Stages of Human

Development
 Prenatal
Germinal Stage (Weeks 1–2)
A mother and father’s DNA is passed on to the child at the moment of conception. Conception occurs
when sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote .

A zygote begins as a one-cell structure that is created when a sperm and egg merge.

The genetic makeup and sex of the baby are set at this point. During the first week after conception,
the zygote divides and multiplies, going from a one-cell structure to two cells, then four cells, then
eight cells, and so on. This process of cell division is called mitosis.
Prenatal
Mitosis is a fragile process, and fewer than one-half of all zygotes survive beyond the first two
weeks. After 5 days of mitosis there are 100 cells, and after 9 months there are billions of cells.

As the cells divide, they become more specialized, forming different organs and body parts.

In the germinal stage, the mass of cells has yet to attach itself to the lining of the mother’s uterus.
Once it does, the next stage begins.
Embryonic Stage (Weeks 3–8)
After the zygote divides for about 7–10 days and has 150 cells, it implants itself in the lining of
the uterus.
Upon implantation, this multi-cellular organism is called an embryo. Now blood vessels grow,
forming the placenta.
The placenta is a structure connected to the uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen from
the mother to the developing embryo via the umbilical cord. Basic structures of the embryo start
to develop into areas that will become the head, chest, and abdomen.
During the embryonic stage, the heart begins to beat and organs form and begin to function.
The neural tube forms along the back of the embryo, developing into the spinal cord and brain.
Fetal Stage (Weeks 9–40)
When the organism is about nine weeks old, the embryo is called a fetus. At this stage, the fetus is
about the size of a kidney bean and begins to take on the recognizable form of a human being as
the “tail” begins to disappear.
From 9–12 weeks, the sex organs begin to differentiate.
24 weeks, Hearing has developed, so the fetus can respond to sounds. The internal organs, such as
the lungs, heart, stomach, and intestines, have formed enough that a fetus born prematurely at this
point has a chance to survive outside of the mother’s womb. Throughout the fetal stage the brain
continues to grow and develop, nearly doubling in size from weeks 16 to 28. Around 36 weeks,
the fetus is almost ready for birth.
by week 40 all of the fetus’s organ systems are developed enough that it could survive outside the
mother’s uterus without many of the risks associated with premature birth.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
Although small, a newborn is not completely helpless because his reflexes and sensory capacities
help him interact with the environment from the moment of birth. All healthy babies are born
with newborn reflexes: .
The rooting reflex is the newborn’s response to anything that touches her cheek: When you stroke
a baby’s cheek, she naturally turns her head in that direction and begins to suck. The sucking
reflex is the automatic, unlearned, sucking motions that infants do with their mouths.
Several other interesting newborn reflexes can be observed. For instance, if you put your finger
into a newborn’s hand, you will witness the grasping reflex, in which a baby automatically grasps
anything that touches his palms.
The Moro reflex is the newborn’s response when she feels like she is falling. The baby spreads
her arms, pulls them back in, and then (usually) cries.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
Babies who are just a few days old also prefer human voices, they will listen to voices longer than
sounds that do not involve speech and they seem to prefer their mother’s voice over a stranger’s
voice
In an interesting experiment, 3-week-old babies were given pacifiers that played a recording of
the infant’s mother’s voice and of a stranger’s voice. When the infants heard their mother’s voice,
they sucked more strongly at the pacifierNewborns also have a strong sense of smell.
For instance, newborn babies can distinguish the smell of their own mother from that of others.
In a study by MacFarlane (1978), 1-week-old babies who were being breastfed were placed
between two gauze pads. One gauze pad was from the bra of a nursing mother who was a
stranger, and the other gauze pad was from the bra of the infant’s own mother.
More than two-thirds of the week-old babies turned toward the gauze pad with their mother’s
scent.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
We are born with all of the brain cells that we will ever have—about 100–200 billion neurons
(nerve cells) whose function is to store and transmit information.
However, the nervous system continues to grow and develop. Each neural pathway forms
thousands of new connections during infancy and toddlerhood. This period of rapid neural growth
is called blooming.
Neural pathways continue to develop through puberty. The blooming period of neural growth is
then followed by a period of pruning, where neural connections are reduced.
It is thought that pruning causes the brain to function more efficiently, allowing for mastery of
more complex skills (Hutchinson, 2011). Blooming occurs during the first few years of life, and
pruning continues through childhood and into adolescence in various areas of the brain.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
The size of our brains increases rapidly
During early childhood (ages 3–6), the frontal lobes grow rapidly.
The frontal lobes are associated with planning, reasoning, memory, and impulse control.
Therefore, by the time children reach school age, they are developmentally capable of controlling
their attention and behavior.
Through the elementary school years, the frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes all grow
in size.
Motor development occurs in an orderly sequence as infants move from reflexive reactions (e.g.,
sucking and rooting) to more advanced motor functioning. For instance, babies first learn to hold
their heads up, then to sit with assistance, and then to sit unassisted, followed later by crawling
and then walking.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
The size of our brains increases rapidly
During early childhood (ages 3–6), the frontal lobes grow rapidly.
The frontal lobes are associated with planning, reasoning, memory, and impulse control.
Therefore, by the time children reach school age, they are developmentally capable of controlling
their attention and behavior.
Through the elementary school years, the frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes all grow
in size.
Motor development occurs in an orderly sequence as infants move from reflexive reactions (e.g.,
sucking and rooting) to more advanced motor functioning. For instance, babies first learn to hold
their heads up, then to sit with assistance, and then to sit unassisted, followed later by crawling
and then walking.
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
Motor skills refer to our ability to move our bodies and manipulate objects.

