Notes

(C1 1.2) Describe social, emotional, cognitive, and physical developments within each life stage.

During the life stage infancy which is zero to two years of age infants go through a period of rapid growth and development. During the beginning of this life stage when the baby is a new born when being fed, they will demonstrate engagement with their carer and will often fix their eyes as this occurs. From about four to six weeks babies will start to smile, this is the child hearing their carers voices and interacting with them. By one year of age, they will learn to offer toys to others or become wary of strangers. Once the child is eighteen months old, they will start to remember where objects are; this is the child being eager to be independent. This will also encourage socialising since the child will be alone a bit more. For example, on a park therefore another child might go up to them to play with them. Once the child is two years old, they have developed a lot socially. They will often engage in role play, (such as having a doll who is aa baby and putting this baby to bed). They also might engage in solitary play; types of play may be influenced by cultural factors; children might copy and role play adults. This is the child being engaged socially. A new born baby will demonstrate happiness often when they are being cared for, for example if they are in the bath or being cuddled. This is because the baby feels a sense of security. When the infant becomes six months old, one year old, eighteen months old, and two years old they will turn their heads immediately when they hear their main carer’s voice. They start to recognise emotions in other individuals and copy that, however this does not mean that the child is necessarily experiencing that emotion. As the child learns to express and experience emotions, they might start to demonstrate temper tantrums. They will also start to often request their main carer and demonstrate a strong attachment with their main carer. They will mainly show this by clinging onto their main carer. The infant life stage is when cognitive development will happen the most. This is because the child is exploring their environment for the first time. A new born baby will respond to noises and other sounds by reacting to them, for example making noises and sounds back. A new born baby will also start to show an interest in their surroundings such as following people with their eyes and looking around. This is why new born babies like to go on walks in their pushchairs. Once the baby is around six months old, they will start to understand the meaning of some words, such as ‘up’ or ‘down’, ‘bye bye’. To demonstrate this the child will make gestures, such as waving their hand when someone says ‘bye bye’. Once the child becomes around nine months old, they will start to recognise familiar pictures and faces. The child’s language will then start to develop, such as using monosyllables. When the child is between one year old, eighteen months old and two years old their language will progress from imitation of adult sounds, to understanding words, to saying a few words. The number of words that the child uses will increase. They will be able to recognise parts of their body and point to them on themselves and others. They will start to respond to commands. For example, ‘where’s the dog?’. They will also then

know their own name. They will start to name objects and what they are doing. This meaning that the child is starting to develop a lot of knowledge about themselves and the people around them and the environment around them. When the baby is a Newborn they do not develop much physically and they require a lot of help. For example, their carer will support them to lift their head up. Around 12 weeks old the baby will start to keep their own head and chest up while laying on their stomach (supine); they might also start to kick their legs. From around six to nine months old the baby will get their first teeth and they will start sitting, rolling and crawling. From nine to twelve months the baby will get a fine pincer grip and they will start walking and cruising. From twelve to eighteen months the baby will start to climb, kneel, they will start to be able to stand from sitting down and they will start to be able to climb the stairs with support from their carer. From eighteen months old to two years old the baby will start to be able to run and climb the stairs one at a time without any support being provided to them by their carer. (Wyatt et al., 2017b)

During the childhood life stage children develop a lot socially. This is because this is when the amount of people that they socialise with broadens. They will start a nursery and then a primary school. This therefore meaning that they will meet individuals with different characters. They will explore different personalities. Whilst in this life stage between the ages three and four a child will start to share their toys and they will also start to understand the concept of taking turns and start to follow simple rules in games. The child might also sometimes become bossy and defiant and show more independence. For example, they will demonstrate this by dressing and undressing themselves. They also might show attachment to one friend; this might be because of their interests and personalities. A child will start to form a lot more bonds meaning that they will be closer to some people more than others. As the child becomes four and older, they will start to develop friendships with even more kids. They might compare themselves to other kids and adults. They will 3256start to initiate the games or join in and play with other children independently. They will also start to create their own games. They will start to shown an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. (Stucke, 2017) They will also listen whilst others are speaking and then they will start to respond with better structured sentences. This meaning that conversations will be clearer. They will start to engage in imaginative play, which will widen their social life. They will start to take part in increasingly complex play. As well as this, as children develop, they will display loyalty to a group and will often have a best friend that shares similar interests to them. During the childhood life stage, a child becomes very knowledgeable about their emotions and they also become very aware about other people’s emotions. They are also knowledgeable on the fact that it is possible that themselves or that someone else might be experiencing multiple emotions. They also gain the capacity for empathic and sympathetic involvement in other’s emotional experiences. For example, a child hugging their carer when they seem low. (Saarni, 2011) The child also starts to feel the same emotions as others. For example, if their carer or their friend cries then they might cry to as it upsets them to see someone that they have a bond with upset. As a child enters the childhood life stage they are around the age where they start to show affection for their younger siblings; they start to realise that they are the older sibling who needs to care for and look after their younger sibling. They start to develop traits such as forgiveness. For example, if their friend breaks their toy, they will be forgiving. They also develop concepts of being fair. For example, not cheating in the games that they play, which maybe they would have done at a younger age. A child will develop in self-confidence. Self-confidence may be demonstrated when a child goes to the Doctors and they tell the GP themselves how they are feeling instead of their parent doing it.

