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Biography of Diosen May Penes

               Diosen May Dela Torre Penes was born on May 30, 2000 in a small Barangay of Pañalum, Paquibato District, Davao City. She is the Eldest daughter of Diodenes Gonzales Penes and Arsenia Dela Torre Penes. She was the eldest of the family and has 2 younger brother Jhon Arden and Marc Kenneth. Her father is a graduate of Marine Engineering but did not pursue his career because early marriage. Her mother was a Day Care teacher and a city social services and development office (CSSDO) worker. Both her mother and father came from Barangay Pañalum and were friends since they were a child. Both her parents likes to get involve in social services. His father become a political figure when she was elementary and high school. Her mother is a CSSDO worker. Diosen May was born in a Middle class family.

 Her family have a small banana plantation and her father had a business in exporting banana outside the country through a company. She had a 6 years and 8 years gap between her and her brothers. She is a very loving sister that want the best for her brothers. She enjoys childhood in the province like any other child, her most favorite play ground is the Lasang River. As she grows up, her close relationship with her father became distant and could not find where did it start. His father remained very strict on her because they think she’s not already doing good in both academic and at home. Diosen May remained achiever from elementary until her high school years but not as good as her circle of friends which makes her feel inferior. 

   On her senior high school years she decided to enroll in Maryknoll College of Panabo away from her friends and family to start a new life being independent. At first she had a hard time adjusting to her new environment but later on she developed a self confidence by the help of her new friends. She specialized Humanities and Social Sciences. She finds this class interesting because it talks more on the social aspect of human being, it involves sociology, anthropology, politics, religion and many more. There were 40 students enrolled in that class for a week but become 9 the next week after meeting their teacher. This incident makes the class known in their school. HUMSS student became known to be a class of intelligent students. Her classmates were very advanced than her which makes her want to strive for more because she doesn’t want to be left out on that class. During her high school years she became emotionally unstable. One factor for this is the fact that she was alone at her Lola’s house. Second she found her fathers affair with another women. It breaks her apart knowing how happy her mother and brothers are when they are together, she kept it to herself for a year. One night, she accidentally told her mother everything out of frustration because of their argument. After that incident their family’s relationship become shaky. Her father beats her mother in-front of them, every time her mother throws tantrum about his affair. Her father blames everything to her even for the loss of his business. She felt so betrayed when her mother left her and her brothers at home without anything. She received all verbal abuse from her father while protecting her siblings. She needs to stand for her brothers and studies without any help. That was the time she realized that she needs to learn not depending to her parents. She needs to show her father that she could stand for herself. During those problems in her life, she engaged in many relationships because she wants someone to be with her along with the problems she is facing. A neurotic need for a powerful partner according to Horney. 

   She worked in a call center while studying for a while but stop when her mother told her to do so. Months had passed both her parents were trying so hard to work for their family. And eventually it went smooth again. 

  After graduating at Senior High School she enrolled at Davao Doctors College. She took up Bachelor of Science in Psychology. 

While studying she decided to work in the college library and have a scholarship from the City government so that her parents could not pay for anything at school. Her scholarship pays for her books and gives supporting allowance. Her parents does not want her to work but she insisted. 

During her college she become active in school to divert all her attention in useful things. She became part of Red Cross Youth and joined Inter school first aid competition representing their school for 4 consecutive years

. She also become an officer of her program in Psychology. She enjoys the feeling of being independent at the same time productive. 

On her 2nd year of college she felt her fathers love and regret for everything he has done, he does everything to make her happy and feel supported. He gives everything she wants specifically in financial aspect. Diosen May never lost respect and love toward her father but their warm relationship was gone. She graduated Psychology in the year 2023 and passed board exam on the same year. She immediately worked at Southern Philippines Medical Center- Institute of Behavioral and Psychiatric Medicine as a psychometrician for 3 years while continuing her study in graduate school.

 She finished her masters degree in clinical psychology at Ateneo de Davao University in the year 2026. She then pursued her dream as a social worker at the University of Mindanao and graduated at the year 2029. She worked as a CSSDO director in Davao City and while working she studied back in Ateneo for Child Psychology. She moved in Cebu in the year 2033 to pursue Medicine focusing in the field of Pediatrics at the Cebu Doctors University. 

While studying she also worked at Cebu Psychiatric Institute as a part time psychologist. After passing the board exam for medicine, she went back to Davao to work at Southern Philippines Medical Center. In the year 2043. She married at the age of 43 to her long time partner since her Senior High School. She had 1 daughter and 1 son. Diosen May never forget to render her time in social service. She is still active in City programs that gives services to remote areas where poverty is still present. She helps child’s and do community counseling and seminars. She had raised a foundation for those kids with special needs whom parents could not support their needs.  She received many awards such as outstanding Psychologist of the year, National Outstanding Volunteer Award (NOVA) and the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award.

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LATE ADULTHOOD AND END OF LIFE

Physical and Cognitive Changes

 Developmentalists group the elderly into three subgroups: the young old (60–75), the old old (75–85), and the oldest old (85 and older). The oldest old are the fastest-growing group of the elderly. Heredity, overall health, current and prior health habits (particularly exercise), and availability of adequate social support influence longevity.

