Human growth and development

Human Growth and Development
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
Numerous development theories have been proposed to identify the growth phases and milestones of human beings, from infancy to adulthood. This paper focuses on such phases and milestones. There has been a protracted debate on the influence of either the nature or the nurture on the growth processes and milestones. The primary question has always been whether people are born in a particular way or human behavior is wholly dependent on the manner in which they are raised. The emphasis on nature underscores the role of genes and biology in determining the growth of children. Conversely, the focus on nurture is on the role of experiences in life through various settings, which include family, school and amongst others. Infants, preschoolers, as well as adolescents develop both in a similar and diverse way. The purpose of this essay is to find the connection and dissimilarity, with regards to the development of these individuals.
Keywords: Development, Infancy, Adulthood, Human Behavior
Preschool
Children in preschool are physically active, and most cannot sit still for a long time. They are clumsy at throwing balls. On average at the age of three, children are three feet in height and weigh about thirty-three pounds; they gain about four to five pounds per year during their preschool years and grow by about three to four inches per year (James & Prout, 2015). Regarding cognitive development, preschool children are ego-centric, illogical and their thoughts are full of fairy and magical constructions.

At this age, children experience an explosion of vocabulary, where they are in the process of learning syntax and grammar. Socially, children are cooperative, imaginative and are involved in fantasy and imaginary friendships (James & Prout, 2015). They develop gross and excellent motor skills.
School Age
During their school-aged period, their physical growth is slow and steady. They are prone to using physical activities as a means of developing both their excellent and unpolished motor capabilities. Moreover, their perceptual and motor competencies appear to be finely integrated. Regarding cognitive development, they can use entirely employee language as a communication tool (James & Prout, 2015). Those aged between six and seven years can recognize the perspectives of others, while they cannot assume the role of the other. On the other hand, children aged between eight and ten can realize the dissimilarity between behavior and intent, and accurately separate and differentiate different viewpoints. At this stage, friendship can be situation specific, and they can understand concepts of wrong from right.
Adolescents
For adolescents between eleven years to fourteen years for girls and thirteen years to seventeen years for boys, growth spurt. Adolescents can hypothetically think while calculating consequences of actions and thoughts. Adolescents logically think, recognize and discard hypotheses outcomes based on logic. Socially, they begin to be psychologically distant from their parents, while they seem to connect more with their peers. Social status has a close association with an attachment to groups (James & Prout, 2015). The major similarity between children of all ages, including adolescents, is that the pace of development is rapid, and increasingly exhausting the world around them and collecting cues from their environment.
References
James, A., & Prout, A. (2015). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance, promise, and problems. In Constructing and reconstructing childhood (pp. 24-46). New York: Routledge.