Section 1 Person Paper

Parents
This persons parents come from different backgrounds. The mother is of Hispanic
race and grew up in the U.S for most of her life. She was 17 years old and still in high school
at the time of conception. The father is Caucasian and was 18 years old at the time of
conception. Both parents finished high school and obtained jobs at a local grocery store.
They were married five months before this person was born and prepared for the
seemingly unplanned child to arrive. They rented a small house and made preparations for
the baby. Their income was low and the mothers parents provided the necessary financial
help that they needed. Throughout the pregnancy, the mother was careful to limit the
number of teratogens she was exposed to and followed her doctors recommendations
related to diet and exercise closely. The father was healthy overall but drank and smoked
cigarettes on occasion.
Conception to Birth
After conception, the zygote begins to multiply and implantation occurs. Two weeks
after the zygote is now an embryo as body systems and body parts begin to grow. The arms
and legs emerge, and after a few days the skeletal system begins to form. The sex of the
baby cannot be determined yet. Eight weeks after conception and until birth, the embryo is
known as a fetus. The gene SRY emerges and commands the male sexual organs to develop
outside the body (Berger, 2010, Ch. 2, pg. 61). The fetus develops in a pattern called
cephalocaudal, in which growth begins with the head and works its way down the body.
Growth continues, as the cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, and excretory systems
develop. At 30 weeks, doctors notice that the baby has an abnormally small aorta that is
restricting blood flow, although currently not at a critical level. They determine that
surgery will be needed after birth to correct the small valve. The baby otherwise develops
normally and is born at 37 weeks, weighing seven pounds and four ounces and 21 inches in
length. According to the book, this is the average newborn weight and length. The labor
lasts eight hours and overall there are no major complications. After birth, doctors find that
the babys aorta has grown and does not need medical intervention.
The First Two Years
The newborn babys name is Connor and is the first child in the family. By the time
he turns 13, he will have one sister, one half sister, and one half brother. His mother is
breast-feeding him to ensure the best possible nutrition and increase his ability to resist
disease (Berger, 2010, Ch. 3, pg. 104). His mother is doing what she can to provide a
healthy environment to raise an infant. He is a healthy baby and is growing at normal
speed. As his body grows, the basic structures of the brain begin to develop and rapid
growth and refinement occurs in the axons, dendrites, and synapses. At birth, the frontal
cortex and the ability to see are very immature, but hearing is almost fully developed.
Connors motor skills begin to develop with reflexes being the first of his movements to
emerge. He is demonstrating each of the three main reflexes critical to survival, indicating a
normal functioning brain (Berger, 2010, Ch. 3, pg. 94). At 7 months, Connor can sit up alone
and can crawl forward slowly. He takes his first steps when he is 12 months old, being a
little late to achieve this than the norm. Using his reflexes and other motor skills to think,
he goes through a sensorimotor intelligence period as described by Piaget (Berger, 2010,
Ch.3, pg. 105). According to the book, Connor should be saying his first words around 12
months. However, he doesnt say his first words until he is two years old. At first, his
mother is concerned that he may have an autistic spectrum disorder based on late speaking
and Connors fascination to organize and align things. She later dismisses this and
attributes the late speaking to always having a pacifier in his mouth, which he doesnt give
up until he is almost three. According to Freud, this can be related to Connors need for oral
satisfaction that generally subsides at a younger age. Lateralization occurs, which leads to
Connors right side of his body being dominant over the other.
Early Childhood
As Connor moves from being a toddler to a school age child, his body gains about 3
inches in height and 4 pounds each year (Berger, 2010, Ch. 5, pg. 160). His gross and fine
motor skills continue to develop, allowing him to control his body much better than as a
toddler. Memory improves and myelination is accelerated resulting in faster thought
processing between different parts of the brain. Although being late to speak his first
words, Connor develops a vocabulary at a normal rate. From knowing about 500 words at
age three, Connor knows roughly 10,000 words when he reaches six years of age (Berger,
2010, Ch. 5, pg. 179). Cognitively, Connor is attempting to master emotional regulation.
This ability to regulate and express emotions can benefit Connor is every aspect of his life.
Maturation of the prefrontal cortex, playing with friends, and experiences with parents
promotes this development. Connors home life is filled with conflict and instability. His
parents separate when he is three and he now lives with his grandparents while his mom is
working out of town. She comes to visit on weekends, but he spends a majority of the time
with his grandmother. His dad moves away and is not a part of the childrens lives, visiting
them once a year at most and eventually losing all contact. After a few months, his mother
moves in and they live in an extended family household, in which at least one parent and
their children usually live with grandparents (Berger, 2010, Ch. 8, pg. 283). His mother
remarries and they move away as a new family.
