Describe physical, intellectual, emotional and social development through the life stages

AS and A Level Healthcare

P1: Describe physical, intellectual, emotional and social development through the life stages

The life stages we are going to be discussing are:

Conception (Fertilisation)
Pregnancy (Before birth, which can take up to 9 months)
Birth and infancy (0-3 years)
Childhood (4-9 years)
Adolescence (10-18 years)
Adulthood (19-65 years)
Older adulthood (65+)
The final stages of life (death)

The physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of a child is known as P.I.E.S

P-Physical development is the process of becoming mature biologically

I-Intellectual development is the development of thinking language skills

E-Emotional development if the development of feeling towards other people and ourselves

S-Social development is developing relationships with people

Conception

The male sex cell (gamete it also called) is the sperm and the female sex cell (which is also called a gamete) is known as the ovum. Fertilisation occurs when the sperm enters an ovum, however every single ovum may not be fertilised. The female’s sex cell is bigger than the male’s sex cell, with a tail for the male sex cell so that it can move. The front of the sperm is called the acrosome, which contains enzymes which digests the ovum’s coating. The large amount of cytoplasm in the ovum contains yolk droplets which had protein in them along with lipids; all of this helps the embryo grow initially.

Physical

After being conceived there’s not a lot of physical development as it is all done during pregnancy.

Emotional

Again, because it is mainly done during the pregnancy so there’s not a lot of development emotionally.

Social

Due to the fact that the baby is inside the woman’s womb and there are not a lot of people that know about the pregnancy.

Intellectual

Intellectual development only starts developing during pregnancy.

Pregnancy

There are two main definitions of what pregnancy is and these are

Condition of having an embryo or foetus developing in the body
The process in which a female human carries a live offspring from conception until childbirth

The time it takes from conception to birth is known as gestation period which lasts for around 40 weeks, it can be earlier or longer than that depending on complications, the time starts from the mother’s last period. For people who have used artificial insemination or vitro fertilisation (IVF) it only lasts 38 weeks.

There are three stages to pregnancy these are called trimesters, which lasts three months each. The name embryo is used to describe the human developing in the first eight weeks of gestation. After eight weeks, in which all the parts of the embryo has been developed then it is known as the foetus.

Physical

During the first three months of the baby’s growth bones begin to harden and some of the baby’s organs begin to form. After third month going onto the sixth month the air sacs are formed in their lungs and the eyes have been developed. Six month until birth which is around nine months the nervous system is developing and the lungs are maturing so that the baby can breathe when born.

Emotional

During pregnancy there is not a lot of emotional development happening because the baby is not born.

Social

Social development start when the baby forms a bump in the mother’s belly, as the baby’s parents will talk to the bump and therefore the baby should recognise their mother/father, some father’s don’t talk to the bump, all mother’s do.

Intellectual

Intellectual development is not rapid because there’s not a lot of information apart from recognising their parents.

Birth and infancy (0-3 years)

It takes around 38 weeks for a foetus to be developed enough for the mother to give birth and for the baby to survive outside the mother’s womb. Babies are most likely to be born head first but there is a thing called breech presentation in which the baby gets born bottom first. If the baby is in distress then a caesarean section in necessary.

There are three stages to labour

The cervix is stretched around ten centimetres which is also called ten centimetres dilated, which means the head can pass through the vagina.

The baby gets expelled, which means normally head first facing backwards, and then the baby rotates so that the shoulders can be delivered one at a time

The placenta or afterbirth is expelled.

After the birth of their baby it is up to the parents to look after the baby, this is because they are now dependant on their parents for care. The mother of a child can be sent home from hospital within six hours as long as there are no complications, after birth a midwife will come and check on the mother and the baby.

During the first three years of a baby’s life, this is where they grow in all aspects in life.

Physical

Not all children will do ...

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The placenta or afterbirth is expelled.

During the first three years of a baby’s life, this is where they grow in all aspects in life.

Physical

Not all children will do the same thing at the same time, this can be because they are just slow at responding or they have a medical problem which will become clear during time. A baby begins to take control of their head and neck first and it will work down meaning they will gain the control of their feet last. To make sure the child is progressing there is a health professional signed to a child, this professional will look as the child’s growth and development and make sure that there is nothing medically wrong with them, and if there is a medical condition to do with the child, then the health care professional should bring it to the attention of a doctor.

Emotional

At one month old a baby will

Cry when they want something
Quieten or smile when they can hear a voice

At two months old a baby will

Use their five senses to explore
When picked up the child will stop crying
Smile and become more responsive to people.