 Most elders view their health status positively. With increasing age, the proportion of elders whose health interferes with activities of living rises. Chronic diseases such as arthritis and hypertension afflict many older adults. Changes in the brain associated with aging include, most centrally, a loss of dendritic density of neurons, which has the effect of slowing reaction time for almost all tasks. Older adults have more difficulty adapting to darkness and light than do younger adults. Loss of hearing is more common and more noticeable after 65 than at earlier ages. Taste discrimination remains largely unchanged with age, but ability to discriminate smells declines substantially in late adulthood.

General slowing alters behavior in old age and makes tasks such as driving more dangerous. Older adults also change their sleeping and eating patterns. Motor abilities decline, causing more accidents due to falls. Sexual activity also decreases in frequency, although most older adults continue to be sexually active.

 Dementia is rare before late adulthood, and it becomes steadily more common with advancing age. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. It is difficult to diagnose definitively, and its causes are not fully understood. Neurofibrillary tangles are far more likely to be present in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease than in those of people with other types of dementia.

 Mild or moderate depression appears to rise in frequency after age 70 or 75. Serious clinical depression, however, does not appear to become more common in old age. Ethnic groups vary in rates of depression, with older African Americans being the least likely to be depressed.

The elderly experience difficulties in a variety of mental processes, which appear to reflect a general slowing of the nervous system and perhaps a loss of working-memory capacity.

 Wisdom and creativity may be important aspects of cognitive functioning in old age. According to Baltes, decision making that is characterized by wisdom includes factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, an understanding of the relevance of context, an understanding of the relevance of values, and recognition that it is impossible to know in advance how a decision will affect one’s life.

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

 Activity theory proposes that it is both normal and healthy for older adults to try to stay as active as possible. Disengagement theory asserts that it is normal for older adults to separate themselves from others. In addition, the theory argues that aging has three components: shrinkage of life space, increased individuality, and acceptance of age-related changes. Continuity theory views later adulthood as a time when elders cope with age-related changes by continuing to engage in activities that interested and challenged them earlier in life. Successful aging is defined as maintenance of health along with cognitive and social functioning. Productivity and life satisfaction are also elements of successful aging.

 Religious coping has psychological and social components. It is associated with a lower mortality rate as well as with better physical and mental health. Researchers find that African Americans use religious coping more often than individuals in other groups.

 Marriages in late adulthood are, on average, highly satisfying for both spouses, who exhibit strong loyalty and mutual affection. In addition, marriage is associated with better physical and mental health, higher levels of life satisfaction, and lower rates of institutionalizations. Spouses are typically the primary caregivers to married elders who have disabilities.

 There is some indication that relationships with siblings may become more significant in late adulthood than at earlier ages. Degree of contact with friends is correlated with overall life satisfaction among older adults.

 Many elders who choose not to retire do so for economic reasons. Those who are self-employed or have particularly strong commitments to work are also less likely to retire than their peers. Research indicates that older adults can learn new job skills, but training programs are most effective when they take into consideration age-related changes in physical and cognitive functioning. Time of retirement is affected by health, family responsibilities, adequacy of anticipated pension income, general economic conditions, and satisfaction with one’s job.

Income typically decreases with retirement. Poverty rates are lower for older adults than for younger ones. Among elders, women and minorities are most likely to live in poverty. Retirement has little effect on elders’ health, and most do not view the transition from

work to retirement as stressful. The minority of older adults who find retirement stressful are likely to be those who feel they have least control over the decision to retire. Many older adults move at some time during retirement. Types of moves include amenity moves, compensatory migrations, and institutional migrations.

 COPING WITH DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT

 Death is a somewhat nonspecific term. Medical personnel refer to clinical death and brain death; social death occurs when the people treat the deceased person like a corpse. About half of adults in industrialized countries die in hospitals. Hospice care emphasizes patient and family control of the dying process and palliative care rather than curative treatment. Some studies suggest that patients and families are slightly more satisfied with hospice care than hospital care, but hospice care is also highly burdensome for the caregiver.

 Until about age 6 or 7, children do not understand that death is permanent and inevitable and involves loss of function. Teens understand the physical aspects of death much better than children do, but they sometimes have distorted ideas about it, especially their own mortality.

Many young adults believe they possess unique characteristics that protect them from death. For middle-aged and older adults, death has many possible meanings: a signal of changes in family roles, a transition to another state (such as a life after death), and a loss of opportunity and relationships. Awareness of death may help a person organize her remaining time.

 Fear of death appears to peak in midlife, after which it drops rather sharply. Older adults talk more about death but are less afraid of it. Deeply religious adults are typically less afraid of death.

Many adults prepare for death in practical ways, such as by buying life insurance, writing a will, and making a living will. Reminiscence may also serve as preparation. There are some signs of deeper personality changes immediately before death, including more dependence and docility and less emotionality and assertiveness.

 Kübler-Ross suggested five stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Research fails to support the hypothesis that all dying adults go through all five stages or that the stages necessarily occur in this order. The emotion most commonly observed is depression.

 Freud’s psychoanalytic theory emphasizes loss as an emotional trauma, the effects of defense mechanisms, and the need to work through feelings of grief. Bowlby’s attachment theory views grief as a natural response to the loss of an attachment figure. Attachment theorists suggest that the grief process involves several stages. Alternative views suggest that neither Freud’s nor Bowlby’s theory accurately characterizes the grief experience. Responses are more individual than either theory might suggest. The dual-process model suggests that bereaved individuals alternate between confrontation and restoration phases.

