CONCEPTUALIZING A CASE

Development is characterized by progress and growth. In the human being, development is defined by physical, social, emotional, and cognitive changes. According to Scott (2015), development can be understood as periods of transition and reorganization; a lifelong process of growth, maturation, and change. Children's development is measured by observing body and brain changes. Scott defines body changes as height and weight changes and motor skills. These changes are visible and can be noticed. On the other hand, brain changes are invisible. However, these changes have a significant impact on children's development. According to Scott, it is during childhood and adolescence that the connections in the brain become more fine-tuned and the regions of the brain become more efficient. Understanding child development can be tiring due to individual differences. Psychologists have tried to make this easier by coming up with theories that help us in understanding how development works. Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, Selman’s stages of friendship and perspective taking and Erikson's eight stages of human development provide an analysis of children's development. Piaget's theory is based on the development of children thinking skills. According to Kendra (2019), Piaget’s theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. He provides a definition from the Sensorimotor stage to the preoperational then the concrete operational and lastly the formal operation stage. Selman’s theory stages are; momentary playmates, one-way assistance; social-informational perspective, two-way fair-weather cooperation; self-reflective perspective, intimate, mutually shared relationships; third-party perspective and autonomous interdependences; societal perspective taking. According to Sandeep (2006), Selman views growth as a process influenced by social and cultural practices. Erikson's theory has the trust vs mistrust stage, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generality vs stagnation, and integrity vs despair as a guide to evaluating growth. According to Cherry (2019), Erikson's theory was interested in how social interaction and relationships played a role in the development and growth of human beings.