Development is a critical part of our life. Many of us grow but do not develop.

Definition of
development sates that it is a pattern of change that begins at conception and continues
throughout the lifespan. Development as a whole is divided into four ages. First age: childhood
and adolescence, second stage: prime adulthood age 20-59, third stage: 60-79 years old age,
fourth stage: 80 years and older (Santrock, 2013). All of the four periods of development are
connected to each other.
Development is life-long process and it does not end at early adulthood; rather continues
throughout ones life. Development is multidimensional. Regardless of what ones age might be
their body, mind, emotions and relationships are changing and affecting each other (Santrock,
2013). Development is multidirectional and throughout life some dimensions or components of a
dimension expand while others shrink in response. For instance, when the language of English is
acquired in early development, the capacity for acquiring second and a third language decreases
later in development (Santrock, 2013). Development is plastic and changes occur throughout our
life. As individuals we possess more capacity to change when we are young as opposed to when
we are old (Santrock, 2013). Development is contextual and all of the development occurs in a
context or setting. This includes families, school, peer groups, churches, cities, neighborhoods,
state and countries. As a result, individuals change begins in a changing world (Santrock, 2013).
Developmental science is multidisciplinary which mean that all psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, neuroscientists and medical researchers share an interest in unlocking the
mysteries of development through life span.
The life span is divided into several periods of developments. First is the parental period which is
the time from conception to birth. It is the growth from a single cell to a whole functional

organism; it takes approximately 9 months or less for the completion of this period. The period
of infancy is next. It is starts form the time of birth to 18 or 24 months. In this stage the infant is
extremely dependent upon adults. Also, in this period the infant is facing its initial challenges of
learning such as language, motor skills and sensorimotor coordination. Early childhood is the
followed by infancy period. It ranges from the age of 3-5. In this period the child learns how to
become self-sufficient and to take care of themselves. This period reaches an endpoint by the
time the child is in first grade. Middle and Late childhood is the successor of early childhood
period. It starts at the age of 6 and ends at the age of 10 or 11. Here the child is facing the
challenges of mastering reading, writing and arithmetic skills. This is the period when the child is
exposed to the larger world and its culture. Also, the child grasp a sense of achievement and has
a higher self-control. The next period is Adolescence, this is a transition of from late childhood to
early adulthood. It starts from 12 to 18 years of age. This period poses a lot of physical and
emotional challenges for the child. For instance, dramatic weight gain, changes is body contour,
and development of sexual characteristics; like puberty. In this period thoughts are more logical,
abstract and idealistic. The following stage is early adulthood, this period begins at early 20 and
lasts through 30. Here the challenges faced are very personal and dramatic. For instance,
establishment of personal and economic independence, moving up in career, finding a life
partner, starting a family and having kids. Next period is middle adulthood which is from the age
of 40 to 60. In this period the individual feels responsible for expanding personal and social
involvement. Also, at this age they tend to be role models for the younger generations and are
very fond of mentoring the younger generation. Late adulthood is the last period and the longest
span of development. The demographics are increasing in this period as the life expectancy is

increasing. Many researches argue that even after the age of 60 there is room for development
and adaptability (Santrock, 2013)
All of the periods mentioned above incorporate in development of an individual as a whole, and
they all share same developmental issues. Such as, nature-nurture, stability-change and
continuity-discontinuity. The issue of nature-nurture emphasizes on the development influenced
by nature and by nurture. Nature refers to the biological inheritance and nurture refers to its
environmental experiences (Santrock, 2013). Todays example for nature would be nutrition,
medical care, physical health and etc. Whereas, social environment like school, family, peers,
media and culture would represent the nurture aspect. A perfect balance between both can result
in a smooth running of the developmental process of an individual. The next issue is stabilitychange which involves the degree to which early traits or characteristics persist through life or
change. For instance, developmentalists who support the stability argue that if an individual is
shy throughout life, this is due to heredity and early experiences as an infant or a young child
encountered stress when dealing with people. Contrary to that, developmentalists who support
change argue that later life experience do bring a change in an individual which is directly
related to the plasticity of human development. Last is the continuity-discontinuity issue which
focuses on the degree to which development involves either gradual, cumulative (continuity) or
distinct stage (discontinuity). An example of cumulative change is a child growing in a sequence
form birth to young childhood then to adolescence and, finally, adulthood. This is a continuance
process where the individual learns something new at every stage of development. However,
discontinuity is well represented when a child moves from not being able to think abstractly
about the world to being able to. This is a qualitative change, whereas cumulative change is
quantitative.