Middle Childhood
Connor is now in elementary school, where he is learning everyday, making friends,
and participating in extracurricular activities, such as baseball. This physical activity
improves his overall health, enhances problem-solving abilities, and teaches cooperation
and fair play (Berger, 2010, Ch. 7, pg. 237). His overall health is good and he does not have
any physical impairment, such as asthma. His brain continues to develop, as evidence by his
ability to concentrate on schoolwork and increased automatization, which increases his
reaction time. He is becoming more independent and mastering new skills that Erikson
described as industry. Problems at home continue throughout most of his childhood. His
new stepfather is a relapsing drug-addict that is causing tension and disorder at home. His
familys low income also increases conflicts at home. These things prevent the five crucial
functions that school-aged children require from happening. They include providing basic
necessities, encouraging learning, instilling self-respect, nurturing friendships, and offering
a peaceful refuge (Berger, 2010, Ch.8, pg. 290). Eventually his parents divorce and he
moves to his grandmothers house with his mother and sisters once again. Connor is now
forced to begin a new school and make friends all over again. The stresses involved with
moving and divorce accumulate and can lead Connor to leave school early, use drugs, or
break the law. Luckily Connor is resilient and shows no negative effects from these life
changes. He does well in school, but due to being shy, has difficulty making new friends
quickly and is not as popular as some of the other children. Like many of his peers, he deals
with bullying, but he is not targeted repeatedly and does not suffer the consequences
related to bullying.
Adolescence
As Connor approaches adolescents, his mother remarries again and has a little boy.
Connor, being the only boy sibling, welcomes the news that he is going to have a little
brother. He and his family continue to live with his grandparents due to economic
hardship. His mother and new stepfather both work, but lack of education prevent them
from obtaining high paying jobs or careers. At around 10 years of age, Connor begins the
transition into puberty, where his sex organs will mature, he will gain muscle, and finally
his voice will lower due to increased production of testosterone (Berger, 2010, Ch. 9, pg.
311). This same hormone also increases appetite to sustain drastic body growth. Along
with growing and developing physically, Connors cognitive development continues also.
He enters a form of thinking call adolescent egocentrism, where he may become so
absorbed in himself that rational thinking is difficult (Berger, 2010, Ch. 9, pg. 344). He gains
irrational beliefs that he is extraordinarily unique and that he is destined for a legendary
life. This leads to an invincibility fable, where he believes nothing can hurt him and risks
have no consequences. For example, Connor and his friends shoot at each other with air
rifles, thinking that none of them will get hurt, when in reality, serious consequences such
as losing an eye can occur. His mind also goes through positive changes as he enters formal
operational thought. This occurs when Connor no longer needs concrete experiences to
develop logic as he did during his early childhood. He can multiply variables or understand
that matter is composed of atoms despite his inability to see them. This runs parallel with
his ability to reason deductively based on abstract ideas then use logic to draw conclusions.
Like many other students, Connor finds his first year of middle school difficult as he
struggles to concentrate on his schoolwork. He is distracted by his changing body, his
interest in girls, and the increased number of students he encounters. After making the
transition to high school, Connor has adapted to these changes and takes advantage of the
curriculum to improve his formal operational thinking.

Section 2 Person Paper
Connor is now in high school and his parents continue to influence his ideas and
decisions. However, he enters a period where he strives to define himself. He struggles with
identity achievement, either accepting or rejecting his parents ideas and beliefs (Berger,
2010, Ch. 10, pg. 348). For the time being, he accepts traditional values in an attempt to
avoid confusion and focus on his schoolwork and friends. Friends are a big part of Connors
life at this point. Like most others, he includes himself in certain crowds and cliques and
occasionally gives in to peer pressure whether it is for better or worse. Home life for
Connor is relatively stable and he gets along with his parents unusually well for a boy his
age. He stays out of trouble and avoids conflict with his parents and sibling. As Connor
nears high school graduation, he plans to attend college, which is also serving as a
moratorium to identity achievement (Berger, 2010 Ch. 10, pg. 349). He finishes high school
with high academic achievement and prepares to leave his home and attend college.
Emerging Adulthood
As Connor leaves the adolescent period, he enters a new stage known as young
adulthood. This is a period characterized by more attention given to education than to
marriage and families (Berger, Ch. 11. pg. 416). Connors body systems are at optimum
performance and disease and illness are rare during this stage. Homeostasis plays a role in
this, allowing his body to adjust quickly and efficiently to any disruptions. This is also a
period where taking risks and engaging in extreme sports increases. Because of his
excellent health and strength, Connor enjoys outdoor activities that have high risks. His
favorite activity is riding off road motorcycles. He likes to push the boundaries of his
capabilities, enjoying the skill and mastery he is achieving (Berger, 2010, Ch.11, pg. 391).