 Funerals and other rituals after death serve important functions, including defining roles for the bereaved, bringing family together, and giving meaning to the deceased’s life and death. Grief responses depend on a number of variables. The age of the bereaved and the mode of death shape the grief process. In general, the death of a spouse evokes the most intense and long-lasting grief. Widows and widowers show high levels of illness and death in the months immediately after the death of a spouse, perhaps as a result of the effects of grief on the immune system. Widowers appear to have a more difficult time than widows do in managing grief.

REFLECTION:

            Late adulthood is where the chapter ends. We must take care of old people as we care for the young ones. Every day in this stage is very valuable. We must treasure every hour late adults share with us, even though they are being grumpy we must understand the fact that they are going through a process of life which is not easy for a person. Death is inevitable in all aspect, time will come and it will be the end. We must be happy if our love ones reach this stage of life, we must not be afraid of death. And if time comes that it is their time to go, it’s okay to feel, anger, denial, and despair as long as in the end there will be acceptance.

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MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

Physical and Cognitive Changes

Brain size diminishes a bit in the middle adult years. Some changes in brain function suggest that middle-aged adults are more subject to distraction. However, middle-aged adults often outperform younger adults on everyday tasks that require concentration and rapid judgments, such as driving.

The loss of reproductive capacity, called the climacteric in both men and women, occurs very gradually in men and more rapidly in women. Menopause is a three-phase process that results from a series of hormonal changes.

 Bone mass declines significantly beginning at about age 30; accelerated declines in women at menopause are linked to decreased levels of estrogen and progesterone. Faster bone loss occurs in women who experience early menopause, who are underweight, who exercise little, or who have low-calcium diets.

 Thickening of the lens of the eye, with accompanying loss of elasticity, reduces visual acuity noticeably in the 40s or 50s. Hearing loss is more gradual. Cardiovascular disease is not a normal part of aging; it is a disease for which there are known risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, and a high-fat diet.

 Cancer has known risk factors, including smoking, obesity, and an inactive lifestyle. The role of a high-fat diet has been debated, but most evidence supports the hypothesis that such a diet contributes to the risk. Several cancers are caused by infectious agents (viral and bacterial).

Women tend to live longer than men but are more likely to have chronic illnesses. Women recover more readily from heart attacks because of gender differences in the heart itself and women’s greater tendency to get follow-up care.

 Low-income adults have more chronic illnesses and a higher rate of death than those who are better off economically. Alcoholism can develop at any age, but its effects become evident in middle age, when it is associated with increased mortality.

 Some studies suggest that differences in health contribute to variations in cognitive functioning among middle-aged adults. Exercise clearly affects the physical health of middle-aged adults, but research is less conclusive with regard to its effects on cognitive functioning. Verbal abilities continue to grow in middle age. Some loss of memory speed and skill occurs, but by most measures the loss is quite small until fairly late in the middle adult years. Expertise helps middle-aged adults compensate for losses in processing speed. Creative productivity appears to remain high during middle adulthood, at least for adults in challenging jobs (the category of adults on whom most of this research has focused).

 Social and Personality Development

 Erikson proposed that the primary developmental task of middle adulthood is to acquire a sense of generativity through mentoring younger individuals. Valliant proposed that the stage of career consolidation precedes Erikson’s generativity stage, and that of keeper of the meaning follows it.

Many different models of the “midlife crisis” in middle adulthood have been proposed, but none has been strongly supported by research. A life events approach to understanding the unique stresses of middle age is more useful.  Marital satisfaction is typically higher at midlife than it is earlier.

 This higher level of satisfaction appears to be due primarily to a decline in problems and conflicts.

Middle-aged adults have significant family interactions both up and down the generational chain. The two-way responsibilities of multigenerational caregiving can create a midlife “squeeze,” or a “sandwich generation.” Middle adults provide more assistance in both directions and attempt to influence both preceding and succeeding generations. Only a minority of middle-aged adults seem to take on the role of significant caregiver for an aging parent. Those who do report feeling a considerable burden and experience increased depression, particularly if the parent being cared for suffers from some form of dementia. Women are two to four times as likely as men to fulfill the role of caregiver to a frail elder.

 Most adults become grandparents in middle age. The majority have warm, affectionate relationships with their grandchildren, although there are also many remote relationships. A minority of grandparents are involved in day-to-day care of grandchildren. Friendships appear to be somewhat less numerous in middle adulthood than in younger adulthood, although they appear to be as intimate and central to the individual.

 The Big Five personality traits and other aspects of personality are correlated across early and middle adulthood. There is evidence for personality change in middle age as well.

 Job satisfaction is at its peak in middle adulthood, and productivity remains high. But the centrality of the work role appears to wane somewhat, and job satisfaction is less clearly linked to overall life satisfaction than at earlier ages.

 Levels of job performance in middle adulthood are consistent with those at earlier ages, with the exception of work that involves physical strength or reaction time. Involuntary career changes are associated with anxiety and depression. Even many middle-aged adults who make voluntary career transitions experience negative emotions. Middle-aged adults prepare for retirement in several ways, not only through specific planning but also by reducing the number of hours they work.

REFLECTION:

In middle adulthood, is where mostly our parents are in now. Some changes in their body is happening, such as weaker bones and hormonal changes. For women they are starting to have their menopausal period, and along with that is the corresponding behavior that is unpleasant for other people and as for the men they are already is a stage in which they are questioning their worth as the head of a family. Children must understand the process their parents are in, it’s not that easy to face changes in their body, if they feel that what they are doing is not enough for other and for their selves, they might be stagnant in this stage.

