Developmental Characteristics of Children and Adolescents
- Children
According to Piaget, child development is not merely influenced by internal maturation or external education but actively constructed through a child’s interactions with the environment. Children are not passive recipients of information but active creators of knowledge, forming cognitive schemas through their interactions with the external world.
Piaget outlined several developmental stages:
- Sensorimotor Stage (0–2 years): By the end of this stage, infants develop well-organized behaviors to cope with their immediate environment and begin to understand object permanence.
- Preoperational Stage (2–7 years): Children’s thinking advances to a new symbolic level, incorporating images and words. Though their thinking remains unsystematic and illogical, they use symbols to represent unseen objects and actions, expanding their cognitive scope. Language, developing rapidly in the early years of this stage, becomes the primary medium for expressing past events, anticipating the future, and communicating experiences.
However, children in the preoperational stage remain egocentric, struggling to differentiate between their perspectives and those of others. This egocentricity leads to parallel play, where children play side by side without truly interacting. Their understanding of logic and relationships remains underdeveloped, often leading them to imbue inanimate objects with life and emotions—a trait that diminishes around age 8.
As children approach the Concrete Operational Stage (7–11 years), their thinking becomes more organized. They grasp concepts like identity, compensation, and reversibility, enabling them to understand conservation (e.g., liquid volume remains the same despite container shape). By interacting with peers, they begin to overcome egocentrism, learn to compromise, and integrate differing viewpoints.
During this stage, children also enter Erikson’s “industry versus inferiority” phase, where they experience joy in productivity and develop a sense of pride in their achievements. Failure to achieve industriousness can result in feelings of inferiority, emphasizing the significance of fostering positive developmental experiences.
- Adolescents
Adolescents enter the Formal Operational Stage (11 years and beyond), where they gain the ability to think abstractly and systematically. Unlike younger children, adolescents can consider hypothetical scenarios and approach problems logically. This stage also introduces “hypothetico-deductive reasoning,” enabling them to generate hypotheses, evaluate possibilities, and test outcomes systematically.
However, adolescence brings a resurgence of egocentrism. Despite their capacity for logical reasoning and perspective-taking, they often exaggerate their thoughts’ importance, imagining themselves under constant scrutiny (the “imaginary audience”). This heightened self-awareness may manifest as social anxiety, excessive sensitivity, or narcissism.
Erikson describes adolescence as a critical period for identity formation. Adolescents wrestle with questions about their roles, purpose, and future, navigating the tension between dependence and independence. Failure to establish a clear identity can result in confusion and lead to behavioral issues.
