Overview of Life-span Development and Contemporary Concerns

This content introduces the concept of life-span development, highlighting the life-span perspective, human life span versus life expectancy, and characteristics of this developmental approach. It touches on contemporary concerns such as health, well-being, parenting, education, sociocultural contexts, diversity, and the nature of development encompassing biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes.

• Life-span development
• Contemporary concerns
• Human life span
• Developmental processes
• Socioemotional
• Multidimensional

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1. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Introduction to Life-span Development

2. The Life-span Perspective Development the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span each of us develops partly like all other individuals partly like some other individuals partly like no other individuals

3. Life Span versus Life Expectancy Human Life Span Based on the oldest age documented -- 122 years Maximum life span of humans has not changed since the beginning of recorded history Life Expectancy the average number of years that a person born in a particular year can expect to live Life expectancy increased by 30 years in the 20thcentury

4. More Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective Life-span perspective views development as Lifelong Multidimensional Multidirectional Plastic Multidisciplinary Contextual (Baltes, 1987, 2003; Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006)

5. Contemporary Concerns Health and Well-Being Parenting and Education Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity Ethnicity, culture and changing demographics in society socioeconomic status (SES) Negative effects of poverty gender

6. The Nature Of Development Biological processes produce changes in an individual s physical nature Cognitive processes refer to changes in the individual s thought, intelligence, and language Socioemotional processes involve changes in the individual s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality

7. Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes Inextricably intertwined Multidirectional Influence developmental periods variations in the capabilities of individuals of the same age age-related changes

8. Periods of Development Developmental period refers to a time frame in a person s life that is characterized by certain features prenatal period -- conception to birth infancy -- birth to 18 or 24 months early childhood -- end of infancy to age 5 or 6 middle and late childhood -- 6 to 11 years of age

9. Periods of development, continued adolescence -- transition from childhood to early adulthood, approximately 10 to 12 to 18 to 22 years of age early adulthood -- late teens or early twenties through the thirties middle adulthood -- approximately 40 to about 60 years of age late adulthood -- sixties or seventies and lasts until death

10. Focus on Adult Development Life-span developmentalists who focus on adult development and aging increasingly describe life-span development in terms of four ages first age: childhood and adolescence second age: prime adulthood, 20s - 50s third age: approximately 60 to 79 years fourth age: approximately 80 years and older (Baltes, 2006; Willis & Schaie, 2006)

11. 4 Major Issues in 4 Major Issues in Developmental Developmental Psychology Psychology

12. Nature-Nurture Issue Nature refers to an organism s biological inheritance Nurture to its environmental experiences Early on psychologists asked which has the greatest influence, and now ask how do the two interact?

13. Stability-Change Issue Stability is the result of heredity and possibly early experiences in life Individuals remain high or low in characteristics throughout life Plasticity, the potential for change based on experiences, exists throughout the life span To what degree do early traits and characteristics persist through life, or how much do they change, and why?

14. Continuity and Discontinuity Continuity -- gradual, cumulative change; quantitative Discontinuity -- distinct stages; qualitative Is change in development gradual or abrupt? Are some aspects continuous and others discontinuous? Diffferent theories and ideas may emphasize one or the other

15. Continuity and Continuity and Discontinuity Discontinuity

16. One course of development or many? One course would suggest all humans develop in the same way Many would emphasize that differences in experience could result in different paths of development In what ways is human development universal? How do different environments and experiences result in differing paths of development

17. Most life-span developmentalists acknowledge that development is not all nature or all nurture, not all stability or all change, and not all continuity or all discontinuity Nature and nurture, stability and change, continuity and discontinuity characterize development throughout the human life span resulting in multiple possible paths though development though some aspects may be more universal (Gottlieb, 2007; Rutter, 2007)

18. Theories of Development

19. Early Scientific Study Early Scientific Study of Development of Development Hall, Gesell Measured large numbers of people Age-related averages Binet & Simon Intelligence tests Normative Approach Mental Testing Movement

20. Freuds Three Parts Freud s Three Parts of the Personality of the Personality Largest portion of the mind Unconscious, present at birth Source of biological needs & desires Conscious, rational part of mind Emerges in early infancy Redirects id impulses acceptably Id Ego The conscience Develops from ages 3 to 6 from interactions with caregivers Superego

21. Freuds Psychosexual Freud s Psychosexual Stages Stages

22. Eriksons Psychosocial Erikson s Psychosocial Stages Stages Basic trust v. mistrust Autonomy v. shame and doubt Initiative v. guilt Industry v. inferiority Identity v. role confusion Intimacy v. isolation Generativity v. stagnation Ego integrity v. despair Birth to 1 year 1 3 years 3 6 years 6 11 years Adolescence Early adulthood Middle adulthood Late adulthood

