Pre Natal Development :

The whole prenatal development involves three main stages:
• Germinal Stage
• Embryonic Stage
• Fetal Stage

Germinal stage begins at conception until 2 weeks; embryonic stage means the development from 2 weeks to 8 weeks; fetal stage represents 9 weeks until birth of the baby. The senses develop in the womb itself: a fetus can both see and hear by the second trimester (13 to 24 weeks of age). Sense of touch develops in the embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks). Most of the brain’s billions of neurons also are developed by the second trimester. Babies are hence born with some odor, taste and sound preferences, largely related to the mother’s environment.

Infancy:

The terms infant derived from Latin word infans meaning unable to speak or speechless. An infant is a very young offspring of human. In medical contexts newborn or urgent neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth. The term newborn includes pre mature infants, post mature infants and full term newborns.

Emotional Development: Attachment theory is primarily an evolutionary and ethological theory whereby infant seeks proximity to a specified attachment figure. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant’s capacity to form and conduct relationship throughout the life. Attachment and attachment behaviour tend to develop between the age of six months and 03 three years.

Babyhood :-

Babyhood occupies the first two years of life following the brief two week period of infancy. Infancy is the extreme helplessness period. Whereas, During the babyhood months there is gradual decrease in helplessness. This does not mean that helplessness disappears but is replaced by independence.

• Babyhood is true foundation age because many behaviour patterns, many attitude, many pattern of emotional expression are being established in this stage of development. Personality maladjustment in adulthood had their origin in unfavorable childhood experiences.
• Feeling of basic trust or distrust, viewing the world as safe reliable and nurturing or as full of threat, unpredictability and treachery depends on the experiences of babyhood.
• Babyhood is an age of Rapid Growth and change- Physically and Psychologically
• Babyhood is an age of decreasing dependency as child learns to sit, stand, walk
• Babyhood is the age of increasing individuality
• Babyhood is the age of Beginning of socialization
• Babyhood is the age of sex role typing
• Babyhood is the beginning of creativity
• Babyhood is hazardous age
• Common Emotion Pattern in Babyhood are anger, fear, curiosity, joy and affection

Childhood :

Early childhood or childhood Begins from two years and extends to the line when the child became sexually mature. Roughly girls sexually mature 11 years for girl (13 years average) and boys 12 years (14 years average).

• Childhood is time when the individual is relatively helpless and dependent on others.
• Childhood is time when society regard them ‘grown ups’
• Childhood begins when babyhood is over
• It begins approximately at the age of two years and extend up to the time when the child becomes sexually mature
• 2 years – 6 years considered early childhood and 6 years – 13 years as late childhood

Physical development in Early childhood: Height, Weight, Body Proportions (baby look disappear), Body Build, Bones and Muscles, Fat, Teeth. Common Emotions: Grief, Envy, Joy, Anger, Fear, Jealousy, Curiosity and Affection

Social Behaviour pattern: Imitation, Rivalry, Cooperation, Sympathy (occasionally), Empathy (few children), Social Approval, Sharing (sharing is social approval) Common category of concept that develops during early childhood are about: Life (living), Death (associate with any thing that goes away), Space – (short, long distance), Weight, Time, Self (know about sex, name, body, parts), Sex Role, Social Awareness – nice, smart differentiation.

Late Childhood (6 Years to12,13 years)

 Late Childhood is troublesome age
 Late Childhood is the age when children are no longer welling to do what they are told to do.
 Late Childhood is the age when they are more influenced by their peer group than their parents.
 Late Childhood is the age when children acquire rudiment of knowledge.
 Late Childhood is the age when children develops the habit of working up to their capacities in school.
 Late Childhood is about learning physical skill necessary for ordinary games
 In late childhood the child built an attitude towards oneself as a growing organism
 In late childhood the child develop appropriate masculine or feminine social roles.
 In late childhood the child develops fundamental skills in reading, writing and calculating.
 In late childhood the child Develops conscience, a sense of morality and scale of values.
 In late childhood the child achieves personal independence, Speech improvement and Vocabulary Building
 Some ways in which gangs (friends) belonging leads to improve socialism in late childhood. He learns to be cooperative, learns socially acceptable behavior, learns to compete with others, learns to accept and carryout responsibilities, learns to play games and sports, learn to confirm the groups standards, learns to be loyal to group and learn to be independent of adults

Some favorite amusement of late childhood: Reading comic books, movies, radio, television, daydreaming or fantasizing, imagine themselves as conquering heroes, sex role playing, increasing in understanding, development of moral codes, development of conscience and guilt. The term conscience means a conditioned anxiety response to certain kind of situations and actions. It is an internalized policeman which motivates children to do what they know is a right and thus avoids punishment. Guilt is a special kind of negative self evaluation that occurs when an individual acknowledges that his behavior is at variance with a given moral values to which he feels obligated to confirm.

Common misdemeanors of late childhood: Fighting with siblings, breaking possessions of other family members, being rude to other family members, neglecting Home responsibilities, Lying, spoiling things intentionality.

School Misdemeanors: Stealing, cheating, whispering and fighting with classmates, reading comic books, watching comic serials, annoying other children by teasing them.