Just like any other human studies, developmental studies have been studied for many years and
has had a lot of theories proposed by many developmentalists. They are divided into four
domains psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral and social cognitive, ethological and ecological. .
Psychoanalytic theories describe as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion.
Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic working of the mind have to be
analyzed to understand behavior. Early experience with parents are emphasized a lot in this
theory. Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalytic theory, proposed the Freuds theory. In his
theory he concluded that his patients problems were a direct result of their early childhood
experiences. He claimed that as we grow up our focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shots
from mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitalia. He broke down his theory into five stages
of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. He drew a conclusion that our adult
personality is determined by the way we resolve conflicts between sources of pleasure at each
stage and the demand of reality. For example, in the oral stage which is form birth to 1 years,
the infants pleasure is focused only on the mouth; eating and drinking. In that same domain,
Erick Erickson with his wife proposed the Ericksons theory. This theory includes eight stages of
human development, and at each stage the individual is confronted by a crisis that must be
resolved to move on the next stage. He claimed that as we go through in life these stages unfold
which is a part of development. Each stage has an obstacle/crisis which ought to be overcome;
this not catastrophic, but rather a turning point. For instance, Autonomy vs. shame, second stage
which is focused on the age group of 1-3 years. In this stage the infant starts to assert their sense
of independence after gaining trust in their care giver. If they are restrained too much or punished
too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame or doubt with in themselves. When
evaluating psychoanalytic theories one must take into consideration that they lack scientific

proof, and too much emphasis is on sexual underpinnings and an image of people that is too
negative.
Contrary to the psychoanalytical theories which focus on the unconscious, cognitive theories
emphasize on the conscious thoughts. For instance, Piagets theory sates that children actively
construct their understanding of the world and the go through four stages of cognitive
development which are as follows: sensorimotor stage which is from birth to 2 years,
preoperational stage which is from age 2 to 7 years, concrete operational stage which is from age
7 to 11 years, and formal operational stage which is form age 11 to 15 years. The first stage is
where the child understands the world by the experience established through coordinating
sensory experiences. Second stage is where the child begins to represent the world around him
with words and images. Third stage is where the child can reason logically about concrete events
and classify objects into different sets. Last stage, is where the adolescent reasons in more
abstract, idealistic, and logical ways. Next in the domain is the addition of Vygotskys theory.
Lev Vygotsky, a Russian developmentalists, gave social interactions and culture far more
important role in cognitive development than Piaget did. Also, he stated in his theory that culture
and social interaction guide cognitive development. According to Vygotsky, childs social
interactions with skilled peers is indispensable to their development (Santrock, 2013); with this
they learn to use tools which help them adapt and become successful in their culture. In a
nutshell cognitive theories contribute a positive view of development and emphasizes on the
active construction of understanding.
The next domain is behavioral and social cognitive theories. Here Skinners Operant
conditioning and Banduras Social Cognitive Theory. The first theory was proposed by B.F.

Skinner who conducted the operant conditioning chamber which measured organisms responses
and interactions with the environment. Skinner believed that developments were largely shaped
by parental behavior and said in 1938 that the consequences of certain behavior produce a
change in the likelihood of that behavior occurring. This so called operant learning theory was a
form of learning where a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by positive of negative
consequences. In essence, Skinner claimed that development is mainly dependent on external
stimuli. Next theory was proposed by Albert Bandura, he emphasized cognitive processes have
important links with the environment and behavior. For instance, a boy might observe his father
yelling in anger and treating other people with hostility; with his peers, the young boy later acts
very aggressive, showing the very same characteristics as his fathers behavior. This domain
includes an emphasis on scientific research and environmental determinants of behavior. . When
it comes to evaluating this domain, criticism include too little emphasis on cognition in Skinners
view and inadequate attention paid to developmental changes.
Ethological Theory is the second last domain which stresses that behavior is strongly influenced
by biology; this is characterized by critical or sensitive periods. Konrad Lorenz, a European
zoologist, studied the behavior of the graylag geese, which will follow their mothers as they
hatch. He later divided the groups into two, one group was hatched by the mother, and the other
was hatched in an incubator. His prediction about the first group which followed the mother. The
second group swept him by surprise as they followed him, thinking that he was their mother.
Lorenzo called this imprinting- the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first
moving object seen.

The last domain is the Ecological theory. This theory focuses on five environmental systems:
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. This was proposed by
Bronfenbrenner, and is called the Bronfenbrenners ecological theory. The microsystem is the
setting where the individual lives. Mesosystem involves the relation between the microsystem
and the context. Exosystem is the link between social settings and the individuals immediate
context. Macrosystem involves the culture where the individual lives.
Over all the human development is a lifelong process with multiple turning points which only
benefit the individual by giving them a life-long learned experience; sometime even cause a
drawback. However, we are humans and have the capability to adapt and change overtime as the
unfolding life demands.