Introduction to Lifespan Development
What is Lifespan Development?
- Lifespan Development
- a field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior throughout the lifespan
- psychosocial rather than medical
Specialists in Lifespan Development
- Focus on
- biological processes
- genetic endowment: abnormality on the growth process (e.g., Down syndrome)
- cognitive development
- physical growth (e.g., Dwarfism)
- social development: sociable or withdrawn; sociopathy; anti-social
Assumptions about Developmental Study
- Scientific, developmental approach that focuses on continuous human development
- curious about changes in human’s life
- Every period of life contains the potential for growth and decline in abilities
- Process of development persists throughout every part of people’s lives
- nurture or nature?
- Neither heredity nor environment alone can account for the full range of human development
Scope of the Field: Major Tropical Areas
- Physical Development
- emphasizes how brain, nervous system, muscles, sensory capabilities, and needs for food, drink, and sleep affect behavior
- What determines the sex of the child?
- What are the benefits of breast milk?
- What leads to obesity in adulthood?
- How do adults cope with stress?
- How do we define death?
- Cognitive Development
- emphasizes intellectual abilities, including learning, memory, problem solving, and intelligence
- What are the earliest memories that can be recalled from infancy?
- Are there benefits to bilingualism?
- Does intelligence decline in late adulthood?
- Personality and Social Development
- emphasizes enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another, and how interactions with others and social relationships grow and change over the lifetime
- Do newborns respond differently to their mothers than to others?
- When does a sense of gender identity develop?
- How do we choose a romantic partner?
- What are the emotions involved in confronting death?
Scope of the Field: Age and Range Differences
- prenatal period
- infancy and toddlerhood
- middle childhood
- adolescence
- emerging adulthood
- young adulthood
- middle adulthood
- late adulthood
Cultural Factors and Developmental Diversity
- Broad Factors
- orientation toward individualism (common among Western people, age 18 out of the house [US]) or collectivism (strong family ties; strong dependency towards family)
- Finer Differences
- ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender
Key Issues in the Field of Development
- Continuous Change vs Discontinuous Change
- Continuous Change
- change is gradual
- achievements at one level build on previous level
- Discontinuous Change
- change occurs in distinct steps or stages
- behavior and processes are qualitatively different at different stages
- underlying developmental processes remain the same over the lifespan
- Critical Periods vs Sensitive Periods
- Critical Periods
- certain environmental stimuli are necessary for normal development
- emphasized by early developmentalists
- children 1 to 2 years old: can pick up instructions but cannot communicate
- Sensitive Periods
- people are susceptible to certain environmental stimuli, but consequences of absent stimuli are reversible
- certain emphasis in lifespan development
- children 1 to 2 years old: at that particular time, the child should learn through interaction with other people
- Lifespan Approach vs Particular-Periods Approach
- Lifespan Approach
- current theories emphasize growth and change throughout life, relatedness of different periods
- Focus on Particular Periods
- infancy and adolescence emphasized by early developmentalists as most important periods
- The Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture
- Nature (Genetic Factors)
- emphasis is on discovering inherited genetic traits and abilities
- genetic adaptability
- Nurture (Environmental Factors)
- emphasis is on environmental influences that affect a person’s development
What are the Influences on Development?
