Development
The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes decline brought on by aging and dying.
Traditional approach to development
development was studied up to age 16 or 20, the believed studies were not lifelong. Present approach is currently life long
- Life Span Development
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 working
Life expectancy in the USA
In the twentieth century alone, life expectancy in the United States increased by 30 years, thanks to improvements in sanitation, nutrition, and medicine
Life Long Development
researches increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of adults at different points in their lives. Different age periods=different development in characteristics.
Contextual
All development occurs within a context, or setting. Examples: Families, schools, peer groups, churches, cities, etc. Each setting is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors (Gollnick and Chinn). Contexts change as do individuals.
Normative age-graded influences
influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group
Normative history-graded influences
influences that are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances
Nonormative or highly individualized life events
unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an individual's life
Each of these can have a biological or environmental impact on development.
...
Multi-demential
No matter what your age might be, your body, mind, emotions, and relationships are changing and affecting each other. Development has Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional dimensions. Even within a dimension, there are many components.
Multi- disciplinary
composed of or combining several usually separate branches of learning or fields of expertise; I.e. how do genetics interfere with your intelligence? Do intelligence and social relationships change with age in the same way around the world?
Multi-directional
Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension expand and others shrink. Language is acquired in development, the capacity of acquiring a second or third language decreases later in development, especially after early childhood.
Plasticity
the ability for nerve cells to change through new experiences. The process of changing nerve cells is learning, and it was once believed that the only kind of change that could take place after childhood was related to strength in nerve cell connection, n
Infancy
the developmental period from birth to 18 or 24, months. Infancy is a time of extreme dependence upon adults. During this period, many psychological activities- language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning, for example- are b
Early childhood
the developmental period from about 3 to 5 years of age. This period is known as "preschool years." During this time, young children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills, and spend many hours pla
Middle and late childhood
ages 6-10/11 years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years. Children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they are formally exposed to the larger world and its culture, achievement becomes a mor
Adolescence
10-12 to 18-21 years of age, the transition from childhood to early adulthood/ Adolescence begins with rapid physical changes- dramatic gains in height and weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement
Early adulthood
20s to 30s in age. It is the time of establishing personal and economic independence, advancing in a career, and for many, selecting a mate, learning to live with that person in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children.
Late adulthood
40 to 60 years of age. Expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a career.
Chronological age
the number of years that have elapsed since birth
Biological age
a person's age in terms of biological health. Determining this involves knowing the functional capacities of a person's vital organs. The younger a person's biological age, the longer that person is expected to live, regardless of chronological age.
Psychological age
an individual's adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age. Thus, two adults who continue to learn, are flexible and motivated, have positive personality traits, control their emotion s and think clearly are
Sociological age
connectedness with others and the social roles of individuals adopt. Individuals who have better social relationships with others are happier and more likely to live longer than those who are lonely.
longitudinal research
A research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more.
Cross-sectional research
Comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree to which development is similar or universal, across cultures, and the degree to which it is culture-specific.
Correlation coefficient
A number based on statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables.
Correlational Research
The goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics.
Critical period
In Lorenz's view, imprinting needs to take place at a certain, very early time in the life of the animal, or else it will not take place. This point in time is called a critical period. A related concept is that of a sensitive period, and an example of th
Imprinting
the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving object seen.
Observational learning
In Bandura's social cognitive theory, observational learning is a key aspect of life-span development.
- Operant conditioning
Two main behavioral and social cognitive theories are Skinner's operant conditioning and Bandura's social cognitive theory. In Skinner's operant conditioning, the consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior's occurrence.
Reward and punishment
For Skinner the key aspect of development is behavior, not thoughts and feelings. He emphasized that development consists of the pattern of behavioral changes that are brought about by rewards and punishments.
Vygostsky
cognitive (no stages) "We learn from our outside world." Vygotsky theory: A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development. A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and soc
Piaget
states that children go through four stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world. Two processes underlie this cognitive construction of the world: organization and adaptation. To make sense of our world, we
Erikson
recognized Freud's contributions but believed that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development. For one thing, Erikson said we develop in psychosocial stages, rather than in psychosexual stages as Freud maintained.
Freud
psychoanalytical school of thought, 5 stages, as Freud listened to, probed, and analyzed his patients, he became convinced that their problems were the result of experiences early in life. He thought that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and s
Continuity & discontinuity
Developmentalists describe development as continuous (gradual, a cumulative change) or as discontinuous (abrupt, a sequence of stages). Most developmentalists recognize that extreme positions on the nature-nurture, stability-change, and continuity-discont
The life-span perspective includes these basic conceptions
Development is lifelong, multi-dimensional, multidirectional, and plastic; its study is multidisciplinary; it is contextual; it involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss; and it is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual facto
Lifelong
researches increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of adults at different points in their lives. Different age periods=different development in characteristics.
Multidimensional
No matter what your age might be, your body, mind, emotions, and relationships are changing and affecting each other. Development has Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional dimensions. Even within a dimension, there are many components.
Multidirectional
Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension expand and others shrink. Language is acquired in development, the capacity of acquiring a second or third language decreases later in development, especially after early childhood.
Plastic
the capacity for change
- Multidisciplinary
composed of or combining several usually separate branches of learning or fields of expertise; I.e. how do genetics interfere with your intelligence? Do intelligence and social relationships change with age in the same way around the world?