Human Growth and Development across the Life Span
Life stages
Infancy and early childhood (0–6), middle childhood (6–12), adolescence (12–19), adulthood, and old age. Development is multidimensional (physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral), multidirectional, and shaped by heredity and environment.
Theories to name accurately
- Piaget - sensorimotor (0–2), pre-operational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+). Conservation and reversibility appear at the concrete operational stage.
- Erikson - trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, integrity vs despair.
- Kohlberg - pre-conventional (punishment, self-interest), conventional (approval, law and order), post-conventional (social contract, universal ethics).
- Bowlby and Ainsworth - attachment; secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, disorganised.
Worked example
A seven-year-old says a wide, short glass holds less water than a tall, thin one. Reasoning: the child is in Piaget's pre-operational stage, so he centres on one dimension (height) and cannot conserve. The helper should not argue or label the child slow; provide pouring and comparison activities and reassure the parent that this is developmentally expected at about seven, with conservation typically emerging at concrete operational stage.
Traps
Mixing up Piaget's stage names; assigning Erikson's identity stage to toddlers; treating a developmental milestone as a fixed deadline rather than a range.