Running head: FINAL PAPER: LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 1

Lifespan Psychology: Development Through the Stages

Jasmyn M. Stevens

Georgia Southern University

Lifespan Psychology: Development Through the Stages

It is an undeniable fact of life that people change. The way an individual behaves,

reasons, and feels does not stay the same over the course of his or her life. After all, one would

not (and should not) expect a two-year-old to be capable of the same mental processes as a

college student. But what processes must occur to transform an infant into a young adult? It is

the goal of developmental psychology to try to understand these changes. According to Berger

(2014), the science of human development “seeks to understand how and why people — all

kinds of people, everywhere, of every age — change over time” (p. 4). Numerous psychologists

have theorized about how and why people change, with each focusing on different aspects of

development. These areas can generally be broken down into three categories – biosocial,

cognitive, and psychosocial. Development in these three areas can be seen at each stage in one’s

life. In fact, looking back over one’s life is one of the best ways to find examples of these

developmental concepts.

The first two years of life are considered the first stage of development. Children will

grow and develop the most in this stage than in any other stage. In fact, “growth is so rapid and

the consequences of neglect are so severe that gains are closely monitored” (Berger, 2014, p.

127). Doctors are careful to note an infant’s weight gain, height gain, and brain growth. While

infants are growing physically, their senses and motor skills are also developing as well. It is in

these two years that gross motor skills, things like crawling and walking, begin to develop. For

example, I personally started crawling at about ten months old and walking at about a year old.

Babies are also developing cognitively at this time. Piaget’s six stages of sensorimotor

intelligence describe infant cognition. The first stage (which is included in the primary circular

reactions) deals specifically with reflexes, which include sucking, grasping, staring, and listening
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(Berger, 2014, p. 156). The staring reflex stands out to me, as I fondly remember my mother

telling me how, as a baby, I would always stare at her as if I was thinking deeply about

something. To go even further into the complexity of infant development, they are also growing

emotionally at this time. Laughter, anger, anxiety – all of these emotions emerge very early on.

Separation anxiety, or distress when a caregiver leaves, is one that has been studied extensively.

While I do not remember if I was particularly prone to separation anxiety, I remember watching

my younger sister deal with it. She did not want to be held by anyone other than our mother. This

sentiment quickly dissipated, however, as she is now one of the most independent people I know.

The second stage of development is early childhood. Children in this phase are

continuing to grow and explore. They are still increasing in weight and height at a fairly rapid

rate. Additionally, their proportions are a bit more adult-like (Berger, 2014, p. 216). While they

are learning to master things like walking and talking, one thing they have not mastered is

impulse control. This is defined as “the ability to postpone or deny the immediate response to an

idea or behavior” (Berger, 2014, p.223). Biosocially, this is a hard skill for them to learn. I

remember, while working as a camp counselor, watching kids dart around. They were seemingly

unable to not act upon whatever impulse came to mind, whether it be building a block tower or

attempting to bellyflop into a sand pit. Cognitively, children in early childhood are eager to learn

about everything. According to Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, the best way to help

them learn is to teach them skills that they cannot yet accomplish alone but can achieve with the

guidance of a mentor. I have found this to be true in my own observations. For example, when

leading arts and crafts with children in this age bracket, I noticed that while they don’t like to be

given tasks that they consider too easy, they also don’t like to be given tasks that are too hard.

Psychosocially, they begin to experience initiative versus guilt. This is Erikson’s developmental
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stage where children try new things and, depending on the results, feel proud or guilty. To

illustrate, when my sister was four, she sprayed butter all over the kitchen floor so she could

make an “ice-skating rink.” Needless to say, the results of that particular incident didn’t result in

her feeling proud.

The third stage of development is middle childhood. Biosocially, children are becoming

more and more independent. At this age, I remember having a greater desire to “explore”

outside. Me and my brother would spend hours outside, playing in the woods and trying to

discover new areas to play. Cognitively, their language skills are improving tremendously. Take

metaphors, for example. At this time, “[m]etaphors, jokes, and puns are finally comprehended”

(Berger, 2014, p. 348). Think about shows geared towards children in middle childhood. A few

months ago, I re-watched some of my favorite childhood shows and was struck by how unfunny

some of the jokes were. It made me realize that shows that are packed with nonstop punchlines

and puns are usually only funny up until a certain age. Psychosocially, children are learning how

to reason morally. The textbook states that “there is no doubt that middle childhood is prime time

for moral development.” (Berger, 2014, p. 389). They are beginning to switch from

preconventional moral reasoning to conventional moral reasoning, which has an emphasis on

social rules and approval. In my own experience, having the approval of parents and authority

figures was very important to me at this age. I was a shameless “goody-two shoes” and went out

of my way to make sure no one thought ill of me.

The fourth stage of development is adolescence. It is also arguably one of the most

dramatized. Granted, the changes that adolescents undergo are fairly notable. Biosocially, one of

the most obvious changes is puberty. Berger (2014) states that the “forces of puberty are

unleashed by a cascade of hormones that produce external growth and internal changes…” (p.
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401). In young girls, this is when they have their first menstrual period (or menarche). For me,

this occurred at age eleven. In terms of cognitive development, adolescents are focused primarily

on themselves. This phenomenon is known as egocentrism. This can create an imaginary

audience of sorts, where young people feel as though someone is always paying attention to

them. I found this to be true in my own experience. For example, I was hyperaware of

everyone’s opinions (even potential opinions) when I cut my hair in the tenth grade. Even though

people weren’t looking at me nearly as much as I though they were, it still felt like all eyes were

on me. Psychosocially, adolescents are trying to develop an identity. James Marcia theorized that

there were identity statuses, one of which is moratorium. This is when “the adolescent is

currently in a crisis, exploring various commitments and is ready to make choices, but has not

made a commitment to these choices yet” (“Identity Status,” 2020). As college is considered a

type od identity moratorium, it seems as though I myself am in the midst of an identity crisis.

The fifth stage of development is emerging adolescence. This is the stage that I am

currently in. Biosocially, this is the time to establish and maintain healthy habits, as it will pay

off later in life. Exercising and eating well are just some of the ways to maintain good health. As

for me, I am in the process of instituting a workout schedule and cooking at home more often.

Cognitively, emerging adulthood encourages young adults to move from formal operational

thought to postformal thought (which originated as an addition to Piaget’s four stages).

Postformal thought encourages things like time management, which is something that college

student struggle with. As I write this paper, I acknowledge that it is a product of procrastination.

Psychosocially, emerging adults are fighting against the “social clock,” which is, simply put, a

timetable of social norms. More specifically, it’s a timetable of when an adult should have

completed certain career, relational, and educational milestones (Berger, 2014, p. 543). For
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example, I struggle with feeling like I need to be married with kids and a stable job before age

thirty. No one’s explicitly told me those things, but nevertheless they are expectations that I have

placed upon myself.

The study of development is a complex one indeed. Each stage of development comes

with its own challenges and victories that serve to make humans more resilient. People

experience change every day, and those little changes add up to produce multifaceted human

beings. If I had to take away one thing from this material, it would be that although change is

inevitable, it is not something to be feared. As Gail Sheehy wrote, “if we don’t change, we don’t

grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living” (“Change Quotes,” n.d.).

References

Berger, K. S. (2014). Developing person through the lifespan (9th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

MacMillan Learning

Change Quotes. (n.d.) Brainy Quote. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/gail_sheehy_161346?src=t_change

Identity Status Theory (Marcia). (2020, March 6). Learning Theories. Retrieved December 6,

2020, from https://www.learning-theories.com/identity-status-theory-marcia.html