Few people suspect that a person has his own ontogeny - the history of his own development as an individual. It originates from the moment of fertilization of the mother's egg and ends with the death of a person. The main periods are childhood, youth, maturity, old age. Of particular interest from the point of view of anatomy, physiology and psychology is the so-called juvenile period.
Periodization of the human life cycle
Age features determine the peculiar periods of formation and development of mental and anatomical and physiological qualities of a person.
In human ontogenesis, the following main periods are distinguished: 1st - intrauterine, or prenatal: from the moment of conception to birth; 2nd - postnatal: from birth to death of an individual. Each of them includes special, very important cycles of human development.
This is a complete periodization of development, and partial includes that part of it that interests a particular science. Any of the human science disciplines is based on scientificdata, defining the boundaries of a particular life cycle of an individual. The discrepancies are explained by the peculiarities of the subject of periodization itself: in psychology, this is the development of mental processes, in pedagogy, the process of socialization of an individual, taking into account the stages of his psychophysiological maturation.
Postnatal stage of development
This large segment of the life cycle includes:
- The juvenile period of development is up to 21 years for women, up to 22 years for men, that is, it lasts from birth to puberty of the individual.
- Mature - the period of adulthood, puberty.
- Old age - from 55 for women and from 60 for men.
The development of any organism is individual, since it is influenced by both hereditary factors and living conditions: the quality of nutrition, care, features of the natural and educational environment, etc. Therefore, people born at the same time differ in psychophysiological indicators. Consequently, if any processes in human organisms proceed with individual intensity and duration, then the biological age of a person may significantly differ from the calendar one.
Growth and maturation phase
So you can call the juvenile period of human development with full confidence. Each of its stages is the formation and improvement of psychophysiological qualities that serve as a preparatory step for the emergence and development of the following, more complex ones:
- 1st month of life - neonatal period: adaptation of all systemsorganism to a new environment based on innate reflexes;
- from 1 month to a year - chest: intensive psychophysiological development. With the development of brain functions, babble appears, and then the first words, hearing, vision, motor skills are improved;
- 1-3 years - preschool age, early childhood: growth of all body systems, rapid speech, psycho-emotional development;
- 3-6 years - preschool age: the main activity is a game, active knowledge of the environment;
- 6-17 years old - school age: study is the main occupation, social rules and norms are actively assimilated, spiritual and moral development takes place.
By the end of the juvenile period, sexual (physiological), psychological and social maturity is reached. The individual must have self-control and resistance to external negative influences, the desire for self-improvement, readiness for social interaction and responsibility to society for their actions.
Features and signs of puberty
Characterization of the juvenile period will be incomplete if you do not pay attention to such an important part of it as puberty. This word refers to the period of puberty of the body. In boys, it lasts from about 10-11 to 16 years, and in girls - from 9 to 15-16. External signs of puberty appear later than the hormonal changes in the body begin. At the same time, significant individual fluctuations are possible in children of both sexes, which is often the subject of their serious feelings when comparing themselves.with peers.
The most typical sequence of manifestations of puberty.
Boys:
- Increase in the size of the testicles and scrotum.
- Start of pubic hair growth.
- Penis lengthening.
- Coarse voice.
- Armpit hair.
- Night emission due to intense sperm production.
- Surge growth.
- Prostate growth.
- Peak growth in physical strength.
Girls:
- Sharp increase in growth.
- Appearance of pubic hair (fluff).
- Changes in breast size, rounding of the hips, the appearance of hair in the armpits.
- Growth in the size of the genital organs (uterus, vagina, clitoris, labia).
- Growth and darkening of pubic hair.
- Breast growth, darkening of nipples, armpit hair.
- Slow body growth.
- Beginning of menstruation (menarche).
- Completion of breast formation, pubic hair growth, armpit hair growth.
- About a year after the start of menstruation, a girl's body is fertile.
At the onset of puberty, some boys may begin to round their hips. Or changes in the breast become visible: approximately in the middle of this period, it may increase, there is a darkening of the areola. Over time, these processes slow down and disappear.
Difficulties in the psychological maturation of girls
Juvenile and pubertal periods of ontogeny are characterized not onlyphysiological as well as psychological problems. Hormonal changes can cause emotional instability, negative behavioral reactions to external events.
A girl in her teens tends to try to look and act like a real woman. Therefore, the appearance of the first menstruation is a symbol of a pass to this adult life. She has a sense of her own importance, usefulness, equality with her friends who have already experienced this event. The desire for adulthood can lead to the alienation of the girl from her parents, increases the conflict with her mother. She strives for personal autonomy, wants to be independent.
Others can perceive changes in their body with fear, disgust, if others (mother, sisters, girlfriends) by their own attitude form such an idea of this natural physiological process in them. Psychological discomfort is caused by pain in the back, lower abdomen and other unpleasant sensations.
Early onset of puberty, external changes (rapid body growth, weight gain) can cause some girls stress, shame, while others, on the contrary, pride and superiority over their peers. Hence - changes in behavior: isolation and irritability or uncontrollability, close relationships with boys with psychological immaturity.
Features of the psychological development of boys
Anxiety and a state of self-doubt are also characteristic of boys in juvenile and pubertalperiods when the first nocturnal ejaculations, erotic dreams and fantasies appear, growth increases sharply, the voice breaks. On the one hand, this is a reason for teenage pride, and on the other, for shame and insecurity: “Is everything all right with me?” Sudden, uncontrollable erections can lead to isolation, a desire to avoid situations when a teenager is in front of other people (speech in front of an audience, parties, meetings).
Compared to late maturing boys, early maturing boys tend to be more physically developed, feel more confident among their peers and elders, tend to actively participate in solving adult problems, and start communicating with girls faster. Peer companies often become leaders.
Scientists have determined that boys who mature late are psychologically more vulnerable: they are characterized by internal tension, self-doubt, anxiety, impulsive behavior. They compensate for external shortcomings (small height, weight, lack of physical strength) with the desire to be in the spotlight, popular at all costs among peers and adults.
Boys in the pubertal period, like girls, have alienation from their parents, increased conflict in relationships (especially with their mother). Teenagers are prone to rash decisions and actions because of the desire to prove to others their adulthood and independence.
Endogenous factors
Irregularity, non-synchronism in the development and growth of various human organsbodies and individuals in the juvenile period are explained by several reasons:
- depending on the gender of the individual;
- heredity;
- influenced by the natural and social environment.
Hereditary factors, or endogenous, determine the appearance (family resemblance, national characteristics) of a person, his physique, the pace of ontogenetic development. Signs of genetic heredity may appear at different stages of ontogenesis, but decrease in the pubertal period.
External conditions of ontogeny
Exogenous factors, that is, environmental conditions for the growth and development of the individual, are largely amenable to conscious regulation by the family and society:
- social and material conditions;
- psychological;
- environmental.
Climate as another factor of ontogenesis does not depend on the will of people, but also affects the timing of puberty. For example, puberty in northern people occurs later than in temperate climates.
The better the nutrition, care, sanitary conditions, material support of a person in the juvenile period, the higher the pace of his psychophysiological development. In this regard, children from low-income families lag far more often than their peers from rich ones.
The production of growth hormone in a child's body can slow down somewhat if the child experiences frequent stress, disrespectful, neglectful attitude towards himself and his needs. His physical development may be lower than that of children from families withprosperous psychological climate.
The most important for the normal development and he alth of a person, including in the juvenile period, are the ecological conditions of his existence. Pollution of soil, water, food, air with industrial and household waste, excessive use of chemicals, inability or unwillingness of people to take care of a he althy domestic climate are the causes of distortions in the natural processes of human development.
