Periods of development

 Periods of development:

Prenatal period: from conception to birth

Infancy and toddlerhood: birth to 2 years

Early childhood: 2-6 years old

Adolescence: 12-19 years old

Middle & late childhood: 6-12 years old

Early Adulthood: begins in the begins in the late teens or early twenties and lasts through the thirties.

Middle Adulthood: from 40 years of age to about 60. 

Late Adulthood: begins in the sixties or seventies and lasts until death. - the young old, or old age, and the old old, or late old age.

Prenatal period:  from conception to birth. It involves tremendous growth—from a single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities, produced in approximately a nine-month period.

Infancy:  from birth to 18 or 24 months. It is a time of extreme dependence upon adults. Many psychological activities are just beginning—language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning, for example.

Early childhood: from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years. It sometimes called the “preschool years.” During this time, children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and spend many hours in play with peers. First grade typically marks the end of early childhood.

Middle and late childhood:  from about 6 to 11 years of age. It is called as the “elementary school years.” The fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered. The child is formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child’s world, and self-control increases.

Adolescence : period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered at 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 22 years of age. A rapid physical changes begins—dramatic gains in height and weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement of the breasts, development of pubic and facial hair, and deepening of the voice. At this point pursuit of independence and an identity are prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic. More time is spent outside the family.

Early adulthood: begins in the late teens or early twenties and lasts through the thirties. It is a time of establishing personal and economic independence, career development, and, for many, selecting a mate, learning to live with someone in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children.

Middle adulthood: from 40 years of age to about 60. It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and of reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a career.

Late adulthood: begins in the sixties or seventies and lasts until death. It is a time of adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles.

Life-span developmentalists increasingly distinguish between two age groups in late adulthood: the young old, or old age, and the old old, or late old age. Still others distinguish the oldest old (85 years and older) from younger older adults.

The Young Old (65 to 84)

:Increase their life expectancy with more older adults living longer

Have considerable potential for improved physical and cognitive fitness

Retain much of their cognitive capacity

Can develop strategies to cope with the gains and losses of aging

.The Oldest Old (85 and older): 

Show considerable loss in cognitive skills

Experience an increase in chronic stress

Alzheimer disease more common and individuals more frail

Dying with dignity less likely

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