Puberty :-

Puberty is the closing years of childhood and beginning years of adolescence period. Adolescence period (13-18 years)
• Adolescence period is an important period
• Adolescence period is a transitional period
• Adolescence period is a period of Change emotional, sexual maturing, interest and role behavior pattern
• Adolescence is a time of search of identity.
• Adolescence is a age of unrealism
• Adolescence is a time of physical and mental change
• Adolescence is transactional period.
• Transactional period means what has happened before will leave its marks on what happen now and in future.
• When children’s go from childhood to adolescence they are told to put away “childish things” and to act their age.

Developmental tasks of Adolescence:-
• Achieving new and more mature relation with age mates of both sex
• Achieving a masculine or feminine social roles
• Desiring, Accepting and achieving socially responsible behavior
• Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults
• Preparing for an economic career
• Preparing for marriage and family life
• Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behavior- developing an ideology.

Adulthood:

Adulthood is the longest period of the life span is usually divided into three periods-
• Early Adulthood (18 years to 39 years)
• Middle Adulthood (39 years to 60 years)
• Late Adulthood (60 years till death)

Early adulthood is the settling down age and reproductive age, a problem age and one of emotional tension, a time of social isolation a time of commitments and often a time of dependency, a time of value changes, a time of creativity and adjustment to a new life pattern. There are certain aid to mastering the developmental task of early adulthood – physical efficiency, motor and mental ability, motivation and good role model. Because many of interests carried over from adolescence are no longer appropriate for the adult role, changes in all areas of interests are inevitable in this stage.

The greatest change is in narrowing down the range of interests.
• Personal interest in early adulthood include interest in: Appearance, clothes, personal adornment, status symbol, money and religion
• Change in recreational Activities: Talking, entertaining, cinema, traveling.
• Social activities in early adulthood are often greatly curtailed because of educational and family pressure. As a result many young adults experience what Erickson has called an ‘isolation crises’
• Isolation Crisis is a time of isolation due to isolation from social group.
• Social mobility in men comes manly trough their own efforts which in women, it comes mainly through marriage.
• Most young married women find sex roles adjustment in early adulthood very difficult especially when they are forced into traditional roles.

Development tasks during Early Adulthood
• Getting started in an occupation
• Selecting a mate
• Learning to leave with a marriage partner
• Starting a family
• Rearing children
• Managing home
• Taking on civic responsibilities
• Finding a congenial social group
• Adjustment with working, Family, Sexual Partner, Children and in law adjustment

Middle Adulthood or Middle Age

Middle age is generally considered to extend from the age 40 to age 60. Middle age is an especially difficult time in the life span. How well individual adjust to it depends on the foundation laid during earlier stages in the life span.

Characteristics age is a dreaded period: The period is recognized as next to old age. Mental and physical deterioration, the cessation of the reproductive life, importance of youth in culture, all such things influence adult attitude unfavorably. Most adults become nostalgic about their younger years and wish they could turn back the hand of the cock.

Middle Age is Time of Transition: Middle age is the time when men and women leave behind the physical and behavioral characteristics of adulthood and enter a period of life when new physical or behavioral characteristics will prevail. It is a time when men undergo change in virility and women a change in fertility. Transition always means adjustment to new interests, new values and new patterns of behavior.

Middle Age is a Time of Stress: Radical adjustment to changed role pattern of life when accompanied by physical changes always tends to disrupt the individual physical and psychological homeostasis. It is a time when a number of major adjustment must be made in the home, business and social aspect of their lives.

Middle Age is an “Awkward age:” Just as adolescents are neither children nor adults, so middle age men and women are no lenger ‘young’ nor are they yet ‘old’. The middle aged person stands between the younger rebel generation and senior citizen generation.

Middle age a Time of Achievement: According Ericson, during middle age people either become more successful or they stand still and accomplish nothing more. Women like men, who have worked throughout the years of early adulthood generally reach their pick during middle age. Middle age should be a time not only for financial and social success but also for authority and prestige.

Middle Age is a Time of Evaluation: It is mainly a time of self evaluation because middle age is when men and women normally reach their peaks of achievement. It is logical that it also would be the time when they would evaluate their accomplishments in light of their earlier aspirations and the expectation of others especially family and friends.

Middle Age is the Time of Empty Nest: It is the time when the children no longer want to live under the parental roof. Middle age is the ’empty nest’ stage in marital lives.

Middle age a time of boredom: Men become bored with their daily routine of work and with a family life that offers little excitement. Women, who have spent most of their adulthood caring for the home and raising children, wonder what they will do for next twenty or thirty years.
Development task middle age
• Achieving adult clinic and social responsibilities.
• Assisting teenage children to become responsible and happy adults.
• Relating oneself to ones spouse as a person.
• Reaching and maintaining satisfactory performance is ones occupational career.
• Adjusting to aging parents.

Old Age : Closing period of life span.

Old Age is a Period of Decline :-

People constantly changes early part of life changes leads to maturity but in second part of life involving regression to earlier stages. Physical changes body cells decline and psychologically unfavorable attitude towards oneself is developed and also for other people, work and life.

Old age is Judged by different criteria:

Meaning of age is vague and undefined some judge age in terms of physical appearance and activities illusion.

Old Age: Development task
• Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health.
• Adjusting to retirement and reduce income.
• Adjusting to death of spouse.
• Establishing an explicit affiliation with members of ones age group
• Adapting to social roles in a flexible way.