Lifespan development is a holistic approach that explores human development from conception to death. It expounds on physical, mental, emotional, and social changes an individual experiences throughout the lifespan. This paper will explore the life of James detailing the various concepts which apply to the different stages of his lifespan (Schacter et al., 2020).

Prenatal stages are the very first stages in development starting immediately after conception. The stages include germinal stage, embryonic stage, and fetal stage. Prenatal stages are the most delicate milestones of development through which James had to undergo. Only about half of the zygotes can progress through the mitosis division. At the embryonic stage, James developed different organs and body parts which gave him his unique features. The organs were then fully developed at the fetal stage including the development of the brain and central nervous system (Billingham, 2019). Teratogens are risk factors for the development of birth defects during prenatal stages that include toxic chemicals, alcohol, tobacco, and some medicines. Toxic chemicals were in particular risk to James as his parents worked in industrial areas with fumes containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals.  

Motor development entails the physical growth of a child including the strengthening of bones, development of muscles, and ability to touch or move his/her surroundings. Some of the examples include gross motor skills such as crawling or walking. James exhibited a developmental delay of movement and posture, a condition associated with motor skills disorder. James seemed clumsy and hardly picked for teams at school which affected his cognitive development. Object Permanence describes the ability of a child to understand that objects and people exist even when they cannot be heard or seen. When representation thought starts to manifest in a child, he/she forms a mental representation of objects. James had trouble coming to terms with the absence of his favorite toy while in Grade 4. He was upset and failed to look for the toy implying that he had not grasped the concept (Thomson, 2020).

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development were proposed by Jean Piaget theorizing that childhood development can be subdivided into stages; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (J.J. Thompson, 2021). The formal operational is an important part of adolescent development as an adolescent develops systematically, theoretically, and with abstract thinking. This stage shaped the trajectory of James’s career as he developed an interest in nursing which he later pursued. Egocentrism is a common concept in adolescents characterized by the feeling of self-importance over the other’s interest. The conflicts between James and his siblings and parents during his adolescents can be attributed to egocentrism.

Marital satisfaction can be described as a mental state which mirrors the perceived costs and benefits of marriage to an individual. It means that the greater the perceived benefits, the higher the level of satisfaction one has in a marriage. When James was in his late adulthood, the level of marital satisfaction was high (Fateme Sadat, 2016). This could be attributed to traditional and religious beliefs that shaped the marriage. Cognitive decline is the deterioration of the cognitive abilities of an individual. It is characterized by forgetting recent conversations and events, losing a sense of direction, and becoming overwhelmed by making decisions and plans. Adults above 70s and who have a history of alcohol abuse exhibit cognitive impairment as well as increased levels of dementia.   James experienced a mild cognitive impairment in his mid-60s characterized by forgetting family names and having trouble in coming up with the desired words.

In conclusion, lifespan is a journey subjected to many variables. The variable concepts at different stages of life shape the course of one's lifespan. The life of James is a representation of how different concepts influence subsequent stages and eventually the lifespan.