ASSOC. PROF. LIZYL R.

REBUSQUILLO
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Sta. Mesa, Manila

LET REVIEWER
Child and Adolescent Development
A. Concepts of Human Development based on famous psychologists.
1. John Locke argued for the dominance of nurture, suggesting that what happens during childhood
has a profound and permanent effect on the individual. He saw the newborn as a blank slate, or
tabula rasa. Adults write on that slate, said Locke, as they teach children about the world and how
to behave in it.
2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau made the opposite argument. He claimed that children are capable of
discovering how the world operates and how they should behave without the instruction from
adults. Accordingly, he advocated the idea that children should be allowed to grow as nature
dictates, with little guidance or pressure from parents.
3. Arnold Gesell made many observations of children of all ages. He demonstrated that motor skills,
such as standing and walking, picking up a cube, and throwing a ball, develop in a fixed sequence
of stages in all children. The order of the stages and the age at which they develop, he suggested,
are determined by nature and unaffected by nurture. Only under extreme conditions such as
famine, war, or poverty, he claimed, are children thrown off their biologically programmed
timetable. This type of natural growth or change, which unfolds in a fixed sequence relatively
independent of the environment, he called maturation; it clearly reflects the influence of nature
on development.
4. The environment, not nature, is the key to development in view of a second American
psychologist, John B. Watson. Watson was the founder of behaviorist approach to psychology. He
conducted experiments with children. From these experiments Watson inferred that children learn
everything, from skills to fears.
5. Jean Piaget suggested that nature and nurture work together, and their influences are inseparable
and interactive. Piagets ideas influenced the field of developmental psychology more than those
of any other person before.
B. Concepts of Growth and Development
1. Growth essentially refers to the quantitative changes in an individual as he progresses in
chronological ages. It may refer to increase in size, height, or weight.
2. Development does not include changes that are brief, or reversible, such as those resulting from
illness, accidents, or drugs. Nor does it fluctuations in mood or behavior that are related to the
time of day or the season of the year. To be considered developmental, the changes must be agerelated, systematic, sequential, and long-lasting. Development refers to the progressive series of
changes of an orderly and coherent type toward the goal of maturity. Progressive means the
changes are directional, leading toward something positive.
C. Principles of Growth and Development
Principle
Manifestations and/or Implications
Development follows an orderly A child learns to crawl, then to stand with aid, then to stand
sequence which is predictable.
without aid, then to walk and finally to run.
Cephalocaudal Trend

Infants develop control of the head and face movements

within the first two months after birth. In the next few
months, they are able to lift themselves up by using their
arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants start to gain leg control
and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk.

Proximodistal Trend

The child's arms develop before the hands and the hands and
feet develop before the fingers and toes.
Development is from general to The infant will be able to grasp an object with the whole hand
specific. Growth occurs from large before using only the thumb and forefinger.
muscle movements to more refined
(smaller) muscle movements.
Development is from the simple Teach the basic things before the more complex or difficult
(concrete) to the more complex.
ones.

The rate of each development is While other girls have their first menstruation at age 10,
unique to each individual (individual others have it at age 13 to 14.
differences).
Other babies are able to walk at age 12 months while some
learn it at age 14 months.
Development involves change.
Changes never ceases as the child grows older to adulthood
and later, to old age - physical, emotional or mental
Early development is more critical Teaching the correct values and disciplining a child at a young
than later development
age.
Sending the child in NKP (nursery, kindler, pre-school)
Development is a product of Giving leg exercises at an age where the baby is expected to
maturation (nature) and learning learn how to walk (putting him in the walker, providing a safe
(nurture).
space for crawling and standing).
Allowing the child to play clays and other manipulative toys
when the child is about to learn how to write.
There are social expectations for every Teaching pubescents and adolescents on how teen-agers on
developmental period (developmental how to
tasks)
Development is a continuous process

D. Stages of Development and the Corresponding Developmental Tasks

At every stage in the individuals development, each one is expected to fulfill certain social
expectations labeled as developmental tasks. These developmental tasks are the skills and patterns of
behavior every cultural group expects its member to master or acquire at various ages during the life span. In
addition, these are physical, cultural and psychological in nature.
The developmental tasks in the life span serve three useful purposes:
They are guidelines to enable individuals to know what society expects them.
They motivate individuals to do what society expects.
They show individuals what lies ahead and what will be expected of them later.
Developmental Tasks by Robert Havighurst
Devtl Stage
Period of Life
Characteristics
Prenatal Period - From
Age
when
heredity
from conception to conception to endowments and sex are
birth
birth
fixed and all body features,
both external and internal
are developed.
Infancy/
From birth to 2 Foundation age when basic
Babyhood
years
behavior
patterns
are
organized
and
many
ontogenic maturational skills
emerge.
Early
From two to six Pre-gang, exploratory, and
childhood
years
questioning when language
and elementary reasoning
are acquired and initial
socialization are developed.
Late
From six to ten Gang and creativity age when
childhood
years or 12 self-help skills are developed.
years

