Essay Sample on Human Growth: Cognitive, Biological & Psychosocial Processes

Introduction

Human development is a lifelong process that begins from conception and extending till death. Every time in life, each human is in the process of evolution. Humans evolve in three distinct ways, namely cognitive, biological, and psychosocial growth. However, biological growth accounts for the most significant contribution of human evolution in the body. Thus, this paper will account for the process of cognitive, biological and psychosocial growth in humans.

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Growth During Pregnancy

Even before most pregnancies are detected, significant growth has begun in the body. The process starts when a sperm and an egg unite at conception. This result in a zygote divided into 12 to 16 cells on its journey through the fallopian tube to the uterus (Soma-Pillay, Nelson-Piercy, Tolppanen & Mebazaa, 2016). It is here at the womb that the baby zygote will grow till its birth. During the three trimesters, the fetal grows and develops all its body organs such as brains, spinal cord. The baby is delivered in the third trimester after 39 to 40 weeks of growth.

During pregnancy, the fetus's brain growth is the development of the neurons and connections in the brain's cells. Immediately after birth, the brain growth continues. At this point, the brain is developing voluntary movement, reasoning, perception, and frontal lobes active in the development of emotions in the next six years (Soma-Pillay, Nelson-Piercy, Tolppanen & Mebazaa, 2016). The child is also learning at this point. The caretakers should be careful to provide the right environment and avoid harmful or harsh treatment that may come with emotional consequences in the future. At the end of this period, the brain has grown to 95% of its adult weight and peak energy consumption. Now the baby can walk, talk, reason, and play. In the next 15 years, the neural connections are still pruning, wiring of the brain still in progress. The fatty tissues surrounding neurons increase and assist with speeding up electrical impulses and stabilize connections. Finally, at the end of this period, the prefrontal cortex is the last to mature and which involves the control of impulses and decision making.

Genetic Traits From My Parents

Like my father, I have acquired his height and his boldness. My 6inch height corresponds to his 6-inch height. Height is a genetically inherited trait; however, courage is not apparent, whether it is nature or the way he has raised me until adulthood. But one thing is clear either way, both traits I have acquired from him. My mother's most dominant trait in me is the light skin. She a brown lady, though not as bold as my father, but she has a good heart. According to Andrews, Kruuk, & Smiseth (2016) ,this all happens during the conception where the eggs and sperm contain 23 chromosomes each when they meet each the chromosome pair up to form a blueprint for the new child.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Growth in My Life

Piaget’s theory of cognitive theory development suggests that children move four different stages of four mental developments. The first stage is the sensorimotor stage, where the infants know their world through their movements and sensation. These movements are mainly basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening (Hanfstingl, Benke & Zhang,2019). As they continue to interact with their environment, they continue making discoveries. Though cognitive development occurs in a relatively short period, it involves a great deal of development. At this point child do not only learn how to perform physical activities but also learn a great deal of how to communicate from people with who they interact.

The second stage of Piaget's theory is the pre-operation stage that mainly occurs at the age of 2years to 7years. At this point, children begin to think symbolically and use pictures to represent objects (Hanfstingl, Benke & Zhang, 2019). Even though they are getting more fluent in the language and expressions, they still struggle with logic and take the others' point of view. For instance, at this stage as a kid, I would not understand that my mother may not, at times, afford enough money to buy me candy. I would cry all through without reason if she did not buy me some.

The third stage is the concrete operational stage, where the egocentric trait in the previous stage starts fading away, and the child begins using more logic in their reasoning. This is because the child begins to see things from other people’s perspectives. They start acknowledging that their thoughts are unique and not necessary for everyone to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions (Hanfstingl, Benke & Zhang, 2019). However, as much as their thinking is becoming more logical, they can also think in a very rigid and hypothetical way.

The last stage of Piaget's theory is the formal operational stage, which occurs from 12 years to death. At this stage, the child is an adult and has increased logic, ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas (Hanfstingl, Benke & Zhang, 2019). At this, a child can view the world differently and can see multiple solutions to existing problems. Also, Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning.