23. Cognitive Theory Emphasis on conscious thoughts Three important cognitive theories Piaget s cognitive developmental theory Vygotsky s sociocultural cognitive theory Information-processing theory Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

24. Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory Children go through four stages of cognitive development Processes underlie this cognitive construction of the world organization adaptation Each stage is age-related and consists of a distinct way of thinking -- a qualitatively different way of understanding

25. Piagets Cognitive Stages Piaget s Cognitive Stages

26. Vygotskys Sociocultural Cognitive Theory Emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development Cognitive development involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems, and memory strategies

27. The Information-Processing Theory Emphasis on ways that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information, which allows them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge and skills (Munakata, 2006; Reed, 2007)

28. Developmental Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive Neuroscience Study of relationships between Changes in the brain Development of cognition, behavior Brings together researchers from Psychology Biology Neuroscience Medicine

29. Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories Behaviorism -- we can study scientifically only what can be directly observed and measured Two versions of behaviorism B.F. Skinner s operant conditioning Albert Bandura s social cognitive theory

30. Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories Skinner s Operant Conditioning consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior s occurrence rewards and punishments shape development Bandura s Social Cognitive Theory holds that behavior, environment, and cognition are the key factors in development observational learning (also called imitation or modeling)

32. Ethological Theory Ethology stresses Behavior is strongly influenced by biology It is tied to evolution Characterized by critical or sensitive periods An individual is biologically prepared to acquire adaptive behavior or particularly sensitive to stimuli during a limited time period but need supportive environment or stimulation to develop

33. Ecological Theory Emphasis on environmental factors Noted ecological theories Bronfenbrenner s ecological theory theory identifies five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem

35. Eclectic Theoretical Orientation No single theory described in this chapter can explain entirely the rich complexity of life-span development, but each has contributed to our understanding of development

36. Research Research

37. Research in Life-Span Development Application of scientific method Methods for collecting data observation laboratory observation naturalistic observation asking questions -- survey and interview standardized testing case study physiological measures

38. Research Designs Descriptive research -- observe and record behavior Correlational research -- describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics Experiment -- regulated procedure in which one or more factors are manipulated while all other factors are held constant

39. Critical Terms and Critical Terms and Concepts Relating to Concepts Relating to Research Research

40. Variables Experiments include two types of changeable factors independent variable manipulated, influential, experimental factor a potential cause dependent variable can change in response to changes in the independent variable resulting effect

41. Experimental and Control Groups Experimental group is a group whose experience is manipulated A control group is a comparison group As much like the experimental group as possible, which is treated in every way like the experimental group except for the manipulated factor (independent variable) Control group serves as a baseline against which the effects of the manipulated condition can be compared

42. Modified Experiments Modified Experiments Natural or Quasi- Experiment Compare differences in treatment that already exist Match groups as much as possible Field Experiment Capitalize on opportunities for random assignment in natural settings

43. Ethnography Ethnography Descriptive, qualitative technique Goal is to understand a culture or social group Participant Observation Researcher lives in community for months or years

44. Developmental vs. cohort Developmental vs. cohort effects effects Developmental effects differences to to developmental processes 5 yr olds are taller on average then 3 yr olds Cohort effects differences due to changes in culture, historical events, or other factors unique to the time or group Modern teens can type better with their thumbs but don t spell as well as previous generations

45. Methods of Researching Developmental Change

46. Cross-sectional approach is a research strategy that simultaneously compares individuals of different ages Cons Pros Relatively quick and inexpensive and has a low dropout rate Shows multiple ages and cohorts in a single study Rapidly shows a large range of development Allows comparison of ages without effects of repeated measurement Cannot show development over time Cannot distinguish between cohort effects and developmental effects

47. Longitudinal approach is a research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more Pros It shows stability and change over time Shows effects of earlier development on later outcomes Can provide information on the process of development Cons Tends to be expensive and have a high dropout rate May not generalize to other cohorts (i.e. other groups may develop differently) Takes a long time to show a developmental range

48. Sequential designs follow several Sequential designs follow several cohorts for a period of time, cohorts for a period of time, sometimes simultaneously sometimes simultaneously Shows both differences in cohorts and change over time More quickly gets a broad age range than longitudinal Can be analyzed to show both developmental and cohort effects Relatively expensive and time consuming compared to cross sectional Can be complex to implement and analyze Tries to combine cross sectional and longitudinal to gain as many of the benefits of both as possible

49. Cross sectional design Cohort 1 Cohort 2 Cohort 3 Cohort 4 Cohort 5 Longitudinal design Only Cohort Sequential (cross-sequential) design Cohort 1 Cohort 2 Cohort 3

50. Research Ethics Rights of participant Protection from Harm Informed Consent Privacy Knowledge of Results Beneficial Treatments Responsibilities of researchers