Developmental Tasks

Learning to take food

Learning to walk
Learning to talk
Learning to control the elimination of
body wastes
Learning sex differences and sexual
modesty
Getting ready to read
Learning to distinguish right and wrong
and learning to develop a conscience
Learning physical skills necessary for
ordinary games
Building a wholesome attitude toward
oneself
Learning to get along with age-mates
Beginning to develop appropriate
masculine or feminine social roles
Developing fundamental skills in

reading, writing, and calculating

Developing concepts necessary for
everyday living
Developing a conscience, a sense of
morality, and a scale of values
Developing attitudes toward social
groups and institutions
Achieving personal independence.
Achieving new and more mature
relations with agemates of both sexes
Achieving a masculine or feminine
social role
Accepting ones physique and using
ones body effectively
Desiring, accepting, and achieving
socially responsible behavior
Achieving emotional independence
form 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

Adolescence

From 13 or 14 Transition are from childhood

years(puberty) to adulthood when sex
to 18-21 years maturation
and
rapid
physical development occur
resulting to changes in ways
of feelings, thinking and
acting.

Early
adulthood

From 18-21 to Age of adjustment to new Getting started in an occupation

45 years
patterns of life and new roles Selecting a mate
such as spouse, parent and Learning to live with a marriage
bread winner.
partner
Starting a family
Rearing children
Managing a home
Taking on civic responsibility
Finding a congenial social group
From 45 to 65 Transition
age
when Achieving adult, civic, and social
years
adjustment to initial physical
responsibility
and mental decline are Assisting teenage children to become
experienced.
responsible and happy adults
Developing adult leisure time activities
Relating oneself to ones spouse as a
person
Accepting and adjusting to the
physiological changes of middle age
Reaching and maintaining satisfactory
performance in ones occupational
career
Adjusting to aging parents
65 years to Retirement
age
when Adjusting to decreasing physical
death
increasingly rapid physical
strength and health
and mental decline are Adjusting to retirement and reduced
experienced.
income
Adjusting to death of spouse
Establishing an explicit affiliation with
members of ones age group
Establishing satisfactory physical living
arrangements
Adapting to social roles in a flexible
way

Middle
adulthood

Late adulthood/
senescence /
old age

E. Theories of Development
Sigmund Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory
Concept
Freud proposed that personality develops during childhood in a series of
psychosexual stages. Failure to resolve the problems and conflicts that arise at
a given stage can leave a person fixated that is overly attached to or
unconsciously preoccupied with the area of pleasure associated with that
stage. Freud believed that the stage at which a person has fixated is revealed
in adult person characteristics.
A childs first year or so is called the oral stage, because the mouth used by
the infant to eat and explore is the center of pleasure associated with this
period. Freud said fixation at the oral stage can stem from early or late
weaning and may produce adult characteristics ranging from overeating or
alcoholism to the use of biting sarcasm or childlike dependence.
The anal stage occurs during the second year as the demand for toilet training
shifts the focus of pleasure and conflict to the anal area. According to Freud,
toilet training that is too harsh, or begins too early or too late can lead to anal
fixation. Adult characteristics associated with fixation at this stage range from
being stingy and overconcerned with neatness to being disorganized or
impulsive.
Between the ages of three and five, according to Freud, the childs focus of
pleasure shifts to the genital area. This period is called the phallic stage.
Oedipus complex and Electra complex appears.

Next is the latency stage which occurs at about 6-12 years. In this particular
period, the child sex instincts are relatively calm and continue until puberty.
The focus of the child is on school work and vigorous play that consume most
of his physical and mental energy. Many of the disturbing and conflicting
feelings of children are buried in the subconscious mind.
During adolescence, when sexual impulses reappear, the genitals again
become the focus of pleasure. Thus, begins what Freud called the genital stage
which lasts until old age. Obviously, this is the longest stage. It is characterized
by the maturation of the reproductive system, production of sex hormones,
and a reactivation of the genital zone as an area of sensual pleasure. The
Oedipus and Electra feelings are reactivated and directed toward to the
persons of the opposite sex.

Implications

Feed the baby when hungry.

Follow proper feeding time.

Toilet train the child at this

stage.

There should be a presence of

both the father-figure and the
mother-figure. He/she could
be a biological parent, a step
parent, an uncle or auntie, a
grandparent, etc.
Integrate games and plays
with the teaching-learning
activities.

Provide lessons or school

program like seminars on
relationships and family.

Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Development Theory

Erik Erikson (1902-1994) said we develop in psychosocial stages. Erikson emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span. In Eriksons theory, eight stages of
development unfold as we go through the life span. Each stage consists of a crisis that must be faced. According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point of increased
vulnerability and enhanced potential. The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be.

