Lifespan Development - Assignment Example

Lifespan Development, Autobiographical Report Introduction This is an essay that is going to reflect on my lifespan development. Lifespan development are all the changes I have undergone since I was a child. They are inclusive of: Physical development, Cognitive development, Emotional development, Social development and Moral development. These are the developments each person goes through from the time they are born to the current stage in their life. In this paper as indicated in the title. I will be highlighting the changes I have observed in myself from the early stages of childhood to the current stage of my life. However, in this paper I will not be handling all the types of changes I have undergone but I will major my example of changes on the socio-emotional developments that have occurred in my life. Social-emotional development Social-emotional growth contains the experience of a child, a child's expression, and control of emotions/feelings and the ability to set up positive and fulfilling connections with other people. Social-emotional development includes the intra- and interpersonal processes. What this means is that social-emotional development deals with the changes of emotions a child depicts from his time of development. Emotions are feelings that are identifiable as one grows up and vary from person to person. Social-emotional development is very dependent on the early stages of a child’s growth. Any negativity in emotional growth that a child picks as he is growing up will always reflect in his late stages of social-emotional development. Emotions are very important to understand and be able to control them. It is good for everyone to know that the emotions you display at a time always affect those you are interacting with. Take an example of an angry student who comes to class fully showing his anger. Often, he wish direct the anger to all the other students by being rude to them, harassing them and by doing some actions that will just annoy others. From this example, you will find that whenever emotions are involved you affect those around you and thus we cannot talk of emotional development and leave out the social development. Hence these forms of development are intertwined together to form what is referred to as social-emotional development (Erikson). The early years after the birth of a child to about 2 years are the foundation of a child’s social-emotional development. These years are when the child is able to learn about trust. This is the stage when a child is just an infant. A child who is well loved, nurtured and well handled by all around the child will often develop optimism, sense of security and general trust that is reflective throughout his life. In case the child is not treated well and nurtured, the child is often going to have trust issues and will feel insecure. These years as an infant are so vague in my mind and am not sure of my emotional experiences at this time. My parents and those around me that time are the most likely to know the kind of development I exhibited. I did not get a person, who fully remembers how these years were to me, to explain him I was trustful and secure. All I can do is speculate that I was well loved and nurtured because I exhibit high levels of trust to those around me to this day. Preschool Stage At the age of three to five there was evidently drastic development with regard to my social-emotional development. This is the age at which a person is expected to be at preschool. At this age, I felt a sense of control. I developed some form of stubbornness and some negativism. This is a phase where anything I was told to do was often followed by a no from me. At this age I was adamant at the act of my mother trying to hold my hand as we crossed the road. I was also full of many questions just trying to understand why everything is as it is. This character at this stage of development is that I felt so sure of myself and was happy that I had some level of control in my life. At the later years of preschool, I was full of imaginations and fantasies. I was also playful and loved the company of other children especially in the playgrounds. I was now able to cooperate with others on several occasions. Though I deemed myself to be big enough, I was still dependent on my parents to do stuff for me. These actions are all visible on all children with normal development. Junior High School/ Elementary school At this stage, I learnt to relate with peers based on set rules. Unlike in preschool where play was just play with no complex rules, in this stage I learnt to follow rules while playing in any game. I developed formalness in my interaction with people and I was now aware of the boundaries I should never cross. This was a change from my preschool social-emotional development because in preschool I was so inquisitive on everything even topics I should not be discussing at that age but in this stage I was able to comprehend when I should stop asking questions and the boundaries not to cross when relating to peers. I was now able to completely tell between right and wrong. This is a stage where every child with healthy development feels that he has to abide by rules set while doing anything hence my action of knowing the limits that should not be crossed and the child is industrious in his way of life. A child who did not get a good foundation during development will often feel inferior among the peers. Adolescence This is at the ages where a person is referred to as a teenager. At this stage, I was able to answer the question ‘who am I?’ I was able to realise what kind of personality I had by the way I was interacting with others. I became more self-conscious of how I look and there were physical changes that came with these emotional developments. I started noticing the peers of the opposite sex. The difference in while in this stage from the previous stages of development is that you no longer feel free around the opposite sex. One gets self-conscious. Earlier, while playing, gender did not arise as an issue but in this stage it certainly becomes an issue. In this stage I had realistic hope for the future and who I want to be in life (Erikson). Young Adulthood This is the stage that I can currently classify myself in. In this stage, I experienced the first real intimacy. I have come to learn what it means to love and be loved by someone. The contrary is also true. I have felt the effects of heartbreak. Unlike all the other stages, this is the stage that defines the rest of your love life and the type of friends you will have till you grow old. Normally, this is the stage everybody in their emotional development is expected to experience true intimacy in their life. Work Cited Erikson, Erik. Stages of Social-Emotional Development. 1956. Web. 25/10/2013. http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/erickson/. Read More