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EARLY ADULTHOOD

Physical and Cognitive Changes

Primary aging is a result of biological factors that are largely uncontrollable. Secondary aging can be influenced by lifestyle changes. These factors happen during early adulthood of life. The brain reaches a stable size and weight in early adulthood. It is clear that adults are at their peak both physically and cognitively between ages 20 and 40. In these years, a person has more muscle tissue, more calcium in the bones, better sensory acuity, greater aerobic capacity, and a more efficient immune system.

 In contrast to other diseases, sexually transmitted diseases are more common among young adults than among older adults. Bacterial STDs can be treated with antibiotics and include chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Viral STDs are incurable and include herpes, HPV, and HIV/AIDS. A vaccine is now available for HPV. Intimate partner abuse is a significant global health problem. Causal factors include cultural beliefs about gender roles, as well as personal variables such as alcohol and drug use. Women who are abused develop feelings of anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem. Witnessing abuse negatively affects children’s development.

 Rates of mental illness are higher in early adulthood than in middle adulthood; young adults are more likely to have depression or anxiety or to be lonely than are middle-aged adults. Early adulthood is the period during which personality disorders and schizophrenia are usually diagnosed. Physical dependence occurs when changes in the brain make it necessary to take a drug in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Psychological dependence is the craving that some substance abusers have for the effects of the drugs on which they are dependent.

 Some studies of measures of intelligence show a decline with age, but the decline occurs quite late for well-exercised abilities (crystallized abilities) such as vocabulary. A measurable decline occurs earlier for so-called fluid abilities.  Female students seem to have a number of important advantages over male students, including a higher graduation rate. However, many women lack confidence in their academic abilities and are reluctant to enter traditionally male occupations.

 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

 Erikson proposed that young adults who fail to establish a stable relationship with an intimate partner or a network of friends become socially isolated. Levinson’s concept of the life structure includes all the roles that a person occupies, all of his or her relationships, and the conflicts and balance that exist among them. He hypothesized that adult development involves alternating periods of stability and instability, through which adults construct and refine life structures.

The parts of the brain involved in decision making and self-control mature between the late teens and early 20s.

 Emerging adults use skills they acquired earlier in life to accomplish developmental tasks in the academic, conduct, and friendship domains. New skills are required for tasks in the work and romantic domains.

 Personality characteristics, as well as attachment and love, contribute to marital success. In general, married adults are happier, healthier, live longer, and have lower rates of psychological disorders than singles do. Divorce tends to increase young adults’ risk of depression, suicide, and adverse outcomes such as accidents, absenteeism from work, illness, loss of self-esteem, feelings of failure, and loneliness. People who cohabit prior to marriage are more likely to divorce than those who don’t. However, research has shown that among cohabiting couples in which the intention to marry is firm and the woman has had no prior cohabitation experience, divorce or dissatisfaction with the relationship is no more likely than among couples who do not live together before marriage.

 The factors that contribute to relationship satisfaction are similar across homosexual and heterosexual couples. However, the two types of couples often differ in the power relation within the partnership. Further, monogamy is not as important to gay male couples as it is to lesbian or heterosexual partners.

 People who do not have intimate partners rely on family members and friends for intimacy. After many years of singlehood, un partnered adults tend to incorporate “singleness” into their sense of personal identity. Continuous singles are more likely to experience a positive adult developmental path than divorced or widowed singles.

 Most men and women want to become parents because they view raising children as a life-enriching experience. The transition to parenthood is stressful and leads to a decline in relationship satisfaction. Factors such as the division of labor between mother and father, individual personality traits, and the availability of help from extended-family members contribute to relationship satisfaction.

 Young adults’ relationships with their parents tend to be steady and supportive, even if they are less central than they were at earlier ages. The quality of attachment to parents continues to predict a number of important variables in early adulthood. Each young adult creates a network of relationships with friends as well as with a partner and family members.

 The specific job or career a young adult chooses is affected by his or her education, intelligence, family background and resources, family values, personality, and gender. The majority of adults choose jobs that fit the cultural norms for their social class and gender. More intelligent young people, and those with more education, are more upwardly mobile. Job satisfaction rises steadily throughout early adulthood, in part because the jobs typically available to young adults are less well paid, more repetitive, and less creative and allow the worker very little power or influence.

 REFLECTION:

 Early adulthood is known to be at the peak of physical abilities, but it is also the stage where Sexually transmitted diseases are relatively high. So we must be careful of the people we interact to and as much as possible avoid premarital sex, specially is the person you are into is someone that you don’t personally know. STD’s are very dangerous disease that may possibly ruin you as being. Finding what is the best for you is already your job. You don’t rely any more to your family, in this age you must know what is right and wrong. From finding a job, peer, other half and so much more.

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ADOLESCENCE

Physical and Cognitive Changes

During this stage a child is going through puberty which is caused by hormonal changes in the body. Puberty is accompanied by a rapid growth spurt in height and an increase in muscle mass and in fat. Boys add more muscle, and girls add more fat.  Puberty is triggered by a complex set of hormonal changes, beginning at about age 7 or 8. Very large increases in gonadotrophic hormones are central to the process. In girls, mature sexuality is achieved as early as 12 or 13. Sexual maturity is achieved later in boys, with the growth spurt occurring a year or more after the start of genital changes.

