Life-span Growth & Development

some contemporary concerns

- Health and well-being Parenting and education Sociocultural contexts and diversity, social policy, and technology - important dimensions of the sociocultural context include culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender - there is increasing interest in social policy issues related to children and to older adults - recently, there also has been a dramatic infusion of technology in the lives of people of all ages, and the influence of technology on development is as important contemporary issue

the importance of life-span development

- development is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the human life-span - studying life-span development helps prepare us to take responsibility for children, gives us insight about our own lives, and gives us knowledge about what our lives will be like as we age

Characteristics of the life-span perspective

- life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last century, but life span has remained virtually the same - the life-span perspective includes these basic concepts: development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, and plastic; its study is multidisciplinary; it is contexual; it involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss; and it is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors.

toddler

1 1/2 to 3 years

three types of influences

1. Normative age-graded influences 2. Normative history-graded influences 3. Non-normative life events

early adulthood

20s and 30s

early childhood (preshcool)

3-5 years of age

middle adulthood

40-60 years

middle and late childhood

6-11 years

late adulthood

60+

socioeconomic status (SES)

A division of population based on occupation, income, and education.

correlation coefficient

A number based on statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables.

ethnicity

A social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race.

Vygotsky's Theory

A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development.

Robert Siegler

An important aspect of development is learning good strategies for processing information.

case study

An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

Based on individuals' interacting and learning about their world

cross-cultural studies

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.

Skinner's Operant Conditioning

Development consists of the pattern of behavioral changes that are brought about by rewards and punishments

cohort effects

Effects due to a person's time of birth, era, or generation but not to actual age.

four ages

First age: childhood and adolecences Second age: prime adulthood ages 20 to 59 Third age: approx 60 to 79 years of age Fourth age: approx 80 years and older

What is cognitive about observational learning in Bandura's view?

He proposes people cognitively represent the behavior of others and then sometimes adopt this behavior themselves

cognitive theories

In the study of motivation, an explanation of behavior that asserts that people actively and regularly determine their own goals and the means of achieving them through thought.

developmental issues

Nature vs. Nurture Stability vs. Change Continuity vs. Discontinuity

Ross Parke and Raymond Buriel

Research on ethnic minority children and their families has not been given adequate attention.

descriptive research

Studies designed to observe and record behavior.

prenatal period

The developmental period before birth.

psychoanalytic theories

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 emphasized.

Piaget's Theory

Theory stating that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development.

ethnic gloss

Use of an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more homogeneous than it really is.

social policy

a government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens

information processing theory

a perspective that compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, connections, stored memories, and output

standarized tests

a test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring

Phychological age

an individuals adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same age

gender bias

behavior that shows favoritism toward one gender over the other

Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory

behavior, environment, and cognition are the key factors in development

What 3 dimensions of development are there

biological, cognitive, and socioemotional

development is a co-construction of

biological, culture, and the individual factors

biological processes

changes in an individual's physical nature

socioemotional processes

changes in an individual's relationships with other people, emotions, and personality

cognitive processes

changes in an individual's thought, intelligence, and language

social age

connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt

gender

in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female

Brofenbrenner's ecological theory

microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem

three developmental patterns of aging

normal aging, pathological aging, successful aging

cross-sectional approach

research strategy that simultaneously compares individuals of different ages

correlational research

research that attempts to determine the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics

ethical research

research that is designed and conducted validly, reliably, legitimately, and representatively, and protects a research participant's rights

Human infants go through an attachment period. John Bowlby calls this a ________ period, meaning that for optimal development attachment should occur during this period.

sensitive

ethology

study of animal behavior

culture

the behavior patterns, beliefs. and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation

stability-change issue

the debate about the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change

continuity-discontinuity issue

the debate about the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity)

nature-nurtue issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

sociocultural context

the physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that make up any child's environment

The longitudinal method of research consists of studying

the same individuals over a long period of time

infancy

the stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to early adulthood, extending from puberty to independence 10-12 ends around 18-21

freud's theory

theory that dreaming reflects our erotic drives

Ethological Theory

views development from an evolutionary perspective