Three months old

To friendly handling they will respond and they will smile
Have a greater bond with their carer(s)
They can show emotions
Can tell sometimes the feelings of another person

6 months old

Show a preference to their carer(s)
They are more aware of how they are related to people and things
Stop crying when they are being spoken to

9 months old

Cry to get their needs met, but they will also cry for people to fuss them
Show pleasure and interest in words that are familiar to them.

12 months old

They can show anger when they are angry
They can be shy around people they don’t know

15 months old

They know what ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’ mean and they are beginning to express themselves
When the child gets angry they will throw toys
Are emotionally unstable and unpredictable
Can feel jealousy

18 months old

Show curiosity
Can show social emotions .i.e. sympathy
Have mood swings
Don’t like being angry

2 years

Have tantrums
Capable of being loving and responsive

3 years

Can be patient
Less rebellious and they talk rather than have tantrums
Show affection to other siblings
Want approval of adults they love

Social

Social development starts from when either the mother or father holds the child, if the mother does hold the baby this begins their bonding, and they will quickly learn the difference between family, strangers and friends.

Intellectual

Intellectually a baby will grow lots during this time, a baby will learn to talk they will do this by listening to the people around them. A baby believes there’s nothing bad in the world as they won’t see a lot of the world. Before learning to speak, a baby will use facial expressions until they can talk. it is during this time a baby will learn to follow people and things as they move with their eyes, they will learn to turn and they will explore things by putting it in their mouths. From seven to twelve months a baby will learn to make sounds like ‘Mama’ or ‘Dada’ they will look for things that aren’t in sight and they can play pat-a-cake and will learn to say goodbye.

Childhood (4-9 years)

During this life stage the child will grow in all different part of their development.

Physical

Physically a child will expand on the things they have learned during infancy, they will learn to fully master things they know already. At four/five a child can take one step at a time when walking down the stairs, they can also run a little faster than before. At five/six a child can ride bicycles with training wheels (stabilisers) for support. The child can step sideways, play on the jungle gym and swing without supervision. They also like to play organized sports like football, karate and dance.

Intellectual

From 3/4 the child can fasten clothes with zippers and snaps and will gain independence when getting changed, though it can take a long time for them to get changed. They can learn to write with fat pens and they are able to open jars. Aged 4/5 the child can unbutton and button clothes themselves. They can draw stick people and can copy shapes like circles. 5/7 they begin to show signs of starting full-time school. They can use pencils, crayons and paints. Children are able to brush their teeth and comb their hair. Toilet training is normally completed by five, though accidents can and will happen, the most common time for accidents would be night time.

Emotional

From around four years old, the child will become confident and self-assured, they will also be afraid of the dark and other fears, when ill, overtired or hurt a child will turn to their carers or adults. At the age of five they can show their emotions properly and they show a desire to excel in life and they also develop shame. At six/seven they are times where the child will become rebellious; they can also become miserable and sulky around this time too.

Social

At four years old the child may only have one friend in which they are particularly friendly with, hey can be good when socialising, can take turns and they play with groups of children. At five a child will want approval of adults, will prefer games with rivalry than team games. The child will argue with their carers/parents if they want something. The child will enjoy co-operative play but will need an adult to decide. At six/seven the child is more aware of gender characteristics.

Adolescence (10-18 years)

Physical

When becoming adolescence physical development isn’t just based on height, for girls it is based when they have their first menstrual cycle and for boys it’s about the first whiskers. Sexual maturity is dependent on the person but for girls it’s usually around 10.5 for girls and 12.5 for boys.

Intellectual

Intellectually at this time, the teenager is still in school until they are sixteen, this means that their intellectual development is still growing because of them being still in school. They also have a grasp of general knowledge and they can put this to use when learning new things.

Emotional

Emotionally a teenager will know how to express their emotions but they may do it in the wrong way.

Social

A teenager will value their friends a lot more, and there will be heterosexual groups, and dating will become important. The teenager will spend more time with their friends.

Adulthood (19-65 years)

Physical

During this period a person my grow a bit more and add a little weight to their teenage frame. In the Early Adulthood stages of a person’s life it’s common to have children and finish their full breast development. Middle adulthood is where the skin looses elasticity and wrinkles begin to form.

Intellectual

General knowledge is becoming more varied during both stages of adulthood.

Emotional

Emotionally finding love is a boost for emotional self-esteem, and leaving home can also have an impact of emotional development.

Social

During this period early adulthood it’s about finding love and getting married and during this time, children can also be formed. Couples are living together more so they don’t have to get married. During middle adulthood their children are growing up and some may have even left home and got themselves a boyfriend. Midlife crises are common around this time.

Older adulthood (65+)

Physical

This is where the skin has lost lots of elasticity and there are lots of wrinkles, their reaction time slows down and they may need glasses during this time period.

Intellectual

Intellectually the older adult has a vast range of knowledge, this is due to school, and for what they have seen or read.

