STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT | Prenatal | Infancy & toddlerhood | Early Childhood | Later childhood | Adolescence | Adulthood

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD

As per the psychological classification, age range has been used to specify stage of development. The stages of development are classified as follows-

Name of the Stage	Period and Approximate age
Prenatal	Conception to birth
Infancy & toddlerhood	Birth to 2 years of age
Early Childhood	2 to 6 years of age
Later childhood	6 to 10 years of age
Adolescence	11 to 18 years of age
Adulthood	18 years and above

Infancy:

The period of infancy covers the preschool stage of child development. Infancy stage is the period of rapid growth and development. Inner as well as outer organs develop at a rapid speed which can be seen in increase in height and weight. The infants of first two weeks are called neonates. They have soft, wrinkled skin and they sleep for almost 18 to 20 hours. They cry only when they are hungry. As soon as their hunger is satisfied they sleep again. In this stage they depend more on the family members especially on mothers. The baby starts recognizing mother. 

Few months later, the child is able to babble and exhibit some muscular movements and later on till six months s/he is able to exhibit coordinated muscular movements. The baby begins to concentrate on her/his own body. When s/he starts crawling, her/his curiosity increases. The infant starts gaining motor control of the head then of the muscles of the lower part of the body.

              

 After six months s/he starts seeking emotional satisfaction from the family members. Self assertion is one of the key features of this stage. Although the child is depending still s/he demands that her/his wishes should be satisfied. This is the period of baseless imagination. S/he imagines and aspires than her/his actual capabilities. 

At this stage of development the child is ego-centric. S/he demands everything from the environment. S/he is not aware of the social norms. The child only focuses on the gratification of needs. This stage is labelled as sensorimotor stage which is marked by moving from reflex action to goal directed behaviour.

Early Childhood:

This stage is known as preschool stage. The child refines his/her behaviour and enlarges the scope of associating with people. Although the rate of physical growth continues to be normal, there is marked difference in the cognitive and linguistic abilities of the child. At this stage of development there is expansion of cognitive abilities. The child, at this stage, exhibits the semiotic function which means the ability to deal with symbols. 

Although the child is able to think about symbols still he lacks reversibility. Reversibility here means the way in which the child has learned anything he is not able to understand if it is slightly reversed. For example, if you show two same glasses of water to the child s/he will answer that both glasses contain equal quantity of water but if you pour it in a narrower glass the glass will seem to be more filled than the earlier one so the child is not able to guess correctly about the quantity of water.

                     

 Another aspect is of language development. The child at this stage starts developing sentences on his/her own by using the grammatical rules to some extent. Moreover, in comparison to infancy stage, the emotions of the child are more common, intense and distinguished, while socially the child reflects happiness in learning, growing and playing together.

Later Childhood:

The period from 7 to 12 years of age is slow in comparison to early stage of development. The later childhood is characterized by intellectual, moral and social development. The children are more aware about their achievements and form groups. They start understanding rules and they accept rules. They stick to one or two close friends and prefer to play with same gender. The motor coordination improves and thus, leads towards the plays like climbing tree, skipping etc. As their intellectual abilities develop, they are able to make perceptions about the people around them.

Adolescence:

Adolescence is the stage of transition. The child moves from childhood to more mature stage of development. This stage is characterized by important changes in physical, cognitive and social aspects.

Physical changes are very important in this stage. There is change in height and weight of both boys and girls. There is increase in height. The age differs from individual to individual. But increase in height has its association with the pubertal growth. Sexual differences are observed. At the age of 13 years girls surpass boys but by the age of 15 boys surpass girls. In majority cases, girls by the age of seventeen and boys till eighteen reach their maximum height.

Along with the change in height and weight one important physical change is observed in the form of maturity in sexual organs. This change in the form of sexual maturity has impact on the socio-emotional aspect of the child. They become more conscious about their physical appearance. At this stage we can see that children are more attracted towards opposite sex. We can also notice the development of ‘infatuation’ in this stage. Now, they have their own world which is basically influenced by their friends circle.

On the emotional aspect, this stage is characterized by heightened emotionality. There are many reasons behind the emotional hike during adolescence period. Due to hormonal changes adolescents face emotional disturbances, like selfconsciousness, inferiority complex, and stressed relationship with parents which lead to a diversion in social relationships.

Therefore, another important aspect of this stage is the social change. At this stage, the children are more influenced by their peer group which act as standards for them. Their choices are basically directed by the group they belong to. But, the friends at this stage are less in number. Children select their friends on some criteria. They live in the world of fantasy. Heroes are role models for them. Their choices of clothing and fashion are generally guided by peer group or heroes. Moreover, day dreaming is one feature of this period. Along with this, children become conscious about their career and start thinking in that direction.

This stage is marked by significant cognitive developments. One of the important characteristics of this stage is that children develop ability to generalize facts. They start doing logical thinking and for this they are capable of doing abstract thinking. Thus, this period is the most important period of human development as it is a transitional period in which a child undergoes significant physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes which are base for the future life of the child. That is why this stage is also referred as the stage of stress and storm. Let us understand this with the help of a case study.

Adulthood:

Adulthood stage is comparatively a mature stage. At the early phase of this stage the individual is more bothered about her/his career and future life. Now the social expectation also changes. This stage basically demands planning for professional life and marriage. This the most responsible phase of life.

In the later part of adulthood, the role of the individual also changes. Now, s/he may have the responsibility of the whole family. 

    

Moreover, s/he may be able to guide others as a mature person regarding career, life etc. on the basis of the experience s/he has gathered in her/his life.

The last part of adulthood deals with the old age. At this stage the individual is at retirement stage or near to retirement. The concerns change and the individual is more conscious about the health hazards. Some people may develop spiritual inclination and start preparing for the ultimate end of life.