Table of Contents
Different Stages of Development of Human Life:
The development of human life is a continuous process. This process starts from birth and continues till the moment before death. Psychologists have divided the developmental process of human life into several stages in terms of age and developmental characteristics. However, in the case of this division, psychologists have different opinion. Different psychologists have divided the stages of development of human life in different ways.
The names of the psychologists who are especially mentionable in this regard are: J. Pikunas, Arnest Jones etc.
Let us first come to the psychologist J. Pikunas. Psychologist J. Pikunas divides the development of human life into ten stages. Such as –
1) Prenatal Stage – The period from the creation of the first life in the mother’s womb till the moment before birth.
2) Neonatal Stage – The first four weeks after birth.
3) Early Infancy – 1 month to 18 months of age.
4) Late Infancy – 18 months to 30 months of age.
5) Early Childhood – 30 months to 5 years of age.
6) Middle Childhood – 5 years to 9 years of age.
7) Late Childhood – 9 years to 12 years of age.
8) Adolescence – 12 years to 21 years of age.
9) Adulthood – 21 years to 60 years of age.
10) Old Age – Life after 60 years.
Now let’s come to the psychologist Ernest Jones. He has divided the development of human life into four stages. Such as –
1) Infancy – The period from birth to 5 years of age.
2) Childhood – 5 to 12 years of age.
3) Adolescence – 12 years to 18 years of age.
4) Adulthood – The period after the age of 18 years.
There are many Significant differences between the different divisions of the stages of human development which have divided by different psychologists in different ways. To avoid this difference, modern psychologists have analyzed the division of the stages of human development made by different psychologists and after analyzing them they have divided the stages of human development in the following way.
1) Infancy – The period from birth to 5 years of age.
2) Childhood – 5 to 12 years of age.
i) Early Childhood – 5 years to 9 years of age.
ii) Late Childhood – 9 years to 12 years.
3) Adolescence – 12 years to 18 years of age.
4) Adulthood – 18 years to 60 years.
i) Early Adulthood – 18 years to 40 years of age.
ii) Late Adulthood – 40 years to 60 years of age.
5) Old Age – After the age of 60 years.
Here, we will discuss the division of the stages of human development according to the modern psychologists.
1) Infancy (0 to 5 years):-
The first stage among the different stages of development of human life is the infancy. According to most of psychologists the span of this stage is from birth to the age of five years. Some psychologists mentioned the first two years of this stage as Toddlerhood.
In infancy, the child’s physical, mental, emotional and social development is very fast. The changes in the physical development of a child during this time are –
I) Physical Development –
The physical development of a child in infancy is very fast. The average height of a baby at birth is between 18 and 21 inches, at the age of 3 years it stands at about 32 to 36 inches. At the age of 5, the average height of a child is about 34-42 inches. That is, the height which was at birth, is almost double at the age of five.
The average weight of a baby at birth is about 6 to 8 pounds. With increasing baby’s age, his weight increases rapidly. At 4 months of age, the baby’s weight is almost doubles. By the age of 5 years, the baby weighs is about 40 to 43 pounds.
At birth, the baby’s physical response is remain limited to just being able to close his eyes and move his arms and legs. Gradually changes occur in his physical reactions and behavior.
At the age of 2 months, the baby’s neck becomes stiff. As a result, at this time the child can raise up his own head with lying on the bed.
The baby can sit with the help of others at the age of 4 months.
At the age of 6 months, the baby can sit without the help of others. If you give something to the child at this time, he can catch it.
At the age of 8-9 months, the baby can stand by holding anything.
Babies can crawl at the age of 9-10 months.
At the age of 11 months, the baby can stand by holding the hands of another.
At 12 months of age, the baby tries to stand own self.
At the age of 13 months, he can crawl up the stairs.
At 14 months of age, babies can stand without the help of others and they try to walk without the help of others.
At the age of 15 months a child can walk alone.
Children can can pull or push anything at the age of 18 months. During this time a child can go up or down the stairs own self.
Children can run at the age of 2 years old. At this age, the children cannot stay silently in a certain place for a longtime. At this age, the children cannot control their running speed. As a result, they often fall and get slight injury. However, within 5 years, the children’s body came under their complete control.
The development of the child’s nervous system is very fast within the infancy period. During this time the nerves grow and move towards maturity. The development of the brain among all the nervous systems is especially important at this time. At birth, the baby’s brain is larger than any other part of the body. About 90% of the baby’s brain is formed in between 2 to 5 years.
In infancy the child’s sense organs develop rapidly and their function improves. As a result, the child learns to feel light, sound, smell, taste and pain through different senses. Along with the rapid development of the senses, the motor organs (Hand, Leg etc.) and muscles also develop rapidly.