 Teenage pregnancy is also very rampant at this age. Factors to teen pregnancy include early sexual activity, being raised by a single parent, having parents with a low level of education, low socioeconomic status, and having a parent who gave birth to a child in adolescence. Factors that protect against teen pregnancy include academic achievement, high aspirations for future education and career, and good communication about sex and contraception with parents. Hormonal, genetic, and environmental factors have been proposed to explain homosexuality. The process of realizing one’s sexual orientation is a gradual one that often isn’t completed until early adulthood.

 Sensation seeking, a desire to experience heightened levels of arousal, is associated with higher rates of various kinds of risky behavior, including unprotected sex, drug use, and fast driving. Lack of maturity in the prefrontal cortex may explain the link between sensation seeking and risky behavior, but environmental factors also play a role. These factors include permissive parenting, a desire for peer approval and independence from parents, media influences, and lack of involvement in school related activities.

 Eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are more common among teenaged girls than among teenaged boys. Some theorists hypothesize that media images of thin models and celebrities cause the body-image distortions that underlie eating disorders. Others have proposed biological and socioeconomic causes. Still others emphasize the tendency of individuals with eating disorders to exhibit other kinds of distorted thoughts and be

diagnosed with other psychological disorders. Depression and suicide are mental health problems that are common during adolescence. Both are more common among girls, although boys are more likely to succeed with a suicide attempt.

 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Adolescents are in the genital stage, a period during which sexual maturity is reached based on Freud’s theory. Erikson viewed adolescence as a period when a person faces a crisis of identity versus role confusion, out of which the teenager must develop a sense of who he is and where he belongs in his culture. Building on Erikson’s notion of an adolescent identity crisis, Marcia identified four identity statuses: identity achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and identity diffusion. Research suggests that the process of identity formation may take place somewhat later than either Erikson or Marcia believed. Moreover, it continues throughout the lifespan.

 Self-definitions become increasingly abstract at adolescence, with more emphasis on enduring internal qualities and ideology. Self-esteem drops somewhat at the beginning of adolescence and then rises steadily throughout the teenaged years.

 Teenagers increasingly define themselves in terms that include both masculine and feminine traits. When high levels of both masculinity and femininity are present, the individual is described as androgynous. Androgyny is associated with higher self-esteem in both male and female adolescents. Young people in clearly identifiable minority groups, biracial teens, and teens in immigrant families have the additional task in adolescence of forming an ethnic identity.

 Kohlberg proposed six stages of moral reasoning, organized into three levels. Preconventional moral reasoning includes reliance on external authority: What is punished is bad, and what feels good is good. Conventional morality is based on rules and norms provided by outside groups, such as the family, church, or society. Postconventional morality is based on self-chosen principles. Research evidence suggests that these levels and stages are loosely correlated with age, develop in a specified order, and appear in this same sequence in all cultures studied so far.

 The acquisition of cognitive role-taking skills is important to moral development, but the social environment is important as well. Specifically, to foster moral reasoning, adults must provide children with opportunities for discussion of moral issues. Moral reasoning and moral behavior are correlated, though the relationship is far from perfect.

 In the early years of adolescence, cliques are almost entirely same sex cliques. Between ages 13 and 15, cliques combine into crowds that include both males and females. This is the time when teens are most susceptible to peer influences. Crowds break down into mixed-gender cliques and then into small groups of couples. Heterosexual teens gradually move from same-sex peer groups to heterosexual couples. The feeling of being “in love” is important to the formation of couple relationships. Many homosexual teens experiment with heterosexual and homosexual relationships before committing to a gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation in mid-adolescence

Reflection:  

There are lots of problems a teen may encounter during this age. Teens this age must have enough idea of what they are going through with their lives. They must understand the consequences of their action if they let sensation seeking rule over them, if they are not guided well by their parents in the very first place, they will end to many problems in this stage, including teenage pregnancy, depression, and suicide. Parents must be understanding enough of what their child is going through instead of scolding without understanding, asking the other side of the story is a better idea.   In this phase many confusions about life occurs, and if not given answers, people might end up questioning its own identity. Adolescents are very curious by their own identity since they in a bigger perspective of the world. Guidance helps teens fee supported and secure in himself and his home environment. Parents must make support clear by showings interest of their child’s life like asking questions, listening their sides or to their thoughts are very important. Understanding their preference and decision could help to build rapport with them. Teenagers needs parents and families for love support and guidance.

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MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

PHYSICAL CHANGES

 Physical development from age 6 to age 12 is steady and slow. Children gain 2 to 3 inches in height and about 6 pounds of weight each year. Sex differences in skeletal and muscular maturation may lead boys and girls to excel at different activities. Major brain growth spurts occur in 6- to 8-year-olds and in 10- to 12-year-olds. Neurological development leads to improvements in selective attention, information-processing speed, and spatial perception.

School-aged children are healthy but benefit from regular medical care. Head injuries, asthma, and excessive weight gain are the most prevalent health problems of this age group

 Piaget proposed that a major change in a child’s thinking occurs at about age 6, when the child begins to understand powerful operations such as reversibility and decentration. The child also learns to use inductive logic but does not yet use deductive logic. Most information-processing theorists conclude that there are no age-related changes in children’s information-processing capacity, but there are clearly improvements in speed and efficiency.

