Adult Development – Summary

Adult Development Brian Carter West Georgia Technical College Adult Development ABSTRACT This paper explores and details the biological, cognitive, and social development of the author during the stages of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. It will compare the author’s experiences and developmental milestones with the theories presented in the textbook.The combination of all of these factors, combined with the reactions and actions taken by the author in response to his environment and experiences, are what make him the person he is today. Adult Observation During an individual’s lifespan development, he passes through several developmental stages, each with its own physical, cognitive, and social milestones. Whether the individual is an infant, child, adolescent, or adult, he is continually developing in almost every aspect in response to life, environmental, and physical demands.It is how the individual reacts to these change s that determine the direction and quality of the individual’s life in the future. The way an individual participates in social activities, engages himself in educational opportunities, and takes time to self-reflect on his experiences all interact to form the direction the individual’s life take. The social, cognitive, and physical aspects of the author’s lifespan development thus far will be described and discussed in detail.The author is a thirty-five year old Caucasian male who lives in a suburb of Atlanta. He was born into and raised in a mostly suburban middle-class household in Louisiana, where he lived until age 23, when he moved to metropolitan Atlanta. He is currently married for the second time, and is expecting his first son to be born in the next week. He has one younger sister who is also grown and married with one stepson. The author’s parents were born and raised in rural West Virginia.His father is college educated. His mother attended co llege, but did not graduate. He is a college graduate, and his wife has a graduate degree in Education. Both are employed full-time. INFANCY The author was born an eight-pound, four-ounce baby in August of 1975. During the first months of his life, he followed the general outline described in the textbook for breastfeeding and his introduction to solid foods (Dacey 2009). He also developed normally, in physical, cognitive, and social aspects.Aside from a short stint of high fever as a baby, the author experienced no major physical ailments as an infant. EARLY CHILDHOOD As the author progressed into early childhood, he began to exhibit traits of increased intelligence. Thanks to highly involved parents and support group, he was always encouraged to participate in educational activities, rather than playing idly. REFERENCES Dacey, John S. , John F. Travers, and Lisa B. Fiore. Human Development across the Lifespan. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.