Running Ahead:
The Stages of Adult Development
Frances Johnson
PSY307: The Journey of Adulthood
Instructor, Jennifer Silitsky
December 2, 2013
There are many theories and developmental stages that we may go through in life beginning from birth to late adulthood. Theories are formulations of apparent relationships among observed events, and developmental stages are stages that we may go through during our life cycle. In my findings I will be discussing the theories, and the developmental stages of our physical, cognitive, social, and emotional aspect or challenges that our bodies may endure in the process of growing up.
I will begin with the process of early adulthood that ranges between the ages of 20 to 40. Early adulthood is seen as the period when people focus on establishing careers or pathways in life. The transition to adulthood can be rapid or piecemeal, with many individuals in their late teens and early 20’s remaining dependent on parents and reluctant or unable to make enduring commitments in terms of identity, or intimate relationships. People are exceptionally self- focused during emerging adulthood. This does not mean that they are egocentric as in childhood or adolescent (Arnett, 2012; Tanner & Arnett 2011), or selfish. It means, simply, that they are freer to make decisions than they were as children or adolescents. Physical development in early adulthood reaches its peak, and while most people are at their heights of sensory sharpness, strength, reaction time, and cardiovascular fitness.
Young adults are at their tallest, and height remains stable through middle adulthood, declining somewhat in late adulthood (Rathus 2014, 2012 pg. 267). While their memory show a general decline, yet people typically retain their verbal skills and may even show improvement in vocabulary and general knowledge (Fair, 2007). Certain experiences of early adulthood can lead to further cognitive developments, but these...