Lecture One 2010

8/8/2019 Lecture One 2010

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©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1:

Introduction




The

Life-Span

Perspective




What Is Life-Span Development?

A pattern of change involvinggrowth and decline, beginning at

conception and lasting until death.

Life phases: infancy, childhood,

adolescence, young adulthood,

middle adulthood, and lateadulthood.




The Historical Perspectives:

Childhood has been of interest for along time. (mid 1800¶s)

Adulthood became of interest in the

late 1900s. Three philosophical views of child

development:

Original sin Tabula rasa

Innate goodness




Childhood is seen as a special time of

growth and change, influenced by ± child-rearing practices,

± childhood experiences, and

± environmental influences.




Humans are living longer

Check out the life-span of other species on

page 8 (figure 1.1)

What is the average life span for humansand how has it grown in the past 100 yrs?

± Figure 1.2

± What is the average life span for American

Indians?




Average Human L e Expectancy ( n Years at

Birth, from Prehistoric to Contemporary

Times ± page 8




Characteristics of the life-span

perspective:

1. Development is lifelong

± No age period dominates

development. Biological, cognitive,

and socioeconomic dimensions of

experiences and psychologicalorientation are very important to

study.




2. Development is multidimensional:

age, body, mind, emotions, and

relationships are affecting and

changing each other.

3. Development is multidirectional:

some aspects of dimensions shrink and

some expand.




Multidimensional aspect

± social/emotional, biological, cognitive =

and within cognitive we include: attention,

memory, abstract thought, processing info, social

intelligence

Social / Emotional

Biological

Cognitive




3. Development is multidirectional:

some aspects of dimensions shrink and

some expand.

Examples: language, wisdom, reflexes,processing time




4. Development is plastic: it has the capacity

for change.

For example: a small child has a head

injury and other parts of the brain take

over

OR, bully in grade school

OR, elderly may be forgetful




5. Development science is multidisciplinary:

it is of interest to:

Psychologists.

Sociologists.

Nurses

PT/OT/Speech

Anthropologists.

Neuroscientists.

Medical researchers.




6. Development is contextual: the context

or SETTING in which something occurs So a person acts on and responds to

contexts such as:

a. Sociocultural and environmentalexperiences.

± Where did your early childhood take place?

Home, family, neighborhood, daycare,school, peers, church etc.

City? Rural? Poverty? Wealthy? Culture?




b. Historical circumstances. Is there

generational injury?

c. Life events or unusual

circumstances impacting on thespecific individual.




Context - also splits into 3 types of

influence1. normative age grade ± similar for certain

ages

2. normative history grade ± common to aparticular generation ± like Baby Boomers,

Generation X or Generation Y

3. Non ± normative or Individual Events or

Unusual Circumstances that have/had a

major impact on your life




7. Development involves growth,

maintenance, and regulation of loss.

8. Development is a co-construction of

biology, culture, and individual factors allworking together.




Some Contemporary Concerns

Sociocultural contexts and diversity

Culture ± what are your beliefs &

values? Are they shared?

Ethnicity ± how is it valued? Or not?

Socioeconomic status ± poverty vs.

lower, middle, and upper classes Gender ± do you feel ³equal´?




All of these affect lifespan development

Health and well-being, parenting and

education are all affected by the

sociocultural contexts in which people liveand grow.




Social Policy Issues

Social policy: national government¶s course

of action and politics affect the welfare of

citizens

Social policy has needs related to children:

poverty, family issues,

the aging population.



©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.Figure 1.5

Children Exposedto Six Stressors

14

3

7

73

12

16

21

24

32

45

49

Percentage

Middle-incomechildren

Poorchildren

Exposure to violence

Crowding

Family turmoil

Child separation

Excessive noise

Poor housing quality






The Aging of America




Developmental

Processes and Periods




The key developmental processes, all of

which are intertwined:

Biological ± genes, brain development,

height and weight gains, changes in motor

skills, hormonal changes, cardiovasculardecline.

Cognitive ± changes in thought,

intelligence, and language.




Socioemotional ± changes in relationships,emotions, and personality.

In many instances, biological, cognitive,

and socioemotional processes are

bidirectional because each can affect the

other.




Biologicalprocesses

Socioemotionalprocesses

Cognitiveprocesses

Developmental Changes Are a Result of Biological,Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes




Periods of development focus on time frames:

± Prenatal period.

± Infancy.

± Early childhood.

± Middle and late childhood.

± Adolescence.

± Early adulthood.

± Middle adulthood.

± Late adulthood.




How Important is age?

Age and Happiness No specific age group reports more

happiness or satisfaction than another,

because each age period has its ownstresses, advantages, and disadvantages; for

example:

Adolescents must cope with identity

development, feelings of competency, and

self-perceptions




And ««««.

Older adults must cope with reduced

income, less energy, decreasing physical

skills, concerns about death, more leisure

time, and accumulation of life experiences.

What are YOUR concerns at this time?




100

0

20

40

80

60

Happypeople

(%)

Age range (years)

Age and Happiness

65 +15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Figure 1.9




Conceptions of age

Perhaps we are becoming anage-irrelevant society

How should age be conceptualized?

Chronological age Biological age

Psychological age

Social age

How old would you be if you didn¶t know

how old you were? (Ask Dr. OZ)




Age in terms of physical health

Biological age

Social roles and expectationsrelative to chronological age

Social age

Number of years since birth

Chronological age

Adaptive capacity compared withothers of the same chronological age

Psychological age

Conceptionsof age




DevelopmentalIssues




Nature vs. Nurture

A debate about whether development is

influenced most by biological heredity or

environmental experiences.

Nature proponents argue that genetic

blueprints produce commonalities in growth

and development.




Nature proponents acknowledge the

influence of extreme environments ondevelopment.

Psychologists emphasize the importance of

nurture and that the range of environmentscan be vast.




What constitutes Stability and

Change?

The assumption that nothing much changes

in adulthood

The concept of plasticity, ongoing change

Major changes were believed to occur only

in the first 5 years of childhood (early

experience doctrine);

We are no longer able to ignore the rest of

the life span.




Continuity and Discontinuity:

The continuity±discontinuity issuefocuses on whether development is«

A gradual, cumulative quantitative

change process or A set of distinct stages that are

qualitatively different from each other




Discontinuity

Continuity andDiscontinuity in

Development

Continuity

Figure 1.11




These are the issues

And the concepts we will look at in this text

What questions are popping up in your

mind??

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Lecture One 2010