other people around him during conversation. By the time Todd was two years of age, he could be able to speak a number of words in a meaningful and understandable manner. He recently attained the age of three years and this saw him develop the ability of using more words to make himself known including the ability to speak in simple sentences comprising of an average of about three words. He’s also started gaining an interest in kids programs on television and is constantly attempting to recite the nursery rhymes that he over hears both on television as well as those his mother recites to him. Social / Behavior / Emotional Development: At about six months of age, Todd would constantly try to look for the source of any noise that happened to be made anywhere near him, he was also able to wave bye-bye to people by the time he attained the age of one year. His social development after his first years saw Todd develop the ability to start playing simple games such as Peek-a-Boo, a development that gradually saw him manage to start playing games such as rolling balls to adults by the time he was two years of age. He could also be able to occupy himself in play for long periods of time while at this age. After his third birthday, Todd became adequately toilet trained and was able to help his parents when assigned simple tasks such as putting his clothes and toys away. He was developed an interest in attempting to try and imitate the simple tasks being done by adults around him which is similar to the findings of a research study by Demiris & Meltzoff (2008), that found that children would often attempt to try and imitate facial gestures and the actions of those around them. Cognitive Development Like all normal six month old children, Todd was able to recognize mirror images and would try to pat them. He would also be able to closely watch any toys that were passed in front of him if the said toys were moved very slowly. By the time that Todd was about one year old he could be able to recognize and understand the basic meaning behind simple words such as bye-bye and no, this is in addition to his being able to wave bye-bye. At two years, Todd could be able to show different body parts such as ears, nose, eyes and toes when asked to do so Neaum (2010). Physical and Motor Development: While children do not at first display a lot of motor development, they are however able to roll from their stomach to their back by the age of 6 months. Todd was also able to reach for toys at this age in addition to also being able to transfer his toys from one hand to the other. His other motor developments also included, holding and putting everything in his mouth and holding the bottle while drinking Neaum (2010). At one year of age, Todd was able to easily sit up without any support and even pull himself up to stand. He was however not able to walk and would instead move around by crawling on all four. Todd could be able to messily feed himself crackers and cookies at his age. Although he had developed the ability of being able to pick up small objects between his index finger and thumb, Todd could not be able to turn the pages in a book, one page at a time. At two years of age, Todd could be able to walk relatively well in addition to having developed the ability of being able to walk up steps two feet on a step. He could also be able to drink from a cup and feed himself with a spoon, although there was usually some spilling. At about three years of age, his ability to walk had drastically improved and he could now be able to work up steps one food for each step. He could also run relatively easily and walk on tiptoes. He was also proud of his ability to unbutton his shirt buttons and undress himself. At this age, Todd could also be able to unwrap his candy without having to ask for help in doing so. School Age children and Adolescent Development (Amanda Wilkins) A very crucial shift in a child’s development is seen to occur at the time when a child attains the age of about six years of age. Children at this age are able to acquire skills that are considered to be fundamental in their different cultures, these skills include skills such as arithmetic and reading skills. Amanda Wilkins is my 15 year old preadolescent neighbor whose parents frequently leave in my charge to babysit. To better illustrate the developmental advancements of children at this age, I will equate the different developmental advances of children at this age to those of Amanda. Language / Communication Development: At this stage of development, communication with Amanda gradually became too complicated. Whereas during the early school years Amanda usually enjoyed communicating with both her parents and myself, communication with Amanda soon became quite complicated as she gradually tried to increase the separation between herself and both her parents and myself as is characteristic of most children at this stage. This development is seen to greatly support the evidence of a research study conducted by Loes & Francois (2013) that found that parent-child communication generally decreased during the early adolescent stage of development as a result of factors such as increasing secrecy, decreasing adolescent disclosure as well as decreasing parental solicitation. Cognitive Development During her middle childhood at around the age of seven years, Amanda’s cognitive development was seen to acquire the skill of self awareness. During this stage, she discovered the notion as to exactly how one should go about learning as well as the use of strategies such as practicing and studying that could serve to greatly help her in improving her learning and performance (Eccles, 1999). Amanda was also able to being to play in a more conscious manner that saw her intelligently coordinate her actions, evaluate her subsequent progress as well as aptly modify her strategies based on her evaluation and reflection. She also advanced from engaging in free play games to structured games that had more rules and roles for the players such as girls baseball. There was an increased ability by Amanda in being able to take into consideration other’s perspectives and understand that people have different ways of views and knowledge from them. Social / Behavior / Emotional Development: At the age of about five to six years, Amanda began to become more willing to play I a cooperative manner and displayed some signs of jealously towards her other siblings. Although she was seen to enjoy playing alone, she greatly preferred playing with friends. At the age of about eight years, her social development saw her start to befriend children of the opposite gender from herself as well as gradually develop a sense of humor and enjoy telling jokes. She also began helping out with more chores at home such as the tidying up of personal belongings and the clearing of the dinner table after the meals. According to Eccles (1999), children at the adolescent stage of life generally tend to exhibit signs of increasing independence as well as an active and genuine pursuit of new relationships as was noted in Amanda during this developmental stage. Her parents were essentially the most important people in her life although her relationship with her peers was seen to