Overview of the Human Lifespan

Question 1

Identify stages of the human lifespan (including age ranges).

Answer 1

Prenatal: Fertilization - Birth
Infancy: Birth - 2
Early Childhood: 2 - 6
Late Childhood: 6 - 12
Youth: 12 - 18
Early Adulthood: 18 - 40
Middle Adulthood: 40 - 65
Late Adulthood: 65 - Death

Question 2

Identify the features/milestones of each of the lifespan stages.

Answer 2

Prenatal:
- Development of the bodily organs and structures
- Substantial growth - fastest growth period of all human lifespans stages (from one cell to more than 200 billion cells and avg. 3.5kg).

Infancy:
- Rapid growth
- Motor skills (can walk, use simple words, identify familiar people, play social games and throw tantrums).

Early childhood:
- Slow and steady growth
- Accomplishment of many new skills
- Learns social skills and will make friends
- Become toilet trained

Late Childhood:
- Slow and steady growth
- Many physical, social, emotional and intellectual changes, e.g. refining reading and writing skills, developing long-term memory, honing motor skills, understand stereotypes

Youth:
- Rapid growth
- Increased independence and more complex relationships
- Sexual maturity
- Life goal development

Early Adulthood:
- Deciding on a career
- Choose life partner, get married, have children
- Body reaches physical peak around 25-30, followed by a steady decline thereafter
- Essentially a period of maintenance and repair

Middle Adulthood:
- Stability in work and relationships
- Further development of identity
- Finacial security
- Physical signs of aging, and menopause
- ‘Empty nest syndrome’ (when children leave home).

Late Adulthood:
- Change in lifestyle due to retirement and financial security (for most)
- Greater participation in voluntary work and leisure activities
- Reflection on life and achievements
- Grief associated with deaths of friends/spouse