Development—Infancy to Adolescence HANAN ELSAYED Professor of Psychiatry

Definition: Is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span.

Infancy and Toddler Period (0 – 2 years) Early childhood period (preschool period) (2-6 years old) Middle childhood period (6 years to puberty)

Physical development: -This follow up a relatively regular schedule for the average child. -Individual differences Accuracy of voluntary movements shows rapid improvement

Language Development: -By the end of 3rd week, the child’s crying accompanied his body movements become differentiated . -from the 3rd to the 8th month, lies the babbling stage . -At 18 month old, expected achievement-- an average of 10 – 12 simple words In the preschool period, children’s use of language expands and they use sentences.

Development of emotions: -At the first, diffuse feeling tones that are aroused to which his physiological needs are satisfied. -Later on, they gradually take a definite reaction pattern. -children can express complex emotions such as; love, unhappiness and jealousy

Social development: At birth as a child forms an attachment (a strong emotional bond) with the primary caregiver (s). Stranger anxiety: first noted in infants about 26 weeks but is fully developed about 32 week.

Separation anxiety: occurs between 10 and 18 months of age. The infant learns to separate as he starts to craw and move away from mother. After 2 years, children gradually comprehend the permanence of mother and other important people even when not in their presence.

Early Adolescence (9-10 – 13 years) Middle Adolescence (14-16 years old) Late Adolescence (17-20 years old)

Physical maturity Hormonal changes declare puberty. Sex hormones start to take the physiological adult level. Generally the average age for puberty females is 11-13.5 and one year later for males

Emotional and social maturity: -Emotions develop mainly in the context of relating to others. Changes inclination towards a member of the opposite sex (love). - -Emotional outbursts are common(Anger). -The adolescent tries to lead an independent mode of. living away from the parents. When the developmental experiences that shape our personalities and social changes that must be (confronted are very different, ( generational gap

Cognitive development

Cognitive development: -Sensorimotor stage (0-2 Y):child learns through sensory observation, exploration and manipulation of the environment. -Object permanence Approximately 8 month old, the infant acquires the ability to understand that objects are out of sight still exist. The child is able to maintain a mental image of an object even though it is not visible.

preoperational stage(2-7y): -Children use more symbols, their thinking is intuitive (learn without reasoning) . -They have no sense of causal relationship -They are egocentric:having a limited point of view and inability to take the role of other person. -Animastic thinking: the tendency to endow physical events and objects with life

concrete operational stage (7-11): -Egocentric thoughts are replaced by operational thoughts. -The child is able to form a logical conclusion from two premises and this is known as syllogistic reasoning. -The child is able to reason and follow rules and develop moral sense and a code of values. - Reversibility is the capacity to understand that one thing can turn into another and back again

Stage of Formal Operations(11-onwards) The adolescent is able -To think abstractly, reason deductively, -Define concepts and deal with combination. -The individual is able to make a hypothesis and test it against reality

Oral Stage Oral stage is the period which lasts from birth to about one year of age. -Everyone had innate reflexes that help to survive by creating libidinal energy that had to be discharged. --The manner of release of this energy changes as body matures. -In newborn, the brain centers, which control mouth movements were physically, the most developed so libidinal energy released easily through such oral activities as sucking and swallowing.

Anal Stage -The second crisis occurs when parents begin making demands, which conflicted with instinctual need . -This crisis reaches a peak during toilet training, -The resolving of this crisis by creating an “ego” or conscious self that could respond to reality by gaining voluntary control over the release of libidinal energy through anal activities.

Phallic Stage During this stage sex organs began to mature , and did the centers in the brain. Discharging instinctual energies with sexual activity.

Latency Period According to Freud, one enters the latency period at about age five or six. At this time, one starts to move out of the home more frequently, and friendships with peers taken on greater importance on one’s emotional and intellectual development. Boys found ‘heroes’ among older male friends and peers, and girls found other girls and older women.

Psychosocial development

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