Fine motor skills focus on the muscles in our fingers, toes, and eyes, and enable coordination of
small actions (e.g., grasping a toy, writing with a pencil, and using a spoon).

Gross motor skills focus on large muscle groups that control our arms and legs and involve
larger movements (e.g., balancing, running, and jumping).
Cognitive Development
Children gain new abilities to think, problem solve, and communicate.
For example, infants shake their head “no” around 6–9 months, and they respond to verbal
requests to do things like “wave bye-bye” or “blow a kiss” around 9–12 months.
We can expect children to grasp the concept that objects continue to exist even when they are not
in sight by around 8 months old.
Because toddlers (i.e., 12–24 months old) have mastered object permanence, they enjoy games
like hide and seek, and they realize that when someone leaves the room they will come back.
Toddlers also point to pictures in books and look in appropriate places when you ask them to find
objects
Cognitive Development
Preschool-age children (i.e., 3–5 years old) also make steady progress in cognitive development.
Not only can they count, name colors, and tell you their name and age, but they can also make
some decisions on their own, such as choosing an outfit to wear.
Preschool-age children understand basic time concepts and sequencing (e.g., before and after),
and they can predict what will happen next in a story.
Begin to enjoy the use of humor in stories. Because they can think symbolically, they enjoy
pretend play and inventing elaborate characters and scenarios.
One of the most common examples of their cognitive growth is their blossoming curiosity.
Preschool-age children love to ask “Why?”
Cognitive Development
6–11 years: Children at this age understand concepts such as the past, present, and future, giving
them the ability to plan and work toward goals.

Additionally, they can process complex ideas such as addition and subtraction and cause-and-
effect relationships.

However, children’s attention spans tend to be very limited until they are around 11 years old.
After that point, it begins to improve through adulthood.
Cognitive Development
One well-researched aspect of cognitive development is language acquisition.
Children communicate information through gesturing long before they speak,
In terms of producing spoken language, babies begin to coo almost immediately.
Cooing is a one-syllable combination of a consonant and a vowel sound (e.g., coo or ba).
Interestingly, babies replicate sounds from their own languages.
A baby whose parents speak French will coo in a different tone than a baby whose parents speak
Spanish or Urdu. After cooing, the baby starts to babble.
Babbling begins with repeating a syllable, such as ma-ma, da-da, or ba-ba. When a baby is about
12 months old, we expect her to say her first word for meaning, and to start combining words for
meaning at about 18 months.
Attachment
An infant must form this bond with a primary caregiver in order to have normal social and
emotional development. In
This attachment bond is very powerful and continues throughout life. He used the concept of
secure base to define a healthy attachment between parent and child (1988).
A secure base is a parental presence that gives the child a sense of safety as he explores his
surroundings.
Two things are needed for a healthy attachment: The caregiver must be responsive to the child’s
physical, social, and emotional needs; and the caregiver and child must engage in mutually
enjoyable interaction
Attachment
The most common type of attachment—also considered the healthiest—is called secure
attachment In this type of attachment, the toddler prefers his parent over a stranger.
The attachment figure is used as a secure base to explore the environment and is sought out in
times of stress.
Securely attached children were distressed when their caregivers left the room in the Strange
Situation experiment, but when their caregivers returned, the securely attached children were
happy to see them.
Securely attached children have caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to their needs.
Attachment
With avoidant attachment, the child is unresponsive to the parent, does not use the parent as a
secure base, and does not care if the parent leaves.

The toddler reacts to the parent the same way she reacts to a stranger. When the parent does
return, the child is slow to show a positive reaction.

It is theorized that these children were most likely to have a caregiver who was insensitive and
inattentive to their needs
Attachment
In cases of resistant attachment, children tend to show clingy behavior, but then they reject the
attachment figure’s attempts to interact with them.