Emotional

Emotionally an older adult may become more or less emotional then before; they might either find themselves crying to things they wouldn’t necessarily cry at before. Yet, a person may become stranger and find themselves not crying at something they would have before. A short temper or more patience

Social

The only social aspects during this period are

Family members
People they have known for ages
Older people may not meet new people

The final stage of life (death)

There are times during life where a person can die, this can be a result of illness, accidents, murder or manslaughter there can even be a war in which lives are lost.

Dying and death are inevitable yet, people find it hard to talk about it. Before death the social interactions with their family members are those that will be the memories of the family members.

Growth and development

Growth and development are sometime used to mean the same thing, they don’t. Growth is increasing in physical size. Development is becoming mature and sophisticated.

Growth is a straight forward meaning and it’s easy to understand, whereas development is more difficult to describe and it’s more complicated to understand. To begin with every human starts as a fertilised egg and then splits into many different parts. Though we don’t end up with the same cells, they become specialised cells such as nerve or muscle cells, and these cells then make the organs.

There are many ways in which you can measure growth and development. Charts are used to see if there is any difference in the weight/height of the person they are examining. There is a more accurate measurement, the B.M.I (Body Mass Index), the B.M.I calculates a person’s height and weight and it estimates how much body fat that person has.

Development norms and milestones

Human development is predictable as there are certain things in life that happen which always does. An example of this would be... A baby can sit before they can crawl. Development norms or milestones happen when we link an expected development to an expected timeframe.

Life course and continuous of life

The course of life is the uniqueness of someone’s life. The stages a person goes through are set and they can’t change, and they refer to the continuum of life. During the continuum of life, there will be different things for everyone.

Maturation

Arnold Gesell, in 1925 was the first person to use maturation to describe the genetic changes that all people go through. Girls and women will go through puberty and they will also go through the menopause.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy is how long a person is expected to live for, and it is increasing all the time.

Development

Holistic development

Holistic development is the development in a wider sense which means not just physically or mental alone.

Physical, intellectual, emotional and social development

The four main types of development are Physical, intellectual, emotional and social, and within those four development types it can be abbreviated into;

Physical development- this is becoming biologically mature overtime
Intellectual development- this is the development of thinking and language skills
Emotional development- this is developing feelings about other people and yourself
Social development- this is forming different relationships

Physical development

Physical development involves the separation of cells and the formation of the body’s organs.

Motor skills are also learned and these can be split into two categories

Gross motor skills are skills that use muscles e.g. crawling and walking

Fine motor skills involve hand and finger movements e.g. writing and using a knife and fork

Motor skills development is the area of physical development which is monitored by the health care professionals during infancy. It’s the professionals like physiotherapists that can help a person regain their gross or fine motor skills ability if they’ve been in an accident or they’ve had a stroke.

Intellectual development

Intellectual development begins from birth and leads into adulthood. We change the way we think, the way we communicate and the way we see the world around us. A baby can be seen repeating movements; this is because they are learning about cause and effect. Babies also learn that something still exists even if they can’t see it.

Learning to communicate and developing language skills are part of intellectual development too. Young babies are quite skilled communicators even though they can’t talk they will use facial expressions to communicate.

Emotional and social development

Like other developments social and emotional development continue all the way through our lives. Emotional and social are often together as they interlink.

Babies recognise those who interact with them and prefer to be in the company of them, than strangers.

During adolescence is where there are many changes happening at once, there’s the beginning of puberty and then there’s trying to find out who they are and what their personality is going to be like. When coping with puberty and its effects it can lead to the teenager asking what normal is. There are a few issues that adolescents face:

Pressure from people and relationships
Relationships forming and intimacy
Understanding self
Establishing their identity
Their relationship with their parents

During adolescence new friendships may form and these can last all the way through into adulthood, friendships become more important than ever before. New roles in work, partner, or at work and they may even become a parent. With every new role that begins there’s an effect on the person’s relationship and their identity. Middle adulthood and the parenthood roles and working roles change. Children may leave home and they could have a promotion. Older adulthood and the parenting role may have been reversed as the children may care for their parents.

Potential causes and effects of delayed development

Genetic
Biological
Socio-economic
Life events(predictable/unpredictable)
Interrelationships between factors
Lifestyle
Environment

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Sam Morran

27th of Mar 2013

This is an essay that starts really well. Like many others that discuss development through the life stages - it is stronger on infancy and childhood. It doesn't really discuss the later life stages too well and there are areas for improvement. It could be enhanced by looking at more theories to do with cognitive development and discussing this area - particularly in childhood. It also needs more discussion in teenager and adults with regard to self esteem and developing identity. A good start with potential to develop.

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