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Developmental Analysis Assignment
Abstract
Human development is an interesting topic we have dove into throughout the semester. We have
learned about different theories and paths that one takes in his or her life and what the next is
most likely to be. We have discovered what consequences may come from not fully fulfilling
each obstacle. In this assignment, we are asked to dig into our own life and analyze from the
perspective we have now. I will discuss each of my milestones throughout life and relate it to the
key aspects of growth and development that we have learned about this semester. I will then
predict with the information I have available to me thus far where I think my aging process is
headed and what actions I can take to prepare.
Keywords: development, process, milestones
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
Developmental Analysis Assignment: Look Into My Life
At age twenty-five, they say I am a quarter of the way through life. However, I have
developed so much more than just ¼ of my growth. The changes made and milestones reached
thus far have been immensely impactful into who I have become, and while I definitely have a
long way to go, I do feel like this is mostly the person I will continue to be. From conception, all
the way to late adolescence entering early emerging adulthood where I am now, I have really
grown and learned about myself and the world. The obstacles we face mold us into the person we
become, and I definitely think I have done some molding in the last couple decades. Theorists
and psychologists have their own ways of looking into those developmental pathways, and I
think it has been so interesting learning along the way this semester. I will discuss each
milestone developmental moment in my life and relate them to some of the concepts discusses
throughout this course, as well as analyze my own life and how it may continue to affect my
future.
Prenatal Development
Prenatal development has multiple layers of what it provides to the baby. The physical,
cognitive, and social emotional development are all affected by this time in the womb. I, of
course, do not remember anything that I personally experienced, but my mom has told me some
of the things she did or did not do and how it may relate to the person I am today. Even
something as small as always craving Icees and now that is my favorite treat as an adult
demonstrated the connection to our prenatal development. She did not drink caffeine or take any
ibuprofen at this time out of fear, which some research says is unnecessary, but maybe it helped
keep me healthy to term. She played books on headphones near her tummy, and she claims it is
why I am “so smart.” Most of these are just suspicions because only God knows what makes a
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
baby become who they are, but it developed me into a woman that knows how cared for I have
been even since before I was born.
Infancy
Infancy is yet another time period I was highly affected by, but do not remember a bit.
From birth to about 2 years old, infancy is a developmental time that the parents have full control
over. My parents, for example, chose to breastfeed me to hopefully increase the support for my
cognitive development. Plenty research at the time and even now considers a positive connection
between being breast-fed and attaining higher educational achievements (Straub et al., 2019). My
parents did just that, and they somewhat believe that is the reason I went to graduate
valedictorian and accomplish such things academically. I like to let them think they can take
credit for all of that.
Toddlerhood
Toddlerhood time period overlaps a tad because it covers years one through three.
Toddlerhood is a big time for becoming independent and learning how to accomplish things on
your own. In my house growing up, my parents were huge on praising me for this. Some authors
discuss whether certain types of praises—“you are so smart” vs. “you worked so hard”—can
cause children to start to put their worth into the bucket of whichever praise they were getting
(Gunderson et al., 2013). I could see that as believable because I, even as a young adult now, will
often ask my partner “are you proud of me?” when I complete a mundane task. Something in me
has developed my thinking into always needing someone to be proud of me for my
accomplishments, and I believe that maybe all started from my parents’ constant reassure of their
pride in me. While I do believe it was a good thing for my parents to remind me they were proud
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
of me or to praise me for my accomplishments, I often wonder if that is why I am such a people
pleaser and want to make people proud.
Early School Age
Early school age runs from ages three to six, and this is where most of my earliest
memories come from. I remember “graduating” top of my pre-k class and being tested and
accepted for Gifted once I was in grade school. I remember always being told how smart I was
and how proud my parents were of me for that. I do believe that is partially the cause of my
perfectionism and anxiety. I have gotten better since college at not always having to perform at
“perfect” standards, but it took me a long time to let go of that. My anxiety and worries to not let
people down is something I am still working on, but I do believe some of it was created at this
stage in my development.
Middle Childhood
The middle childhood age period runs from ages six through twelve, and those are some
of the most impactful years in any kid’s life. That is the time I was at school, learning how to
make friends and resolve conflict without the guidance of adults. That was also the time I was
trying to figure out what I liked to do and more about me as a person. I was trying to find my
identity, which can be very intimidating and overwhelming at that age. I think a lot of who I am
today stems from this time period’s development.
I believe my cognitive development both took off and plateaued during this time. I
believe through the early years of this time, I soaked up all academic information I could and
really dove into that higher order thinking that maybe my peers around me were not at yet.
Research says there is a variety of reasons for advanced theory of mind beginning at different
ages in kids, such as life experiences and self-understanding (Osterhaus et al., 2021). This
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
jumpstart on deeper thinking did a few things to the little person trying to find herself, but it did
something way worse to my confidence when my peers began catching up with me and I started
to plateau. My worth was invested in the fact that I was so smart, and becoming just above
“average” was something that took me years to overcome.