In this life stage individuals attend a nursey and a primary school so they develop a lot cognitively. Their language becomes better and more fluent. This enhances how well that they work since they

can ask a question about something that they don’t understand and get a reply successfully. This helps to develop understanding and also widens their knowledge. Throughout the childhood life event children begin to draw and sketch things around them. This helps them to characteristics and shapes on certain objects; they can start to notice similarities and differences between certain objects. (Pillai, 2015) In the earlier stages of this life stage around the age of three years when a child is attending a nursery, they start to remember songs and rhymes which they learn in nursery. They will start to understand the concept of time as well around the age of three years, which develops how quick they process numbers as well. As the child starts to age between the ages of four and ten, they begin to understand abstract problems such as talking about something that has happened or that is going to happen, along with showing an interest in writing and reading. As the child gets older, they will be able to read more complex stories and use this language in their writing. When the child starts to read the number of words that they know starts to increase. They will also become more confident when speaking, writing and reading. Children gain more strength and agility during this life stage. They become more controllable over their body and more balanced. This therefore meaning that they can do more activities such as riding a bike, kicking and throwing a large ball, skipping, hopping and taking part in a sport later on in this life stage. As well as this, their writing becomes more co-ordinated as they have a better grip with their hand. This also helps them to have better control over implements such as paint brushes. Their fine motor skills also become better so they can therefore colour inside of the lines and cut using a line as a guide. Children also change physically in the way that their appearance changes. For example, they become taller and grow more head hair.

Individuals change in all aspects of development rapidly in the life stage adolescence. An individual’s social life develops a lot during this life stage. This is because they will start secondary school and college meaning that they will be exposed to a lot of new people. This will increase the number of friends that they have due to socialising with more new people. Some adolescents might also develop different bonds during this life event, such as a girlfriend or a boyfriend. As well as this, individuals become increasingly independent from their parents. This is because they gain a lot more freedom, they might get a job, have their own income, and be able to go to places on their own. Adolescents develop a lot emotionally they understand a different perspective whilst being able to think about others. They can also experience wide emotional swings and tiredness due to the influence of hormones. This can often cause adolescents to feel misunderstood, because it can sometimes be difficult for them to manage themselves. It can be a stressful period as individuals may feel anxious as they might feel self-conscious about their own appearance. They develop their own culture and values, which might be in conflict with their main carers. This can cause the adolescent to feel more stressed and isolated. Adolescents’ cognitive development increases a lot; adolescents are able to process increasingly complex information and abstract thought. They can reason and derive conclusions. Their knowledge increases and their memory functions efficiently. They sit GCSE’s during this life event meaning that their knowledge is broadened massively and they also choose which GCSE subjects to take meaning that they are learning about subjects which they are interested in. This can either be ecstatic or stressful for adolescents or both. During this age group individuals develop a lot physically this is due to Puberty. Individuals get stronger during this life event and they are able to do more activities. Both females and males experience puberty, however they are different aspects in female’s puberty to men’s puberty. Puberty is the period of time where a child’s body develops and they turn into an adult. During puberty they is an increate in genital growth, this is where a female’s ovaries, uterus and vagina grow. Similar to this males’ penises and testicles will grow. Both females and males will start grow pubic hair and facial hair. However, females grow less facial hair then males. Female’s breasts will grow and they will grow

taller and their hips will widen. Males will also grow taller and become more muscular. Males will experience ‘voice breaks’. This is where their voice changes as it gets permanently deeper. Both females and males will have an increase in body sweat as their sweat glands become larger and more active. Puberty can also possibly cause both females and males to get acne. Females will experience the commencement of menstruating known as the menarche. This will be irregular at first. (Wyatt et al., 2017c)

Social relationships are likely to change in early adulthood. They are likely to change in the early stages of middle adulthood as individuals are taking different routes in life. For example, going to university or getting a job. This meaning that they will meet a lot of new people and their timetables are likely to be very different. Social relationships are also likely to change towards the middle stages and late stages of middle adulthood. This is because people gain more priorities than what they did have, such as work and children. Individuals in this life event are likely to have less time to socialise due to being busy so their friendships might change so that they are friends with people in similar situations. Individuals will meet new people in this life event. For example, the carers of the children who their children are friends with and colleagues. However, they may not socialise with this people out of school and work as their routines might not be similar. Many adults do still remain friends with the people from their school, especially if they share the same cultures but they won’t see each other as much as they used to. Early adulthood can be extremely stressful for a lot of individuals. This is because their expectations of a carer may be different to reality. A lot of situations can cause emotional changes as adults to attempt to manage the situation. For example, partnerships can cause upset sometimes weather they are lifelong partnerships or not lifelong partnerships. The challenge of balancing work demands and family life can be difficult tom manage sometimes and it may cause arguments and let downs and one partner may feel lonely and isolated. Adults will form attachments with partners and their own children. These can be influenced by an adult’s own experience. Adults continue to learn through out this period of their lives. They may develop new skills for a job and acquire new knowledge, and this may be through formal or informal learning. For example, learning how to care for an elderly individual in and residential care home. This will include doing training on how to use a commode properly. The majority of adults work through out this stage of their life, earning a living and often focus on establishing their careers. Individuals do not develop physically much during the early adulthood life event. By the time you reach early adulthood, our physical maturation is complete, although our height and weight may increase slightly. In early adulthood, our physical abilities are at their peak, including muscle strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac functioning. (Lumen, 2009a) During this life event your body is physically strong enough and able enough to take part in any activity that you want to take part in. You do not physically develop much in this life event as puberty would have stopped for you or becoming to an end for you but your body will still be healthy enough. For example, your immune system will still be strong enough to prevent you from becoming ill. Your appearance will not change much during this life event.