Language development continues in middle childhood with vocabulary growth, improvements in grammar, and understanding of the social uses of language. To become literate, children need specific instruction in sound– symbol correspondences, word parts, and other aspects of written language. They also need to be exposed to good literature and to have lots of opportunities to practice their reading and writing skills. Children who participate in bilingual education receive academic instruction in their first language until they develop sufficient English skills to be taught in English. Those in ESL classes attend language classes in which they learn English and are instructed in English in their academic classes.

Boys typically do better on tests of advanced mathematical ability than girls. Girls do somewhat better than boys on verbal tasks. Although poverty and other social factors may play a role, ethnic differences in achievement may also result from differences in learning styles, philosophy, or attitudes toward school. Differences in both cultural beliefs and teaching practices are probably responsible for cross-cultural variations in math and science achievement.

There is considerable dispute about how to identify a genuine learning disability, and some children who are labeled as such have been misclassified. Practically speaking, “learning disability” serves as a catch-all term to describe children who, for unknown reasons, do not learn as quickly as their intelligence-test scores suggest they should. 

Children with ADHD have problems with both academic learning and social relationships. Medication, parent training, and behavior modification are useful in helping children with ADHD overcome these difficulties.

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

 Freud claimed that the libido is dormant between ages 6 and 12, a period he called the latency stage. Erikson theorized that 6- to 12-year-olds acquire a sense of industry by achieving educational goals determined by their cultures. Between 6 and 12, children construct a psychological self. As a result, their self-descriptions begin to include personality traits, such as intelligence and friendliness, along with physical characteristics.

Self-esteem appears to be shaped by two factors: the degree of discrepancy a child experiences between goals and achievements and the degree of perceived social support from peers and parents. Children in the moral relativism stage understand that rules can be changed through social agreement. Their moral judgment is colored more by intentions than by consequences.

 Physical aggression declines during middle childhood, although verbal aggression increases. Boys show markedly higher levels of physical and direct verbal aggression than girls, while girls show higher rates of relational aggression than boys. Children whose bullying is accompanied by destruction of property, theft, deceitfulness, and/or violations of social rules may be diagnosed with conduct disorder.

During this age child starts to have distant relationship with their parents not like in the earlier stage, as they start to build new one with their friends. They start to find friends based on their own likeness or similarities. Characterized by high levels of aggression or bullying and low levels of agreeableness and helpfulness, but some aggressive children are very popular. Neglected children may suffer depression.

 Children in low-income families are markedly disadvantaged in many ways. They do worse in school and move through the stages of cognitive development more slowly. Protective factors, including a secure attachment, relatively high IQ, authoritative parenting, and effective schools, can counterbalance poverty effects for some children. Experts agree that watching violence on television and playing violent video games increase the level of personal aggression or violence shown by a child.

Reflection:

           Children may be avoidant to their own parents in this stage, that’s why it is really needed that they are still guided well together with understanding. They must feel that no matter what happen they still have people to go to when they have problems. Parents must also observe the people that surrounds their child. Child during this stage might impose different kinds of aggression therefore it also requires extra love and understanding from their own family or caregiver.  There is a significant difference between boys and girls during this stage, but it must be emphasized that even though there are differences when it comes to progress they still have advantages in both gender. In this stage parents should know the development of their child, they should monitor their child’s performance at school or what environment they are in. Parents must also know the peer they belong to. But still the support to their child is a must but also with a proper guidance.

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Early Childhood

PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE CHANGES

Physical development of early childhood is not as fast as the infancy stage, but the progress does not stop. Motor skills continue to improve gradually, with marked improvement in gross motor skills such as running, jumping, galloping and slower advances in fine-motor skills.

Significant changes in brain lateralization occur in early childhood. Handedness is another neurological milestone of this period. Slower rates of growth contribute to declines in appetite. Stress is a factor in early childhood illnesses such as colds and flu. Children between the ages of 2 and 9 are more likely to be abused or neglected than are infants and older children. Certain characteristics of both children and parents increase the risk of abuse. Long-term consequences of abuse have been found across all domains of development.

By the end of early childhood, children have a well-developed theory of mind. They understand that other people’s actions are based on their thoughts and beliefs. The theory of mind includes the false-belief principle, an understanding of the factors that cause another person to believe something that isn’t true.

 Neo-Piagetian and information-processing theories explain early childhood cognitive development in terms of limitations on young children’s memory systems. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory asserts that children’s thinking is shaped by social interaction through the medium of language.

 Fast-mapping is the use of categories to learn new words, enables young children to acquire new words rapidly. It involves the rapid formation of hypotheses about the meanings of new words based on the contexts in which they occur. During the grammar explosion, children make large advances in grammatical fluency. Inflections, complex word orders, negatives, and questions appear in their speech. Development of an awareness of the sound patterns of a particular language during early childhood is important in learning to read during the school years. Children seem to acquire this skill through word play. Differences in IQ have been attributed to both heredity and environment. Twin and adoption studies make it clear that at least half the variation in IQ scores is due to genetic differences, the remainder to environment and the interaction of heredity and environment. Family variables and preschool experiences also contribute to variation in IQ scores.

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

During early childhood, children’s temperaments are modified by social experiences both within and outside the family to form their personalities. The preschooler continues to define himself along a series of objective dimensions but does not yet have a global sense of self. Children make major strides in self-control and in their understanding of their own social roles in the preschool years, as parents gradually turn over the job of control to the child.