Summary of Eriksons Psychosocial Stages of Development

Reference: Bustos, Alicia S. (1996) Psychosocial, Anthropological and Sociological Foundations of Education. Katha Publishing Co., Inc. Quezon City

Emotional
Stage

Period of
Life

Psychologica
l Crisis

Relationship
with

Experiences /
Choices /
Decisions
To give
To get

Virtue

Positive Resolution

Negative Resolution

Birth to 18
months
Infancy

Trust vs.
mistrust

Maternal

Hope

Reliance
on
caregiver
Development of trust
in the environment

Fear, anxiety, and suspicion

Lack of care, both physical and
psychological by caretaker leads
to mistrust of environment

II

18 months to
3 years old
Toddler-hood

Autonomy vs.
Shame and
Doubt

Paternal

To hold on
To let go

Will

Loss of self-esteem
Sense of external control may
produce self-doubt in others

Initiative vs.
Guilt

Family

To make
To make like

Purpose

Sense of self-worth
Assertion of choice
and will
Environment
encourages
independence
leading to sense of
pride
The ability to learn to
initiate activities, to
enjoy achievement
and competence

III

3 to 6 years
old
Early childhood

IV

6 to 12 years
old
Late
childhood

Industry vs.
Inferiority

School and
Neighborhood

To make things
To make
together

Compete
nce

12 to 18
years old

Identity vs.
Role

Peer Group

To be oneself
To share being

Fidelity

Learning the value of

work
Acquiring new skills
and
tools
of
technology
Competence helps to
order life and to
make things work
Experiments
with
various
roles
in

The inability to control newly

developed power
Realization of potential failure
leads to fear of punishment and
guilt
Repeated frustration and failure
lead to feelings of inadequacy
and inferiority that may affect
their view of life

Pressures and demands may

lead to confusion about self.

Adolescence

Confusion

oneself

VI

18 to 24
years old
Young Adulthood

Intimacy vs.
Isolation

Partners in
friendship,
sex,
competition

To loose and
bind oneself to
others

Love

VII

25 to 54
years old
Middle Adulthood

Partner

To make be
To take care of

Care

VIII

54 to death
older Adulthood

Generativity
vs. SelfAbsorption
and
Stagnation
Integrity vs.
Despair

Mankind

To be through
Having been
To face being

Wisdom

developing
mature
individuality
A commitment to
others
Close heterosexual
relationships
and
procreation
The
care
and
concern for the next
generation
Widening interest in
work and ideas
Acceptance of ones
life
Realization of the
inevitability of death
Feeling of dignity
and
meaning
of
existence

Withdrawal from such intimacy,

isolation; self-absorption and
alienation from others

Self-indulgence and resulting

psychological impoverishment

Disappointment with ones life

and desperate fear of death

Jean Piagets Cognitive Development

1. Children are constructivists - Children are naturally curious, active explorers who
respond to the environment according to their own understanding of its essential
features. They actively seek out motivation. They continually experiment with the
objects they encounter by manipulating things and observing the effects of their actions
2. Children organize what they learn from their experiences.
They gradually construct an overall view of how the world operates.
Scheme/Schema/Schemata an organized group of similar actions or thoughts.
3. Children adapt to their environment through the process of assimilation and
accommodation.
Assimilation is the process of dealing with an object or event in a way that is
consistent with an existing scheme.
Accommodation is dealing with a new event by either modifying an existing
scheme or forming a new one.
4. The process of EQUILIBRATION promotes progression toward increasingly more complex
forms of thought and knowledge.

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 2 years old)
This is a stage where the infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world,
beginning with reflexes and ending with complex combinations.
Children at early part of sensorimotor stage are not yet capable of mental schemata that
enable them to think about objects beyond their immediate view - OUT OF SIGHT, OUT
OF MIND Later in the sensorimotor stage, a child develops SYMBOLIC THOUGHT which is the
ability to mentally represent and think about objects and events in terms of internal,
mental entities or symbols. He clearly develops MENTAL REPRESENTATION which is the
ability to hold an image in their mind for a period beyond the immediate experience. He
uses mental combinations to solve problems like putting down the toy before opening
the door. He begins to engage goal-directed behavior.
2. Pre-operational Stage (2 to 6 years old)
The child turns to be EGOCENTRIC where he finds it difficult to see things from a point of
view other than her own.
The child is prone to CENTRATION. He tends to fix her attention on one aspect of
situation and ignore other aspects.
There is a lack of reversibility in the childs thinking. The child is unable to mentally
reverse a series of events or steps of reasoning.
There is a lack of conservation. He is unable to recognize that the amount stays the same
if nothing has been added or taken away even when the substance is reshaped or rearranged.
The child has mental representations of objects and events. They can recall past events
and envision future ones.
3. Concrete Operations Stage (7 12 years old)
Children begin to think of possible consequences of actions rather than by trial and error.
He has developed functional use of logic but he has not yet attained the highest level of use
of logical operations. His logic is still dependent upon concrete objects and present events.
The following are cognitive events that occur during this stage:

 Conservation retention of the same properties

Reversibility completion of certain operations in the reverse order and ending up
the same.
Seriation arranging mentally a set of elements
Classification grouping objects conceptually based on their similarities.
4. Formal Operations (12 years old and up)
The following are cognitive abilities which are performed by an adolescent under the
formal operational stage.
a. Ability to reason about abstract, hypothetical, and contrary-to-the fact ideas
can argue logically about ideas that are contrary to the fact or personal belief or
that are arbitrary; can reason on the basis of testimonials.
b. Formation and testing of hypothesis can form multiple hypotheses. Like for
example, an adolescent may think of different causes which may affect the
swinging rate of a pendulum. He may suggest the following: the length of the
string, the weight of the object, the height of the pendulum, etc.
c. Separation and control of variables This is the ability of testing a variable while
holding other variables constant. In an experiment which aims to know the
cause of what makes a pendulum swing faster or slower, an adolescent tests the
effect of the string length by using different lengths while holding the properties
of other variables constant. Other variables are also tested individually.
d. Proportional Reasoning
e. Combinatorial Thought
f. Metacognition can plan, monitor and evaluate owns learning.
Not all adolescents develop formal operational thinking but there is evidence that
adolescents who have not reached this level can be taught to solve problems requiring this level
of thinking. The use of formal operational thought differs according to tasks, background
knowledge, and individual difference.
Teaching Learning Implications of Piagets Cognitive Development Theory
1. Expose children with varied learning experiences.
2. Avoid spoon-feeding, instead, provide challenging activities to stimulate their thinking
skills.
3. Provide learning activities that is fit to his cognitive stage.
4. A focus on the process of childrens thinking, not just its products. In addition to
checking the correctness of childrens answers, teachers must understand the processes
children use to get to the answer. Appropriate learning experiences build on childrens
current level of cognitive functioning, and only when teachers appreciate childrens
methods of arriving at particular conclusions are they in a position to provide such
experiences.
5. Recognition of the crucial role of childrens self-initiated, active involvement in learning
activities. In a Piagetian classroom the presentation of ready-made knowledge is
deemphasized, and children are encouraged to discover for themselves through
spontaneous interaction with the environment. Therefore, instead of teaching
didactically, teachers provide a rich variety of activities that permit children to act
directly on the physical world.
6. A de-emphasis on practices aimed at making children adult-like in their thinking.
Piagetian-based educational programs accept his firm belief that premature teaching
could be worse than no teaching at all, because it leads to superficial acceptance of
adult formulas rather than true cognitive understanding (May & Kundert, 1997).
7. Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress. Piagets theory
assumes that all children go through the same developmental sequence but that they
do so at different rates. Therefore, teachers must make a special effort to arrange
classroom activities for individuals and small groups of children rather than for the total
class group.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Level I: Pre-conventional Morality/Pre-moral (0-9y/o)
Stage 1: Obedience and punishment orientation (toddler to 7 y/o)
In this particular stage, the child is responsive to rules and evaluative labels. Moral
values reside in external events or in bad acts. He views morality in terms of the consequences
of actions. For example, a child believes that stealing is bad because its what his parents said so,
or because he is told that when you get something which is not yours, youll get punished
Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation (pre-school to school age)
At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down
by the authorities. At stage 2, in contrast, punishment is simply a risk that one naturally wants to
avoid. Stage 2 is still said to reason at the pre-conventional level because they speak as isolated
individuals rather than as members of society. They see individuals exchanging favors, but there
is still no identification with the values of the family or community. They see right action as that
which is instrumental in satisfying the self's needs and occasionally others'.
Level II: Conventional Morality/Role Conformity (9-20 y/o)
Moral values reside in performing the right role, in maintaining the conventional order
and expectancies of others as a value in its own right.
Stage 3: Good Boy Nice Girl Orientation
This stage is also called good-boy/good-girl orientation. At this stage children--who are
by now usually entering their teens--see morality as more than simple deals. They believe that
people should live up to the expectations of the family and community and behave in "good"
ways. Good behavior means having good motives and interpersonal feelings such as love,
empathy, trust, and concern for others.
Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation
At stage 4, in contrast, the respondent becomes more broadly concerned with society as
a whole. Now the emphasis is on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one's
duties so that the social order is maintained.
Level III: Post Conventional Morality/Self-Accepted Moral Principles (after age 20)
Morality is defined in terms of conformity to shared standards, rights, or duties apart
from supporting authority. The standards conformed to are internal, and action-decisions are
based on an inner process of thought and judgment concerning right and wrong.
Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights
They recognize that different social groups within a society have different values, but they
believe that all rational people would agree on two points. First they would all want certain
basic rights, such as liberty and life, to be protected. Second, they would want some democratic
procedures for changing unfair law and for improving society.
Stage 6: Universal Principles
In stage 6, the principles of justice are therefore universal and they apply to all. Its
orientation is not only toward existing social rules, but also toward the conscience as a directing
agent, mutual trust and respect, and principles of moral choice involving logical universalities
and consistency.
Implications

