Developmental Profile Paper [Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]
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Developmental Profile Paper
Introduction
A newly born child undergoes various developmental changes until he or she grows into a fully developed adult. Such developmental changes are induced by the developmental stages experienced by a child as he grows. During these stages, the child grows through development in Physical, Neurological, Social, and Emotional changes. In early childhood and middle childhood, such developmental changes are on their peak. Numerous factors play a role in influencing the physical growth of a child as he grows. Moreover, these changes are accompanied by neurological changes, interaction-influenced social changes, and emotional changes. This paper will reflect on the physical, neurological, social, and emotional development changes that take place in early and middle childhood.
Physical Development
One of the many changes that a child experiences throughout his or her life is based on physical development. These changes begin to take place from early childhood and keep occurring until the middle part of life. During early childhood, the child grows into weight and height and begins to lose teeth. This is followed by the production of permanent teeth for the rest of life. During the time of this growth, motor skills keep developing, and the child can communicate via actions. The major factor that plays a role in physical development is genetics. One child is different than others due to the presence of different genetic codes. Moreover, such changes are also induced by diet and nutrition which provide the necessary energy to drive the motor skills.
In middle childhood, the child is mainly recognized by the physical appearance based on height and weight. There are differences in the height and weight of children in such a developmental stage. These differences arise due to many factors that influence the child's developmental processes differently. Such factors include heredity, sex, environment, diet, and disability. The most important factor among all is nourishment, which influences growth. Malnutrition children are unable to grow properly and efficiently due to metabolism dysfunction. As the child grows, body mass and height keeps on increasing with exercise and play. It is observed that during the early stages of development, males tend to possess a greater amount of mass than females ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ppMESHm0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Berk, 2005)","plainCitation":"(Berk, 2005)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":621,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/PE6SLI5B"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/PE6SLI5B"],"itemData":{"id":621,"type":"book","abstract":"My goal in preparing this fifth edition of Infants, Children, and Adolescents is to provide a textbook that meets the instructional goals of the students' courses as well as their personal interests and needs. To achieve these objectives, I have grounded this book in a carefully selected body of classic and current theory and research brought to life with stories and vignettes about children and families, most of whom I have known personally. In addition, the text highlights the joint contributions of biology and environment to the developing child, explains how the research process helps solve real-world problems, illustrates commonalities and differences between ethnic groups and cultures, and pays special attention to policy issues that are crucial for safeguarding children's well-being in today's world. I have also provided a unique pedagogical program that will assist you in mastering information, integrating the various aspects of development, critically examining controversial issues, reflecting on your own childhood experiences, and applying what you have learned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)","collection-title":"Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood, 5th ed","event-place":"Auckland, New Zealand","ISBN":"978-0-205-42063-6","number-of-pages":"xxiii, 513","publisher":"Pearson Education New Zealand","publisher-place":"Auckland, New Zealand","source":"APA PsycNET","title":"Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood, 5th ed","title-short":"Infants and children","author":[{"family":"Berk","given":"Laura E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2005"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Berk, 2005). The body structure of females also differs as compared to males during all stages of development. Studies have established that the maximum growth of the human body occurs between the age of 8 and 9 ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"aFDnCfvJ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Berk, 2005)","plainCitation":"(Berk, 2005)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":621,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/PE6SLI5B"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/PE6SLI5B"],"itemData":{"id":621,"type":"book","abstract":"My goal in preparing this fifth edition of Infants, Children, and Adolescents is to provide a textbook that meets the instructional goals of the students' courses as well as their personal interests and needs. To achieve these objectives, I have grounded this book in a carefully selected body of classic and current theory and research brought to life with stories and vignettes about children and families, most of whom I have known personally. In addition, the text highlights the joint contributions of biology and environment to the developing child, explains how the research process helps solve real-world problems, illustrates commonalities and differences between ethnic groups and cultures, and pays special attention to policy issues that are crucial for safeguarding children's well-being in today's world. I have also provided a unique pedagogical program that will assist you in mastering information, integrating the various aspects of development, critically examining controversial issues, reflecting on your own childhood experiences, and applying what you have learned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)","collection-title":"Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood, 5th ed","event-place":"Auckland, New Zealand","ISBN":"978-0-205-42063-6","number-of-pages":"xxiii, 513","publisher":"Pearson Education New Zealand","publisher-place":"Auckland, New Zealand","source":"APA PsycNET","title":"Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood, 5th ed","title-short":"Infants and children","author":[{"family":"Berk","given":"Laura E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2005"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Berk, 2005).
