Development Psychology

Development psychology is concerned with the different stages that an individual must go through throughout their lifetime. During these life stages, individuals are forced to face issues, make decisions, and psychosocially develop. Thomas and Laura are two individuals in different life stages that are facing important issues. There are forced to use their fluid intelligence, go through transitions, and cope with gender schema. As these individuals progression through these various stages they are grow mature and gaining real life experience that will help them through out their life.

Thomas is a 23-year-old Puerto Rican male. His parents were both born in their native country of Puerto Rican. Thomas, however, was the first in his family to be born and brought up in the states. Thomas is the oldest in his family with two younger sisters. He graduated from High School, and instead of going to college he started working for Metro-North train station. He has been working for Metro-North for approximately three years, and has recently been promoted to a cable-splicer. With this promotion he makes roughly $40,000 a year and lives comfortable in his own apartment. Thomas in not married, but he has been in a serious relationship with the same female for four years. Thomas' major current issues in life revolve around his work and relationship. Even with his promotion, Thomas feels that he is not making enough money and thinks about going back to school and becoming a physician assist. Many people have made comments about Thomas' consideration of becoming a nurse. They sometimes joke about it and saying that nursing is strictly a female's job. However, Thomas is not bothered about what other people are thinking or saying. He is concerned about if he will be able to work and go to school consecutively. Working and going to school part time might be too much for him to manage, so for now he has put off all considerations of going back to school. Another major issue in Thomas's life comes from his relationship. After being with his partner for four years he is being pressured to move into the next level of their relationship. His partner feels that they should prepare themselves for marriage and having children in the near future. Thomas, on the other hand, does not feel he is ready for neither marriage nor children. Even though he loves his partner, he has told her that he is not ready to move on and would like to keep things as they are and not change anything.

Laura is a 17-year-old Russian female who also lives in Yonkers, New York. She was born in Moscow but moved to the United States when she was about 4 years old. She lives in a family with three other siblings. She is the youngest of three girls, and has one older brother. Laura is currently in high school. She is a very good student that has been on the Honor Roll for many years. She is also extremely athletic and is the best player on her basketball team. She loves playing, watching and participating in anything that has to do with basketball. Laura's major current issues in life revolve around her future plans. Laura is planning to get her driver license soon, however, she is very nervous and feels she might not do well on the test. To help her prepare, her older brother is giving her some driving lessons. Her driver test is coming soon and hopeful she will be able to pull it off and pass. Laura also wants to go to college but does not know where to go and what to study. She has always dreamt of playing college basketball, but has been teased by her sister's about this dream. Her sister claim that she does not have the ability and that even if she did basketball is a male sport. This has made Laura uncertain about many things in her future. To help her choose an appropriate school she is seeking the advise of family, friends, and teachers. She also plans to visit several colleges and universities and become well informed before making her decisions. As to what she wants to be, this still remains undecided. She has decided to take her sister's advice and not pursuing her basketball dream. She plans to wait at least until after her first year in college before making a decision on what to study.

Fluid intelligence is an important psychosocial aspect that gives an individual the ability to reasoning and make the best decision based on their given situation. With fluid intelligence a person will be able to absorb new information, asses the situation appropriately, and development a coherent response. In Thomas and Laura's cases we found that both individuals were able to use their fluid intelligence. Thomas believed he did not make enough money. Therefore, he absorbed this information, assess his circumstance and came up with the best possible answer to his conflict by considering going back to school. Laura followed the same steps as Thomas when she feared that she was going to fail her driving test. Instead of panicking until the last minute, she got help from her old and experienced brother. This gave her a better chance to pass the driving test.

Each of us has a gender identity that is a key part of our self-concept. It essential involves a person's identification as male or female. We become conscious of gender identity at an early stage usually around two years of age. Gender schema is learned information and beliefs that makes us aware of who were are and what it means to be either male or female. Gender schema is very important to develop when we