The Four Stages Of Childhood Development

As a developmental psychologist, it is imperative as a professional to provide specific guidelines for the healthy development of infants, children, and adults as they encounter the four main stages of life. These four phases, beginning with pregnancy and birth, leading to infancy and childhood, adolescence, and ending with adulthood, will be discussed in correlation with specific strategies suggested for maintaining a standard rate of growth in an individual as it relates to each particular stage. Serving as the first stage of life, the prenatal and natal phase is the most critical period in relation to ensuring a healthy, lifelong development in a child. During pregnancy, the placenta works to transfer oxygen and nutrients from

As billions of neural networks begin to form connections and patterns that will allow the child to important functions of the brain, a process called synaptic pruning gradually weakens or shuts down unutilized neural pathways (Myers & DeWall, 2016). In relation to this notion, childhood encompasses a period where early stimulation is crucial for normal learning behaviors and cognitive brain development (Myers & DeWall, 2016). It is suggested that there be a myriad of engaging stimuli for children before they surpass the critical period at adolescence, so as to avoid the pruning of neural pathways essential to leading a normal and fulfilled life. Such stimuli may include experiences of sounds, sights, and tastes, while premature babies have shown rapid neurological development when provided with skin-to-skin contact with their mothers (Myers & DeWall, 2016). Similarly, a suggestion for parents when handling their infant is to establish familiarity and body contact in order to promote secure parental attachment. Corresponding to the importance of stimuli in a child’s cognitive growth, these aspects of human attachment are highly critical to an infant’s social development as well. In order to promote a secure attachment style, a child must be familiarized with their caregiver through sight, sense, and sound and must be handled for emotional and

In order to avoid the physical effects of aging, it is suggested that individuals engage in frequent exercise. Doing so will enhance muscular and cardiac ability, and will reduce one’s risk of various forms of heart disease and obesity (Myers & DeWall, 2016). Due to an increase in oxygen flow, exercise may also stimulate neurogenesis (Myers & Dewall, 2016), a process that promotes growth in hippocampal nerve cells that may result in an improved ability to retain memory. In relation to physical exercise, it is also suggested that adults in middle or late adulthood participate in “brain training” exercises, which have shown to make small improvements in one’s depreciating cognitive development. As a result of the brain’s neural plasticity, such brain exercises have the potential to enhance an individual’s ability to complete control tasks, while other research indicates that it can result in an overall sharpness of the mind (Myers & DeWall, 2016). Despite the onset of an aging mind and body that is characteristic of adulthood, exercise of all forms can induce positive outcomes for older individuals in both their physical and cognitive