MODULE 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development

Why is it important to study human development across the lifespan?

It would be inaccurate to say that change, or development, only occurs in childhood. Particularly when one considers the various aspects of development (aging, growth, maturation), it is evident that development is lifelong.

What does it mean that development is multidirectional?

Development involves both improvement and decline. Specific terms, such as growth, aging, and maturation reflect the multidirectional nature of development.

What does it mean that lifespan development is multidisciplinary? What disciplines are involved? Why?

While lifespan development is relevant to many disciplines, it is particularly important to the health professions, education, and the social sciences. For each of these professional fields, an understanding of the issues and complexities of specific age groups is key to helping people. In addition, it is important to study the whole person—for instance, health, thought processes, and emotions—since each type of development affects the others. One cannot have a good handle on how to promote healthy behaviors in a client without knowing at least a little about adaptive and maladaptive emotional states. On the other hand, without some understanding of the biological underpinnings of emotions, professionals may be misguided in the decisions they make as they attempt to help.

Since development is multidimensional, there are a variety of areas in which a person could change. Imagine you are interacting with a teenager. How might the teen be developing in the biological, social, emotional, and cognitive dimensions.

Biological dimension: physical changes going on in the body. Also, it is important to note how external influences (for instance, drugs, healthful behaviors) influence biology and vice versa.

Social dimension: how does the individual change in his/her social interactions with others?

Emotional dimension: how does the individual change in how she/he regulates and experiences emotion?

Cognitive dimension: how does the individual change in the way he/she thinks?

Summarize each side of the nature / nurture controversy.

The Nature side emphasizes biology and maturation. Essentially, one’s genetics, personality, and innate characteristics will naturally enfold and cause one to develop in a particular way. On the other extreme, the Nurture side emphasizes the role of parents, other individuals, and the context in which one lives in assessing what primarily influences development. Most modern psychologists accept both as being integral to development, although some researchers and theorists may lean toward one or the other side

Go through the first four theorists in this module (Freud, Erikson, Skinner, and Piaget) and consider whether each theorist leans toward the nature side, the nurture side, or some combination of both.

Most of the theorists and researchers presented in this module would acknowledge the role of both nature and nurture. Freud, for instance, incorporated both nature and nurture perspectives in his theories of development. While his emphasis on nature is more clearly seen in his view of the development of personality (id, ego, superego—not discussed in this module), his emphasis on nurture is evident in his emphasis on early childhood experiences influencing the psychosexual stages. Erikson, in his emphasis on social influences, leaned toward the nurture side. The Behaviorists certainly emphasize nurture over nature. Piaget’s theory, however, swings back to the nature side.

Summarize each side of the continuity/discontinuity controversy.

A continuous view of development asserts that development gradually occurs, while a discontinuous view states that development moves forward in discrete stages.

Which theorists (consider Freud, Erikson, Skinner, and Piaget) view development as being discontinuous?

Stage theorists such as Freud, Erikson, and Piaget would view development as being discontinuous (in general), while the Behaviorists are more apt to view development as being continuous.

Briefly summarize Freud’s developmental theory

Freud's psychosexual stages of development are based on the id (instant pleasure), the superego (internalization of the world) and the ego (conscious combining the id and superego). He also has 5 stages of development, mostly centered around genitalia, or lack there of. His stages focus on childhood, with the last covering all of adulthood.

Briefly summarize Erikson’s developmental theory.

Erikson's psychosocial development focuses on a single problem on a stage, and whether that is overcome or not. While many of the stages focus on childhood, they extend into adulthood. 

How are Freud’s and Erikson’s theories similar? How are they different?

Similarities: both attempt to describe development across the lifespan. Contrast: Freud’s theory is psychosexual, whereas Erikson’s is psychosocial; Freud’s theory does not describe any differences between adolescents and adults, whereas Erikson describes meaningful changes later in the lifespan.

Compare and contrast classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Both forms of learning are about learning associations (one thing goes with another). However, classical conditioning shows a learned response where a new stimulus is linked to a natural stimulus-reponse pair. Operant conditioning uses rewards and punishments to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors.

Summarize the key elements of Piaget’s theory. Why is it considered cognitive in nature?

My answer: Piaget's theory can be summarized into two key concepts: schemas and assimilation vs accommodation. Schemas are organized patter of behavior. Assimilation is approaching the environment without changing our schemas, while accommodation is letting the environment change our way of thinking. It is considered cognitive because each stage of development changes how a person is able to think, or build schemas. 

Portage: It is considered cognitive in nature because it is focused on changes to how children think across their development.

Compose four sentences to summarize the following theories: information-processing, sociocultural, ecological.

Ecological: It is important to understand the many contexts in which individuals exist.

Sociocultural: Cultural transmission and the role of key individuals in a person’s life are extremely important to development.

Information processing: Like a computer, the human brain actively manipulates information in specific ways.

Multidirectional development

However, change can be good or bad. It can even be both, simultaneously. Thus, at every period, an individual might be improving in some ways and falling behind in others. We even have terms for these different aspects of change.