 Cognitive-developmental theory claims that gender development depends on children’s understanding of the gender concept and that the latter develops in three stages. Between ages 2 and 6, most children move through a series of steps in their understanding of gender constancy: first labeling their own and others’ gender, then understanding the stability of gender, and finally comprehending the constancy of gender at about age 5 or 6. Gender schema theory claims that children organize ideas about gender using a mental framework (schema) that they construct as soon as they can reliably label themselves and others as male and female.

At about age 2, children begin to learn what is appropriate behavior for their gender. By age 5 or 6, most children have developed fairly rigid rules about what boys or girls are supposed to do and be. Children display sex-typed behavior as early as 18–24 months of age. Some theorists think children play in gender-segregated groups because same-sex peers help them learn about sex-appropriate behavior.

Authoritative parenting, which combines warmth, clear rules, and communication with high maturity demands, is associated with the most positive outcomes for children. Authoritarian parenting has some negative effects on development. However, permissive and uninvolved parenting seem to be the least positive styles.

Family structure affects early childhood social and personality development. Data from U.S. studies suggest that any family structure other than one that includes two biological parents is linked to more negative outcomes. Following a divorce, children typically show disrupted behavior for several years. Parenting styles also change, becoming less authoritative. However, many effects of divorce on children are associated with problems that existed before the marriage ended.

Children during this age are developing aggression such as Physical aggression, verbal aggression, instrumental aggression to hostile aggression. Some children display trait aggression, a pattern of aggressive behavior that continues to cause problems for them throughout childhood and adolescence.

 Reflection:

During this stage the child starts to be so much active. They have new learnings that can be acquired from the society they are living with. They are learning from the adults; it is discussed that they are learning rapidly by communication with other people. They are going through explosion of language during this stage. It would be better if adults are extra careful with the words they are saying because children will see everything as right. Children’s are shaped by social interaction therefore it is important that they are given enough care and attention from both parents or whoever they are comfortable with.  In this phase of life, children tend to see the real color of the world, they are gradually exposed with reality. If they rea not given enough care and love they might form aggression towards other people just to have what they want, if they are not corrected with this actions they might bring this behavior until they grow up. It is very important that a child have connection with their parent so that they will be aware of the thing that is right or wrong. Ass parent it is very important that we know our child well and also they environment they are living in.

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Infancy

THE PROCESS OF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Changes in the nervous system are extremely rapid in the first 2 years. In most parts of the brain, development of dendrites and synapses reaches its first peak between 12 and 24 months, after which “pruning” of synapses occurs. Myelinization of nerve fibers also occurs rapidly in the first 2 years.

An infant will have reflexes such as adaptive reflexes (sucking), primitive reflexes (startle) and Babinski reflexes. Neonates move through a series of consciousness in a cycle that last about 2 hours.

During infancy the neonates became stronger, they develop stronger bones, muscles, stamina larger lungs, heart. Their motor skills also improve rapidly in the first 2 years.

Experts suggest that breastfeeding is always the best choice to have a healthier baby. Macronutrient malnutrition may occur if the babies diet only has very few calories, while micronutrient malnutrition happens when an infant has enough calories but lacks nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Babies also needs regular checkups and immunization to avoid respiratory infections and other diseases. Sudden infant death syndrome is one of the most common cause of death between 1 month and 1 year of age in the united states.

Color vision is already present at birth but visual acuity and visual tracking skills are relatively poor at birth and then develop rapidly at the first few months. New born can actually identify where does a sound came from, they can hear human voice. Smelling tasting and the sense of touch motion are so well developed at birth.

 LEARNING AND COGNITIVE CHANGES

Piaget stated that a sensorimotor infant has a small range of basic schemes, from which she moves toward symbolic representation. There are primary, secondary, and tertiary circular reactions in this milestones of this stage as well as object permanence, means–end behavior, and deferred imitation. Developmentalists such as Spelke and Baillargeon have studied object permanence within the context of infants’ global understanding of objects. They said that Piaget underestimated how much younger infants know about objects and their movements.

Babies are able to learn through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observation of models within the first few weeks of life. By 14 months, they learn successful and unsuccessful modeled behaviors and the would follow the things that they think are right.  From an early age, infants use categories to organize information. The understanding of how they relate to each other, increases over the first 2 years of life. 3 and 4-month-old infants show signs of remembering specific experiences over periods of as long as a few days or a week, a sign that they must have some form of internal representation well before Piaget supposed they do.

According to behaviorist theories of language development claim that infants learn language through parental reinforcement of word like sounds and correct grammar. Nativists say that an innate language processor helps them learn language rules. Interactionists say that language development is a subprocess of cognitive development.

High-pitched infant-directed speech (IDS) helps infants learn language by attracting their attention to the simple, repetitive, and expanded expressions that adults use. The amount of verbal interaction that takes place between infants and mature speakers is another influence. Poverty is associated with language development as well.

Babies’ earliest sounds are cries, followed at about 2 months by cooing, then at about 6 months by babbling. At 9 months, babies typically use meaningful gestures and can understand a small vocabulary of spoken words. The first spoken words, usually names for objects or people, typically occur at about 1 year, after which toddlers add words slowly for a few months and then rapidly. The rate of language development varies from one child to another. Children who are late talkers typically catch up with their peers by the time they enter school. Early word learning seems to follow similar patterns in all cultures. However, the word order of a child’s telegraphic speech depends on which language he is learning.