1. Let the students realize that they are responsible for their moral development. Present them
different anecdotes or examples that will inspire and teach them to be morally responsible with
their own actions.
2. Give the students opportunities to hear different perspectives especially in deciding what is
right or wrong. Have discussions, forums, debates, etc. about certain issues. This will be more
meaningful if the issues are related to the students' lives.
3. Discuss issues in a multicultural or global perspective. Present them how are certain issues
tackled in other cultures. Through this, students can widen their understanding and learn to
respect different views and beliefs.
4. Most elementary and secondary school students are said to be in the stages 1 and 4 of moral
development. We can actually use this in maintaining classroom management, behavior
modification and establishing routines inside the classroom.
5. Be an example to the students. We must walk our talk so to speak. Values are caught than
taught. So as teachers, we must present values and attitudes worth emulating.
Urie Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory
1. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecological systems theory to explain
how everything in a child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and
develops.
2. He labeled different aspects or levels of the environment that influence children's
development: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and
the chronosystem.
3. The micro system's setting is the direct environment we have in our lives. Your family,
friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors and other people who have a direct contact
with you are included in your micro system. The micro system is the setting in which we
have direct social interactions with these social agents. The theory states that we are
not mere recipients of the experiences we have when socializing with these people in
the micro system environment, but we are contributing to the construction of such
environment.
4. The mesosytem involves the relationships between the microsystems in one's life. This
means that your family experience may be related to your school experience. For
example, if a child is neglected by his parents, he may have a low chance of developing
positive attitude towards his teachers. Also, this child may feel awkward in the presence
of peers and may resort to withdrawal from a group of classmates.
5. The exosystem is the setting in which there is a link between the context where in the
person does not have any active role, and the context where in is actively participating.
Suppose a child is more attached to his father than his mother. If the father goes abroad
to work for several months, there may be a conflict between the mother and the child's
social relationship, or on the other hand, this event may result to a tighter bond
between the mother and the child.
6. The macrosystem setting is the actual culture of an individual. The cultural contexts
involve the socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family, his ethnicity or race
and living in a still developing or a third world country. For example, being born to a
poor family makes a person work harder every day.
7. The chronosystem includes the transitions and shifts in one's lifespan. This may also
involve the socio-historical contexts that may influence a person. One classic example of
this is how divorce, as a major life transition, may affect not only the couple's
relationship but also their children's behavior. According to a majority of research,

10

children are negatively affected on the first year after the divorce. The next years after it
would reveal that the interaction within the family becomes more stable and agreeable.
Implications
Teachers need to work to support the primary child-adult relationship
The school has to be a pleasant place for the children.
The school should create an environment that welcomes and nurtures families.
Teachers should encourage strong partnership with parents and the community.
Home visitation must be conducted to better understand the condition of the child.

F.

Stages of Human Development

Prenatal

1. Conception or fertilization is the union of a male sex cell (sperm cell) and a female sex
cell (ovum). Fertilization results a zygote with 46 chromosomes and a new combination
of genetic material that differs from the cells of either parents. The childs gender is also
determined at fertilization. Through the process of cell division the single-celled
fertilized ovum or zygote, begins a 9-month period of growth unequaled at any other
time in the life of an individual. Each person is unique. From the moment of conception,
the processes of cellular division and hereditary along with environmental factors
determine what makes each individual unique.
2. Three primary stages of development follow fertilization: pre-embryonic, embryonic,
and fetal. The length of human gestation is 280 days or 40 weeks, when calculated from
the first day of the last menstrual period (menstrual or gestational age); 266 days or 38
weeks, when calculated from conception (fertilization age) a more difficult event to
pinpoint.
3. The zygote divides into many more cells and by the end of the second week has formed
an embryo. During the embryonic stage of development, which extends until two
months after fertilization, the heart, nervous system, stomach, esophagus, and ovaries
or testes form. By two months, the embryo looks decidedly human, with eyes, ears,
nose, jaw, mouth, and lips. The tiny arms have elbows, hands, and stubby fingers; the
legs have knees, ankles and toes.
4. The period remaining until birth is called fetal stage of prenatal development. During
this stage, the various organs grow and function more efficiently. By the end of the third
month, the fetus can kick, make a fist, turn its head, open its mouth, swallow, and
frown. In the sixth month, the eyelids, which have been sealed, open. The fetus now has
a well-developed grasp and abundant taste buds, and can breathe regularly for as long
as twenty-four hours at a time.
5. By the end of the seventh month, the organ system, though immature, are all
functional. In the eighth and nine months, the fetus becomes sensitive to a variety of
outside sounds and responds to light and touch. One study showed, for example, that
newborns prefer to listen to recordings in the language Spanish or English spoken by
their parents (Moon, Cooper & Fifer, 1993). Clearly, infants in the womb can hear and
remember what is going on outside.

