Life Stages

Unit 4: Development through the life stages
P1 Describe physical, intellectual, emotional and social development for each of the life stages of an individual.
Adolescence 10-18
Physical Development
This is the stage which we move from childhood to adulthood. This is where boys grow into young men and girls grow into young women. Puberty is the main physical change during adolescence. Puberty is where chemicals in your body called hormones trigger many physical changes such as growth spurts and weight increases.
Changes during puberty for boys will include: Deepening voice, public and armpit hair, production of sperm, growth of the penis, facial hair, increased muscle in strength and size, hypothalamus and pituitary gland, oily skin – acne.
Changes during puberty for girls will include: onset of menstrual periods, breast enlargement, pubic hair / armpit hair, wider hips, oily skin – acne.
Intellectual Development
Piaget suggests that the formal operations stage begins at age eleven onwards. He suggests that they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner and have the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way and have the capacity for higher-order reasoning. Their development of logical thinking allows adolescents and adults to use abstract ideas and theories. It gives them to ability to think scientifically. They begin to challenge ideas, beliefs and conventions. They are able to do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning and imagine the outcome of particular actions.

Language Development
At this stage they have fully developed grammer and vocabulary. They are able to communicate like an adult with their increasing maturity. It is a fundamental skill for access to their future within the educational curriculum. Their language enables them to make contacts with others.
Emotional Development
Teenagers often feel misunderstood as they alternate from behaving like children and then behaving like adults. They become less dependant on family for emotional support and advice; they rely on their friends instead. They want to be accepted by their friends which may lead to difficult situations; affecting their self-esteem and self-concept they become influenced by their peer group. They may challenge their parental values ' deliberately pushing against boundaries. Family and friends may perceive this as rebellious, resulting in tension. They experience mood swings and hormone changes.
According to Erik Erikson in the adolescence stage their basic conflict is identity vs. Role confusion and their important events are social relationships. He believed that 'Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self '
They develop a sense of identity and their development is less dependent on what is done to them and more on what they do.
They build on all the prior developmental stages and they learn to see their abilities and develop their talents and interests in preparation for adult life.
The influence of hormones and developing relationships has an affect on adolescents, it causes them to experience powerful emotions and affects their behaviour. They begin to develop their first relationships for instance: having a boyfriend, girlfriend. They also develop social relationships with their friends and people around them.
Peer pressure can heavily influence them which may result in them being bullied or cause them to have feelings of inadequacy.
Social Development
Teenagers are often sterotyped unfairly. Teenagers spend more time with their friends as they gain their independance. They withdraw from their family as their influence of their friends becomes important. They practice social skills. The clothes that they wear and their interests become significant. They experiment with issues such as: alcohol, sexual orientation and attitudes to education are examined. Ideas which were learned from their families may be challenged; showing difficulties by peer pressure. They develop their self identity and exploration for instance: goths, geeks, chavs, vegetarianism.
As they enter formal employment or further / higher education; this is their transition to independance.

http://www.sfpsychservices.com/content/media/adolescent_cartoon2.jpg https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=adolescents&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.53537100,d.d2k,pv.xjs.s.en_US.MLJSUkuQGS4.O&biw=1366&bih=667&dpr=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=xpJRUuHCA8uW0QX-34DwDA#facrc=_&imgdii=F3h6UM3uuJ8ZWM%3A%3B7uU_SsKUrcS__M%3BF3h6UM3uuJ8ZWM%3A&imgrc=F3h6UM3uuJ8ZWM%3A%3BMbK-t4o-lZ2RpM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sfpsychservices.com%252Fcontent%252Fmedia%252Fadolescent_cartoon2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sfpsychservices.com%252Fcontent%252Fadolescents.asp%3B275%3B275

References http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm http://www.simplypsychology.org/formal-operational.html http://www.ican.org.uk/~/media/Ican2/Whats%20the%20Issue/Evidence/ICAN_TalkSeries10.ashx

References: http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm http://www.simplypsychology.org/formal-operational.html http://www.ican.org.uk/~/media/Ican2/Whats%20the%20Issue/Evidence/ICAN_TalkSeries10.ashx