PSYC213 Lifespan Developmental Psychology - Lecture 1 Notes

Understanding Lifespan Human Development

Introduction

• Lifespan developmental psychology explores systematic changes and continuities in individuals from conception to death.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the definition of development and the goals and assumptions of developmental science.
• Recognize the periods of the lifespan and the influences of social, historical, and cultural factors.
• Understand the nature/nurture debate.
• Learn about the scientific method and research methods used by developmental psychologists.
• Understand ethical and culturally sensitive research practices.

What is Development?

• Development involves systematic changes and continuities in an individual between conception and death.
• Change can be specific or general.
• Constancy can be short or long term.
• Development includes:
  • Growth.
  • Biological aging.

Domains of Development

• Physical: Biological changes.
• Cognitive: Thinking, language ability and use, memory.
• Psychosocial: Emotions, interpersonal relationships.

Periods of the Lifespan

• An overview of periods of the lifespan.

Age and Development: Sociocultural Perspective

• Culture: A society’s or group’s total way of life, including customs, traditions, language, beliefs, values, and artwork.
• Age Grade: Socially defined age group in a society.
• Age Norms: Socially defined age group in a society.
• Social Clock: Age-related goals and expectations.
• Stereotypes: Generalizations about attributes of a group.
• Ageism: Systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because of their age.

Sociohistorical Views of Development

• In Medieval times, children had no status and were expected to take adult roles at about 7 or 8 years old.
• Adolescence was not recognized as a distinct stage.

Developmental Diversity

• Differences in development relate to genetics, environment, and social and cultural context.
• Influence of:
  • Nature: Genetically inherited traits, abilities. Emphasis on maturation and biological development.
  • Nurture: Environmental influences. Emphasis on learning; experiences cause changes.
  • Likelihood of joint influences in development.

The Interplay of Nature and Nurture

• Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model: Biology and environment interact to influence development.
  • Microsystem: Immediate environment.
  • Mesosystem: Linkages between microsystems.
  • Exosystem: Linkages between social systems.
  • Macrosystem: Larger cultural context.
  • Chronosystem: Changes occur in a timeframe.

Goals of Studying Development

• Description: Typical development and individual differences.
• Explanation: Typical vs. individually different development.
• Prediction: Factors resulting in humans developing typically or differently.
• Optimization: Positive development and enhanced capacity. Preventing and overcoming difficulties.

Modern-Day Lifespan Perspective

• The scientific study of how humans develop.
• Development is:
  • A lifelong process.
  • Multidirectional.
  • Involves both gains and losses.
  • Characterized by lifelong plasticity.
  • Shaped by historical-cultural context.
  • Multiply influenced – adaptive.
  • Studied by multiple disciplines.

The Scientific Method

• A process of generating ideas and testing them.
• Preliminary observations provide ideas for a theory.
• Theories generate hypotheses.
• A good theory should be:
  • Internally consistent.
  • Falsifiable.
  • Supported by data.

Research Methods

• Quantitative: Objectively measurable data (standardized tests, physiological changes).
• Qualitative: Non-numerical data (feelings, beliefs), e.g., interviews, diaries.
• Both methods are valuable, depending on the research question asked.

Data Collection Methods: Reporting

• Interviews, written questionnaires, surveys, etc.
  • Advantages: Efficient way to collect data on thoughts, feelings, or behaviors from many people.
  • Limitations: Cannot be used with infants or those who cannot read or understand speech; results may reflect age differences; responses may be socially desirable.

Data Collection Methods: Behavioral Observation

• Observing people in their natural surroundings.
  • Advantages: Focus on naturally occurring behavior in context.
  • Limitations: Cannot be used for rare or infrequent behaviors; difficult to determine cause and effect; presence of observer can influence the behavior being observed.

Data Collection Methods: Physiological Measurements

• Measure electrical activity in the brain, heart rate, skin conductance, etc.
  • Advantages: Hard to fake; useful in the study of non-verbal infants.
  • Limitation: Not always clear what’s being assessed.

Research Methods: Case Study

• In-depth examination of an individual or small number of individuals.
  • Advantages: Can establish cause and effect
  • Limitation: Conclusions cannot be generalized.

Research Methods: The Experiment

• One variable is manipulated to see its effect on the measured variable (DV).
• Three critical features of true experiments:
  • Random assignment
  • Manipulation of independent variable (IV).
  • Experimental control.
  • Advantages: Rich information about complex or rare aspects of development.
  • Limitation: Findings in a laboratory don’t always hold true in the real world; ethical principles.

Research Methods: The Correlational Method

• Are two or more variables related in a systematic fashion?
• Strength of the relationship is expressed by the calculation of a correlation coefficient, r. -1.0 ≤ r ≤ +1.0
  • Advantages: Can be used when it’s unethical to manipulate; allows an examination of multiple factors.
  • Limitations: Can’t establish a causal relationship; issue of directionality; third variable problem.

Developmental Research Designs: Cross-Sectional Designs

• Compare performances of people of different cohorts.
  • Advantages: Quick and easy to conduct; convenient, timely, inexpensive.
  • Limitations: Age and cohort effects are confounded; don’t reveal how people change with age.

Developmental Research Designs: Longitudinal Designs

• Compare the same people over time.
  • Advantages: Able to identify sequences of change and individual consistency and inconsistency over time.
  • Limitations: Age and time of measurement effects; costly and time-consuming; measurement methods may become obsolete; participants are lost (i.e., attrition); effects of repeated testing.

Developmental Research Designs: Longitudinal Designs

• Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs
  • Advantages: Can reveal age effects; can reveal cohort effects; can reveal time of measurement effects.
  • Limitations: Age and time of measurement effects (minimised); costly and time-consuming; measurement methods may become obsolete; participants are lost (i.e., attrition); effects of repeated testing.

Challenges in Developmental Studies

• Protecting the rights of research participants.
  • Research ethics are standards of conduct that protect research participants from psychological or physical harm.
  • Informed consent.
  • Debriefing.
  • Protection from harm.
  • Confidentiality/anonymity.

Challenges in Developmental Studies

• Conducting culturally sensitive research
  • Study samples of developing people from a variety of ecological settings, differing SES, etc.
  • Study different cultural and subcultural groups
  • Keep ethnocentrism from influencing one’s research

Ethics

• Researchers are guided by:
  • Beneficence
  • Respect
  • Justice
• Researchers should be sensitive to participants’ developmental needs and cultural issues and values.