Lifespan Development
Field of study which wants to examine the patterns of growth and change, as well as stability in behaviours which occur throughout the lifespan.
Psychologists looking at lifespan development must consider the following: physical changes, cognitive changes
What considerations do lifespan psychologist make?
1. Focus on human development
2. View development as a continuing process.
3. Consider stability and consistent behaviours which are present throughout one's entire life
4. Assume that development occurs from conception to death.
What is the aim of studying lifespan development?
To promote the health development of individuals and to answer important questions. I.e. if we don't understand how something functions before it is broke than how are we to fix it.
What are the classifications of age ranges outlined by psychologists?
prenatal= conception to birth
infancy = birth to age 2
early childhood = 2-6 years
middle childhood = 6 - 12 years
adolescence = 12-20 years
emerging adulthood = 18 - 25 years
young adulthood = 20-40 years
middle adulthood = 40-65 years
late adulthood = 6
Cohort
Refers to a group of people born around the same time, or have a similar shared experience. i.e. survived the 9/11 attacks
Subject to historic, age, and socioculural influences.
History Graded Influences
biological and environmental influences associated with a particular historical moment
Sociocultural Graded Influences
social and cultural influences at a particular time for an individual. Can be subject to influences corresponding to ethnicity, social class and general membership in a society.
Age Graded Influences
biological influences similar for a particular age group which were raised in a similar period of time.
What are the central questions governing developmental science?
1. How do nature (biology) and nurture (environment) interact to produce development?
2. Does development occur in gradual/continuous (qualitative) phases, or in abrupt and stage like (qualitative) stages?
3. What is the relevance of critical periods and
Continuous Change
refers to development that is gradual with the achievement at one level building on the skill sets achieved on the previous level.
Discontinuous Change
occurs in distinct stages where each stage brings about behaviour which is assumed to be qualitatively different from those seen in the previous stage.
critical period
is a specific time period in which development of a certain trait can occur. A certain level of a particular environmental stimulus must be present for the development of that trait.
i.e. binocular vision (absolute)
sensitive period
period in life where organisms are susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli or environments. However if that particular environment is not available during this span irreversible damage is not always the result.
i.e. language. (not absolute, could maybe de
Nature vs. Nuture
Nature refers to the traits, abilities and capabilities inherited from ones parents and resides in their genome
Nuture stems from environmental influences which can effect ones development and behaviour
Factors Influencing Individual Differences
1. Genes
2. Prenatal Chemical Factors
3. Postnatal Chemical Factors
4. General Experimental Factors
5. Individual Experiential Factors
6. Traumatic Events
Plasticity
Refers to change in a system, or the capability of a system to continually change
What was the motivation for establishing theories in lifespan development?
To describe, explain and predict behaviour. As well as to have an underlying basis on how to fix developmentally associated problems.
Name the keynote theories of lifespan development...
Psychodynamic (Freud, Erikson), Evolutionary (Darwin), Behavioral (Watson, Skinner, Bandura,), Cognitive (Piaget), Contextual
Psychodynamic Theory to Development - Freud
Freud practiced his psychosexual theory of development, in which satisfying biological needs was the key to developing emotionally/sexually.Freud also emphasized the importance of psychoanalytic factors (inner unconscious forces which determine personalit
Stages of Freud's Psychodynamic Theory
Oral (birth -12 mo.) - children move through trust vs. mistrust; associated with food, the need to explore with their mouths.
Anal (12 -18 mo.) - autonomy vs. shame and doubt; main period of toilet training
Phallic (3-5 years) - initiative vs. doubt/guilt
Psychodynamic Theory of Development - Erikson
Erikson emphasized the influences of outward social and cultural factors, and added to Freud's 5 initial stages.
