Human Development Assignment: An Overview Of Toddlerhood Period

Question

Task: Human Development AssignmentDescription: Essay (Reflective Paper)
Select a developmental period in your own life such as toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence or any other period and analyse it with reference to at least two major theorists in develop mental psychology. Include all of the following:
- an overview of your selected developmental period please discuss the key events or milestones experienced at this time.
- a discussion of the key aspects of each of the theories you have chosen to discuss
- an analysis of the period you have selected in light of each of the two theories
- following this analysis and discussion, write a reflection on your personal responses and experiences in relation to the significant period in your own life.

Your Reflective Essay should:
1. Name the period you are choosing and include an overview of this time.
2. Discuss key aspects of each of the major developmental theories
3. Analyse the period or event with reference to the major developmental period.
4. Reference to current literature and integration of relevant theory into your discussion

Answer

Introduction
In the child development stages, a toddler is one of the crucial areas where children observe new things that help grow their mental and physical abilities. The purpose of the human development assignmentis to give an overview of the toddler development period. With the help of two theories, Piaget and Erikson, the development stages of a toddler are analysed and understand the experiences gained by them. Further, with the help of the own reflection, personal reflection is achieved in this context.

Overview of the toddler development period
The toddler is one of the child developments stages. The children reach 1 to 2 years of milestones and can learn, speak, behave and crawl. Even children start walking and jumping. At the age of 2, a toddler learns to move frequently and starts recognising the surroundings and people (Liu et al., 2021). The desire is developed among toddlers where they show interest in learning new objects. The changes and growth are seen frequently in children during the toddler years. Their learning skills and interaction with new surroundings and things are increased. The toddler years are one of the important development stages of a child. Cognitive development, physical development, language skills and social development are different areas encompassed in this process. Involuntary reflexes are identified in a new-born baby. The sense of hearing is strong, but the vision is poor. Within a short period, the walking and talking of a toddler is a significant transformation. The roles of caregivers are also changed from the management of feeding and sleeping to managing the safety of toddlers (Costa Jr, McCrae &Löckenhoff, 2019). At a remarkable rate, brain development is recognised with the growth in body and language development. Temperaments and approaches of infants change rapidly. With primary caregivers, interactions are transformed as they have a positive attachment with them. At this stage, toilet training, sleeping in cribs or beds are provided.

Theories applied in the toddler development stage

Two theories are implemented in the toddler development stage of an individual. Piaget cognitive development theory and Erikson psychology development theory.

Piaget’s cognitive development theory
From adults, children's thinking process is quite simple, which is stated in Piaget cognitive development theory. Four categories are included in this theory where child life has its qualities. In the learning process, an active role is taken by children. According to this theory, experiments are performed by children. They also observe and learn different things in the world and surroundings (Zuber&Kliegel, 2020). With the surrounding world, kids add new knowledge, existing knowledge is built, and previous ideas are adopted to accommodate further information. In the late 1800s, Piaget was born in Switzerland, and the first scientific paper was published as an intelligent student at the age of 11 years. On children's intellectual development, the exposure was done while working with Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon. In children's cognitive development the Piaget has much interest. He is inspired by his nephew and daughter and observes their growth stage. The observations help in reinforcing the hypothesis. He identified that children's minds were not similar to the minds of adults (Domingues Montanari, 2017). Previously people believed that the treatment of children was equal to adults. From the adults, the thinking process of children is different is identified first by Piaget. Through stages, the growth and development of intelligence are done. Young children think more quickly than older children. Between young children thinking there are both qualitative and quantitative differences than older children. According to Piaget's observations, compared to adults, the intelligence of children is not lesser. They think in a different way (Lees et al., 2020). In the cognitive process and abilities, the changes are involved called cognitive development. In the view of Piaget, cognitive development includes processes related to action and the progress of mental operations changes.

Erikson psychology development theory
Psychoanalytic fields and development of psychology the theory of Erik Erikson is crucial. Erikson develops a framework to organise human growth called the developmental psychological theory of Erikson. In this theory eight different stages are included (Opree, Buijzen& Van Reijmersdal, 2018). Child stages key outcomes and social interaction and experiences principles are included. In a predetermined order, personality development is maintained by Erikson. Psychosocial development eight steps from infancy to adulthood are included. A person experiences a psychosocial crisis at each stage where personality development positive or negative outcomes are identified. Toddler psychosocial development is recognised, and their needs are observed. In this, psychological needs and social needs are conflicted. Each stage of successful completion provides a healthy personality and essential virtues acquisition in this theory.

