The Different Stages In Life Development

Introduction

Every one goes through many stages in life beginning at the time of conception, throughout life, and finally in death. Human development is important to psychologists because it can provide insight about a person and the stage he or she may be experiencing in life based on age-related changes in behavior, emotions, personality, and thought processes (Boyd & Bee, 2009). The interest of changes throughout a person's life, from childhood through adulthood, has developed into a psychological area of study called the lifespan perspective. This modern perspective believes that interdisciplinary research is important in the understanding of lifespan development as well as understanding that each individual, of all ages, can change and develop through many different contexts (Boyd & Bee, 2009). This paper will continue to describe the characteristics of the lifespan perspective, identify the different stages and domains of human development, and examine current concerns within this area of study.

The Different Stages In Life Development

The lifespan perspective on human development, as mentioned, includes research from different perspectives, such as psychology, economics, biology, anthropology, and education. Developmentalists also understand that through each stage of development, an individual changes within his or her family environment, society, their neighborhood, and culturally, and does so in certain stages of development (Boyd & Bee, 2009). Development is defined with three different elements. The first element is change. Change is development that involves progress from one state into another. The second element is that this change has a permanent influence or impression on the individual (Smith, 1999). Although developmental change is not just any change. The advancement through a certain stage, otherwise called maturation is the last element of development. Annenberg Media Learner.Org (2010) explains that these stages are called domains and that the lifespan perspective has three: biological, cognitive, and psychosocial. Biological, or physical, development is bodily changes, maturation, and growth. Cognitive development is the mental growth processes that include attention, memory, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, knowledge, perception, language, and thinking. Psychosocial, or societal, development includes changes in social interactions. Boyd & Bee (2009) also point out that social development includes personality traits and one's own self perception.

Within the three domains of lifespan development, each domain has nine periods. It is also important to remember that each period is an approximate age and progress to and through these stages differ slightly between individuals. The following stages, according to Annenberg Media Learner ...