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Toddler- Physical Development
By age 2, the brain is at 75% of its adult weight, and usually by age 7 the brain is at 100% of its adult weight. Also by the age of 2, a single neuron might have thousands of dendrites. This is a dramatic increase which results in the unused neural pathways to be eliminated. This causes those pathways that ARE used to become stronger. -
Early Childhood - Physical Development
At the ages of 2 to 6 years old, children grow about 3 inches in height every year. They also tend to gain about 4 to 5 pounds each year as well. It's important to have healthier, adequate nutrition for your growing child. With a healthier diet, one can assume the child won't starve and will receive adequate nutrition.
We all know that the brain is at about 75% of its adult weight by the age of 2. However, by age 6, the brain is at about 95% of its adult weight. -
3rd Trimester
Months 7 through 9, the last trimester. At the start of this trimester the fetus is about 10-12 inches in length and weighs around 2-3 pounds. Throughout this trimester the fetus will grow an additional 3-4 inches and gain about 6-8 pounds. The organs increase their activity and the development of limbs, nerves, and muscles will strengthen its ability to move on its own. -
Birth through Two Weeks
Through this time period the baby will develop different abilities for different things. The baby should be able to sleep from 16-20 hours a day. They should be able to raise their head slightly and should also be able to focus and make eye contact. Recognition of your voice and sound is also expected of babies around this age. -
Infancy- Cognitive Development
Cognitive Development is described through the discussion of Sensorimotor Intelligence. Piaget's discussion includes a total of six different stages. The stages include Reflexive Action, First Adaptations to the Environment, Repetition, New Adaptations and Goal-Directed Behavior, Active Experimentation of Little Scientists, and Mental Representations. The six stages of Sensorimotor intelligence develop over the first 2 years of life. -
Toddler- Cognitive Development
In toddlerhood, children are more capable of solving problems by using mental strategies. They tend to engage in pretend play, find objects that often moved and out of sight. Toddlers often use past experiences to problem solve, as in a door being opened upon someone knocking on it. This is described in stage six of Sensorimotor Intelligence known as Mental Representations. -
Toddler- Language Development
As we know, infants do communicate, just through their own language. Toddlers on the other hand have a much more developed vocabulary. Typically, around the age of 1, children tend to have about 50 words in their vocabulary. This is referred to as a Vocabulary Growth Spurt. By the time they are fully toddlers, the amount of words in their vocabulary is about 200. Toddlers learn lots of different words through Child-directed speech, such as saying "horsie" when referring to a horse. -
Toddler- Social Development
As infants, we go through the process of trust vs mistrust; yet as toddlers, we focus more on Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt. As children begin to walk and talk, they also begin to test their limits of what can be said, touched, and explored. Erikson believes that toddlers should be allowed to explore "as freely as safety allows" which helps build self-esteem and a sense of independence. -
Early Childhood - Psychosocial Development
Charles Horton Cooley suggested that our self concept is through a process called "looking-glass self". Looking-glass self is when children/individuals look at how others view themselves. A way that we can gain a sense of self is by exaggerating the qualities incorporated into self. We first see the looking-glass process when we are taking on a new role in our personal lives. For example, starting at a preschool or a new school/job. -
Middle Childhood - Intelligence Development
Gardener suggests that there are nine domains of intelligence. These domains include logical-mathematical(problems of logic), linguistic(vocabulary), spatial(visual accuracy), musical(patterns and rhythms), bodily-kinesthetic(agility and motor), naturalistic(knowledge of plants, animals, etc.), interpersonal(understanding of emotion), intrapersonal(understanding of self), and existential(concern and understand life's larger questions). -
Adolescence - Psychosocial Development
During the Psychosocial development stage that adolescence goes through, they start to pull away from their parents. This is because they are in the process of forming their identities, which is why the peer group becomes important to them. Studies show that even though these individuals spend less time with their parents, the outcome is more of a healthy, positive relationship. Despite an increase in the importance of peers, family relationships are still important, just in different ways. -
1st Trimester
Months 1 through 3. Implantation occurs about one week after conception when the zygote nestles into the endometrium. This trimester is where the embryo develops most of the necessary vital organs. By the end of month 3, the fetus measures to be about 3 inches in length and weighs roughly 1/2 an ounce. From this point on, no new organs will be formed, the current organs will need to develop more. -
2nd Trimester
Months 4 through 6. The size of the fetus at the start of this trimester is about 5 inches in length and roughly 4 ounces in weight. This trimester is where the features of the fetus start to resemble that of a human being. By month 5 the fetus' limbs, muscles, and nerves are stronger and more developed which is why the mother can feel the turns, stretches, and kicks during what is known as the quickening. By the end of the 2nd trimester the fetus weighs about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs and 9 inches long -