Maintaining the balance with the growth of baby’s height and weight, other parts of their body begin to develop in different ways.
II) Mental Development: –
The changes in the mental development of a child in infancy are –
The most important thing in the mental development of a child in infancy is the development of language. At the time of birth, crying is the only language of a baby. In the beginnings, we have not found exact reason of baby’s crying. But at the age of 6 months, we found the difference between his/her crying. In this age baby cries when there is any special difficulty or when he is hungry. During this time the baby’s cries are a means of expression of her/his feelings.
From the age of 6 months, the baby slowly starts to utter some meaningless words. In psychology, uttering of meaningless word is called ‘’Bubbling’’.
However, from the age of 10 months, children use one or two meaningful words.
At the age of 12 months, a child can say four or five words like father, mother, grandfather, sister etc. correctly. After that the child’s language development accelerates and in about 2 years the child mastered 250 to 300 words. Within 3 years he mastered about 900 words. At the age of 5, the child’s vocabulary stands at about 2000 words. At this age the child can express his thoughts in full sentences. However, there are some differences between children.
An important feature of a child’s mental development in infancy is the development of curiosity. After the development of language, development of curiosity starts in the child. As a result, children want to know about the different things around them.
At this age, development of imagination begins in the children. As a result children of this age love to listen the imaginary weird stories. Fantasy is highly noticed at this age. Due to this reason children wanders in their own imaginary world.
Animism is another significant psychological feature of this age. Because of this feature, children impose the existence of life on everything. As a result, he thinks that even inanimate objects are alive.
In infancy period, the tendency of imitation is seen among the children. As a result, children often begin to imitate the behavior of adults.
III) Emotional Development: –
In early infancy, child’s emotion is simple. At first the child’s emotion is limited to joy and sorrow. Within a period of 2 years, the two initial emotions – joy and sorrow gradually split into the emotions of anger, fear, love, etc. The infant’s initial emotional reactions in infancy are expressed, centered on his/her mother’s personality. Gradually, as the child grows older, the child’s reaction spreads beyond the parents and the family to a larger environment. During this time the baby’s emotional response changes rapidly. In this case it is seen that the child sometimes gets very angry and after some seconds he forgets all.
IV) Social Development: –
No social behavior is observed in the baby at birth. At that time he could not be called anything social or anti-social. Gradually with age the children begin to behave socially. The child’s early social behavior develops centering on his mother. Later, it spread to other members of the child’s family. Towards the end of infancy the social behavior of the child becomes much mature. During this time the child reacts socially to neighbors and playmates beyond his or her family. Early in the infancy, children become more self-centered. This time the children want to grab everything as their own. However, towards the end of infancy, the child’s self-centeredness goes away. Social traits such as cooperation, sympathy etc. is noticed in children during this time. Besides these, social features like quarrels, rivalries etc. is also seen. The tendency to form teams with peers is also seen at this time.
2) Childhood (5-12):-
Childhood is the second stage among the different stages development of human life. The period from the age of 5 to 12 years is called childhood. Childhood is again divided into two parts. Namely – early childhood and late childhood.
A) Early childhood: –
The period from 5 years of age to 9 years of age is called early childhood. The main developmental features of early childhood are –
I) Physical Development: –
At this stage of life development, the speed of physical development of boys and girls slows down a lot from infancy. However, at this time the physical development of girls is a little higher than that of boys. During this time the performance of organs (motor organs) of boys and girls increases. As a result, the amount of running and jumping increased a lot. During this time the teeth of the boys and girls start to fall out and new teeth are seen to appear in that place. At this time the eyesight of the boys and girls is very sharp. During this time the development of the brain reaches a fairly advanced level.
II) Mental development: –
The vocabulary of boys and girls at this age is quite developed. At this age, the memory of boys and girls is much sharper. As a result, boys and girls can remember the educational content for a long time. At this stage of life development, the attention of boys and girls is very agile. As a result, they cannot focus on many things at once. At this age development of ideas about different objects develop in boys and girls. Imagination is seen in the boys and girls in this age. As a result, boys and girls at this age love to read stories and tales. The development of scientific outlook and reasoning can is noticed in boys and girls at this age. At this age, boys and girls’ initial idea about the number is perfected.
III) Emotional Development: –
At this stage there is a massive change in childhood emotion among boys and girls. Fear is especially seen among boys and girls of this age. They are afraid of ghosts, darkness and even they are afraid of lightning in the sky. At this age boys and girls learn to control their emotional behavior as they are being in groups. In the past, if he was angry, he would attack the subject of anger or throw that thing away. Now that behavior is no longer seen. Emotions like Excitement, joy, love, curiosity, sadness, etc. are seen in children in this age.
