Read the article below and say how many development periods exist
PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT
For the purposes of organization and understanding, we commonly describe development in terms of periods. The most widely used classification of developmental periods involves the following sequence: prenatal period, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Approximate age ranges are listed below for the periods to provide a general idea of when a period begins and ends.
The prenatal period is the time from conception to birth. It is a time of tremendous growth – from a single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities, produced in approximately a 9-month period.
Infancy is the developmental period extending from birth to 18 or 24 months. Infancy is a time of extreme dependence upon adults. Many psychological activities are just beginning – language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning.
Early childhood is the developmental period extending from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years; this period is sometimes called the preschool years. "During this time, young children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and spend many hours playing with peers."
Middle and late childhood is the developmental period extending from about 6 to 11 years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years. The fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered. The child is formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child's world, and self-control increases.
Adolescenceis the developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered at approximately 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 22 years of age. Adolescence begins with rapid physical changes – dramatic gains in height and weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics. At this point in development, the pursuit of independence and an identity are prominent; thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic; and more and more time is spent outside of the family.
Early adulthoodis the developmental period beginning in the late teens or early twenties and lasting through the thirties. It is a time of establishing personal and economic independence, a time of career development, and, for many, a time of selecting a mate, learning to live with someone in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children.
Middle adulthoodis the developmental реriod beginning at approximately 35 to 45 years of age and extending to the sixties. It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and of reaching and maintaining satisfaction in one's career.
Late adulthoodis the developmental period beginning in the sixties or seventies and lasting until death. It is a time of adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles.
Life-span developmentalists are increasingly making distinction between two age groups in late adulthood: the young old or old age (65 to 74 years of age), and the old, or late old age (75 years and older). Beginning in the sixties and extending to more than 100 years of age, late adulthood has the longest span as compared to any period of development. Combining this lengthy span with the dramatic increase in the number of adults living to older ages, we will see increased attention given to differentiation of the late adulthood period.
When individuals report how happy they are and how satisfied they are with their lives, no particular age group reports that they are happier or more satisfied than any other age group. In one report of life-satisfaction in eight Western European countries, there was no difference in the percentage who reported an overall satisfaction with life at different ages: 78 percent of 15 – to 24-year-olds, 78 percent of 35 – to 44-year-olds, and 78 percent of those 65 years and older. Similarly, slightly less than 20 percent of each of the age groups reported that they were "very happy." Let it be ever so.
UNIT 2 Process of Lifelong Development READING 2
1. Do you agree with the statements below? Why?
1. Biological, cognitive, and social processes influence our development.
2. The process of maturing and experience can help become more developed.
3. The problem is to decide what is more important for development: nature or nurture.
2. Read the news item Maturation and Experience. Why is the question of nature versus nurture so controversial?
MATURATION AND EXPERIENCE
Not only can we think of development as produced by the interplay of biological, cognitive, and social processes, but also by the interplay ofmaturation and experience. Maturation is the orderly sequence of changes dictated by the genetic blueprint we each have. Just as a sunflower grows in an orderly way – unless flattened by an unfriendly environment – so does the human grow in an orderly way, according to the maturational view. The range of environments can be vast, but the maturational approach argues that the genetic blueprint produces communalities in our growth and development. We walk before we talk, speak one word before two words, grow rapidly in infancy and less so in early childhood, experience a rush of sexual hormones in pubertyafter a lull in childhood, reach the peak of our physical strength in late adolescence and early adulthood and then decline, and so on. The maturationists acknowledge that extreme environments – those that are psychologically barren or hostile – can depress development, but they believe basic growth tendencies are genetically wired into the human.
By contrast, other psychologists emphasize the importance of experiences in life-span development. Experiences run the gamut fromthe individual's biological environment – nutrition, medical care, drugs, and physical accidents – to the social environment – family, peers, schools, community, media, and culture.
The debate about whether development is primarily influenced by maturation or by experience has been a part of psychology since its beginning. This debate is often referred to as the nature-nurture controversy. Nature refers to an organism's biological inheritance. Nurture refers to environmental experiences. The 'nature' proponents claim biological inheritance is the most important influence on development, and the 'nurture proponents claim that environmental experiences are the most important.
More reliable information about genetics and behavior can be gleaned from twin studies.When compared to fraternal twins, identical twins display remarkable behavioral similarities. (Unlike fraternal twins, who develop from two separate eggs, identical twins originate from a single divided fertilized egg.) However, even studies of identical twins reared in different families are inconclusive, because, as scientists have discovered, in many cases, the different environments often turn out to be quite comparable, thus invalidating the hypothesis that the twins' behavioral similarities are entirely genetically determined. Conversely, studies of identical twins raised in the same environment have shown that identical twins can develop markedly different personalities. Thus, while certain types of behavior can be traced to certain genetic characteristics, there is no genetic blueprint for an individual's personality.
Twin studies have also attempted to elucidatethe genetic basis of intelligence, which, according to many psychologists, is not one trait, but a cluster of distinct traits. Generally, these studies indicate that identical twins reared in different families show a high correlation in IQ scores. No one questions the genetic basis of intelligence, but scientists still do not know how intelligence is inherited and what specific aspects of intelligence can be linked to genetic factors.
Twin researchers, encouraged by stunning accounts like this, have been boldly asserting that nature determines who we are to a far greater degree than nurture. But twin research has its critics. One commonly pointed out flaw in twin research is that twins often mythologize, i.e., imagine or manufacture stories about, their shared characteristics. Also in dispute is how "different" the environments really are. Because adoption agencies screen applicants, families generally have certain shared socioeconomic characteristics. In addition, little research has been conducted on "disconfirming evidence," that is, to ask the question, "Are there twins who show no remarkable similarities?" The nature-nurture controversy is far from settled.
UNIT 2 Process of Lifelong Development READING 3
1. What do you think continuity and discontinuity of development mean?