| Age | Physical Developments | Neurological Developments | Cognitive Developments | Language Developments | Emotional Developments | Social Developments | Self/Gender/Identity Developments | Moral Developments |
| Neonate (birth to 1 month) |
Rapid height and weight gain occurs. Newborn sleeps most of day; establishes sleep-wake cycles. All senses are present at birth and develop rapidly.
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Brain is about one-fourth adult weight. Behavior is mostly reflexive. Myelination of visual pathways begins.
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Sensorimotor stage begins. Infant can learn by conditioning or habituation. Infant pays more attention to new stimuli than familiar ones.
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Infant communicates by crying and recognizes sounds heard in womb.
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Cries signal negative emotions; positive emotions are harder to detect.
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Infant's arrival changes family relationships.
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Parents begin to treat boys and girls differently.
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| 1-6 Months |
Infant reaches for and grasps objects. Infant can lift, turn head, roll over, and may creep or crawl. Depth perception develops; vision reaches 20-20.
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Unneeded reflexes are disappearing. Motor cortex is maturing. Myelination of visual pathways continues into fifth month. Changes in brain functioning correspond to differentiation of emotions.
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Infant repeats behaviors that bring pleasing results. Infant coordinates sensory information. Infant can repeat actions if reminded of original context.
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Infant coos. Infant recognizes familiar words.
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Infant smiles and laughs in response to people and unexpected sights or sounds. Contentment, interest, and distress are precursors of later, more differentiated emotions.
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Basic trust is beginning to develop. Infant show interest in other babies by looking, cooing, and smiling.
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Sense of agency and self-coherence begins to emerge.
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| 6-12 Months |
Infant sits without support, stands holding on, then stands alone. Infant may take first independent steps. Birth weight triples at one year.
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Development of prefrontal cortex enables higher cognitive and memory functions. Frontal lobes, limbic system, and hypothalamus interact to facilitate cognitive-emotional processing.
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Infant engages in goal-directed behavior. Infant can tell differences between small sets of objects. Infant shows deferred imitation and tries out learned behaviors.
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Infant recognizes sounds in native language; loses ability to perceive non-native sounds. Infant babbles, then imitates language sounds. Infant may say first words; uses holophrases.
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Basic emotions emerge: joy, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger.
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Attachments form. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety may appear.
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Infant is aware that subjective experience can be shared.
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Parents begin to use discipline to guide, control, and safeguard the infant.
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| 12-18 Months |
Height and weight gain are somewhat slowed. Toddler walks fairly well. Toddler can build tower of blocks
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Lateralization and localization of brain functions increase.
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Toddler understands causal relations. Toddler engages in constructive play. Toddler searches for objects in last seen hiding place.
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Toddler overextends and undextends word meanings.
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Emotions continue to differentiate. Social referencing appears. An early stage of empathy appears.
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Attachment relationship affects quality of other relationships.
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Self-awareness is developing.
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Committed and situational compliance are early signs of conscience. Attention to flawed or damaged objects reflects anxiety about own wrongdoings.
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| 18-30 Months |
Toddler can walk up steps. Artwork consists of scribbles.
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Number of synapses increases. Myelination of frontal lobes occurs; this development may underlie self-awareness. Unneeded synapses are pruned.
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Toddler uses mental representations and symbols. Object permanency is achieved. Episodic memory emerges. Preoperational stage begins.
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Naming explosion may take place. First sentences are often telegraphic. Child begins to engage in conversations. Child overregularizes language rules.
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Self-conscious emotions (embarrassment, envy, empathy) have emerged, as well as precursors of shame and guilt. Negativism begins. Self-evaluative emotions emerge.
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Urge for autonomy is developing. Conflicts with older siblings increase. Play with others is mostly parallel.
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Child recognizes self in a mirror. Use of first-person pronouns shows self awareness. Gender awareness emerges.
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Child may show prosocial behavior. Guilt, shame, and empathy promote moral development. Aggression occurs in conflicts over toys and space.
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| 30-36 Months |
Child has full set of primary teeth. Child can jump in place.
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Neurons continue to undergo integration and differentiation.
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Child can count. Child knows basic color words. Child understands analogies about familiar items and can explain familiar causal relations.
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Child learns new words almost daily. Child combines three or more words, and can say up to 1,000 words. Child uses past tense.
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Child show growing ability to "read others' emotions, mental states, and intentions.
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Child shows increasing interest in other people, especially children.
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Child applies descriptive terms to him/herself.
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Aggression becomes less physical, more verbal.
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| 3-4 Years |
Child can copy shapes and draw designs. Child can pour liquids, eat with silverware, and use toilet alone. Child dresses self with help.
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Brain is about 90 percent adult weight. Handedness is apparent. Myelination of pathways related to hearing is complete.
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Child understands symbols. Autobiographical memory may begin. Child engages in pretend play. Child can do pictorial calculations involving whole numbers. Child understands fractional quantities.
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Vocabulary, grammar, and syntax are improving and more complex. Emergent literacy skills are developing. Private speech increases.
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Negativism peaks; temper tantrums are common. Little explicit awareness of pride or shame.
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Child shows increasing interest in other people. Pretend play has sociodramatic themes. Sibling conflicts over property are common.
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Children often play with others of same sex, reinforcing gender-typed behavior. Self definition focused on external traits. Thinking about the self is all-or-none.
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Altruism and prosocial behavior become more common. Guilt and concern about wrongdoing peaks. Moral reasoning is rigid.
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| 5-6 Years |
Child can descend stairways unaided, hop, jump, and change directions. Child dresses self without help. Primary teeth replaced by permanent teeth.
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Brain is almost adult size, but not fully developed. Cortical regions connected with language are maturing.