Infancy- Physical Development
Infants are equipped with reflexes which are referred to as involuntary movements. The reflexes are soon replaced with Voluntary movements known as motor skills. Motor skills include Gross motor skills, as in the use of large muscles in the arms, legs, head, and torso. At around 4 months of age Fine motor skills take place which include the ability to reach and grasp, which is not possible as a newborn. Vision and Hearing strengthen by about 5 months of age. -
Infancy- Language Development
Infants do indeed communicate. Communication for them however is through body posture, gestures, cries, and facial expressions. The different levels of infancy communication include Intentional Vocalizations, Babbling and Gesturing, Understanding, Holophrastic Speech, Underextension, First words and cultural influences, Vocabulary growth spurt, Two-word sentences and telegraphic speech, and Child-directed speech. -
Infancy- Social Development
Trust v. Mistrust. Establishing a sense of trust with someone means that an infant relies and depends on them. Usually, trust is established with the child's parent/caregiver. Some issues establishing trust are most common in unwanted pregnancies. This can easily cause the child to have trouble establishing that sense of trust depending on their childhood. The overall abilities that infants help shape their mental processes and social relationships during the years of childhood. -
Early Childhood - Cognitive Development
Early childhood is a time of mixing together fact and fiction. Learning how the world works rather than needing to feel, touch, and hear. An example would be wondering/fearing that you (the child) would go down the drain in the bathtub.
There are many different stages of Preoperational Intelligence. This is where kids are thought to be illogical, yet they are developing new abilities. -
Early Childhood - Human Language Development
Language is such an amazing thing to learn for humans. There are so many different languages and different aspects of the human language. Usually within the first year of life a child will have already learned a lot of the necessary concepts to having a functional language. It is said that there are many different theories of developing language. For example, B.F. Skinner though that children learned language through a reward system, otherwise referred to as "Operant conditioning". -
Middle Childhood - Physical Development
The growth rate tends to slow down by the Middle Childhood stage. Its stated that children will gain around 5-7 pounds a year as well as growing about 2 inches a year during the Middle Childhood stages.
Childhood obesity in America is currently at a range of 16 to 33 percent. Many think that putting their child on a diet would benefit them, however, its more effective for children to be more active rather than limiting their food. Diets can cause eating disorders. -
Middle Childhood - Cognitive Development
From ages 7-11 school-aged children are in the Concrete Operational stage. Concrete Operational Thought refers to using logic in structured/concrete ways to solve problems tied to related experiences. The Information Processing Theory is a classic theory of memory that compares how the mind works regarding storing, processing, and retrieving info. By around 5th grade a child’s vocabulary is grown to about 40,000 words. It's stated to grow at about 20 words per day. -
Middle Childhood - Psychosocial Development
The self-concept differs due to middle childhood being more realistic compared to early childhood self-concept.
A short-term factor is grief over losses suffered and a long-term factor would be improved relationships with the custodial parent.
The developmental stages of stepfamilies start with the early stages, such as the adjustment stage. Next is the middle stages which include mobilization, as in recognizing differences. The last stage is the feelings of more security and stability. -
Adolescence - Physical Development
With adolescence comes puberty. The results of puberty vary widely depending on the child. Maturing happens along with several physical changes.
Both genders experience rapid height increases. Sources show that nature and nurture can most definitely impact/influence height. Puberty developments, physically, vary widely and can be seen as a source of "pride or embarrassment". By this, I mean that adolescents are more likely to become self-conscious and body image sensitive. -
Adolescence - Cognitive Development
Due to improvements to preexisting skills, a more complex way of thinking is gained during adolescence. This is because of an increase in mental processing speed rather than an increase in mental capacity.
Adolescence provides an increase in cognitive empathy. Cognitive empathy is where individuals can take others' perspectives and feel concerned towards them. This is also referred to as "theory-of-mind". Cognitive empathy is important to social problem solving and conflict avoidance. -
Adolescence - Socioemotional Development
The socioemotional development of adolescence can very depending on the student. The child will most likely experience a change in their relationships regarding their families or peers. The change in social and emotional development show us that the adolescents are becoming more independent and are forming an identity of their own. The process of socioemotional development also shows us that the individual is learning to be an adult.
