Stages of Lifespan

Stages of lifespan

Introduction

A human being has to go through various stages during his lifespan. The process of human development continues as a child grows up. There are different stages that an individual experiences during his lifespan in this world. The stages through which an individual passes during his lifespan include childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. An individual grows and develops in his lifespan through different aspects of development which include biological, cognitive and psychological aspects.

Human development is generally defined as a process through which individuals develop to maturity. There are various aspects of human development through which an individual gains development in his lifespan (Berk, 2004). These aspects are briefly defined as follows.

1.Biological Development - Biological development refers to the physical changes in the appearance of an individual. This generally refers to the growth and development of the body and the change of processes that take place.

2.Cognitive Development - Cognitive development generally refers to the changes and development which occur in the mental processes of an individual. These mental processes include logical reasoning, imagination, problem solving and creativity of an individual.

3.Socio-Emotional Development - Socio-Emotional development of an individual refers to changes in personality, emotions and social interactions of the individual.

These are the most significant aspects of human development which influence the overall personality, and attributes of an individual. Human development is subject to various social, cultural and emotional factors of an individual. “Human development has been presented with many theoretical descriptions of human potential as expresses in terms of different stages of the lifespan.”

Human Development in the Stages of Lifespan.

Growth and development of an individual continues during these different stages in different ways. An individual develops physically and mentally; whereas the perceptions and interactions of the individual also changes. The different stages which an individual experiences during his lifespan include childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. There are various factors which influence the changes occuring in an individual as he develops in his life.The different factors that influence the human development of an individual are summed up under the categories of physical, cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of human development (Brien, 2008). The developments which occur in an individual during divergent stages under are discussed below. There are five most significant phases of human development which involves three basic modes of human development discussed briefly as follows.

Childhood

Childhood period in a human being's life is essentially divided into two phases, the early childhood and the middle to late childhood. The age of the child early childhood phase ranges from 2 years to 5 years. It is essential to understand bith these phases. Early childhood is the period where the individual initiates to take care of himself and learn new things from the outer world. This period is also known as the pre-school years. Biologically, an individual learns to adapt to the gender differences and the changes which occur in his physical appearance.

Cognitively, children learn to care for themselves and become self ...