These children do not explore the toys in the room, as they are too fearful. During separation in
the Strange Situation, they became extremely disturbed and angry with the parent.

When the parent returns, the children are difficult to comfort. Resistant attachment is the result of
the caregivers’ inconsistent level of response to their child.
Attachment
Children with disorganized attachment behaved oddly in the Strange Situation.

They freeze, run around the room in an erratic manner, or try to run away when the caregiver
returns (Main & Solomon, 1990).

This type of attachment is seen most often in kids who have been abused. Research has shown
that abuse disrupts a child’s ability to regulate their emotions.
Self Concept
Self-concept is the image we have of ourselves. It is influenced by many forces, including our
interaction with important people in our lives.

It is how we perceive our behaviors, abilities, and unique characteristics.

For example, beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall
self-concept.
Self Concept
Infants don’t have a self-concept, which is an understanding of who they are. If you place a baby
in front of a mirror, she will reach out to touch her image, thinking it is another baby. However,
by about 18 months a toddler will recognize that the person in the mirror is herself.

At 18 months old they would touch their own noses when they saw the paint, surprised to see a
spot on their faces.

By 24–36 months old children can name and/or point to themselves in pictures, clearly indicating
self-recognition.
Self Concept
Children from 2–4 years old display a great increase in social behavior once they have
established a self-concept. They enjoy playing with other children, but they have difficulty
sharing their possessions.

Also, through play children explore and come to understand their gender roles and can label
themselves as a girl or boy.

Once children reach 6 years old, they can identify themselves in terms of group memberships:
“I’m a first grader!” School-age children compare themselves to their peers and discover that they
are competent in some areas and less so in others.
Self Concept & parenting styles
In authoritarian style, the parent places high value on conformity and obedience.

The parents are often strict, tightly monitor their children, and express little warmth.

In contrast to the authoritative style, authoritarian parents probably would not relax bedtime rules
during a vacation because they consider the rules to be set, and they expect obedience.