Neurological Development
Along with the physical development and growth, the human body goes through a series of neurological development which begins to occur in early childhood and expands until middle childhood. The brain is the significant part involved in influencing the body through various developmental stages. The portion of the child's brain which is involved in the awareness and judgment is known as Rhombencephalon. The portion of the Cerebral Cortex which is involved in the formation of memories and learning process is known as hippocampus ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"XPHdqUrr","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Epstein, 1986)","plainCitation":"(Epstein, 1986)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":623,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/8JMBP5R3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/8JMBP5R3"],"itemData":{"id":623,"type":"article-journal","abstract":"In a 1974 survey of data on human brain and head growth statistically significant peaks in growth rates of human brains were found around ages 11 years and 15 years. In addition, correlations were found in that almost all studies had non-significant peaks around ages 3, 7, 11–12 and 15 years; troughs were found at the intermediate ages (5, 9, and 13 years). More recent data include a very extensive collection of head circumference data from a dozen countries which showed statistically significant peaks around ages 7, 12, and 15 years. Confirmation of those results have been found in data on cortical thickness, photographs of neuronal arbors, and the percent of EEG energy found in the α-frequencies (8–13 cps). The proposed peak around age 3 years cannot be decided from existing brain weight and head circumference data bases, but the EEG data and the cortical thickness data supply significant support. Overall, there are statistically significant peaks in brain growth rates at age 7, 11–12, and 15 years, though the latter holds only for males at present. The significance of the stages for development of brain functions is being explored.","container-title":"Developmental Brain Research","DOI":"10.1016/0165-3806(86)90139-2","ISSN":"0165-3806","issue":"1","journalAbbreviation":"Developmental Brain Research","language":"en","page":"114-119","source":"ScienceDirect","title":"Stages in human brain development","volume":"30","author":[{"family":"Epstein","given":"Herman T."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1986",11,1]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Epstein, 1986). Neurological components within the brain induce the child's behavior and cognition. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres: right and left. The left hemisphere is thought to develop in early childhood, while the right hemisphere takes form during middle childhood. As the child grows, the left hemisphere serves to develop the child’s ability to write, speak and solve problems using logic. In the same way, the right hemisphere influences the development of concepts, ideas, and skills. During early childhood, the child can fathom information and transcribe it into actions. Their structural and speech abilities keep on enhancing over time. They become capable of performing physical activities such as walking, running, jumping, drawing and writing, etc. Studies have depicted that the efficiency of performing such activities in males and females differs concerning the nature of the task. Boys are more prone to throwing and kicking objects while girls excel in writing and drawing ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"xoFRHJ3s","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Epstein, 1986)","plainCitation":"(Epstein, 1986)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":623,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/8JMBP5R3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/8JMBP5R3"],"itemData":{"id":623,"type":"article-journal","abstract":"In a 1974 survey of data on human brain and head growth statistically significant peaks in growth rates of human brains were found around ages 11 years and 15 years. In addition, correlations were found in that almost all studies had non-significant peaks around ages 3, 7, 11–12 and 15 years; troughs were found at the intermediate ages (5, 9, and 13 years). More recent data include a very extensive collection of head circumference data from a dozen countries which showed statistically significant peaks around ages 7, 12, and 15 years. Confirmation of those results have been found in data on cortical thickness, photographs of neuronal arbors, and the percent of EEG energy found in the α-frequencies (8–13 cps). The proposed peak around age 3 years cannot be decided from existing brain weight and head circumference data bases, but the EEG data and the cortical thickness data supply significant support. Overall, there are statistically significant peaks in brain growth rates at age 7, 11–12, and 15 years, though the latter holds only for males at present. The significance of the stages for development of brain functions is being explored.","container-title":"Developmental Brain Research","DOI":"10.1016/0165-3806(86)90139-2","ISSN":"0165-3806","issue":"1","journalAbbreviation":"Developmental Brain Research","language":"en","page":"114-119","source":"ScienceDirect","title":"Stages in human brain development","volume":"30","author":[{"family":"Epstein","given":"Herman T."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1986",11,1]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Epstein, 1986)
Social and Emotional Development
