The 7 Stages of Human Development

Infancy (0-2): At this stage the child is solely dependent on their parents for their safety

Did one ever wonder why a person’s characteristics and behavior change when he or she experiences different stages of life? Also, can one predict what kind of life he or she will lead during the next stage, depending on his or her age? Just as the title of the passage suggests, Sheehy predicts different stages that most people experience between the ages of eighteen and fifty. She uses age as a major factor to indentify and categorize the human stage into six stages: “Pulling Up Roots”, the “Trying Twenties”, “Catch-30”, “Rooting and Extending”, the “Deadline Decade”, and lastly “Renewal or Resignation.” Sheehy refers to her self-proclaimed stages of life as the “developmental ladder” in which everyone will go through at some point in

Adulthood in the later years of life is different from the previous stages of life. Unlike the stages in later adulthood, the earlier stages emphasize developmental growth and achievements. In the later years in life, a person must deal with deteriorating health and death. The developmental theories in late adulthood involve the methods in which an individual can deal with their relationships with their bodily changes, mental abilities, changes in close relationships, families, overall society, and intended and unintended relocations (Rathus, 2013).

“Though the age boundaries are not set in stone, we will consider middle adulthood as the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). I interviewed two individuals for this paper. Each person was asked the same fifteen questions (Appendix). I interviewed a male and a female who fell in the midrange of middle adulthood.

Infancy is from the ages 0-3 years old. It’s a time of rapid growth. During this period of time most changes occur. At this age children develop physical, intellectual, emotional and social skills. When a baby is born they are helpless and depend on their carer in order for them to survive.

Infancy is the stage or period of early childhood this is where the kid is full of energy learning where to crawl, roll over and sit up and eventually how to walk. Very basic skills are learned during through this period such as, coordination and the ability to represent images and objects with words. A lot of the child’s features also change during this stage.

This stage in the life span is considered the time when a person moves from the childhood stage into the adulthood stage. During this time there are many physical, cognitive, and personality developments that affect the

Social factors, especially marriage, are a highly motivating during middle adulthood. The ability to have a successful marriage and create intimacy with other person can create happiness. Adults involved in a primary relationship, such as marriage, are generally happier than single adults (pg. 456). On page 456 it states that the key to a successful relationship includes three elements; passion, intimacy and decision/commitment. During middle adult hood, many individuals want to create a family. They may find this task rewarding but quite stressful (pg. 457). As the children grow they provide new stressors for the parent such as independence, risk taking and creating a supportive environment (pg 457). Individuals also worry about generativity and how well they can develop the next generation.

Of the many theorists that have had the opportunity to make immense contributions to the human race regarding behavioral sciences, theorist Erick Erickson and Abraham Maslow are the two that I believe set the framework of understanding my adult stages of life. According to Feldman (2014), Erik Erickson’s intimacy vs. isolation stage commences from age 18 through forty. During this stage of development, individuals actively are seeking to be intimately involved with others. Adults are attempting to explore and develop relationships that have the potential to be life-long. When a person is successful at this stage of development, he or she has developed happy relationships, and a sense of security and commitment essentially has acquired love

Growing, transforming and aging are all inevitable facets of life. Every single human being undergoes changes in their lives until they eventually expire. The life span of development includes childhood, adulthood and old age. Late adulthood is the concluding period of life span development when physical and mental declines occur from aging. Nevertheless, there are ways for people to prolong their lives while experiencing change. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and positivity give individuals the strength to help themselves transition into stages of development smoothly.

Of the many theorists that have had the opportunity to make immense contributions to the human race regarding behavioral sciences, theorist Erick Erickson and Abraham Maslow are the two that I believe set the framework of understanding my adult stages of life. According to Feldman (2014), Erik Erickson’s intimacy vs. isolation stage commences from age 18 through forty. During this stage of development, individuals actively are seeking to be intimately involved with others. Adults are attempting to explore and develop relationships that have the potential to be life-long. When a person is successful at this stage of development, he or she has developed happy relationships, and a sense of security and commitment essentially has acquired love

I feel that frienships are more important to our psychosocial well being during emerging adulthood than romantic relationships are. While Erikson describes this stage using the word intamacy, other theorist use different words for the same human need: affiliation, affection, interdependendence, communion, belonging and love. All theorist agree that adults seek to become friends, lovers, companions, and partners. While many emerging adults

Seeing the children grown and moved out is a milestone for middle adulthood, and is viewed as the completion of a long endeavor. Job satisfaction and the obtainment of personal goals are milestones for the middle-aged adult. Erikson’s sixth state is the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage for early adulthood, and the seventh is Generativity vs. Stagnation for middle adulthood. It states that young adults who fail to form intimate relationships with others will become isolated. Adults that did not successfully complete the identity crisis will fail to form these attachments, resulting in an inability to enter the workforce productively, leave home, and establish a committed relationship (GOLD). Middle adulthood is characterized by either successfully helping the younger generation through their work and child-rearing, or stagnation because they are not(GOLD). They confront the aging process and contribute to future generations. Successful stage completion results in well-adjusted adults, highly satisfied with their lives.

From adolescence to late adulthood, our lives change drastically. Our goals, achievements and conceptions of life differentiate as we mature. As we grow older, we no longer concern ourselves with self-identity or the opinions of others, but instead we focus on our accomplishments and evaluate our life (if we lived a meaningful life). From adolescence to late adulthood, we experience different developmental tasks at a particular place in our life span.

During early adulthood ages twenty to forty, people enter the achieving stage according to the developmental psychologist K. Warner Shaie. In this stage young adults begin to be more focused on making decisions on what to do for the rest of their lives and whom to form relationships with. These decisions will soon make up the core of their happiness throughout adulthood. According to the psychologist Erik Erikson, this challenge of forming relationships is called the intimacy – versus – isolation stage. Those who are successful in the stage have no problem in forming intimate relationships and are willing to sacrifice for others. Those who have a hard time often result to loneliness with a growing fear of relationships. This could be a result of failure to form an identity for oneself in Erikson’s previous stage of identity – versus – confusion.