Human Growth & Development

Development is shaped by the family, culture, and society around a person.

• Family structure, parenting style, and socioeconomic status strongly affect growth.
• Culture shapes values, expectations, and milestones.
• Government programs (education, healthcare, welfare) influence child development.
• Nature vs. nurture: both genetics and environment interact throughout life.

Major theorists explain how humans develop across the lifespan.

• Erikson — eight psychosocial stages, each with a central conflict (e.g., trust vs. mistrust).
• Piaget — four stages of cognitive development (sensorimotor to formal operational).
• Freud — psychosexual stages; Kohlberg — stages of moral reasoning.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes human motivation.

The prenatal period and first year set the foundation for life.

• Prenatal development has three stages: germinal, embryonic, and fetal.
• Teratogens (alcohol, drugs, infections) can cause birth defects.
• Infants develop reflexes, motor skills, and attachment to caregivers.
• Rapid brain growth makes early stimulation and nutrition critical.

Children and teens grow physically, cognitively, and socially.

• Early childhood brings language explosion and growing independence.
• School-age children develop logic, peer relationships, and self-esteem.
• Adolescence begins with puberty and the search for identity.
• Risk-taking rises as the brain's decision-making regions are still maturing.

Adulthood spans establishing a life and facing midlife changes.

• Young adulthood focuses on career, relationships, and independence.
• Middle adulthood may bring menopause, physical changes, and generativity (contributing to the next generation).
• Cognitive abilities generally stay strong; experience builds wisdom.
• Health habits in adulthood strongly affect later aging.

Later life brings aging, dying, and grieving.

• Aging involves physical decline but often continued emotional growth.
• Conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's become more common.
• Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
• Hospice and palliative care support comfort and dignity at end of life.