The Lifespan of Development

Development is something that we all go through, something we have all experienced. It is physical, emotional and cognitive, it is unavoidable. For centuries people have known little about the development route they take, this is visible in the way which just a century a go we raised our children, they were for one thing classed as adults by the time they reached fourteen, married by twenty one, before the 15^th Century, there was no such thing as childhood, you were an infant and surviving that you became an adult. What has changed to make us more aware of development and who we are?

Psychology has, since its origins, had a huge interest in the matter of development. In the early days of the science people were suggesting theories for children’s development. Of course the most popular were suggested by psychologists such as Piaget and Erickson, both who suggested that development happens in stages (limited to certain ages and a rigid system which does no alter or change regardless) and they suggested that it is only children, and not adults, who develop. Once you reach thirteen you are no longer of developmental interest. To me, this theory seems to be unique albeit wrong. People do not stop developing. From the first period of gestation in the uterus till the day they cease to breath, there isn’t a second in which we are not developing. The act is simple, biologically wee develop by cells, by physiological factors (puberty for one) and by dietary needs. Then our morals, from a young age, develop into whatever they may be, they change throughout our lives undoubtedly, to (according to the theories of adaption) to adapt our behaviour to the time so that we can function properly and behave in a manner which will have us both survive and prosper. Cognitive development never stops, we start knowing very little and many finish their lives with genius for which they could not have dreamed for we learn things as we go through lives, it never stops.

Psychologists now take the simple approach, we have not shown ourselves defeated, we still continue to come up with theories of development, working with linguists, scientists and doctors to suggest the most suitable means of development and explanations. However, it is not a doubt in any of our minds that the trajectory of development changes from person to person and neither you nor your friend will experience the same development. It can never be applied to another person, it is not cross cultural, it is not transferable to another time. Of course, as with many things, through the ages we have changed the age of our development to suite the times, adults in medieval times were all but thirteen years old but the Victorian times a more realistic sixteen and now between eighteen and twenty one is the expected age of adulthood for the Western hemisphere. Expected being the key word, we are not naïve; you cannot say when someone will hit adulthood and how they will get there. It’s what makes humans so interesting.