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Theory of mind matures: child can distinguish between fantasy and reality. Encoding, generalization, and strategy construction begin to become more efficient.
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Speech is almost adultlike, and spoken vocabulary is about 2,600 words. Child understands about 20,000 words. Child can retell plots.
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Negativism declines. Child recognizes pride and shame in others, but not in self.
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Patterns of bullying and victimization may be established.
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Sense of competence is developing. Self-concept links various aspects of the self, mostly in positive terms. Gender constancy is achieved.
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Moral reasoning is becoming less inflexible.
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| 7-8 Years |
Balance and control of body improve. Speed and throwing ability improve.
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Elimination of unneeded synapses occurs.
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Stage of concrete operations begins. Child understands cause and effect, seriation, transitive inference, class inclusion, inductive reasoning, and conservation. Processing of more than one task at a time becomes easier.
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Pragmatic skills improve.
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Child is aware of own pride or shame.
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Rough-and tumble play is common in boys, as a way to jockey for dominance.
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Self-concept is more balanced and realistic. Sense of self-worth becomes explicit.
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Moral reasoning is increasingly flexible. Empathic and prosocial behavior increases. Aggression declines.
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| 9-11 Years |
Average girl begins to show pubertal changes, then begins adolescent growth spurt.
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Elimination of unneeded synapses continues into adolescence.
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Ability to consider multiple perspectives increases. Memory strategies improve.
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Understanding of syntax and sentence structure is more sophisticated. Private speech tapers off. Main growth is in pragmatic skills.
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Understanding and regulation of emotions increases. Child better understands difference between guilt and shame.
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Parent and child share regulation of conduct. Sibling conflicts aid skills for conflict resolution. Friendships become more intimate.
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Body image becomes increasingly important, especially for girls.
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Moral reasoning is guided by sense of justice. Child wants to be "good" to maintain social order. Aggression becomes relational.
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| 12-15 Years |
Average boy enters puberty, shows adolescent growth spurt.
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Frontal lobes are not yet fully developed; processing of information may occur in temporal lobe areas involved with emotional and instinctual reactions.
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Adolescent may achieve stage of formal operations; use of abstractions and hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Memory span extends to six digits.
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Main growth continues to be in pragmatic skills. Teenage slang is a marker of identity development.
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Mood swings may become increasingly frequent; may include feeling of embarrassment, self-consciousness, loneliness, and depression.
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Growing desire for autonomy coexists with need for parental support. Parent-child conflicts peak.
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Identity development becomes a central issue. Sexual identity becomes a primary concern.
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Moral reasoning reflects increasing awareness of equity and cooperative rule-making.
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| 16-20 Years |
Following puberty, circadian timing system and biological rhythms shift, affecting sleep-wake cycles. Boys and girls reach virtually full height.
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Connections among cortical cells continue to improve, even into adulthood. Parts of the cortex controlling attention and memory are nearly completely myelinated. Myelination of parts of the hippocampus continues to increase during adulthood.
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Ability to use hypothetical-deductive reasoning increases. Knowledge base continues to grow.
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Adolescent understands about 80.000 words.
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Mood swings become less frequent and intense. Adolescent is increasingly able to express own emotions and understand feelings of others.
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Independence from parents increases. Sibling relationships become more equal, less intense, and less close. Friendships are more intimate than at any other period. Intimacy may shift to romantic relationships.
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Most adolescents have engaged in sexual activity.
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Relativism may play a key role in moral reasoning.
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| Young Adulthood: 20-40 Years |
Physical functioning peaks, then declines slightly. Lifestyle choices affect health
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New neurons, synapses, and dendritic connections form.
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Thought becomes more complex. Educational and vocational choices are made.
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Linguistic skills expand.
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Personality traits and styles become relatively stable, but changes in personality may be influenced by life stages and events.
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Decisions are made about intimate relationships and personal lifestyles. Most people marry, and most become parents.
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Young adults aspire to and may achieve autonomy, self-control, and personal responsibility.
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Moral judgments may become more complex.
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| Middle Adulthood: 40-65 Years |
Slow deterioration of sensory abilities, health, stamina, and strength may begin, but individual differences are wide. Hormonal changes may lead to slow decrease in sexual arousal. Women experience menopause.
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Complex motor skill responses begin to deteriorate.
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Mental abilities peak; expertise and practical problem-solving skills are high. Creative output may decline but improve in quality. Career success may peak; burnout or career change may occur.
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Crystallized intelligence, including linguistic knowledge, continues to expand.
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Negative emotions, such as anger and fear, become less frequent and intense. Most middle adults are optimistic about their past, present, and future.
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Social networks tend to become smaller, but more intimate. Dual responsibilities of caring for children and parents may cause stress. Launching of children leaves empty nest.
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Sense of identity continues to develop, and a midlife transition may occur.
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Moral judgments may become more complex
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| Late Adulthood: 65 years on |
Most older adults are healthy and active, although health and physical abilities generally decline. Need for sleep decreases. Sexual dysfunction and chronic diseases become more common.
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Loss of brain matter leads to slowing of the central nervous system. Processing time increases, and reaction time slows.
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Most older adults are mentally alert. Although intelligence and memory may deteriorate in some areas, most people find ways to compensate. "Use it or lose it" is important for maintaining cognitive functioning.
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Linguistic skills continue to increase until late in life.
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Positive emotionality, such as excitement, interest, pride, and sense of accomplishment, usually peaks. Older adults develop strategies to cope with personal loss and impending death.
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Relationships with family and close friends can provide important support.
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Retirement from workforce may offer new options for exploration of interests and activities. Religion or spirituality often plays an important supportive role. Search for meaning is of central importance.
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Moral judgments may become more complex
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