gradually become increasingly important as she developed best-friend relationships. However as she grew and entered into her teenage years, her relationship with her parents was adversely affected as she now considered her peers to be more important in her life. As she became physically more mature, Amanda began to seek increasingly more autonomy and independence and at times even questioned the laid down family roles and rules which frequently caused for there to be friction and conflict on matters such as appearance, dress, dating and the performance of chores. In a similar manner to that pointed out by (Eccles, 1999), pertaining to adolescents spending more time outside home, Amanda increasingly spent more unsupervised time outside of the home in the company of her peers whom she considered to have more or less the same authority and power as herself. However, she continued to rely on the guidance and support that was being offered to her by the adults surrounding her in the community, school and family.th time outside of the home in the ocmpany life.tant. lf, she dk up s Physical and Motor Development: Amanda continued to grow stronger during her school age and could be able to finish more physically demanding tasks as well as play more rigorous games with her friends. She grew more playful and was constantly running around a factor that is seen to have also served to help her become even more physically stronger and have better coordinated motor skills. During Amanda’s adolescent years, she experienced a growth spurt that caused her to quickly grow in height, she is also currently experiencing hormonal changes that are causing her to gradually develop a more womanly body as is expected of children that are undergoing this developmental stage. Late Adulthood (Mrs. Summers) A mix of various developmental losses and gains is seen to characterize the twilight years of late adulthood. While on one hand, late adulthood and old age is considered to be a time of tranquility and pleasure, it on the other hand brings a number of concerns over failing physical condition as well as increased loneliness (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). To assess the developmental change of late adulthood and old age, I will use my 83 year old friend, Mrs. Summers as a subject. Mrs. Summers is a resident at one of the local elderly people nursing homes and I have been going to visit her for a number of years. Language / Communication Development: The lingual skills and style of persons in the late adulthood stage such as Mrs. Summers are essentially the same as they were during their adulthood stage. Although Mrs. Summers initially grew her vocabulary during her adulthood developmental stage, there was a little decline in this vocabulary during her late adulthood. As emphasized by Kail & Cavanaugh, (2013), there is also a growing inability to clearly distinguish some speech sounds during the late adulthood stage by persons such as Mrs. Summers which can be attributed to their either becoming hard of hearing and the increasing senility that is a characteristic of persons in this developmental stage. Cognitive Development: There is a mild loss in cognitively as Mrs. Summers grows older. She sometimes does not recognize people that she’s already met and seems to be taking in information at a slower rate a factor that forces us to repeat information to her slowly a number of times. Although her problem solving skills are experiencing a marked decrease, she appears to be more wiser as she is exhibiting a marked increase in practical knowledge and the general ability to reflect on an apply relevant knowledge so as to help others. Social / Behavior / Emotional Development: As vocational and family pressures gradually lessened during Mrs. Summers’s late adult the friendships and relationships she enjoyed greatly increased in importance (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). Her spirituality also experienced a marked increase as it helped to provide life with more meaning and inspiration. She also became increasingly actively engaged in both informal and organized religious activities. Mrs. Summers also cultivated an optimistic and flexible approach to life that helped her foster increased levels of resilience in the face of all the various adversities that she happened to face in her old age. Physical and Motor Development: While the recent trends in disability among persons in the late adult hood stage of development within the United States have been recorded as decreasing according to a research study conducted by Freedman As Mrs. Summers grew older, her physical health and vitality gradually decreased. This decline affected some aspects such as her eye sight that grew poor, her hearing ability grew impaired and although she used a hearing aid, you still had to use a loud voice so as for her to hear you clearly. The adverse effects of increased frailty among persons in the late adulthood stage that causes them to experience declining functioning in multiple organs as is pointed out by Kuzuya (2012) is highlighted by the fact that Mrs. Summers experienced muscular degeneration as her body muscles shrank and grew weaker. Her respiratory system also weakened in her late adulthood and caused her to grow tired more quickly when undertaking the normal everyday activities. Conclusion Erikson’s life cycle stages aptly help to articulate and better understand the development and challenges that Todd Simmons, Amanda Wilkins and Mrs. Summers undergo and have to eventually master. While the seminal concept of the eight stages of psychosocial development as proposed by Erikson can be seen to be both elegant and simple, it can also be seen that it is still very sophisticated as each stage is seen to rely and build upon he successful completion of the earlier stages of development. As such the life cycle development stages are proposed by Erikson’s psychosocial theory are seen to be a powerful tool suitable for self-awareness and subsequent improvement as well as for helping and teaching others. References Demiris, Y., & Meltzoff, A. (2008). The robot in the crib: A developmental analysis of imitation skills in infants and robots. Infant and Child Development, 17(1), 43-53. Eccles S. J. (1999). The Development of Children Ages 6 to 14. The Future of Children WHEN SCHOOL IS OUT Vol. 9 • No. 2 – Fall 1999 Retrieved on Jan 15, 2014 from http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/09_02_02.pdf Freedman, V. A., Martin, L. G., & Schoeni, R. F. (2002). Recent trends in disability and functioning among older adults in the United States. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(24), 3137-3146. Kail, V. R. & Cavanaugh, C. J. (2013). Human development: a life-span view. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Kuzuya, M. (2012). Process of Physical Disability among Older Adults: Contribution of Frailty in the Super-Aged Society. Nagoya. Journal of Medical Science, 74(1-2), 31-37. Loes, K. & François, P., (2013). Developmental changes in parent–child communication throughout adolescence. Developmental Psychology, Vol 49(12), Dec 2013, 2301-2308. Neaum, S. (2010). Child development for early childhood studies. Exeter : Learning Matters. Read More