Chapter One

Introduction

PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont College

Studying the Life Span: Five Characteristics• The study of human development is the

science that seeks to understand– how and why all kinds of people change

over time– how and why they remain the same– the generalities and the specifics

• Focus is on all kinds of people- age, socioeconomic status, gender,

ethnicity, sexuality, background, culture, and nationality

Studying the Life Span: Five Characteristics, cont.

• Change from conception to death—the five characteristics– A Life-Span Perspective

• multidirectional—nonlinear progression (1)• multicontextual—a number of contexts (2)• multicultural—many cultural settings (3)• multidisciplinary—many academic disciplines

contribute data (4)• plasticity—change through the life span (5)

Multidirectional (1)• Each aspect of life is multidirectional

– physical health, intellectual growth, and social interaction

– up, down, stable or erratic

• Dynamic Systems– process of continual change within a

person or group, in which each change is connected systematically to every other development in each individual and every society

• Growth in height and weight is not linear

• Fluctuations in body weight are affected by many other changes– appetite, nutrition, family, stress,

exercise, culture, food supply, and climate– historical changes can have powerful

effects• “obesity epidemic” in the U.S. today

Physical Growth

• Butterfly effect—the idea that a small action or event may set off a series of changes culminating in a major event

• Opposite Idea– a large change may have little or no effect

• Family Dynamics– influence vulnerability or resiliency– strong bond with loving caregiver can

protect against adversity of many kinds

Effects, Large and Small

• Humans develop in many contexts that influence development– physical and family– focus on three facets of social context

• historical, socioeconomic, and cultural

Multicontextual (2)

Three Broad Contexts Within the Social Context

Historical Context

• Historical context involves cohorts, social constructions– impact of historical context varies with

age

• Socioeconomic includes– socioeconomic status (ses),

• education, income, neighborhood, occupation of household head

The Socioeconomic Context

Families and Neighborhoods• Economics

– poverty

• Collective Efficacy—neighbors that create a functioning, informal network of people who show concern for each other and their block

• Supportive Family Relationships– quality of parenting– family support best predictor of health and

happiness

• Cultural—set of values, assumptions, and customs as well as physical objects such as clothing, housing, etc.– includes all decisions people make– is dynamic, supportive

The Cultural Context

Who Sleeps with Whom?

• Example from Figure 1.2 showing configuration of sleeping arrangements– in Western cultures, husband and wife

sleep together– not all cultures have the same ideas

about sleeping arrangements

• Two examples of various practices provide insights into culture—(1) Too Rich to Marry? And (2) The Children’s House

Multicultural (3)

Too Rich to Marry?• Worldwide, the richer the man, the more

likely he is to marry• Is a woman a less desirable mate if she

earns more income and therefore would be less dependent on the male?– higher income for women

• reduced marriage prospects in Japan• increased marriage prospects slightly in U.S.• increased marriage prospects significantly in

Sweden• findings reflective of a country’s gender equality

The Children’s House

• Kibbutz Sleeping Arrangements– different sleeping practices, with some

children sleeping in Children’s House, while others slept at home

– children who slept away ended up having negative consequences• difficulty talking about, relating to family

members

Ethnicity, Race, and Income• Ethnic group—collection of people

who share certain attributes, almost always including ancestral heritage and often including national origin, religion, customs, and language

• People can belong to more than one culture

Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.

• Race—a social construction by which biological traits are used to differentiate people whose ancestors came from various regions of the world– a distorted concept

• SES variations tend to follow ethnic variations

Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.

• The Person Within the System– divergent directions, contextual

influences, cohort effect

Multidisciplinary (4)

• Body, Mind, and Spirit• Three domains

– biosocial– cognitive– psychosocial

• Williams Family Example • Combination of Nature vs. Nurture

Plasticity (5)

• Plasticity—capacity to change• Characteristics can be molded into

different forms and shapes or a durability can be maintained

• Provides hope and realism– change is possible– people must build on what came before

(raw materials = genes, families, cultures, experiences)

The Person Within the Context• Person is guided in divergent directions

by many contextual influences• No one is “average”— each person

unique– each person has unique genes and

experiences– Paul Baltes (Founder of lifespan

developmental study)• “We need to keep in mind that the future is not

something we simply enter, the future is also something we help create.”

Developmental Study as a Science

• Based on objective evidence (objective)

• Laden with personal implications and applications (subjective)

• Scientific method—general way to seek evidence to answer question, involving four basic steps and sometimes a fifth.1. formulate a research question2. develop a hypothesis

hypothesis—a specific prediction that is stated in such a way it can be tested and either confirmed or refuted

Scientific Method

Scientific Method, cont.

3. test the hypothesis 4. draw conclusions5. make findings available

• replication—the repetition of a scientific study using the same procedures on another group of participants to verify or refute the original study’s conclusion

Research Methods

• Four Methods of Testing Hypotheses– observations– experiments– surveys– case studies

Observation

• Scientific observation—observing and recording (unbiased) in a systematic way what people do– Limitation: it does not indicate what

causes behavior we observe

• Correlation and Causation– Naturalistic observation provides no

definitive answers about causes – Correlation exists between two variables

if one variable is more (or less) likely to occur when the other occurs

– correlation indicates a connection, but does not specify reason (cause) for it

Observation, cont.

• Experiment—investigation designed to untangle cause from effect– independent variable—imposed treatment or

special condition– dependent variable—specific behavior being

studied– experimental group—participants who are

given particular treatment– comparison (control) group—participants who

are not given special treatment but are similar to experimental group in other relevant ways

The Experiment

How to Conduct an Experiment

The Survey

• Survey—information collected from personal interview, questionnaire, etc.

• Case study—intensive study of one individual or situation

The Case Study

• Developmental research must be able to deal with changes that continue over time– research design allows researchers to

include time, or age, as a factor– three basic designs:

• cross-sectional, longitudinal, cross-sequential

Studying Changes over Time

• Cross-sectional research-research that studies groups differing in age but sharing other important characteristics (education, SES, ethnicity)

Cross-sectional Research

• Longitudinal research—research that studies individuals over a long period; valuable developmental information from longitudinal studies includes– adjustment to divorce– role of fathers in child development– prevention of teenage delinquency

Longitudinal Research

• Cross-sequential research—research that studies several groups of people of different ages, then follows those groups longitudinally

Cross-Sequential Research

Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and Cross-Sequential Research: Which is Best?

Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and Cross-Sequential Research: Which is Best?, cont.

The Ecological-Systems Approach: A Synthesis

• Ecological-systems approach—research that takes into consideration the relationship between the individual and the environment– Uri Bronfrenbrenner

Ethics and Science

• General principles of code of ethics– never harm participants either physically

or psychologically– explain purposes and procedures of

study– secure informed consent– keep data on participants private– allow participants to stop at any time

Implications of Research

• Deliberate or accidental deception?• Misinterpretation?• Replicable?

• Are scientists studying issues that are crucial to human development?– human sexual urges and actions to

prevent STDs, pregnancy, and sexual abuse and to cure infertility

– stress, poverty, and prejudice– children’s anger– retirement

What Should We Study?