 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

 There are temperament dimensions that temperament theorists generally agree such as basic activity level, approach/positive emotionality, inhibition, negative emotionality, and effortful control/ task persistence There is strong evidence that temperamental differences have a genetic component and that they are at least somewhat stable throughout infancy and childhood. However, temperament is not totally determined by heredity or neurological processes. The “fit” between children’s temperaments and their environments may be more important than temperament itself.

The infant begins to develop a sense of self, including the awareness of a separate self and the understanding of self-permanence (which may be collectively called the subjective self) and awareness of herself as an object in the world (the objective self) during the middle of the second year. An emotional self develops in the first year. The range of emotions infants experience as well as their ability to make use of information about emotions, such as facial expressions increases dramatically over the first year.

Infants in nonparental care are more likely to be overweight than those who are cared for exclusively by parents. Research on the effects of nonparental care on cognitive developmental variables such as intelligence test scores and academic achievement have produced inconsistent results. Some studies show positive effects, but others do not. When a child receives more intellectual stimulation in nonparental care than he would at home, there are likely to be positive effects on cognitive development. But when the reverse is true, nonparental care may have neutral or negative effects on cognitive development. The impact of day care on children’s social development is unclear. Some studies show a small difference in security of attachment between children in day care and those reared at home; others suggest that home-care and day-care children do not differ with respect to attachment.

Infants’ physiological responses to the stresses associated with nonparental care may underlie its association with developmental outcomes. The quality of nonparental care a child receives may be as important as the quantity of nonparental care. Individual differences and gender may interact with the quality of a care arrangement, the quantity of outside-the-home care a child receives, or both. Average differences between children who receive nonparental care and those who are cared for entirely in their own home are small.

REFLECTION:

 Taking care of an infant is not that easy, it’s not just about happiness they can give but they are also a responsibility for a family or both parents. It’s very important that before bearing a child both parents are already capable of adding new life to the family. Infants are learning rapidly with what they see or hear, they must be given enough attention or guidance for them to grow well. It’s the right of a child to have adequate food, home and love for them to live. In this stage is the critical stage of their life, they are making their first in life as they develop physically, emotionally and mentally. During infancy, a child’s learning is growing very well that they will acquire those things they think are right by following the older one. As an adult or care taker of a child it is important that we are observant enough with our actions. They are learning day by day so we must be careful of the things that we are teaching them as well as they emotions that we are giving to a child. Any tiny details that would be acquired by a child will be part of his/her development. During this stage the infants are the social butterflies, they give us happiness while giving them new learnings. They must feel that they are being cared and they have people where they can feel safety and belongingness. In this phase of their life they are forming relationships with other people. Guidance provides children with appropriate and positive models pf behavior and helps them to develop respect, self- regulation, self- confidence and sensitivity as they learn and grow. Guidance is needed if a parent wants a child to have appropriate behavior before a child display inappropriate attitude because of lack of guidance.

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DEVELOPMENT FROM CONCEPTION TO BIRTH

Zygote are fertilized egg cell that results from the union of a female gamete or ovum with a male gamete or sperm. At conception, the 23 chromosomes from the sperm join with the 23 chromosomes from the ovum to make up the set of 46 that will be reproduced in each cell of the new individual.

Normal physical growth during childhood is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The functions of genes are to pass on the information necessary to build proteins and bodies from one generation to the next. The process that changes a single cell into a new person is called development.  

During pregnancy if the mother of the child is not taking good care of her child it may result to genetic and chromosomal disorders. Dominant disorders are usually manifested in adulthood. Recessive disorders affect individuals earlier in life, often leading to intellectual disability and/or early death.

There are 3 types of stage in prenatal development, first is the germinal stage, second is the embryonic stage and lastly in the Fetal Stage. In the Germinal phase is the phase of development that occurs from conception until two weeks. The embryonic stage lasts from implantation (2 weeks) until week 8 of pregnancy and lastly is the fetal stage. The remainder of prenatal development occurs during the fetal stage, which lasts from week 9 until birth (usually between 38 and 40 weeks).

Male fetuses may be more active than their female counterparts. They also develop more slowly and are more vulnerable to most of the potentially negative influences on prenatal development. The fetus is responsive to stimuli and appears to learn in the womb. Prenatal temperamental differences (for example, activity level) persist into infancy and childhood, and some aspects of the prenatal sensory environment may be important to future development.

There are problems that may occur during prenatal development, and one cause of this is the Teratogens, these are substances that may produce physical or functional defects in the human embryo or fetus after the pregnant woman is exposed to the substance. Alcohol can also interfere with the normal growth of a fetus and cause birth defects. When a woman drinks during pregnancy, her fetus can develop lifelong problems. The most severe disorder is fetal alcohol. During the later weeks of pregnancy, illegal drug use can interfere with the growth of the fetus and cause preterm birth and fetal death. Factors affecting fetal growth can be maternal, placental, or fetal.

 REFLECTION:          

           Beginning of life is very important. If you are bearing a child, you must be careful of what you are doing because everything that you do to your self will affect the child. It is important that you are taking good care of yourself if you know it is harmful for the baby then stop. Rapid changes in mood is normal. People must also understand the process they are going through. It’s not easy to go on this process. Having a child must be planned because you are raising another life, a life that would represent both parents. Having a child is not just a game it’s a responsibility.