Is Child Development Best Described as Gradual Change, or as a Series of Stages?
PSY1011/1111 Essay cover sheet
Essay Title:
Is child development best described as gradual change, or as a series of stages?
Student number: M00330526
Word count (Excluding title and references section): 1076
Declaration
By submitting this work I acknowledge that I am its author, that all sources consulted in its preparation are referenced appropriately in accordance with the referencing guide, and that I have not copied from any source.
The development of children occurs from birth to adolescence. Children start developing their physical, intellectual, social, and emotional senses at an early age and while people change throughout their lives, the developmental changes occur mostly during childhood. All the way through this stage, the infant becomes someone who can control his language, he becomes self-aware, and he can think and socialize with others. Child development is studied for several reasons. The first one being that it provides practical guidance for parents, teachers, child-care providers and other people who cater for children. The second reason is that it allows the population to maintain a healthy growth. Also, studying development of children supports them in understanding themselves and others. We know ourselves better by recognizing the influences that have made us who we are today. There are multiple aspects affecting child development and these features are nature and nurture, continuity versus discontinuity and stages of development. These features will be evaluated throughout this essay. Whether child development is a gradual change or stages of development, researchers are still discussing about it. But obviously, we can observe that it is both of it, that is, child development occurs through a set of stages but it is also a gradual change throughout the lives of the children. A debate persists among researchers concerning child development as being a gradual change or consisting of different stages of development.
Essay Title:
Is child development best described as gradual change, or as a series of stages?
Student number: M00330526
Word count (Excluding title and references section): 1076
Declaration
By submitting this work I acknowledge that I am its author, that all sources consulted in its preparation are referenced appropriately in accordance with the referencing guide, and that I have not copied from any source.
The development of children occurs from birth to adolescence. Children start developing their physical, intellectual, social, and emotional senses at an early age and while people change throughout their lives, the developmental changes occur mostly during childhood. All the way through this stage, the infant becomes someone who can control his language, he becomes self-aware, and he can think and socialize with others. Child development is studied for several reasons. The first one being that it provides practical guidance for parents, teachers, child-care providers and other people who cater for children. The second reason is that it allows the population to maintain a healthy growth. Also, studying development of children supports them in understanding themselves and others. We know ourselves better by recognizing the influences that have made us who we are today. There are multiple aspects affecting child development and these features are nature and nurture, continuity versus discontinuity and stages of development. These features will be evaluated throughout this essay. Whether child development is a gradual change or stages of development, researchers are still discussing about it. But obviously, we can observe that it is both of it, that is, child development occurs through a set of stages but it is also a gradual change throughout the lives of the children. A debate persists among researchers concerning child development as being a gradual change or consisting of different stages of development.