I also do believe this time period is reflective in other aspects of my personality. This is
the time that play is super important, and just always independent play. It is important to play
with others and learn how to interact and socialize. However, at this time, not only was a placed
in Gifted—the smaller classes—I was the youngest of my siblings by far. My oldest brother is
ten years old and my other brother is six years older, so I was always left out and told I was “just
a little girl.” This created a sense of inferiority. To this day, I am struggling with this “button,” as
my therapist likes to call it, from this stage of my development, and I do not handle, specifically
male, authority figures talking down to me well.
Early Adolescence
This stage for me was about reinventing myself, covering ages thirteen through eighteen.
In Erikson’s stages, he talks about how this is when you find yourself through identity vs. role
confusion. However, beforehand I viewed myself as the “smart, good girl”, but now I was not
insanely smarter than my peers, so I had to reinvent this identity. I actually chose to throw
myself into my sport of cheerleading, which still takes up a large role in my life today. If I could
not be the smart girl, then I would be the cheerleader girl, which comes with lots of aspects of
my personality.
Being the cheerleader did not only mean being involved in the sport. I became outgoing,
positive, loud, friendly, you name it. Sometimes, I wonder how much of it was truly me, but now
I believe that it is what I was supposed to become because it feels right in my soul to be smiling
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
and trying to be positive. In his article, Göllner discusses how much personalities change during
this time period (2017), and this was a huge shift from me. From the “good, smart” girl, to the
loud, sometimes sassy cheerleader girl, my peers even commented on how much I had changed.
Little did they know, such a large part of me still wished to hold onto that “good, smart” image,
so I did still work to make sure I stayed the top of my class, but I just did not prioritize that as my
identifying personality.
Late Adolescence
I am finishing up this stage of late adolescence at age twenty-five, and this is the time I
believe I have found the most peace. I actually believe I have entered the next stage of early
emerging adulthood maybe a little early being that I started my career a couple years ago, and I
transitioned from that young adult in college to a fully independent woman at that time.
Regardless, this was the stage I soared in reference to my own self-worth. This was the stage I
learned—still not perfectly yet—not to need the approval from others or their praise to still be
good and worthy. I became more independent, found myself enough to fully devote to a serious
intimate relationship, achieved some of the goals I had set for myself when I was younger, and
most importantly, found my relationship with God. He is the reason for peace in this season.
Before this stage of my life, I struggled in the intimacy area with serious relationships, as
many do. In this stage, I found myself finally not searching for that and instead focusing on
myself, which as they all say, that is when it happens. Research has been done on this idea that
parental autonomy support affects one’s self-worth, which in turn has some effects on their own
intimate relationship with others (Van Petegem et al., 2018). It would make sense that in this
stage where I am able to let go of that need for my parents’ praise, I was able to fully believe in
myself for me and allow myself the love and intimacy of a romantic relationship. Through prayer
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
and letting go to Him above, I have found peace and hope to continue to work towards that with
Him in mind.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the research behind lots of these stages in life do align with the effects I
have seen on my personal life. Currently, while entering the early emerging adulthood stage, I
find myself living too busy and fast-paced and I do believe that long-term effects on the rest of
my development may be detrimental if I do not work on that now. I want to live in a way that
looking back at my life I will feel fulfilled, but I just have so much to do and so little time to do
it. I have got to get better at stopping to smell the flowers in between my long days and try to
slow down when I can, and for further study, maybe I can look into ways that in this age, we can
try to prioritize doing that. I hope in elderhood, I will feel I have accomplished the important
things in life like family, love, and spreading His word. If I can slow down the moving parts of
today and focus more on that, I think I will cross over into each new stage happily and easily.
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Developmental Analysis Assignment
References
Göllner, Richard et al. “Whose ‘Storm and Stress’ Is It? Parent and Child Reports of Personality
Development in the Transition to Early Adolescence.” Journal of personality. 85.3 (2017):
376–387. Web.
Gunderson, E. A., Gripshover, S. J., Romero, C., Dweck, C. S., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Levine, S.
C. (2013). Parent Praise to 1- to 3-Year-Olds Predicts Children’s Motivational Frameworks
5 Years Later. Child Development, 84(5), 1526–1541.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24029466
Osterhaus, C., & Koerber, S. (2021). The development of advanced theory of mind in middle
childhood: A longitudinal study from age 5 to 10 years. Child Development, 92(5),
1872–1888. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13627
Straub, N., Grunert, P., Northstone, K., & Emmett, P. (2019). Economic impact of breast-feeding-
associated improvements of childhood cognitive development, based on data from the
ALSPAC. British Journal of Nutrition, 122(S1), S16-S21.
doi:10.1017/S0007114515001233
Van Petegem, S., Brenning, K., Baudat, S., Beyers, W. and Zimmer-Gembeck, M.J. (2018),
Intimacy development in late adolescence: Longitudinal associations with perceived
parental autonomy support and adolescents' self-worth. Journal of Adolescence, 65: 111-
122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.03.008
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