Advanced Developmental

Psychology

PSY 620PJanuary 13, 2015

Course Overview

Module 1: Theory & Methodology

Module 2: Domains of Development

Module 3: Socialization Processes

Module 4: Beyond Childhood…..

Course Overview (cont)

Format: Textbook chapters and lecture (Tues) supplemented by empirical readings (Thurs) Readings posted on Blackboard

▪ Sometimes linked to syllabus

Evaluation: Two take-home exams (35% each)

▪ Theories/Methods; Domains of Development (due 03/18)▪ Socialization Processes; Adulthood (due 05/04)

3 x Discussion leader w slides (4 x 5%) Participation (vebal, questions, in-class written queries

(10%)

BlackBoard

Development defined: Individual change over time that:

Reorganizes Multiple systems (entire person)

Successive, sequential Crawl before you walk

Non-reversible (stable) You can’t go back

Normative Everyone’s doing it

Continues over lifespan

Is development

Increasing functionality in all things? Loss of perceptual acuity in non-native

languages between 6 & 12 months Old-age

Current Perspectives on Development

Focus on mechanisms underlying change Focus on how/why of development rather than

what Move away from “either / or” attempts to

isolate/quantify relative contributions How does development proceed?

Nature – Nurture e.g., is shyness innate or learned?

What is the Shape of Developmental Change?Adolph et al, 2008

Developmental trajectories take many forms

Accurate depiction depends on sampling rate of observations

“Microgenetic method” – small time intervals to observe developmental process

Gangi

Sampling rate can misrepresent both form & age of development

Messinger

Conceptual Differences between Theories of Development

How does a behavior change in form and/or function over the course of development? (=absolute change) Continuity – Discontinuity

▪ Descriptive continuity-discontinuity▪ Explanatory continuity-discontinuity

▪ Descriptions and Explanations can be either Quantitative or Qualitative

Conceptual Differences between Theories of Development

How does a behavior change differently among individuals in the same group? (=relative change) Stability -- Instability

Examples

1 2 3

Bay

ley

Cog

niti

ve S

core

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

YearM = 93.5n = 200

YearsM = 79.1n = 190

YearsM = 82.1n = 132

Typical Trajectory:Cognitive Scores Decline

Developmental Systems Perspective

Four essential components Systematic change with relative plasticity

Integration of levels of organization

Historical embeddedness and temporality

Limits of generalizability, diversity, & individual differences

Two examples of theories based on Developmental Systems Perspective

Focus on bidirectional relations (e.g., Developmental Systems Perspectives) between levels of organization

Bioecological Theory of Developmental Processes (Bronfenbrenner)

Dynamic Systems Theory (Thelen & Smith)

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory of Development

How does your work relate…..

Describe the level at which you are currently anchoring your own research and/or professional work?

Describe a level you are not currently examining but areinterested in?

Lerner et al.

“In essence, the concepts of historical embeddedness and temporality indicate that a program of developmental research adequate to address the relational, integrated, embedded, and temporal changes involved in human life must involve multiple occasions, methods, levels, variables, and cohorts (Baltes, 1987; Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006; Schaie & Strother, 1968).” Lerner et al., p. 12

Thoughts?

Hand-wringing about complexity

Krebs cycle cellular respiration

▪ evolved…