IV) Social development: –
At this stage, boys and girls completely overcome the self-centeredness of infancy. As a result, they can fully participate in social life. The tendency to play as a team is noticed at this stage. At this age, boys and girls follow the rules of their team. This time they try to strictly follow the instructions of the team leader. Child’s moral values are developed at this age. As a result they love to listen instructive stories and are influenced by them.
B) Later Childhood: –
The period from 9 to 12 years of age is called Later childhood. The main developmental features of later childhood are –
I) Physical Development: –
At this stage the physical development of boys and girls is as slow as the previous stage. However, the physical development of boys at this stage is higher than that of girls. At this time there is an imbalance between the growths of different organs of the body. At this age, the growth of the lower limbs of boys and girls is comparatively higher. As a result, the legs of boys and girls seem to be longer than the body at this time. Within this stage, the various organs of boys and girls, such as the brain, heart, lungs, etc., reaches to their normal state and from this time onwards they begin to function normally. The delicate muscles in the body also develop fully at this stage. As a result, boys and girls of this age can run, jump, etc. with sufficient efficiency.
II) Mental Development: –
The mental development of boys and girls at this age is especially significant. At this age, the scope of interest of boys and girls increases a lot. They are interested in different objects. At this level the fantasy (luxury of imagination) is absolutely gone. Instead of that a greater tendency towards real experience is seen. As a result, boys and girls prefer to listen to real-life stories rather than fictional ones. At this age, the range of attention of boys and girls is much wider. Beside this, they can pay attention to any object for a long time. However, at this stage, the level of attention of girls is a little higher than that of boys. At this age, the thinking of boys and girls becomes matured. As a result they are able to think analytically. During this time their power of reasoning and judgment is developed. At this stage of development, power of observation of boys and girls is very perfect and as a result, their ideas about the material world become much wider. At this stage children can gain an accurate idea about time.
The vocabulary of boys and girls of this age increases a lot in the case of language development. They can express their thoughts accurately through language. At this time the expressions of the boys and girls become so mature that no difference is found in their conversations with the older people.
III) Emotional Development: –
Too much joy and fun is noticed in the boys and girls of this age. As a result, it is noticed that boys and girls of this age express their emotional reactions intensely centering on pleasure.
Besides, some other emotional reactions like fear, anger, anxiety etc. are also seen among them. Like, Fear of being deprived of the affection of parents, fear of any direct event, anger and arrogance among siblings, etc.
IV) Social development: –
At this stage the group loyalty of boys and girls is much more intense than the previous stage. Boys and girls of this age love to play in groups with their peers instead of playing alone. The friendship that develops during this time lasts for many days. At this age, boys and girls have so much loyalty to the team that they often fight with other groups to protect the interests of the team.
During this time the value of moral character of boys and girls is greatly improved. However, these values are not always the same. Sometimes boys and girls of this age work with high moral standards. Again many times they do some things that are very low quality in moral judgment.
Social tendencies like cooperation, competition, empathy etc. are especially seen in boys and girls of this age.
3) Adolescence (12-18 years):-
Adolescence is the most important stage among the different stages of development of human life. The period from the age of 12 to the age of 18 is usually called puberty or adolescence. During this time the body and mind of boys and girls change so much that they cannot always adapt to it properly. This time they get helpless. For this reason, some have described this stage or period of human development as a period of storms or periods of anxiety and conflict.
The developmental features which are seen in boys and girls at this stage are –
I) Physical development:
The most important change that occurs in boys and girls at this age in terms of physical development is the development of the sexual organs. In the case of girls, the ability to produce menstruation develops between the ages of 12-13 years. The ability to produce semen in boys also develops between the ages of 13-14. During this time the sexual senses of boys and girls are fulfilled. Various secondary sexual characteristics begin to emerge in the body. For example, at this stage, sexual hair grows in the case of boys and girls. Girls’ breasts are enlarged. During this time the sex glands of boys and girls begin to function regularly. As a result, baby producing ability is fully developed among the girls and boys at this age.
In addition to sexual development, the large bones and muscles of the body increases during this time. The function of the internal organs of the body also increases considerably during this time. For example, for full activation of the heart, the amount of blood circulation in different parts of the body increases. The amount of food intake increases due to complete activity of the digestive system.
Other important changes that are noticed in boys and girls during this time are – 1) Boys and girls sweat a lot during this time. 2) Acne is seen on the face. 3) The tone of the voice changes. 4) The appearance or structure of the whole face changes.
