Human development is the process in which human changes in different domains, such as physical, psychosocial, and cognitive, throughout their lifespan. According to Bogin (2020), human development studies how and why humans change throughout their lives. Initially concerned with children, the study expanded to include the entire human lifespan, including adolescence, adulthood, and aging stages (Bogin, 2020). The development process is explained by four main domains, including physical, cognitive, social, and emotional.
Physical Domain
Physical development refers to the changes and growth in the senses, brain and body, wellness and health, and motor skills. The most common physical changes are bodily such as weight and height in different stages of development. Infants’ body weight increases rapidly especially doubling at six months and tripling by the time they are one year (Scheffler & Hermanussen, 2018). They also grow 10 to 12 inches in height and gain proportional changes in the first two years. In the children category, ages two to ten, girls and boys gain weight and height differently (Bogin, 2020). Boys add between 30 to 95 pounds with heights of between 25% and 95% (Bogin, 2020). Girls gain between 33 to 95 pounds with a 32% to 95% increase in height (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). As they reach adolescence, their weight and size start changing steadily.
Teenagers, adults, and aging people’s weight and height depend on their lifestyles. In the adolescent stage, boys and girls increase height by about 2 inches and gain an average of 6.5 pounds in a year (Bogin, 2020). In adulthood and before 40, people add little to no height, but their body weight depends on their lifestyles (Bogin, 2020). After 40, adults lose a height of between 0.5 to 1 inch every ten years (Bogin, 2020). In the aging stage, people continue to lose weight and height as their body experience other aging weaknesses.
Cognitive Domain
Cognitive development involves growth and changes in the ability to think and reason. A significant example of this domain is talking or skills of communication. Infants as young as three months start learning voices and can make ‘babble’ sounds. Within one year, they know how to call first names like ‘ma-ma’ and ‘da-da’ (Scheffler & Hermanussen, 2018). Between two to three years, toddlers can speak two to three words up to make a complete sentence (Bogin, 2020). Children start learning new words in the children stage and can make understandable conversations with adults (CDC, 2021). During adolescence, boys and girls learn to speak from a personal view by using the I statement and expressing their emotions. Adults usually have gained all the necessary communication skills, and an average human can express themselves in more than two languages (Bogin, 2020). Adults can speak from both positive and negative attitudes, avoid vague language, and make eye contact. As people age, their communication skills deteriorate, and their cognitive functioning decreases (Bogin, 2020). Due to affected hearing, voice, and speech processes, aging people could have repeated, slower, and unclear conversations.
Social Domain
Social development entails the process of learning how to interact and build relationships. An example of social development is developing close relationships. Infants establish close friendships with their immediate caregivers, such as their mothers and fathers (Scheffler & Hermanussen, 2018). Between one and two years, they also can rely on their other siblings and show interest in their fellow infants. Toddlers and children of up to six years mainly create momentary playmates friendships (CDC, 2021). Their friendship is about having fun together, and they can easily connect with children their age who like doing the same things. Between ages 4 and 9, their friendship is one-way assistance; even though their friendship could go beyond playing, they define friends as people who do nice things to them (CDC, 2021). Children of seven to ten years have a two-way fair cooperation type of friendship (Bogin, 2020). They can consider their friends’ perspectives but not at the same time. The children believe if reciprocity and fairness but in a rigid way.
In adolescent friendships, boys and girls show compassion, empathy, and care. They use companies to form a sense of identity outside the family (CDC, 2021). Adults reduce the number of close friends to between three and five and are more concerned about their well-being, especially in helping each other cope with stressful events (Bogin, 2020). As adults age, they lose close friends and rely on immediate family.
Emotional Domain
Emotional development encompasses recognizing, managing, and expressing feelings at different stages of life. A significant example of emotional change across the lifespan is smiling. Infants love smiling and are likely to smile at anyone that smiles at them. Children can easily smile depending on their environment (CDC, 2021). Their possibility of smiling is also dependent on their moods and relationships. Adolescents are more likely to smile at each other, especially their friends, than their family members and other people (Pikunas, 2018). They are not likely to smile if they do not want and for that reason, they rarely smile.
Adults can recognize their emotions and formulate them to match those of a particular environment. Adults can smile when they are happy and also smile to make others feel at ease (Pikunas, 2018). They recognize other people’s emotions and work towards accommodating them. Aging adults, on the different hand, experience the reverse of emotional development. Between 60 to 80 years, they are less likely to smile if they are not happy, just like teenagers (Pikunas, 2018). As they grow beyond 80 years, they become like babies and smile at anyone who smiles at them (Pikunas, 2018). Aging people’s emotional development slows down as their age increases.
References
Bogin, B. (2020). Patterns of human growth (Vol. 88). Cambridge University Press.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Child development: Adolescence (15-17 years old). Web.
Pikunas, J. (2018). Psychology of human development (Classic reprint). Forgotten Books.
Scheffler, C., & Hermanussen, M. (2018). Growth in childhood and adolescence. The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology, 1-11. Web.