Vygotsky’s Theory and Its Application to My Life

Vygotsky is most known for the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) concept about children's learning process. According to him, the advancement of children's cognitive development is through social interaction with other people, particularly those who are more skilled (Dastpak, Behjat, & Taghinezhad, 2017). He believes that social learning comes before the cognitive knowledge of an individual. Hence, children who reach this stage of the zone of proximal development only needs a little more help to be able to perform these activities independently. For example, when I was a kid, I could drive a tricycle correctly. However, I needed some help from my father to learn how to drive a bicycle independently. He called this action of helping a child to as scaffolding.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development

According to Erikson's stages of psychosocial development of a child till adulthood, for each development, a child experienced conflicts that served as a turning point in development. The first stage of development is the trust verse mistrust between birth and one year of a child. At this stage, an infant is entirely developing, and the trust established is entirely dependent on the quality of the care that the caregiver afforded (Çelik & Ergün, 2016). In my case, the care must have been the best quality since even at my adulthood, and I still believe that the only safe place and trustworthiness is back at my parents’ arms. The other stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. At this stage, the child is starting to gain a little more independence and doing something’s on their own such as going to the toilet, choosing food choices, and toy preferences. At this point, my little spiderman toy was my favorite, and I could even refuse to eat just to be bought one.

The third stage of Erikson's is initiative Vs. Guilt at this stage, mainly before school, children start exerting their power and control over the world through directing the play and other social interactions (Çelik & Ergün, 2016). The child at this stage feels able and capable of leading others. At four years old, I could talk over my sister on different tactics to steal sugar from the kitchen and hide it in our room, where we would consume it later. The fourth stage is the industry and inferiority, where a child begins to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and abilities. At this stage, children start to differentiate different feelings when they can accomplish their goals or fail. For instance, I was not the best in education in my early stages of growth in my first school. I would feel bad each time my friends would be given a gift to take home, yet I would take none. The fifth Erikson’s stage is Identity vs. Confusion and the stage that occurs during the teenage years play an essential role in developing a sense of personal identity that continues to influence behavior and development for the rest of a person's life (Çelik & Ergün, 2016). At this point, I needed to be free to do whatever that pleased me. I rejected most of the rules and regulations. At this level, I felt that I was more than mature to take responsibility for my action.

The sixth Erickson's stage is the stage of intimacy vs. isolation, where a person forms a relationship with other people (Çelik & Ergün, 2016). Success leads to healthy relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. Mainly at this stage, I could feel more comfortable conversing with people whenever I had better grades in my studies. However, I did tend to isolate myself, mainly from my peers, whenever they did perform better than me. The stage that I am now is the Generativity vs. Stagnation, a point where all I think of is creating things that will last and also make a difference to other people. At this stage, all I want to accomplish is to see my studies done and be able to have a successful career where I would create a company that will ensure that I will be selling online candies.

Relationship With Parents at Old Age

At this point, my relationship with my parents is getting back to normal after initial fallout after I had started misusing drugs. During this stage of drug abuse, I was rarely at home, ever partying. My academic performance had deteriorated to such an extent that I have to redo some classes that I failed because of poor peer pressure and the need to take drugs (Luthar, Small & Ciciolla, 2018). However, after quitting drugs, things are making the right track. My performance is back to normal, and our relationship with parents is getting back to normal but with more freedom to choose. They are respecting much of my decision and trying to advice on the right choices.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all people experience cognitive, biological, and psychosocial growth throughout their lifetime. However, it is vital to understand the process because if not well understood, it may misjudgment people's characteristics during growth. But, if the process is understood well, it would lead to proper growth and reduced cases of cognitive issues and biological growth issues in the body. Moreover, with the right understanding of psychosocial development stages, it is easy to help people grow in the right way.

References

Andrews, C., Kruuk, L., & Smiseth, P. (2016, August 22). Evolution of elaborate parental care: Phenotypic and genetic correlations between parent and offspring traits. Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/28/1/39/2453501

Çelik, B., & Ergün, E. (2016). An integrated approach of Erikson’s psychosocial theory and adlerian counseling. The International Journal of Human and Behavioral Science, 2(1), 20-26.

Dastpak, M., Behjat, F., & Taghinezhad, A. (2017). A Comparative Study of Vygotsky's Perspectives on Child Language Development with Nativism and Behaviorism. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02188791.2016.1216827

Hanfstingl, B., Benke, G., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Comparing variation theory with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: more similarities than differences? Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09650792.2018.1564687.

Luthar, S. S., Small, P. J., & Ciciolla, L. (2018). Adolescents from upper middle class communities: Substance misuse and addiction across early adulthood. Development and psychopathology, 30(1), 315-335.