human development #1

What is human development?

• scientific study of continuity and change in human beings from conception until death 

• goal of developmental psychology: describe, explain, and optimize growth across the life span 

Why study human development? 

• enriched, more complex understanding of: 

  • self and others 

    • as changing, dynamic beings 

• understand how to facilitate healthy development at any age 

• what systems/structures facilitate or inhibit optional growth & development 

the only constant in life is change

1. “No one ever steps in the same river twice…” Heraclitus

2. to grow & develop is to change 

3. “You Can’t Go Home Again” (T. Wolfe)

physical/biological

we are embodied beings with complex interplay between our bodies and minds

psychosocial

the integration of the psychological and social (relationships, identity, finding one’s place in the world) 

cognitive

intellectual skills such as attention, memory, learning, reasoning, ability to process information

cultural

the influences of the larger environment in which we develop

(EST)

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

ecology

scientific study of the interaction of organisms & their environments

primary focus of EST

• the interaction between child (nature) & environment (nurture) produces development 

• to understand who someone is, we must understand the environment & how the child interacts with it

assumptions

• individuals & environment are constantly fluid, dynamic, changing 

• development is a “transactions progress” between person & environment 

• as individuals grow they understand & engage their ecosystem with more complexity and agency

EST consists of 3 components

• 1. person

• 2. proximal processes

• 3. contexts: 5 types

Concept #1: the person

• physical, psychological, social attributes of a person influences their experiences 

• thus, different people experience the same setting on very different ways 

Concept #2: proximal processes

• frequent, long term. Increasingly complex activities a person engages within a particular setting 

• *proximal processes are the mechanisms that foster growth & development 

  • spending time and learning from my parents and siblings 

Concept #3: 5 types

• contexts: one’s environment consists of five concentric circles 

• ranging from immediate face to face setting to border, encompassing social contexts 

microsystems

• setting where proximal processes occur, consisting of specific activities, relationships, and roles 

  • examples: living room, classroom, daycare, friend’s house, sports fields 

Developmentally Optimal Microsystems Will Have:

• 1. engaging/stimulating activities that are varied, frequent, and grow in complexity 

• 2. relationships are characterized by warmth & reciprocity 

  • Bronfenbenner: “somebody has to be crazy about that kid” 

Mesosystem

• the connections between a person’s microsystems 

• a growth enhancing mesosystem will contain: 

  • microsystems: that are mutually supportive 

  • multiple “links” of adults & peers that share multiple settings

Exosystem

• settings that do not involve the developing person but nevertheless affect them 

• provide specific examples of being significantly affected (positive/negative) as a child/adolescent by settings that you did not participate in

Macrosystem

• sociocultural influence (belief systems, values, cultural practices, economic/educational systems) 

• a child may be influenced by multiple, overlapping cultural, national, religious macrosystem

Chronosystem

• time: development occurs in a historical context

  • one’s development is not only effect by people, activities, settings, and culture but also by historical events 

Take Away Lessons from EST

• 1. Children develop through relationships. Proximal processes are essential 

• 2. A child’s development is inextricably linked with the context in which it occurs

Attachment

• the close emotional tie between infant and caregiver

Stranger Anxiety/Separation Distress 

• general wariness of unfamiliar adults/sadness at separation from caregivers 

• in every culture beginning about 8 months

The Science of Attachment Sigmund Freud/Psychoanalytic view

• strong attachment is a product of infant’s biological need for nourishment 

Harry Harlow’s Contact Comfort Study 

• the surprising importance of contact comfort in the formation of an infant's love for its mother

• contrary the predictions of psychoanalytic theory, physical contact with the mother was more important than food in the formation of attachments 

Possible Causes of Attachment Style

• parent’s ability to create a warm, sensitive relationship

• child’s temperament 

• dynamic/relational issues

Intergenerational Transmission

• infant’s attachment quality is related to the parent’s own attachment with parents 

• disorganized-disoriented infants can be explained by mother’s trauma history 

Temperament

• temperament: stable (over time & situations) behavioral/emotional directions to the environment due to genetic profile