The Newborn and the Infancy Period

1. The infancy period covers the first two years of life. During their first two years, infants
change more rapidly and more dramatically than during any other 2-year period.
2. Neonates communicate their needs with a cry, a yawn, or an alert squint, but they are
born profoundly ignorant. They have no real knowledge of life, of day and night, self and
others, mine and yours, boy and girl, mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters.
3. Physical and Motor Development Infancy is a time of perceptual and motor
discovery.

11

4. Socio-Emotional Development - During the first year of life, as infants and caregivers
respond to one another, the infant begins to form an attachment a deep, affectionate,
close, and enduring relationship to these important figures. Erik Erikson proposed
that the developmental task of the infancy period is to form a sense of trust (other
terms might be learning confidence or learning to love).
5. Moral Development - The infant period is a pre-religious stage. Infants have little
concept of any motivating force beyond that of their parents. Infants learn when they
do certain actions, parents give affection and approval, for other actions, parents scold
and label the behavior as bad.
6. Cognitive Development - In the first month of life, an infant appears to use only simple
reflective activity. There is little evidence that he sees himself as separate from his
environment at this early age. This does not mean that he is not able to respond actively
or interact with people. He is very people-oriented at this time.
By the third month of life, the child enters a stage identified by Piaget as primary
circular reaction. During this time, he studies objects grasped by his hands and mouth in an
attempt to discover which ones are permanent. He does not appear to be aware, however, of
what actions he can cause or what actions occur independently of him.
At about six months of age, the child has passed into a stage that Piaget called
secondary circular reaction. The infant is able to realize that his actions can initiate pleasurable
sensations. He reaches for a toy above his crib, hits it, watches it move, realizes that his hand
initiated the motion, and so hits it again.
An infant at 10 months old discovers object permanence and will search for an object
that has fallen out of sight. He is ready for peek-a-boo once he has gained the concept of
permanence. A parent exist although he is hidden behind a hand. Piaget called this stage of
cognitive development coordination of secondary schema.
7. Language Development
The child begins to make small, cooing (dovelike) sounds by the end of the first month.
Some parents are able to differentiate their childs cry at this early stage.
The 2-month old differentiates a cry. This means caregivers can begin to distinguish a
cry that means lonely, and so on. This is an important milestone in development for the infant
and in marking how far a parent has progressed in the task of learning the infants cues. The
infants ability to make throaty, gurgling, or cooing sounds also increases at this time.
In response to a nodding, smiling face or a friendly tone of voice, the 3-month old will
squeal with pleasure. This is an important step in development because the baby becomes even
more fun to be with.
By 4 months, an infant is very talkative, cooing and gurgling when spoken to. She
definitely laughs out loud.
By 5 months, the infant says some simple vowel sounds, for example, goo-goo and ahah.
The amount of talking increases at 7 months. The infant can imitate vowel sounds well,
for example, oh-oh, ah-ah, and oo-oo. By 9 months, the infant usually speaks his first word: dada or ba-ba. Occasionally a mother may need reassurance that da-da for daddy is an easier
syllable to pronounce than ma-ma for mother. At 12 months, the infant can generally say two
words besides ma-ma and da-da; she uses those two words with meaning.