This style can create anxious, withdrawn, and unhappy kids. However, it is important to point out
that authoritarian parenting is as beneficial as the authoritative style in some ethnic groups
Self Concept & parenting styles
Parents who employ the permissive style of parenting, the kids run the show and anything goes.
Permissive parents make few demands and rarely use punishment.
They tend to be very nurturing and loving, and may play the role of friend rather than parent.
In terms of our example of vacation bedtimes, permissive parents might not have bedtime rules at
all—instead they allow the child to choose his bedtime whether on vacation or not.
Not surprisingly, children raised by permissive parents tend to lack self-discipline, and the
permissive parenting style is negatively associated with grades
The permissive style may also contribute to other risky behaviors such as alcohol abuse
However, there are some positive outcomes associated with children raised by permissive parents.
They tend to have higher self-esteem, better social skills, and report lower levels of depression
Self Concept & parenting styles
With the uninvolved style of parenting, the parents are indifferent, uninvolved, and sometimes
referred to as neglectful.
They don’t respond to the child’s needs and make relatively few demands.
This could be because of severe depression or substance abuse, or other factors such as the
parents’ extreme focus on work.
These parents may provide for the child’s basic needs, but little else.
The children raised in this parenting style are usually emotionally withdrawn, fearful, anxious,
perform poorly in school, and are at an increased risk of substance abuse
ADOLESCENCE
The extended time between childhood and adulthood is called adolescence.
Adolescence is the period of development that begins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood,
which is discussed later. In the United States, adolescence is seen as a time to develop
independence from parents while remaining connected to them.
The typical age range of adolescence is from 12 to 18 years, and this stage of development also
has some predictable physical, cognitive, and psychosocial milestones.
Peers are a primary influence on our development in adolescence.
ADOLESCENCE
Physical Development
Several physical changes occur during puberty, such as adrenarche and gonadarche, the
maturing of the adrenal glands and sex glands, respectively.
Also during this time, primary and secondary sexual characteristics develop and mature. Primary
sexual characteristics are organs specifically needed for reproduction, like the uterus and ovaries
in females and testes in males.
Secondary sexual characteristics are physical signs of sexual maturation that do not directly
involve sex organs, such as development of breasts and hips in girls, and development of facial
hair and a deepened voice in boys.
ADOLESCENCE
Physical Development
The adolescent brain also remains under development. Up until puberty, brain cells continue to
bloom in the frontal region.
Adolescents engage in increased risk-taking behaviors and emotional outbursts possibly because
the frontal lobes of their brains are still developing.
Recall that this area is responsible for judgment, impulse control, and planning, and it is still
maturing into early adulthood
ADOLESCENCE
Cognitive Development
More complex thinking abilities emerge during adolescence. Some researchers suggest this is due
to increases in processing speed and efficiency rather than as the result of an increase in mental
capacity—in other words, due to improvements in existing skills rather than development of new
ones.
During adolescence, teenagers move beyond concrete thinking and become capable of abstract
thought.
Teen thinking is also characterized by the ability to consider multiple points of view, imagine
hypothetical situations, debate ideas and opinions (e.g., politics, religion, and justice), and form
new ideas.
In addition, it’s not uncommon for adolescents to question authority or challenge established
societal norms.
ADOLESCENCE
Cognitive Development
More complex thinking abilities emerge during adolescence. Some researchers suggest this is due
to increases in processing speed and efficiency rather than as the result of an increase in mental
capacity—in other words, due to improvements in existing skills rather than development of new
ones.
During adolescence, teenagers move beyond concrete thinking and become capable of abstract
thought.
Teen thinking is also characterized by the ability to consider multiple points of view, imagine
hypothetical situations, debate ideas and opinions (e.g., politics, religion, and justice), and form
new ideas.
In addition, it’s not uncommon for adolescents to question authority or challenge established
societal norms.
ADOLESCENCE
Cognitive Development
Cognitive empathy, also known as theory-of-mind), relates to the ability to take the perspective
of others and feel concern for others. Cognitive empathy begins to increase in adolescence and
is an important component of social problem solving and conflict avoidance.
According to one longitudinal study, levels of cognitive empathy begin rising in girls around 13
years old, and around 15 years old in boys (Van der Graaff et al., 2013).
Teens who reported having supportive fathers with whom they could discuss their worries were
found to be better able to take the perspective of others
Teenage thinking is characterized by the ability to reason logically and solve hypothetical
problems such as how to design, plan, and build a structure
ADULTHOOD
By the time we reach early adulthood (20 to early 40s), our physical maturation is complete,
although our height and weight may increase slightly. In young adulthood, our physical abilities
are at their peak, including muscle strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac
functioning. Most professional athletes are at the top of their game during this stage.
Middle adulthood extends from the 40s to the 60s ([link]). Physical decline is gradual. The skin
loses some elasticity, and wrinkles are among the first signs of aging. Visual acuity decreases
during this time. Women experience a gradual decline in fertility as they approach the onset of
menopause, the end of the menstrual cycle, around 50 years old. Both men and women tend to
gain weight: in the abdominal area for men and in the hips and thighs for women. Hair begins to
thin and turn gray
Physical declines of middle and late adulthood can be minimized with proper exercise, nutrition,
and an active lifestyle.
ADULTHOOD
Late adulthood is considered to extend from the 60s on. This is the last stage of physical change.
The skin continues to lose elasticity, reaction time slows further, and muscle strength diminishes.
Smell, taste, hearing, and vision, so sharp in our twenties, decline significantly. The brain may
also no longer function at optimal levels, leading to problems like memory loss, dementia, and
Alzheimer’s disease in later years.
ADULTHOOD
Cognitive Development
Unlike our physical abilities, which peak in our mid-20s and then begin a slow decline, our
cognitive abilities remain steady throughout early and middle adulthood.
Our crystalized intelligence (information, skills, and strategies we have gathered through a
lifetime of experience) tends to hold steady as we age—it may even improve. For example, adults
show relatively stable to increasing scores on intelligence tests until their mid-30s to mid-50s
However, in late adulthood we begin to experience a decline in another area of our cognitive
abilities—fluid intelligence (information processing abilities, reasoning, and memory). These
processes become slower.
ADULTHOOD
Cognitive Development
Research has found adults who engage in mentally and physically stimulating activities
experience less cognitive decline and have a reduced incidence of mild cognitive impairment and
dementia
Cognitive activities such as playing mahjong, chess, or other games, can keep you mentally fit.
The same is true for solo pastimes like reading and completing crossword puzzles.
ADULTHOOD
Psychosocial Development
These areas relate to the tasks that Erikson referred to as generativity and intimacy. As mentioned
previously, adults tend to define themselves by what they do—their careers. Earnings peak during
this time, yet job satisfaction is more closely tied to work that involves contact with other people,
is interesting, provides opportunities for advancement, and allows some independence
Positive relationships with significant others in our adult years have been found to contribute to a
state of well-being (Ryff & Singer, 2009). Most adults in the United States identify themselves
through their relationships with family—particularly with spouses, children, and parents (Markus
et al., 2004). While raising children can be stressful, especially when they are young, research
suggests that parents reap the rewards down the road, as adult children tend to have a positive
effect on parental well-being (Umberson, Pudrovska, & Reczek, 2010). Having a stable marriage
has also been found to contribute to well-being throughout adulthood
ADULTHOOD
Psychosocial Development
Another aspect of positive aging is believed to be social connectedness and social support. As we
get older, socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that our social support and friendships
dwindle in number, but remain as close, if not more close than in our earlier years