Assignment: Developmental stages

For this Assignment, you will write an expository paper. Please address the following four points in the expository paper:

Select one developmental stage, such as infancy—ages birth to 2; early childhood—ages 2 to 6; middle childhood—ages 6 to 11; or adolescence—ages 11 to 18.

Explain the physical, social, and cognitive changes that occur during that stage of development.

Discuss at least one theory that fits best with the stage of development you have selected. Describe the theory and explain how it appropriately fits with your selected developmental stage.

Discuss the impact that cultural factors (e.g., race, religion or ethnicity) could have on your selected stage of development.

For example, you might select the stage of infancy, and then describe the physical, social and cognitive changes that are part of infant development. Then select one theory, for example Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development, and explain what this theory says about infancy. Finally, you could discuss how culture may affect parenting styles. This is just an example and you are certainly not limited to this idea.

Please use at least one other scholarly peer reviewed reference for your Assignment besides the textbook for a total of two references.

Please type your expository paper using 12-point Times New Roman font and double-spacing using Standard American English.

This Assignment should be 4 pages in length, not including the title page or reference page.

You must refer to the reading resources and provide a citation using APA format in the form of in-text citations for any sources used.

The viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained.

The writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful.

Remember to include a title page at the start of, and a reference list at the conclusion of, your essay.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.