8 Stages of Development

Development is a continuous and qualitative process in the human species. According to developmental psychologists, Development starts with conception and ends with death. The measurement of the development is possible with the help of psychological testing and methods.  all stages of development have their own criteria. And human development is a never-ending process.

Developmental psychologists divide development into eight stages of development. Each stage has its own specialty. stage increases, maturity also increases.

These stages are prenatal, Infancy and toddler, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.

1. Prenatal Development (Conception to Birth)

It is the first stage of development. Prenatal development starts with conception and ends with the birth of the child. It is the fastest stage.

The total period of prenatal development is 38 weeks (266 Days). The zygote period is very small and the fetus is the largest period in prenatal development.

The phases of pregnancy are divided into three phases. They are the period of the zygote, the period of the embryo, and the period of the fetus.

2. Infancy and toddler (0 to 2 years)

This stage starts with the birth of the baby. The period time of infant between birth to one year (0-1 year). The period time of toddler is between one to two years (1- 2 years). Development happens in all stages of development.

According to physical development, at birth, a baby’s weight is 7.5 pounds(3.4 kg), and by age 5 months birth weight has doubled 15 pounds (6.8 kg), and by age 1 year infant weight is tripled about 22 pounds(9.97 kg) by age 2 year quadrupled (X4) about 30 pounds (13.6). All stages of development follow specific criteria.

3. Early Childhood ( 2 to 6 Years)

This period of early childhood occurs between 2 to 6 years. The early childhood period is also known as the “preschool period.”  In this period, the brain has 90 percent developed and the cerebral cortex has produced more synapses than in other stages of development.

During this period, many factors affect physical growth. They are hormones, nutrition, infectious diseases, and malnutrition. All stages of development are divided according to age.

In this period, language development also plays an important role. By age 2, children are able to telegraphic speech (combined two words). By age 5, children are able to combine more than 6 words.

 

At age 2, the child’s spoken vocabulary is about 250 words, and by age 6 vocabulary of the child is about 10000 words.

4. Middle Childhood ( 6- 12 Years)

According to all stages of development, this period is also called the “school-going age.” In this period, information processing plays an important role. Children are able to use rehearsal, elaboration, and organizational techniques.

In this period, language development plays an important role and children’s vocabulary is more than 40000 words. The children are able to bilingual development. Because different stages of development lead to different ratio and growth.

5. Adolescence (11 to 18 Years)

This period occurs between 11 to 18 years. Adolescence is presented with the help of a flood of biological events. This biological event leads to adult body size and sexual maturity.

The adolescence period is divided into three categories. They are early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. In this period, adolescence suffers from identity vs role confusion. This stage plays the most important role compared to other stages of development.

In this period, hormonal changes play an important role in sexual maturity. The main features of adolescence.

I. Sexual Hormones in Females   The estrogen hormones are the central process related to sexual maturation. They are released by ovaries. These hormones are responsible for breast development, uterus and vagina, and so on.

 

II. Sexual Hormones in Males   The testes gland releases a large amount of androgen and testosterone hormones. Androgen and testosterone hormones lead to muscle growth, body hair, facial hair, and heavy voice.

 

III. Social Development in Adolescence   Social development plays an important role in the development of adolescence. Erikson’s theory of “Psychosocial theory of development” explained the fifth stage of “Identity vs role confusion”.

According to this example, success leads to identity and failure leads to role confusion.

 

6. Early Adulthood 

This stage occurs between 18 to 40 years.

7. Middle Adulthood 

This stage occurs between 40 to 65 years.

8. Late Adulthood 

This is the last stage of development and occurs between 65 to death.

 

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