II) Mental development:
Mental development is slower than physical development at this stage. However, gradually mental development of boys and girls move on to maturation at this stage. The material experience of boys and girls of this age increases a lot. As a result, previously formed concepts expand further.
At this stage, abstract thinking abilities develop in the boys and girls. As a result they are able to conceive the abstract thinking like kindness, elusions, compassion, honesty etc.
At this stage, the power of reasoning of boys and girls becomes much higher than previous stage.
The interest of boys and girls in adolescence is much more certain and specific. Based on this, the boys and girls choose the optional subjects in the school. However, there is a difference between the content of interest of boys and girls. In the case of boys, it is seen that they are more interested in science, mathematics, history etc. On the other hand, girls are more interested in language, literature, home science, etc.
At this stage the fantasy goes away from the boys and girls. Instead of this they simply accept reality.
III) Emotional development:
In adolescence, inconsistency in the expression of emotional reactions is observed in boys and girls. At this stage, boys and girls sometimes have a lot of emotional reactions, and sometimes they don’t have any emotional reactions. Feelings of inferiority can be seen in the boys and girls at this stage.
Feelings like shame, guilt, fear, etc., take on special forms in terms of their sexual behavior and appear as obvious problems. In addition, emotional reactions such as fear, self inner conflict, aggressive attitudes, etc. are seen in adolescence. During this time, some moral sentiments developed between boys and girls centering on abstract ideas.
III) Social development:
The social development of boys and girls in adolescence is quite diverse. Early in adolescence, boys and girls seem to be very anti-social. Because, due to sudden physical changes, boys and girls of this age face an uncomfortable mental state and try to hide themselves from others. They think, perhaps, these changes not occur among their peers. However, within a few days, the tendency of hiding them from others disappeared. Then the tendency of group formation is seen in them and they become grouped. The group which they form during this time is long lasting. At this age, boys and girls participate in various social welfare activities as group. It is often seen that boys and girls of this age perform various adventurous activities to establish themselves in the group. At this age, among the boys and girls tend of hero worship is seen. Whom they consider as an ideal personality, they worship him like gods and support all his behavior by argument. During this time boys like to spend their time more with girls and girls like to spend their time more with boys. This is the first age where relationship of love is seen to develop between boys and girls.
4) Adulthood (18 – 60 years):-
One another stage among the different stages of development of human life is the adulthood. This is the next stage of Adolescence. The period from 18 to 60 years of age is usually referred to as the adulthood. The stage adulthood is again divided into two stages. They are namely – Early Adulthood and Later Adulthood.
The period from 18 to 40 years of age is identified by psychologists as the early adulthood. On the other hand, the period from the age of 40 to 60 years is identified as the later adulthood.
I) Physical development:
In the case of physical development, it is seen that new physical development does not take place in adulthood. However, after 40 years, some changes in the physical condition is noticed. For example – fat accumulates in the waist, thick hair becomes thin, hair begins to ripen, skin begins to wrinkle, etc. Due to all these physical changes, adults consider themselves as crossed adolescence person at this time. Psychologists refer to it as the crisis of middle age.
II) Mental and Emotional Development:
In the case of mental development, ambition and activity are seen in adults between the ages of 20 and 30. As a result, at this time people make various efforts to make themselves self-reliant. They try to enable themselves to earn money by pursuing any profession, work or business. In this way they gradually enter the career at this time. After entering the career, they enter the family life. Dissatisfaction has been seen in a person since the age of 40.
In the case of emotional development, emotional reactions in adults are seen in terms of their workplace, family, people around the family, and relatives. In this case, most of the time there is a balance between their emotional reactions.
III) Social development:
In the case of social development, it is seen that at this time, people fulfill various responsibilities of family, domestic and workplace with devotion. As well as they fulfill various responsibilities of the larger society. During this time people try to maintain good relations with people from all sectors of life. However, in some cases, exceptions have been noticed.
5) Old age (After 60 years):-
The last stage among the different stages of development of human life is old age. The period after the age of 60 is called old age. In the old age people’s vitality decreased. During this time people thinking more about their health and death. During this time various physical problems are seen in the people. As a result, they often visit to doctor. Retirement has a negative impact on people during this period. As a result, they gradually lose the meaning of life. However, after retirement, many keep themselves busy in various social work. Many enjoy life through study, travel, pilgrimage, etc.
So, this is the brief description about the different stages of development of human life. Every people has to go through these different stages of development of human life.
Different Stages of Development of Human Life.
⇒ Adolescence and Its aspects of development.