For example, aging, or the process of becoming old, is something that everyone faces if they live long enough. While children technically are getting older as well, we wouldn’t use the term “aging” to refer to a child. Aging is somewhat different from growth, which implies physical change (such as growing taller).

Lifelong development

Early research and theory in human development primarily focused on children. However, developmental science increasingly emphasizes the major changes that occur throughout adolescence and adulthood, showing that it is important to consider development (or change) at each period.

Multidisciplinary development

You might be taking this course because of your training in the health sciences, social sciences, or education. Each of these professional fields has a major stake in understanding human development. In addition, each of these fields is influenced by major contributions from professionals in the remaining fields.

Multidimensional development

As stated earlier, we experience changes in the following dimensions: biological, social, emotional, and cognitive. In addition, moral development is an important area of consideration

What are the four distinctive features of human development

1. Lifelong- birth to death

2. Multidirectional- Good or bad, or both at once; Ex: implications of words “growth” vs. “aging”

3. Multidisciplinary- applied to many careers

4. Multidimensional- moral, biological, social, emotional, and cognitive- many dimensions

Nature vs. Nurture

Is development predestined (eg biological) and people are just born the way they are, or do people change due to their environment.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

Continuous development suggest that stages of development flow into one another, while discontinuous suggest that stages of development do not flow into one another. Even suggest that development ends after a person hits adulthood?

According to Freud, what 3 parts are our personalities based on?

id, ego, and superego

Freud’s id

Most basic part of our personality consisting of unconscious impulses operating on the pleasure principle.

Freud’s ego

The part of our personality that operates according to the reality principle. Operates in the conscious and addresses how the world impacts the desires of the id. Balances impulses of id and moral standards of superego

Freud’s superego

Last stage to develop (school-age) and is the internalization of social norms and standards (eg the external world)

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

1. Oral Stage (birth-18 months)

2. Anal Stage (18 months- 3 years)

3. Phallic Stage (3-5 years)

4. Latency Stage (5- puberty)

5. Genital Stage (puberty- adulthood)

Describe Freud’s Psychosexual Oral Stage

First stage (birth- 18 months), where primary pleasure and experience is through the mouth (breastfeeding, pacifiers, pretty much anything and everything). Too much or too little pleasure will cause recreation or oral pleasures in adulthood (biting nails, smoking, chewing gum).

Describe Freud’s Psychosexual Anal Stage

Second Stage (18 months- 3 years) where the primary pleasure is experienced through the anus (toilet training, controlling bowl movements, jokes/humor?). This leads to fixations about control. Difficulties in toilet training or trauma in this stage could lead to anal retentive control (OCD, order to environment) or anal expulsive (surroundings messy).

Describe Freud’s Psychosexual Phallic Stage

Third Stage (3-5 years) where the primary pleasure is experienced through the genitalia, specifically the penis (or lack of) and helps develop the superego

Girls realize that they don’t have a penis, experience penis envy, undergo Electra conflict (attachment to dad, competition with mom, eventually see mom as role model). Fixation in this stage results in emasculating personality-cut men down emotionally and socially

Boys realize girls don’t have a penis and worried about losing theirs. Undergo Oedipal conflict (attachment to mom, competition with dad, scared of castration anxiety (emasculation from dad), eventually see dad as role model). Fixation in this stage causes over fixation on masculinity.

Describe Freud’s Psychosexual Latency Stage

Fourth Stage (5 years- puberty) no new psychological challenges or conflicts emerge, focus is on making same-sex friends

Describe Freud’s Psychosexual Genital Stage

Fifth Stage (puberty-adulthood) where the primary pleasure is mutual genital pleasure and healthy relationships with productive work

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

1. Infancy (0-1yrs) Trust vs. Mistrust, Hope

2. Early childhood (1-3yrs) Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt, Will

3. Play age (3-6yrs) Initiative vs. Guilt, Purpose

4. School age (7-11yrs) Industry vs. Inferiority, Competence

5. Adolescence (12-18yrs) Identity vs. Confusion, Fidelity

6. Early adulthood (19-29yrs) Intimacy vs. Isolation, Love

7. Middle age (30-64yrs) Generativity vs. Stagnation, Care

8. Old age (65+) Integrity vs. Despair, Wisdom

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial first stage

Infancy (0-1)

Basic conflict: Trust vs. Mistrust

Virtue: Hope

Trust (or mistrust) that basic needs, such as nourishment and affection, will be met

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial second stage

Early childhood (1-3)

Basic conflict: Autonomy vs. shame/doubt

Virtue: Will

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial third stage

Play Age (3-6)

Basic conflict: Initiative vs guilt

Virtue: Competence

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial fourth stage

School age (7-11)

Basic conflict: Industry vs inferiority

Virtue: Competence

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial fifth stage

Adolescence

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial sixth stage

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial seventh stage

Describe Erikson’s Psychosocial eighth stage