# 9 Maturity

Maturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather thaninstinctive, and is not determined by one's age. Maturity also encompasses being aware of the correct time and place to behave and knowing when to act appropriately, according to the situation and the culture of the society one lives in.

Maturity may refer to:

• Sexual maturity, the stage when an organism can reproduce, though it is distinct from adulthood
• Mature technology, a term indicating that a technology has been in use and development for long enough that most of its initial problems have been overcome
• Maturity (geology), a geological term describing rock, source rock, and hydrocarbon generation
• Maturity (sedimentology), a geological term describing the proximity of a sedimentary deposit from its source
• Maturity (finance), a financial term indicating the final date for payment of principal and interest
• Capability Maturity Model, a software engineering term indicating to which extent it is planned how to do things when developing, testing, documenting, maintaining software etc. See also software development process.