Life expectancy
Average number of years that a person is born in a particular year can expect to live.
Development
the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes declines brought on by aging and dying.
Lifespan perspective is...
the perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual; involves growth, maintenance, and regulation; and is constructed through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors workin
lifelong
growing and developing all the way to death, no age period dominates development.
multidimensional
development has biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions. Even within every dimension, there are many components. For example, memory, attention
multidirectional
some dimensions expand while others increase. There are gains and losses within age, for example, when one language is acquired early in development (like English), the capacity for acquiring second and third languages decreases (Spanish, Chinese) later i
plastic
Plasticity means the capacity to change, within the brain and cognitive developments. It is possible that we possess less capacity for change, as we grow older. Cognitive skills for older people can be improved through training and developing better strat
multidisciplinary
psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers all share an interest in unlocking the mystery of development through a lifespan. How does your heredity and health limit your intelligence? Do intelligence and social
contextual
every development occurs within a context, or setting. Contexts include families, schools, peer groups, churches, etc. Historical, laboratories, countries, and so on influence each setting. Individuals are changing beings in a changing world.
Normative age graded influences
similar for individuals in a particular age group, these influences include biological processes such as puberty and menopause. Also processes in sociocultural and environmental such as beginning formal education around 6 YO and retirement from the workfo
Normative history-graded influences
common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances. Such as American baby boomers who during their youth experienced the Cuban missile crisis and John F. Kennedys assassination.
Nonnormative or highly individualized life events
unusual occurrences that have major impact on the lives of individual people, such as death of a parent, pregnancy in early adolescence, fire that destroys a home, etc.
biological processes
produce changes in an individual's physical nature. Genes are inherited from parents, the development of the brain, height and weight gain, motor skills, nutrition, hormonal changes in puberty, etc. are all biological processes that affect development.
cognitive processes
refers to changes in the individuals thought, intelligence, and language. Solving a crossword puzzle, watching colorful plans swing above the crib, putting together a two-word sentence, are all cognitive processes.
Socioemotional processes
involves change in the individual's relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality. An infant's smile to a parents touch, a toddlers aggressive attack on a playmate, an adolescents joy at a senior prom are all roles of so
Prenatal
from conception to birth. Involves tremendous growth, and takes approximately 9 months to complete.
infancy
from birth to two years of age. Involves extreme dependence on adults. Many psychological activities, like language, social learning, sensorimotor coordination, are just beginning.
early childhood
from three to five years of age. Usually called the "preschool years." Children learn to care for themselves more, and develop school readiness skills.
middle and late childhood
from six to eleven years of age. Usually called the "elementary school years". During these years, children develop fundamental skills for reading, writing, and arithmetic, and are more exposed to the world and their culture.
adolescence
from eleven to twenty one years of age. Known as the TRANSITION between child-hood to adulthood. Begins with rapid physical changes, dramatic in height and weight, changes in the body. At this point in development, independence and identity are preeminent
early adulthood
begins in the twenties and ends in the thirties. Time of establishing personal and economic independence, advancing in a career, selecting a mate, and learning to live with that selected person, start a family, and have children.
middle adulthood
from approximately forty to sixty years of age. It's a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility. Assisting the next generation in becoming mature individuals.
Late adulthood
from the sixty's and lasts until death. It's the time of life review, retirement, and adjustments in heath and social roles.
Young-Old
from 65-84 years of age
Oldest-Old
from 85 and older years of age
Chronological Age
The number of years that have elapsed since you were born.
Biological Age
A person's age in terms of their biological health. It pertains to the functioning capacity of their vital organs.
Psychological Age
Individuals adaptive capacities compared with those of others individuals of the same chronological age.
Social Age
The connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt.
Nature VS Nurture
The nature-nurture issue involves the extent to which development is influenced by nature and by nurture. Nature refers to an organism's biological inheritance, and Nurture is the environmental experiences.
psychoanalytic
Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are e
cognitive
Cognitive theories emphasize conscious thoughts. Two theorists: Piaget's theory states that children go through four stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world. Vygotsky's theory is a sociocultural cognitiv
behavioral
Anything that can be directly observed and measured. Two theorists: Skinner developed his theory through operant conditioning and seeing how the consequences of a behavior produce changings in the probability of the behaviors occurrence. Bandura emphasize
ethological
stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods. Two theorists: Lorenz-helped bring ethology to prominence. Did the "goose" experiment. Bowlby- illustrated an important
ecological
emphasizes on environmental factors. One theorist: Bronfenbenner: created the environmental systems theory that focuses on the five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
Theories of development
Theories are ideas that help explain and predict things.
Observation
Naturalistic and Laboratory
Naturalistic
Observing in a natural setting, the real world settings that surround whatever you are observing.
Laboratory
a controlled setting, where most "real world" factors are removed
Survey and Interview
questionnaires, standard questions, exact same questions to all different people
Standardized Testing
Uniform procedures for administration and scoring. Allow a persons performance to be compared with the performance of other individuals.
Case Studies
Having an in-depth look at only ONE person or one single individual
Physiological measures
Performing blood samples, MRI's, mapping out genes, etc.
3 types of research design
Descriptive, Correlation, and Experimental
Descriptive
study designed to observe and record behavior. PROVES NOTHING
Correlation
study in which the goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics. Helps PREDICT behavior, correlation does not equal causation. EX: smoking?lung cancer
� Correlation Coefficient- numerical measure to de
Experimental
demonstrates cause and effect
� Independent variable- what you're going to manipulate
� Dependent variable- what you're going to measure
Informed consent
must know any risks that are involved. Participants can withdrawal at any given time.
Confidentiality
keeping all information/data completely confidential and anonymous.
debriefing
participants must be informed of the study's purpose and the methods being used.
Deception
ensures that deception doesn't harm participants, and debrief soon after the study is completed.
Minimizing Bias
Gender, cultural, and ethnicity: Studies of life span are most useful when they are conducted without bias or prejudice toward ant particular group of people. Of special concern is bias based on gender and bias based on culture or ethnicity.