Reflection On Lifespan Development

     Going back forty-five years is not an easy task to complete because I can’t remember some of the finer details of my childhood. I know I was born on a hot August afternoon in Birth Year at Place Of Birth in City ands State. My mother was just twenty-two at the time and was already the mother of two, I was her third child. My father was twenty-one and already a workaholic, I know because my mother would constantly remind me not to be like that. My mother and father were good parents and they tried to give us the best upbringing they could. My father was the kind of person that believed he should provide and protect his family, and he did a very good job of doing that.

Developmental psychology is the study of how human beings age and transform throughout the eight major stages of life. This paper will focus on the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of individuals found in stage two, (early childhood 1-6 year olds). Through exploring, and examining the countless influences that affect their growth development.

Erikson’s (1968, 1980, 1982) psychosocial stages of development provide a framework for the different stages of development throughout the human lifespan. These stages of development begin at birth and continue until death, and separate the lifespan into eight stages based on chronological age. Within these eight different aging stages are corresponding psychosocial stages. Each of these psychosocial stages represent a conflict between two characteristics of development for that particular time period in a person’s life.

How does an infant develop into an adult? The answer is not as obvious as it seems. There are a variety of factors that contribute to human development. A person not only grows physically but also cognitively and socio-emotionally. This paper will explain two theories; one cognitive and one socio-emotional; about human development. The two theories will be described, compared, contrasted and individually evaluated based on the strong points and limitations.

The development of a child in the first year of life is extremely intense; in just 52 weeks’ an infant goes through major physical, cognitive and social and emotional developments.

Babies grow and change so much in the first two years of life, and many of those growth are directly related to the brain. Brain grows so rapidly than any other organ and reaches 75% by the age of 2. Communication within the central nervous system and spinal cord begins with neurons. The final part of the brain prefrontal cortex matures.

For Life-Span Development class, on February 13, 2017, the class had the opportunity to observer the physical, cognitive and social development. In this observation the class Riley, a five month old, female toddler. As a class at the Dordt College, gave the class the opportunity to live observe in the child with the infant’s parent consent.

Development encompasses more than just the changes the body and mind goes through, and many psychologists study the relationship between physical, cognitive, and social development. Physical development begins at conception, whereas cognitive development does not begin until the fetal stage. During this time, the brain becomes much more sophisticated, the hemispheres grow rapidly and the interconnections between

Advancement made in regard to cognitive neuroscience has enabled a better understanding of the cognitive processes in infants. Studies have indicated that cognitive development in infants starts before they are born. In the eighth week of pregnancy, fetuses have the ability to hear. They become accustomed to their

The brain grows with miraculous, rapid speed beginning two weeks after conception. In like manner, it stays relatively small to accommodate the birthing process, however immediately following birth; the brain grows at a much faster pace. Nevertheless, it weighs only about twenty- five percent of its adult weight at birth, in comparison by the age of two; this same wonderment of a brain will measure closer to seventy-five percent of its adult weight. A most important part of the brain is the cortex containing about four to six thin layers of squiggly tissue that cover the brain and is a crucial part of the brain because most thinking, feeling and sensing occur there.

There are three known major areas of study in Lifespan Development which are the Physical, Cognitive, and personal and social development. These groups have to do with age and range of Lifespan Psychology. Lifespan literally connotes from cradle to grave, in other words from conception to death. Lifespan is divided into these following age periods; prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood and death.

Balancing the aspects of school, a social life, work, and so on can be difficult for anyone, but especially college students. I have found that using a proven set of effective study skills for each class helps a lot with the school aspect of life. Skills such as planning and organization are some of which that can be effective. What is interesting is that when a student finds more balance in schooling, which is a huge part of their lives, they will most likely find balance in the other aspects of their life.

After reviewing the two articles provided and studies of my proposed topic, there was no evidence of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks in six of my studies. However, there is one theoretical framework in my quantitative study that focuses on the individual and is grounded within the context of the life-span perspective of human development theory. Contextual influences include the types of changes in resources that occur in response to the individual's needs for resources throughout a changing life-span. Life-span development involves biological considerations, cultural considerations, and individual factors working together. The life-span perspective put emphasis on the development of the course of a lifetime, and all stages of the

Developmental Psychology has widened my perspective and knowledge of the nature of development from humans’ infancy to adolescence and emerging adulthood. Although I have learned about biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes and periods of development, I am especially interested in socioemotional development in infancy because it is the foundation for a child’s future development. That is to say, if children have a healthy socioemotional development from infancy, they will have a healthy life later on. By understanding the developmental process in infancy, I will be fully prepared when I have children or when my family’s members do.

The life span perspective in Paul Baltes ' view is the "study of constancy and change in behaviour throughout the life course from conception to death.” (Baltes, 1987, p.611). Being a development psychologist, Baltes constructed seven frameworks that shows that development is multi directional, which means different processes of change all through the lifespan. Secondly, development is multiply influenced by a person 's development, an effect brought about from both biological and environmental factors. Thirdly, understanding development requires multiple disciplines, development that analyse in all directions so that it can be understood through many perspectives