Infants have the physical ability to recognise and interact with people. Babies prefer the sound of human voices to other sounds and soon learn to recognise their mother’s voice.
Babies are helpless at the early stages when it comes to muscle coordination and control. Babies cannot hold their head up, roll over, sit up or use their hands to move objects deliberately.
At 0-1 month, the baby will have the ability to lift their head slightly. At 6 months they will have the ability to pass an object from one hand to another. Also at this age, they will be able to roll over. At 9- 10 months, the baby will be able to crawl. And at 12 months, they will have the ability to stand alone.
Language & Intellectual
Around 3 months infants begin to make babbling noises as they learn to control the muscles associated with speech. When they become 12 months old, infants begin to imitate sounds made bt carers such as ‘da-da’; this develops into the use of single words. At 2 years old infants usually begin to make two-word statements such as ‘cat goed’ (meaning the cat has gone away). The infant begins to build their vocabulary and knowledge of words. Then at 3 years old children develop their language skills by beginning to make simple sentences such as ‘I want drink’. This develops into the ability to ask questions, ‘When we go?’ Knowledge of words (vocabulary) grows very rapidly.
Emotional
At such a young age, infants should be with their carer as much as possible. Early attachment influences the assumptions we make about our self and others. Infants who are securely attached will grow up with the emotional resources needed to cope with uncertainty in life. Infants who are insecurely attached may have a reduced ability to cope with stress and major life events.
Social
Infants appear to have an in-built tendency to interact with carers. By 2 months they may start to smile at human faces. And at 3 months they will respond when adults talk. When they become 5 months of age, infants can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people. Infants make their first relationships as they from an emotional attachment to carers. In the later stages of infancy, infants will play alongside other children (parallel play).
Childhood 4-10
Physical
At this stage children will continue to grow in size and strength, by the age of 6 s child’s head will be 90 per cent of adult size, even though the body has a lot of growing to do. Reproductive organs remain small until the arrival of puberty.
Children’s practical abilities continue to develop; at the age of four, children may be able to kick and throw a large ball. By the age of 6 or 7, a child may be able to skip and ride a bicycle. Their hand/ eye co-ordination skills improve, as they may be able to start playing the piano etc.
Language & Intellectual
Children at this age will develop their communication skills, at the early stages they will start being able to count, although perhaps no understand what that number really means. They will also learn to read and write. At the later stages they may be able to understand simple logical puzzles. However if asked a question, at around 7 or 8 years old, children will find it hard to produce a mental image of it, to help them work this out.
Around 4 years, children begin to use clear sentences that can be understood by strangers. Children can be expected to make some mistakes with grammar ‘ I met lots of children’s at school today.’
5 years onwards, children can speak using full adult grammar. Although vocabulary will continue to grow, and formal grammar will continue to improve, most children can be expected to use language effectively by the age of 5.
Emotional
Children use their imagination to begin to understand the social roles that other people play. Children begin to imagine a ‘me’ – an idea of themselves. Relationships with other family members may influence how a child feels. Also the way a child gets on with teachers and friends may influence their self-confidence. The child might develop a permanent sense of confidence or a sense of failure and inferiority
Social
Young children are emotionally attached and dependent on the adults that care for them. Children begin to learn social roles and behaviour within their family context. This is called first or primary socialisation. A family environment might provide a ‘safe base’ from which to explore social relationships with other children through play. Children will learn to co-operate with other children (co-operate play). As children grow older they will become increasingly independent and begin to form friendships based on a sense of mutual trust. Friendships become increasingly important as children grow towards adolescence. Children may begin to form social networks of ‘circles’ of friends who like and agree with each other.
Adolescence 11-18
Physical
At this age teenagers will start puberty; for girls this is usually between the ages of 11 and 13, although this is not always the case. And or boys it is usually between the ages of 13 and 15. Puberty is a development stage which prepares the body for sexual reproduction. It is triggered by the action of hormones that control sexual development. Both boys and girls may experience a ‘growth spurt’, where they grow taller at a faster rate than before.
Girls’ sexual development during puberty includes the enlargement of the breasts, widening of the hips, and the development of pubic hair, increased fat layers under the skin and the start of menstrual periods. Boys will experience the enlargement of their testes and penis, the development of pubic and facial hair and increased muscle strength. Boys’ voices also ‘break’ and become deeper in tone. These major changes mean that adolescents look and behave very differently from children.
