Development Stages

Student’s Name

Institution

Development Stages

Understanding the development stages is an essential part of understanding the growth and development of human beings. According to Erik Erikson, there are eight main stages in human development which include; trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, industry vs. inferiority, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation (Erford, 2017). This paper will provide observation of two children both aged ten yeas by describing their social, cognitive, physical, and personality characteristics.

The two children, as a result of their ages, fall under the industry vs. inferiority stage. According to Armitage et al. (2013), the industry vs. inferiority stage of development usually captures children between the ages of six and twelve. In this case, the two children were both males. One of the observations which I made from observing the interactions between the two boys was that they were physically growing from childhood. They had fairly strong muscles, which were short of a normal teenager but stronger compared to children of a younger age. Another observation was based on the social aspect of the boys. The two boys displayed a willingness and interest to interact with other people. They were enthusiastic about playing together as well as making new friends. The boys also belong to peer groups, which was comprised of other boys, which they befriended. I also noticed that the boys preferred interactions with other boys and had a tendency to avoid interactions with children of the opposite sex. The two boys were also enthusiastic about showing their best attributes to their friends. The approval and opinions of their friends were important. They would delight in a positive comment given by their friends and sulk from a negative attribute given by a friend.

On the cognitive aspect of the observations, both boys showed a desire to learn new things. They were determined to understand more complex problems presented to them by their teachers. They also showed a positive and increased interest in the learning material whenever they received commendations from their teachers. A positive comment on their work increased their motivation and hard work. Also, they tend to show discouragement or lack of interest when harshly spoken to or when they do not receive a positive comment from the work done. As a result, their performance and interest in subjects in school heavily relied on the motivation offered by their teachers towards them.

The personality observations received several things. One of the observations made was that the boys were sensitive. Another personality observation made from the two boys is that they were very sensitive to issues such as justice and fairness. They were keen to see that their friends and family members treated all people equally. They were particularly vocal about whether they felt that one of the people around them was being mistreated. Also, they were self-critical. Their self-criticism was especially high whenever they felt like they did not achieve certain objectives set by parents or teachers and, in some other instances, when one of their peers does something better than them. Curiosity was also another observation which was easily evident about the two boys. They were curious to know new things from both their school and home environment. One could easily see them develop interests in areas such as how cars operate or develop curiosity about birds outside the classroom set up.

Conclusion

Understanding the eight development stages is vital in learning about the growth and development of human beings. The observation of the two boys aged ten years each clearly demonstrated social, cognitive, physical, and personality attributes, which were similar to the industry vs. inferiority stage of development.

References

Armitage, A., Donovan, G., Flanagan, K., & Poma, S. (2013). Developing professional practice 14-19. Routledge.

Erford, B. (2017). An Advanced Lifespan Odyssey for Counseling Professionals. Nelson Education.