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The Toddler Period

1. The toddler period is a stage in which enormous changes take place in the child and,
consequently, in the family as well. During the toddler period, the child accomplishes a
wide array of developmental tasks. He changes from a largely immobile and preverbal
infant, dependent on caregivers from providing most needs to a walking, talking child
with a growing sense of autonomy and independence. The task of the parents is to
support their childs growing independence with patience and sensitivity and to learn
methods for handling the childs frustrations that arise from his quest for autonomy.
2. Physical Development - While toddlers are making great strides developmentally, their
physical growth begins to slow. A child gains only about 5 to 6 lbs. (2.5 kgs) and 12 cm. a
year during the toddler period. Baby fat begins to disappear toward the end of the third
year as the child changes from a plump baby into a learner, more muscular little boy or
girl.
Head circumference equals chest circumference at 6 months to 1 year of age. At 2 years,
chest circumference is greater than that of the head.
Eight new teeth (the canine and the first molars) erupt during the second year. All 20
teeth are generally present by 2.5 to 3 years
3. Socio-Emotional Development - Erikson defines the development task of the toddler
age as learning autonomy versus shame or doubt. Autonomy (self-government or
independence) builds on childrens new motor and mental abilities. When care-givers
are impatient with and do everything for them, they enforce a sense of shame and
doubt. If children are never allowed to do things they want to do, they will eventually
doubt their ability to do them; children stop trying and cannot do them.
4. Moral Development - Toddlers begin to formulate a sense of right and wrong but their
reason for doing right is centered most strongly in what mother or father says rather
than in any spiritual or societal motivation. Kohlberg refers to this as punishmentobedience orientation. The child is good because a parent says the child must be, not
because it is right to be good.
5. Cognitive Development - The toddler period is one of transition as children complete
the final stages of the sensorimotor period and begin to develop some cognitive skills of
the preoperative period such as symbolic thought and egocentric thinking. In the
tertiary circular reaction schema, children use trial and error to discover new
characteristics of objects and events. Toddlers sitting in a high chair and dropping
objects over the edge of the tray are exploring both permanent and the different
actions of toys. During the schema of invention of new means, children are able to
think through actions of mentally project the solution to a problem.
During the period of preoperational thought, children relearn on a conceptual level
some of the lesson they mastered as infants at the sensorimotor level, before having
language. Now children are able to use symbols to represent objects. However, they are
unable to view one object as necessarily being different from another.

The Early Childhood Period

1. Physical Changes & Motor Development
Weight gain is slight during the early childhood period or preschool years. The average
child gains only about 4.5 lbs. (2kg) a year. Appetite remains as it was during the toddler
years, which is considerably less than some parents would like or expect. Height gain is
also minimal during this period; only 2 to 3.5 inches (6 to 8 cm) a year on average.
Children generally have all 20 of their teeth by 3 years of age. Rarely do new teeth erupt

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during this preschool period. Each year during the preschool period marks a major step
in gross motor and fine motor development.
2. Socio-Emotional Development - Erikson defines the developmental tasks of the preschool period as learning initiative versus guilt. Learning initiative is learning how to do
things. Children can initiate motor activities of various sorts on their own. When
children are given much freedom and opportunity to initiate motor play such as running,
riding, sliding, and wrestling or are exposed to such play materials as finger paints, sand,
water, and modeling clay, their sense of initiative is reinforced. Initiative is also
encouraged when parents answer their childs questions (intellectual initiative) and do
not inhibit fantasy or play activity.
3. Moral Development - Children at this age imitate what they see, so if they see lessthan-perfect role modeling, they may copy those wrong actions and assume those
actions are correct. A preschooler will do things for others only in return for things
done for him or her. This means it may be necessary to remind the actions taken on his
or her behalf or trade off actions (e.g. Lie still now for me while I change your clothes
and Ill read you a story when Im through). Kohlberg describes this stage as
instrumental relativist orientation where they see right action as that which is
instrumental in satisfying the self's needs and occasionally others.
4. Cognitive Development - Piaget sees preschool children as moving on to the sub-stage
of preoperational thought termed intuitive thought. During this time, neither the
properties of conservation (the ability to discern truth even though physical properties
changes) or reversibility (ability to retrace steps) are present.
Preschool thinking is also influenced by role fantasy, or how children would like
something to turn out. They perceive animals and even inanimate objects as being
capable of movements or thought and feeling.
Egocentricism or perceiving that ones thoughts and needs are better or more important
than those of others, is also strong during this period. They are unable to believe that
not everyone knows.

The Late Childhood Period

1. Physical Changes & Motor Development children are focused on plays and games.
2. Socio-Emotional Development - Erikson states that developmental tasks of the schoolage period is to develop industry rather than inferiority. During the pre-school period,
children were learning initiative how to do something. Now, children are interested in
learning how to do things well. When children are encouraged in their efforts to do
practical tasks or make practical things, and are praised and rewarded for the finished
results, their sense of industry grows. Parents who see their childrens efforts at making
and doing things as merely mischief or making a mess help to encourage in the
childrens sense of inferiority.
3. Moral Development - School-age children enter a stage of moral development termed
conventional development, the level at which many adults function. Young school-age
children adhere to a phase of development termed the good boy, nice girl stage.
Children engage in action that are nice rather than necessarily right. Sharing for
example, is nice. Stealing is not. Young school-age children may lie about their actions
to disguise that they have been involved in an action that is not nice.
4. Cognitive Development - Piaget views school aged as a period during which concrete
operational thought begins or when accommodation becomes possible. School age
children are able to discover concrete solutions to everyday problems. Conservation and

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reversibility are already present in this period. Conservation of numbers is learned as

early as 7 years or 8 years, of weight at 9 years, and of volume at 11 years. Reasoning
during school age tends to be inductive, proceeding from specific to general. Thus,
school age children can reason that a toy they are holding is broken, that the toy is
made of plastic, and that all plastic toys break easily.
Adolescent Period
1. Puberty a series of physiological changes that render the immature organism capable
of reproduction. Puberty occurs between the age of 9-12 years old.
2.
-