- Influences on Development
- History-Graded Influences: ancestral or evolutional
- Age-Graded Influences
- Socio-Cultural Influences
- Non-Normative Life Events: way of life we are used to
Theoretical Perspectives on Lifespan Development
Theory
- broad, organized explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest
Key Points to Consider in Each Perspective
- general approach
- specific theory
- major theorist
- developmental focus
- how development proceeds
- basic principles
- key terms
6 Major Perspectives
Psychodynamic Perspective
- behavior throughout life is motivated by inner, unconscious forces, stemming from childhood, over which we have little control
- ^^A young adult who is overweight has a fixation in the oral stage of development.^^
| General Approach | Psychodynamic |
|---|---|
| Specific Theory | Psychoanalysis |
| Major Theorist | Sigmund Freud |
| Developmental Focus | Unconscious Forces |
| How Development Proceeds | Behavior motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts |
| Basic Principles | Id, ego, superego; Psychosexual Stages of Development |
| Key Terms | Pleasure Principle, Reality Principle, Fixation |
- Id: pleasure principle, animal instinct, sexual drive
- Eros → life; Thanatos → death
- Ego: reality principle, executive arm (balances both id and superego)
- Superego: moral principle
- Ego Ideal: feel “rewarded” if action matches values we have
- Conscience: “guilty”
- Libido or Sex Drive: very important force in a person’s personality
- focused on a certain part of the body or erogenous zone
- Fixation: stagnation or person stays longer at that stage
Stages and Erogenous Zones
- Oral: mouth
- Anal: anus
- anal retentive -- anal expulsive (extreme toilet training that affects adult life)
- Phallic: genital
- Oedipal conflict; defense mechanism; castration anxiety (psychological thought for boys that father may discover his love interest for mother)
- Latency: no specific erogenous zone
- play tie or casual friends
- Genital: no specific erogenous zone
- same age sexual interests (first love, crush)
| General Approach | Psychodynamic |
|---|---|
| Specific Theory | Psychosocial |
| Major Theorist | Erik Erikson |
| Developmental Focus | Social Interaction |
| How Development Proceeds | Changes in understanding interactions with others; growth of self-knowledge |
| Basic Principles | 8 Distinct, fixed, universal stages; crises and conflicts to be resolved at each stage |
| Key Terms | Crises |
Stages and Significant Social Factors
- Trust vs Mistrust: mother
- childbirth: highest trauma for the baby
- Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt: family
- independence
- Initiative vs Guilt: extended to other family members
- Industry vs Inferiority: school mates
- sense of competence
- Identity vs Role Confusion: peers
- building our identity or who we are
- Intimacy vs Isolation: partner
- people want to get married or focus on career
- Generativity vs Stagnation: children and family
- focused on legacy or community and continuing of life
- Ego-Integrity vs Despair: world or society
- sense of fulfillment in life
Behavioral Perspective
- classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social-cognitive learning theory
- John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura
- development can be understood through studying observable behavior and environmental stimuli
- ^^A young adult who is overweight might be seen as not being rewarded for good nutritional and exercise habits.^^
Cognitive Perspective
- Piaget’s approach, information processing approach, cognitive neuroscience approach
- Jean Piaget
- emphasis on how changes or growth in the ways people know, understand, and think about the world affect behavior
- explain how our brain is different from other people and how these processes are unique
- ^^A young adult who is overweight hasn’t learned effective ways to stay at a healthy weight and doesn’t value good nutrition.^^
Contextual Perspective
- bioecological approach, sociocultural approach
- Urie Bronfenbrenner, Lev Vygotsky
- development should be viewed in terms of the interrelationship of a person’s physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds
- ^^Being overweight is caused by a number of interrelated factor in that person’s physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds^^
| General Approach | Contextual |
|---|---|
| Specific Theory | Bioecological Approach |
| Major Theorist | Urie Bronfenbrenner |
| Developmental Focus | Physical, cognitive, personality, social realms |
| How Development Proceeds | Unique development tied to a social and cultural context |
| Basic Principles | roles, norms, and rules shape development |
| Key Terms | micro-, eco-, macro-, chrono-systems |
Humanistic Perspective
- Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
- behavior is chosen through ^^free will^^ and motivated by our natural capacity to strive to reach our full potential
- ^^self-actualization^^
- ^^A young adult who is overweight may eventually choose to seek an optimal weight as part of an overall pattern of individual growth^^
Evolutionary Perspective
- Charles Darwin, Konrad Lorenz
- behavior is the result of genetic inheritance from our ancestors; traits and behaviors that are adaptive for promoting the survival of our species that have been inherited through natural selection
- ^^A young adult might have a genetic tendency toward obesity because extra fat helped his or her ancestors to survive in times of famine.^^
Which Perspective is “Right”?
- wrong question to ask
- each perspective is based on its own premises and focuses on different aspects of development
- same developmental phenomenon can be examined from a number of perspectives simultaneously