>Early Adulthood - intimacy vs. isolation - fear of others, fear of being alone
>>Middle Adulthood - generativity vs. stagnation; the desire t
Criticism of Psychodynamic Perspectives
- Vague making testing difficult
- Focuses more on men than women
- Predictions about future behaviour is difficult
- Population Bias
Evolutionary Perspective to Development
Darwin (with the Origin of Species) and Lorenz (ethology), felt that development was honed to the natural tendency for a species to evolve
Challenges to the theory: near impossible to test, environmental and social factors are not well considered
Behavioral Perspective to Development
Watson, was the main develop-mentalist who "coined" the theory which suggests that, the key to understanding behaviour are observable behavioral and environmental stimuli. The theory values nature over nurture, and emphasizes the importance of environment
Classical Conditioning
Occurs when an organism learns to respond in a particular way to a neutral stimulus, which normally elicits no response. (i.e. Pavlov Dog's)
Operant Conditioning
Refers to a form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by association with positive or negative consequences (i.e. reward and punishment)
>>>Behavioral modificaition applications
Sociocognitive Learning Theory
Developed by Bandura, suggests that others learn by observing others. (i.e. Bobo doll experiment)
Flaws in the Behavioral Theorist's Approaches
- learning is though in the term of "stimulus" and "responses" where the internal processes inside the brain are not examined and leaves the mind as a "black box"
---we can't fully understand people's development without answering these questions
Cognitive Perspective To Development
Main theorist was Piaget, who felt that internal mental processes were essential to development with a focus on neurological activity underlying thinking, problem solving and other cognitive behaviour. (Looks at the level of brain proccesses)
- schema's
-
Schemas
organized mental patterns representing behaviours and actions
Accomodations
refers to a change in pre-existing ways of thinking in response to encounters with stimuli and new events
Assimilation
the process in which people understand a new experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and ways of thinking
Piaget's Stages
Sensormotor (birth to age 2) - sensory perception, children are rather immobile
Preoperational (2 to 6 yrs) - represent thoughts through the use of symbols, initiation of language
Concrete Operational (6 to 12 yrs) - start of logical reasoning when physic
Information Processing
Seeks to discover they way individuals take in, store and recall information. View the mind as a computer of sorts.
Focused around a more continuous type of learning.
Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches
Examines the cognitive development of the brain at the level of brain processes. Approach considers internal mental processes but focuses specifically on the neurological activity underlying thinking, problem solving and other cognitive behaviour
Contextual Perspective
Founded by Uri Briofenbrenner, is a theory which considers the role of relationships between individuals and their physical, cognitive personality and social worlds.
->bioecological approach - suggest that 5 different levels of environment will simultaneo
Bioecologics
Idea that different levels of environment can influence one's development they are as follows:
1. microsystems - where the child "fits" into the picture, i.e. the home environment
2. neighbourhood - beyond the home, child, school, parent friends etc.
3. m
Individualism
promotes the uniqueness of the personal identity, and a focus on oneself (Western Ideology)
Collectivism
concerned with the well being of the collective group (Eastern Ideology)
Sociocultural Theory
How cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interaction between culture members. Reared by Lev Vygotsky and hones in on the zone of proximal development.
Zone of Proximal Development
Ideology that when someone is learning a task there is a range of challenges by which they can be exposed to which is conducive to learning. Anything beyond this is detrimental and anything below this may cause boredom in the child.
Goals of Scientific Description
1. Basic Research - to advance the basic scientific knowledge about human development. i.e. how do students learn.
2. Applied Research - to answer practical questions about improving child's lives and experiences i.e. most clinical research
3. Action Rese
Criteria of Scientific Description
1. objectivity - preconceived notion is not influencing data interpretation or collection of results
2. reliability - same results multiple times
3. validity - what you think your measuring is what your measuring
4, Replicable - other people can repeat yo
Scientific Method
posing question and answering them in a scientific manner: general question > research > hypothesis > test it (experiment) > analyze data + draw conclusions > report results
Theories
Background from which your experiment is based
Hypothesis
The question you are trying to answer
Correlational Research
Looking at the relationship, or pattern between two different things
Types: naturalistic observation, case studies, survey research, psychophysiological methods
Experimental
carefully designing a test to examine something - controlled environment
Involves: independent(change) /dependent(measure) variables
Types: sample, field study, laboratory study
Longitudinal Research
occurs over a longer period of time, even though researchers get a lot of information out of the study they are costly and are associated with high drop-out rates
Cross Sectional
Follows different ages ranges simultaneously at a specific point in time. These studies are generally cheaper and have low drop outs, however changes may not be due to individual difference but moreover differences in cohort
Sequential
Looks at a number of age groups over a period of time; aging and different stages is observed over a shorter period of time. This is advantageous as it removes the cohort, but it is still costly and prone to drop outs.
Ethical Standards
Fundamental guidelines shared across most experimental fields.
1. Freedom from harm - both mental and physical
2. Informed consent
3. Justified deception, if deception is used test patients must be elucidated as to why it occurred after
4. Confidentiality
Ethology
ways which a biological behavior influences our make up