Toddler development period analysis
According to Piaget theory, the toddler stage has identified several characteristics and changes. With the help of movement and sensations, the world is observed by toddlers. Through basic actions, the knowledge is gained by the toddler. It includes walking, listening, looking, etc. the surrounding things are learned by toddlers (Krall & Feinstein, 2017). They understand the difference between people and objects around them. The realisation developed in them that the outcomes are created due to their actions in their surrounding world. At this cognitive development stage, toddlers grab knowledge through experiences and object manipulation. In this toddler stage, dramatic growth and learning are seen among children. With the surroundings, environmental interactions are developed, and discoveries are made based on their actions (Saurabh & Ranjan, 2020). During this period, cognitive development occurred, which was identified in a shorter period. It involves rapid growth. Toddlers learn at this stage how to walk, crawl, etc. also, they learn a new language from the immediate person they interact with every day.

With the help of Erikson theory in the toddler stages, it is analysed that toddlers are not familiar with the world at this cognitive development stage. But they start learning new things and grow their brain at a faster rate. Toddlers receive consistency, predictability and reliability from their caregivers (Liu et al., 2021). It helps them build trust, which helps develop relationships and feel security and safety around them. If these are not met, mistrust consistently and anxiety is created. Caregivers need to give consistent care to toddlers, which help them in physical and mental growth and development. In the surrounding world, toddlers do not have much confidence and cannot get influenced by events. They only believe and trust in people with whom they interact daily. In this stage, success leads to hope (Costa Jr, McCrae &Löckenhoff, 2019). Due to the development of trust, there's a chance of developing a hope among toddlers that other people around them are for support. In this stage, the main focus is on the personal control sense development over physical skills and independence. In this stage, success leads to will. The support and encouragement provided to children lead to higher freedom which helps them develop confidence and security to survive in the world. It is vital to encourage the children and support them to analyse the world. It helps in boosting self-esteem and a sense of ability to handle things.

Reflection
From my personal experience, it is analysed that a toddler is one of the crucial stages of cognitive development which help children to grow their mental and physical skills. The mental abilities of children are highly dependent at this stage. At my nephew toddler stage, I have observed that she develops physically and becomes mobile and discovers different skills and abilities within her. She learned to walk and speak a few words. Also, I observed that she catches new things quickly as her brain works faster than in earlier stages. She understands if someone calls her by her name and starts recognising the known faces. For example, she learns to pick her toy to play with and choose which clothes she wants to wear (Zuber&Kliegel, 2020). Even her eating habits have changed at this stage, and she prefers to eat something of her own choice. Parents need to allow their children for exploring their abilities within limited surroundings. It helps in growing their abilities and skills. I make sure to take her out for evening walks regularly to catch new things and learn to interact with the surrounding world. I noticed if she recognised new faces around her or someone new took her in their arms, she started crying. It helps us to understand that she is not comfortable around new people. Also, it helps me to identify that toddlers are not comfortable easily with new people. It is the responsibility of caregivers to allow toddlers to interact with new faces or people, which also help them grow mentally.

Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that at the toddler stage, different experiences are gained by children and caregivers. It is one of the critical stages which are explained in the essay. With the help of various theories of psychological development, the toddler experiences and knowledge are gained.

References
Costa Jr, P.T., McCrae, R.R. &Löckenhoff, C.E., (2019). Personality across the life span. Annual review of psychology, 70, pp.423-448. http://www.cercle-d-excellence-psy.org/fileadmin/cep_video/Webinar/2020-06-04-AO_Article-Personality_Across_LifeSpan.pdf

DominguesMontanari, S., (2017). Clinical and psychological effects of excessive screen time on children. Journal of paediatrics and child health, 53(4), pp.333-338. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jpc.13462 Krall, V. & Feinstein, S.C., (2017). Psychological development of high risk multiple birth children. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315106793/psychological-development-high-risk-multiple-birth-children-vita-krall-sherman-feinstein
Lees, B., Mewton, L., Jacobus, J., Valadez, E.A., Stapinski, L.A., Teesson, M., Tapert, S.F. &Squeglia, L.M., (2020). Association of prenatal alcohol exposure with psychological, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children from the adolescent brain cognitive development study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(11), pp.1060-1072. https://www.smhr.org.au/s/lees.pdf
Liu, Z., Venkatesh, S., Murphy, S.E. & Riggio, R.E., (2021). Leader development across the lifespan: A dynamic experiences-grounded approach. Human development assignmentThe Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), p.101382. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zhengguang-Liu/publication/338985549_Leader_development_across_the_lifespan_A_dynamic_experiences-grounded_approach/links/5e4a0c00458515072da45b30/Leader-development-across-the-lifespan-A-dynamic-experiences-grounded-approach.pdf
Opree, S.J., Buijzen, M. & Van Reijmersdal, E.A., (2018). Development and validation of the psychological well-being scale for children (PWB-c). Societies, 8(1), p.18. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/8/1/18/pdf
Saurabh, K. & Ranjan, S., (2020). Compliance and psychological impact of quarantine in children and adolescents due to Covid-19 pandemic. The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 87, pp.532-536. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12098-020-03347-3.pdf Zuber, S. &Kliegel, M., (2020). Prospective Memory Development Across the Lifespan. European Psychologist.
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