Adolescence means
A transition period between childhood and adulthood
a time of storm and stress (G. Stanley Hall)
Involves letting of go of childhood, forming new attachments and trying out new
identities
A beginning where children become sexually mature and ending when they reach age of
level maturity
Divided into two subdivisions: early adolescence (13 to 16 or 17 y/o) and late
adolescence (18 21 y/o)

3. Physical Development
Girls
Breasts begin to bud
Menarche occurs
Hips begin to widen
Height spurt begins
Pubic hair appears
Peak of height spurt

Boys
Testes begin to enlarge
Spermarche occurs
Penis begin to enlarge
Height spurt begins
Pubic hair appears
Peak of height spurt
Facial hair begins to grow
Voice begins to deepen

4. Socio-Emotional Development - Adolescence experience emotional conflict at some

point due to the rapid and dramatic changes related to physical, cognitive and social
development
Emotions of this group include
Fear fear of not being accepted into a peer group, not having a best friend, being punished
by their parents, having parents divorced or separated, or not doing well in school.
Anger
Guilt often rise when there is a conflict between childrens actions (based on values of the
peer group) and their parents values.
Frustration
Jealousy
Egocentric adolescents have imaginary audience that make them to exaggerate selfconsciousness and to intense awareness of others watching. They have personal fable. Selfesteem tends to drop at the beginning of adolescence and then climb up again.
Bowlby described adolescence as a stage which attachment to the parent-figures are
loosened in order to form new adult-attachment. The amount of time spent with friends
increases dramatically; they spend more of their time with friends than with they do with family
members or by themselves. They place high value on the larger peer group as a source of ideas
and values as well as companionship and entertainment.
The nature of peer relationships has been characterized in terms of social status or level
of acceptance by peers.

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Sigmund Freuds PsychoAnalytic/Psychosexual Theory views an adolescent in genital

stage. It is a stage where the oediphal or electra feelings initially felt during the phallic stage are
reactivated and directed toward other persons of the opposite sex.
5. Moral Development - Kohlberg describes adolescents as in the level of conventional
morality. Conventional morality is characterized by an acceptance of societys
conventions concerning right and wrong. The individual obeys rules and follows
societys norms.
From good-boy, nice-girl stage, the adolescent is learning to become more broadly
concerned with society as a whole. He or she obeys laws and the authority and does
actions as expected by the society. Kohlberg describe this stage as law and order
orientation.
As adolescent become capable of abstract thought, they are capable of internalizing
standards of conduct (they do what they think is right regardless of whether they have
social rules. This is termed post conventional development. In this stage, when asked
why it is wrong to steal from a neighbor, the adolescent would answer, Because it
deprives the neighbor of possessions he or she has earned. Adolescents are capable of
carrying out self-care measures even when someone else is not present because they
are capable of understanding not only the importance of measures to themselves, but
also the principle that certain things should be done simply because they are right.
Many adolescents do not enter this phase of development, however, and as adults they
continue to act like school-age children, doing right things only when obvious authority
or set rules are present.
6. Cognitive Development - Jean Piaget describes adolescence as a formal operational
stage of cognitive development. This stage covers children from 11 or 12 years of age;
this age also covers adults.
7. Identity Development - Erik Ericksons Psychosocial Theory describes an adolescent as
identity vs. role confusion. Erickson saw this identity as being based in introjection1 of
others qualities, or identification with others. During adolescence, a process of identity
formation takes place in which the individual makes her own decisions about what
constitutes the real me
Successful resolution will lead to secure sense of ego identity where the individual has
developed a defined personality within a social reality which he/she understands; she
has a secure sense of herself as a consistent person.
Difficulty in this stage may result to identity confusion about who and what she really is.
This can lead to over-identification with peer groups or things like cults, or deviant subcultures (crime and drugs) on the basis that any identity is better than none.
Four Kinds of Identity Status by James Marcia
1. Identity foreclosure
Indicates a kind of pseudo identity. Adolescents in this stage have never experienced an
identity crisis. They have prematurely established an identity on the basis of their
parents choices rather than their own.
2. Identity diffusion

Introjection - the unconscious adoption by somebody of the values or attitudes of somebody else, whom

that person wants to impress or be accepted by

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16

An identity status characterized by the avoidance of commitment and indecision about

major life issues. This explains teenagers who lie in bed, watch TV and refuse to think
about or discuss the future.
3. Moratorium
Adolescents in this stage have begun to experiment with occupational and ideological
choices but have not yet made definitive commitments to either. These individuals are
directly in the midst of an identity crisis and are currently examining alternate life
choices.
4. Identity achievement
Individuals with this status have resolved their crises and made firm commitments to
ideals and plans, based on their own thinking and not simply on ideas imposed by or
uncritically accepted from others.

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