Language/ Intellectual
Adolescence will often speak using lots of ‘slang’ words, and ‘text’ talk. Just like adults, they will be able to solve complex problems in their head.
Emotional
During adolescence this sense of self continues to develop. An adolescent needs to develop a secure sense of identity. Adolescents will have an increased change in behaviour, for example; mood swings, tiredness and may lack in self-confidence. Adolescents develop at different stages, and may have early or late maturation. Adolescents, mostly girls, will have a constant worry about their appearance, and may experience closer relationships including sexual.
Social
During adolescence a person’s sense of self-worth may be more influences by other adolescents then by family. Adolescents will copy the styles of dress, beliefs, cultural values and behaviours of their own network of friends. Adolescents have to cope with the development of their own sexuality (the impact of sex hormones at puberty) and the social transition to full independence from the family.
Adulthood 19-65
Physical
Young adults are often at the peak of their physical performance between the ages of 18 and 28. Most people that are highly successful in sport are aged between 16 and 30. Older adults generally tend to lose some strength with age, although these changes are often unnoticed outside competitive sport.
Exercise can help develop physical fitness and athletic skills. An older adult could easily achieve a personal peak of fitness at 40 or 50 if they take up exercise late in life.
There are a number of changes due to age. During their forties, many people find that they need to wear reading glasses. Some people cannot hear high-pitched sounds so well during late adulthood. Many adults show a thinning of hair, in the later stages, with it being more common in men.
Menopause
Women are most fertile (able to conceive children) in their late teens and early twenties. The risk of miscarriages and pregnancy complications rises with age. Between 45 and 55, women usually stop being able to have children because of the menopause. The menopause involves the gradual ending of menstruation and takes several years to complete. The menopause involves a greater production of hormones can cause irritability, hot flushes and night sweats. Fewer sex hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) are produced by a woman’s ovaries following the menopause and this may result in some shrinkage of sexual organs and sometimes a reduction in sexual interest.
Language/Intellectual
Adults use more complex words, and will study hard to start a career.
Emotional
They have to learn to cope with an emotional attachment to a sexual partner.
Social
During early adulthood, friendship networks continue to be very important. For most people, early adulthood is dominated by the formation of adult sexual partnerships and by the need to find employment/ establish a career. For many people marriage and parenthood represent major social developments in their life. Many adults in their forties and fifties experience time pressures that may limit their social activity. Mature adults may have to split their time between work, care of parents, other family commitments and wider social activities. Some mature adults report a reduction in the amount of social activity due to these pressures.
Older adulthood 65+
Physical
Each person’s experience of ageing is different. But usually ageing involves these physical issues; The skin becomes thinner, less elastic and more wrinkled, bones can become more brittle and more likely to fracture, joints can become stiffer and may become painful as the cartilage on the bone ends becomes thinner, the ligaments which reinforce joints can become looser, a person can lose height because of the cartilage that separates vertebrae in the backbone becomes compressed. The spine may also become more rounded, muscles become weaker, the sense of balance can become impaired, the ability to taste and smell can deteriorate, vision can deteriorate because of a range of problems and cataracts can develop, hearing becomes worse with a failure to hear high-pitched sounds, a lack of skin sensitivity can lead to an increased risk of hypothermia, muscles in the digestive tract can become weaker creating a risk of constipation, the heart is less efficient at pumping blood, blood pressure can rise, nutrients from food are not absorbed as well as in earlier life, breathing can become less efficient because respiratory muscles are weaker, gas exchange in the lungs becomes impaired as the elastic walls of the small air pockets called alveoli become damaged, body metabolism is reduced due to lowered performance of the endocrine glands.
These physical changes do not come about because we ‘wear out’. If you take regular exercise, you may expect to live longer and stay healthier than people who do not. The physical changes associated with ageing may come about because cells start to make damaged and imperfect copies after a genetically programmed limit of cell renewal has been reached. It seems that there is a limit to the number of times each body cell can renew itself effectively.
Language/ Intellectual
As we get older our memory deteriorates. And we start to forget things.
Emotional
At this age older people may have to cope with the death of close friends, siblings and they’re partner. Also they will start to have grandchildren and will form close attachments to them.
Social
Elderly people will learn to bond with the new arrivals in their family. Events where they will meet other people, will become more and more important to them.