The notion of social development emerges from the capacity of a child to interact with the society and environment to influence growth in behavior and personality. As the child grows, he can pick clues from the environment and incorporate those into his or her personality. They become capable of observing and understanding people’s actions, which in turn influences their communication abilities. They begin to explore their environment and social structure. The enhanced communication skills enable them to adapt to the new structural conformations. Moreover, the child can form new friendships with the help of acquired social skills ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"F32o1VfU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Parker & Gottman, 1989)","plainCitation":"(Parker & Gottman, 1989)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":625,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/JPYBPWTJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/JPYBPWTJ"],"itemData":{"id":625,"type":"chapter","abstract":"this chapter draws heavily upon a programmatic set of studies done in our laboratory / these studies, based almost entirely on observational methods, provide descriptions of friendship interaction from preschool age to adolescence (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)","collection-title":"Wiley series on personality processes","container-title":"Peer relationships in child development","event-place":"Oxford, England","ISBN":"978-0-471-85131-8","page":"95-131","publisher":"John Wiley & Sons","publisher-place":"Oxford, England","source":"APA PsycNET","title":"Social and emotional development in a relational context: Friendship interaction from early childhood to adolescence","title-short":"Social and emotional development in a relational context","author":[{"family":"Parker","given":"Jeffrey G."},{"family":"Gottman","given":"John M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1989"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Parker & Gottman, 1989). He starts expressing his emotions via whining and sudden mood alterations. He may associate his emotions with friends and family. In middle childhood, the child is more prone to making and keeping friendships based on their judgment. The ability of judgment is not yet fully developed, but it is enough to determine the feasibility of friendship.
With the enhanced exposure towards the society and environment, the child can develop the concept of emotion-based upon the situations experienced. If we observe the patterns of expressing emotions among males and females, we will know that males are less prone to expressing their feelings as compared to females. The severity of expressed emotion is dependent on the gender, according to which males tend to express the behavioral changes more often than females ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"SvtnlvVX","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Parker & Gottman, 1989)","plainCitation":"(Parker & Gottman, 1989)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":625,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/JPYBPWTJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/JPYBPWTJ"],"itemData":{"id":625,"type":"chapter","abstract":"this chapter draws heavily upon a programmatic set of studies done in our laboratory / these studies, based almost entirely on observational methods, provide descriptions of friendship interaction from preschool age to adolescence (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)","collection-title":"Wiley series on personality processes","container-title":"Peer relationships in child development","event-place":"Oxford, England","ISBN":"978-0-471-85131-8","page":"95-131","publisher":"John Wiley & Sons","publisher-place":"Oxford, England","source":"APA PsycNET","title":"Social and emotional development in a relational context: Friendship interaction from early childhood to adolescence","title-short":"Social and emotional development in a relational context","author":[{"family":"Parker","given":"Jeffrey G."},{"family":"Gottman","given":"John M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1989"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Parker & Gottman, 1989). Early childhood is associated with the child’s attempt to understand their identity, while middle childhood is associated with a child's ability to compare them with their peers through behavior and emotions. The notion of self-awareness is developed when a child observes different behaviors of others and infer emotional complexity. The notion of family bonding is prevalent in all stages of development. The child is dependent on the family because of various social and emotional needs throughout the early and middle developmental stages. During early childhood, the child is needy in terms of attention and care, but as soon as the child steps into middle childhood, he or she starts to seek freedom instead of attention.
Conclusion
An individual undergoes various developmental changes in life until he or she develops into a mature adult. These stages of development are associated with physical changes, neurological changes, social and emotional changes. Physical changes are largely dependent on genetics and environmental factors. As the child grows, neurological abilities keep on enhancing with the development of a child's ability to speak, write, and solve problems with logic. The motor skills which enable the child to walk, run, jump, write, and draw are also developed. Social development is largely dependent on forming new friendships while emotional development occurs as the child associate his or her behaviors with others and seek the concept of self-awareness.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood, 5th ed. Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand.
Epstein, H. T. (1986). Stages in human brain development. Developmental Brain Research, 30(1), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-3806(86)90139-2
Parker, J. G., & Gottman, J. M. (1989). Social and emotional development in a relational context: Friendship interaction from early childhood to adolescence. In Wiley Series on Personality Processes. Peer relationships in child development (pp. 95–131). Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons.