Social relationships stay the same in middle adulthood as they were in early adulthood. Individuals still socialise and meet new people in the same sort of ways, such as work but individuals still have a lot of priorities. Some individuals might even have more priorities now, such as grandchildren. Focusing on areas such as grandchildren might limit social activity or individuals might prioritise the child’s socialising over their own socialising. For example, they might choose to take the child to the park where the child’s friends are instead of going to do an activity with their own friends. Most individuals will still be friends with the people from school but they won’t see each other as much as they used to see each other due to not having similar life’s meaning that they aren’t both free at the

same time. This period often sees an attempt to balance work and relationships with changes in ageing. It can be a very emotional period for some individuals because as they age so do their children meaning that their children are growing up and moving out. This can be a major transition and source of sadness along with pride for some parents. Going through menopause can also create sadness as loss of the ability to have children signifies a major role change in individuals. A lot of individuals will experience happiness and become overwhelmed during this life event due to their children having children and them taking on the role of becoming a grandparent. This might make some individuals feel relieved if they have experienced or are experiencing their menopause as they will have the role of taking care of children again. Individuals might make career changes as they assess their lives and decided about balancing family and work. Many adults do carry on learning throughout this period, although there might be some decline in cognitive functions such as memory and problem solving. For example, towards the end of this life stage an individual might have been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia. This meaning that they might sometimes forget stuff. This might therefore mean that it isn’t safe for them to work anymore. This could cause the individual to feel stressed and confused as they are no longer in the working routine that they know of. For many people, middle adulthood is a time of declining physical skills. There are a number of physical signs and changes in appearance. For example, the skin begins to lose fat and collagen; hair can become thinner and greyer. Internally adults tend to lose muscle length and strength along with bone density. Vision and hearing can also decline. As well as this, the immune system becomes less adept at fighting off illness, and reproductive capacity starts to decline. This therefore increases individual’s chances of becoming ill.

In later adulthood individuals don’t socially develop. A lot of individuals this age become lonely and feel isolated; this is because they aren’t physically able to go out and socialise any more. Some individuals might also experience ageism during this life event where employers or colleagues view older people in a negative way and believe that they do not have the mental cognition to work. Different individuals might view retirement in different ways. Some individuals might view retirement as a positive that they can now have more time for other things such as their family, friends and themselves. However, some people might also view retirement in a negative way. Retirement can provide an opportunity to take up new skills and experiences, although in some cases people may struggle with not having work as a focus for their social relationships. Some individuals might only socialise whilst at work. They might not have any family or friends. A lot of individuals go into a residential care home during later adulthood. This means that individuals will socialise with their careers and also create new friend ships with other residents. However, an individual can also feel alone in a residential care home, especially if other people are having family and friends visit them but they aren’t. Later adulthood can be very emotional for a lot of individuals. The loss of their parents, other family members, their partner and their friends can lead to a decrease in self-esteem and self-confidence. This can cause an individual to feel low and depressed. Older people can find tasks harder to complete, which can also impact upon this. This can cause the individual distress, frustration and to not feel good enough. It can be difficult to adjust to a change in role, such as retirement, and some may need support throughout this process. However, some older individuals might not be able to afford a form of formal support but they might not have anyone to provide them a form of informal support. Cognitive development in this life stage depends on the individual’s ability to carry on learning. Many adults in this age group do carry on learning and some take up new skills. There is an increased risk in dementia during this life stage, which is a progressive disease that affects normal brain functioning. (Wyatt et al., 2017d) This meaning that some adults in this life stage are unable to carry on learning and to also take up new skills as they will forget certain things and will get confused. Individuals will experience a lot of physical changes during this life

event. A gradual physical decline accompanies ageing. There is a continual decline in physical well-being from middle adulthood along with a decline in mobility. Sensory functions such as seeing and hearing can decline. There can be a reduction in the ability to absorb nutrients and this can lead to an increase in the risk of being unwell. Many of the body systems such as cardiovascular or musculoskeletal can decline in older age and conditions such as arthritis may present. Arthritis is a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in a joint. (NHS, 2017) Individuals in the later adulthood life stage will experience their skin wrinkling at an accelerated rate, their sense losing their acuity and their voice becoming less powerful. Other physical changes will occur like the loss of teeth, their bones becoming brittle, and their joints becoming stiff. (Scott, 2013)