PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT

The interplay of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes produces the periods of the human
life span (see Figure 1.8). A developmental period refers to a time frame in a person’s life that is
characterized by certain features. For the purposes of organization and understanding, we commonly
describe development in terms of these periods. The most widely used classification of developmental
periods involves the eight-period sequence shown in Figure 1.8. Approximate age ranges are listed for
the periods to provide a general idea of when a period begins and ends.

The prenatal period is the time from conception to birth. It involves tremendous growth—from a single
cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities—and takes place in approximately a
nine-month period.

Infancy is the developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months. Infancy is a time of extreme
dependence upon adults. During this period, many psychological activities—language, symbolic thought,
sensorimotor coordination, and social learning, for example—are just beginning.

Early childhood is the developmental period from the end of infancy to age 5

or 6. This period is sometimes called the “preschool years.” During this time,

young children learn to become more self-suffi cient and to care for themselves,

develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and

spend many hours in play with peers. First grade typically marks the end of early

childhood.

Middle and late childhood is the developmental period from about 6 to 11 years

of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years. During this

period, the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered. The

child is formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes

a more central theme of the child’s world, and self-control increases.

Adolescence is the developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood,

entered at approximately 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 21 years

of age. Adolescence begins with rapid physical changes—dramatic gains in height and

weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics such

as enlargement of the breasts, growth of pubic and facial hair, and deepening of the

voice. At this point in development, the pursuit of independence and an identity are

prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic. More time is spent outside

the family.
 Early adulthood is the developmental period that begins in the early 20s and lasts

through the 30s. It is a time of establishing personal and economic independence,

career development, and for many, selecting a mate, learning to live with someone

in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children.

Middle adulthood is the developmental period from approximately 40 years of age

to about 60. It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the
next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and of reaching and maintaining
satisfaction in a career.

Late adulthood is the developmental period that begins in the 60s or 70s and

lasts until death. It is a time of life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social

roles involving decreasing strength and health.

Late adulthood has the longest span of any period of development, and as

noted earlier, the number of people in this age group has been increasing dramatically. As a result, life-
span developmentalists have been paying more attention to differences within late adulthood (Scheibe,
Freund, & Baltes, 2007). Paul

Baltes and Jacqui Smith (2003) argue that a major change takes place in older

adults’ lives as they become the “oldest-old,” on average at about 85 years of age.

For example, the “young-old” (classifi ed as 65 through 84 in this analysis) have

substantial potential for physical and cognitive fi tness, retain much of their cognitive capacity, and can
develop strategies to cope with the gains and losses of

aging. In contrast, the oldest-old (85 and older) show considerable loss in cognitive skills, experience an
increase in chronic stress, and are more frail (Baltes &

Smith, 2003).

Thus, Baltes and Smith concluded that considerable plasticity and adaptability

characterize adults from their 60s until their mid-80s but that the oldest-old have

reached the limits of their functional capacity, which makes interventions to

improve their lives diffi cult. Nonetheless, as will be described in later chapters,

considerable variation exists in how much the oldest-old retain their capabilities

(Perls, 2007).
Four Ages
Life-span developmentalists who focus on adult development and

aging increasingly describe life-span development in terms of four “ages” (Baltes,

2006; Willis & Schaie, 2006):

First age: Childhood and adolescence

Second age: Prime adulthood, 20s through 50s

Third age: Approximately 60 to 79 years of age

Fourth age: Approximately 80 years and older

The major emphasis in this conceptualization is on the third and fourth ages, especially the increasing
evidence that individuals in the third age are healthier and can lead more active, productive lives than
their predecessors in earlier generations. However, when older adults reach their 80s, especially 85 and
over (fourth age), health and well-being decline for many individuals.

Connections Across Periods of Development A final important point needs to be made

about the periods of the human life span. Just as there are many connections between biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional processes, so are there many connections between the periods of the
human life span. A key aspect in the study of life-span development is how development in one period is
connected to development in another period. For example, when individuals reach adolescence, think of
all the many developments and experiences that have already taken place in their lives. For example, if
an adolescent girl becomes depressed, might her depression be linked to development early in her life,
as well as recent and current development? Throughout the text we will call attention to such
connections across periods of development through Developmental Connections inserts that guide you
to earlier or later connections of the material you are currently reading.

DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES

Was Ted Kaczynski born a killer, or did his life turn him into one? Kaczynski himself thought that his
childhood was the root of his troubles. He grew up as a genius in a boy’s body and never fi t in with
other children. Did his early experiences determine his later life? Is your own journey through life
marked out ahead of time, or can your experiences change your path? Are the experiences you have
early in your journey more important than later ones? Is your journey more like taking an elevator up a
skyscraper with distinct stops along the way or more like a cruise down a river with smoother ebbs and
fl ows? These questions point to three issues about the nature of development: the roles played by
nature and nurture, stability and change, and continuity and discontinuity.

Nature and Nurture The nature-nurture issue involves the extent to which development is infl
uenced by nature and by nurture. Nature refers to an organism’s biological inheritance, nurture to its
environmental experiences.
According to those who emphasize the role of nature, just as a sunfl ower grows in an orderly way—
unless fl attened by an unfriendly environment— so too the human grows in an orderly way. An
evolutionary and genetic foundation produces commonalities in growth and development (Brooker,
2011; Raven, 2011). We walk before we talk, speak one word before two words, grow rapidly in infancy
and less so in early childhood, experience a rush of sex hormones in puberty, reach the peak of our
physical strength in late adolescence and early adulthood, and then physically decline. Proponents of
the importance of nature acknowledge that extreme environments—those that are psychologically
barren or hostile—can depress development. However, they believe that basic growth tendencies are
genetically programmed into humans (Mader, 2011).

By contrast, other psychologists emphasize the importance of nurture, or environmental experiences, in

development (Kopp, 2011; Sandler, Wolchik, & Schoenfelder, 2011). Experiences run the gamut from
the individual’s biological environment (nutrition, medical care, drugs, and physical accidents) to the
social environment (family, peers, schools, community, media, and culture).

Stability and Change Is the shy child who hides behind the sofa when visitors arrive destined to
become a wallfl ower at college dances, or might the child become a sociable, talkative individual? Is the
fun-loving, carefree adolescent bound to have diffi culty holding down a 9-to-5 job as an adult? These
questions refl ect the stabilitychange issue, which involves the degree to which early traits and
characteristics persist through life or change.

Many developmentalists who emphasize stability in development argue that stability is the result of
heredity and possibly early experiences in life. For example, many argue that if an individual is shy
throughout life (as Ted Kaczynski was), this stability is due to heredity and possibly early experiences in
which the infant or young child encountered considerable stress when interacting with people.

Developmentalists who emphasize change take the more optimistic view that later experiences can
produce change. Recall that in the life-span perspective, plasticity, the potential for change, exists
throughout the life span. Experts such as Paul Baltes (2003) argue that with increasing age and on
average older adults often show less capacity for change in the sense of learning new things than
younger adults. However, many older adults continue to be good at practicing what they have learned in
earlier times.

The roles of early and later experience are an aspect of the stability-change issue that has long been
hotly debated (Phillips & Lowenstein, 2011; Schaie, 2010a, b). Some argue that unless infants experience
warm, nurturant caregiving in the fi rst year or so of life, their development will never be optimal (Berlin,
Cassidy, & Appleyard, 2008). The later-experience advocates see children as malleable throughout
development and later sensitive caregiving as equally important to earlier sensitive caregiving (Siegler &
others, 2009).

Continuity and Discontinuity When developmental change occurs, is it gradual or abrupt? Think
about your own development for a moment. Did you become the person you are gradually? Or did you
experience sudden, distinct changes in your growth? For the most part, developmentalists who
emphasize nurture describe development as a gradual, continuous process. Those who emphasize
nature often describe development as a series of distinct stages.
The continuity-discontinuity issue focuses on the degree to which development involves either gradual,
cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity). In terms of continuity, as the oak grows
from seedling to giant oak, it becomes more of an oak—its development is continuous (see Figure 1.9).
Similarly, a child’s fi rst word, though seemingly an abrupt, discontinuous event, is actually the result of
weeks and months of growth and practice. Puberty might seem abrupt, but it is a gradual process that
occurs over several years.

In terms of discontinuity, as an insect grows from a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a butterfl y, it passes

through a sequence of stages in which change is qualitatively rather than quantitatively different.
Similarly, at some point a child moves from not being able to think abstractly about the world to being
able to. This is a qualitative, discontinuous change in development rather than a quantitative,
continuous change.

Evaluating the Developmental Issues Most life-span developmentalists acknowledge that

development is not all nature or all nurture, not all stability or all change, and not all continuity or all
discontinuity (Staudinger & Gluck, 2011). Nature and nurture, stability and change, continuity and
discontinuity characterize development throughout the human life span. Although most
developmentalists do not take extreme positions on these three important issues, there is spirited
debate regarding how strongly development is infl uenced by each of these factors (Goldsmith, 2011;
Phillips & Lowenstein, 2011).