During this time, Connor is more focused on education than he is getting married and
starting a family. Connors family has influenced him to attend college, as they have seen
the consequences of not having an education. His grandparents provide the initial financial
assistance he needs to get him through his first year. Like most others, Connor is exposed
to drugs and alcohol as he attends college. He has strong morals and does not allow issues
like these to become a problem. Throughout Connors childhood, he has demonstrated his
ability to regulate emotions. Now as an adult, he furthers this ability and also combines it
with rational analysis. He can make rational decisions among emotionally stimulating
situations. Toward the end of this stage of life, Connor accomplishes identity achievement.
He has chosen to adopt his parents religion, has chosen a career path, identified his ethnic
background, and has accomplished gender identity.
Adulthood
After Connor finishes school and begins his career and now feels ready to start a
family. He gets married and has children. He and his wife have difficulty having children
and eventually have to have technological assistance via in vitro fertilization. He remains
active as he goes through middle adulthood and does what he can to improve his health by
engaging in regular physical activity and eating well. Due to his education, his health also
benefits from his moderate socioeconomic status. As he ages toward late adulthood his
senses begin to decline and losses and gains in cognition occur (Berger, 2010, pg. 452).
From the time Connor completes puberty, his body has begun a slow physical decline. This
becomes more apparent as he reaches adult hood. This is known as senescence and it
begins with outward signs of his physical appearance. It begins with changes in his skin
and as he grows older, his hair will thin and turn gray, and his muscles will begin to
diminish (Berger, 2010, Ch. 12, pg. 420). Just as in other other stages of life, Connor is
experiencing psychosocial changes. His personality can change, but for the most part has
displayed continuity. His early temperament and experiences allows him to define who he
is and allows others to know him throughout the years (Berger, 2010, Ch. 13, pg. 459). Out
of the five personality traits, Connor mostly exhibits agreeableness. He maintains his
easygoing and helpful personality traits that he developed earlier in life. Once his children
move out, he experiences the empty nest, which allows him to improve his relationship
with his wife by spending more time together. Being a Mexican American, Connor values
familism strongly. He feels obligated to donate his time and resources to help his family,
particularly his younger sisters, who struggle with marriage and establishing a stable
family.
Late Adulthood
As Connor transitions into late adulthood, many challenges arise. First of these is the
stereotype that older people are uninteresting, dependent, and can no longer contribute.
This arises from ageism, which is the tendency to judge people based on their chronological
age (Berger, 2010, Ch. 14, pg. 497). This can lead to increased stress and anxiety, which can
cause Connor to act younger than his age or prevent him from seeking medical or
psychological help if needed. Physical decline becomes very apparent. He cannot move
around as well and his sense organs begin to lose their sharpness. His ability to retain
information for processing declines, as does his ability to retrieve information, focus on
certain tasks, and ability to strategize to solve problems. This can be described as mild
cognitive impairment rather than dementia. Connor has remained as active as possible,
which lowers his chances of dementia, especially vascular dementia (Berger, 2010, Ch. 14,
pg. 520). Generally, age is associated with a decline in mental capacities, but cognitive
development also occurs. Connor learns new skills and his creativity is enhanced during
this period. He gains an emotional sensory awareness and enjoyment in newfound hobbies
that he did not have interest in earlier in life. He now enjoys gardening and creating
sculptures. This is when Connor reaches self-actualization, having an aesthetic, creative,
philosophical, and spiritual understanding (Berger, 2010, Ch. 14, pg. 523). As life continues
and things change, Connor hoards small items that have sentimental value and remind him
of the past. Moving away form his home never crosses his mind, even if it means a better
living environment and closer proximity to healthcare. His fears losing himself and would
rather live with increased health risks. Society plays a role in the decisions he makes and
direction his life goes by stratification. Because of his age, he may be isolated from
community activities and may disengage from society. Connor has been retired for quite
some time and he and his wife spend time caring for one another and helping each other as
their bodies limit the things that they can do for themselves. Connor has a good
relationship with his grandchildren, being considered a companionate grandparent partly
because his children come over often to check on he and his wife, bringing the
grandchildren along (Berger, 2010, Ch. 15, pg. 550). As Connor continues to age, he and his
wife eventually require more physical help. His children feel obligated to provide care,
especially his oldest daughter. She does not feel burdened however, and may feel fulfilled
by having the opportunity to give back to her parents.

References:
Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to the life span. New York: Worth.