Lifespan Psych Chapter 1

1. Introduction
Chapter 1
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2. 1 - 2
Chapter Outline
• Discuss the distinctive features of a life-span
perspective on development
• Identify the most important processes,
periods, and issues in development
• Describe the main theories of human
development
• Explain how research on life-span
development is conducted
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The Life-Span Perspective
• The importance of studying life-span
development
• Characteristics of the life-span perspective
• Some contemporary concerns
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The Importance of Studying Life-span
Development
• Prepares us to take responsibility for children
• Gives us insight about our own lives
• Gives us knowledge about what our lives will
be like as we age
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5. 1 - 5
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• Pattern of change that begins at conception and
continues through the life span
DevelopmentDevelopment
• Involves growth, maintenance, and regulation
• Is constructed through biological, sociocultural,
and individual factors working together
Life-span perspectiveLife-span perspective

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Characteristics of the Life-Span
Perspective
• Development:
– Is contextual
– Is lifelong
– Is multidimensional
– Is multidirectional
– Is plastic
– Is multidisciplinary
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Types of Contextual Influences
• Normative age-graded influences: Similar for
individuals in a particular age group
• Normative history-graded influences:
Common to people of a particular generation
because of historical circumstances
• Nonnormative life events: Unusual
occurrences that have a major impact on an
individual’s life
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The Life-Span Perspective
• Contemporary concerns
– Health and well-being
– Parenting and education
– Sociocultural contexts and diversity
• Culture: Behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other
products of a group that are passed on from generation
to generation
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The Life-Span Perspective
• Cross-cultural studies: Comparison of one culture with
one or more other cultures
• Ethnicity: Based on cultural heritage, nationality
characteristics, race, religion, and language
• Socioeconomic status: Grouping of people with similar
occupational, educational, and economic
characteristics
• Gender: Characteristics of people as males or females
– Social policy: National government’s course of
action designed to promote the welfare of its
citizens
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The Nature of Development
• Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional
processes
• Periods of development
• The significance of age
• Developmental issues
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Biological, Cognitive, and
Socioemotional Processes
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• Changes in an individual’s physical nature
Biological processesBiological processes
• Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence,
and language
Cognitive processesCognitive processes
• Changes in an individual’s relationships with other
people, emotions, and personality
Socioemotional processesSocioemotional processes

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Periods of Development
• Four ages
– First age - Childhood and adolescence
– Second age - Prime adulthood, ages 20 through 59
– Third age - Approximately 60 to 79 years of age
– Fourth age - Approximately 80 years and older
• Development in one period is connected to
development in another period
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Figure 1.8 - Processes and Periods of
Development
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Significance of Age
• A full evaluation of age requires consideration
of chronological, biological, psychological, and
social age
– Chronological age
• Number of years that have elapsed since birth
– Biological age
• Age in terms of biological health
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Significance of Age
– Psychological age
• An individual’s adaptive capacities compared with
those of other individuals of the same chronological
age
– Social age
• Connectedness with others and the social roles
individuals adopt
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Developmental Issues
• Nature-nurture issue: Debate about whether
development is primarily influenced by nature
or nurture
– Nature - Organism’s biological inheritance
– Nurture - Environmental experiences
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Developmental Issues
• Stability-change issue
– Debate about:
• Whether we become older renditions of our early
experience
• Whether we develop into someone different from who
we were at an earlier point in development
• Continuity-discontinuity issue: Debate about
the extent to which development involves
– Gradual, cumulative change or distinct stages
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Theories of Development
• Scientific method: An approach that can be
used to obtain accurate information
– Conceptualize the problem
– Collect data
– Draw conclusions
– Revise research conclusions and theory
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Theories of Development
• Theory: An interrelated, coherent set of ideas
that helps to explain phenomena and facilitate
predictions
• Hypotheses: Specific assumptions and
predictions that can be tested to determine
their accuracy
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Psychoanalytic Theories
• Describe development as primarily
unconscious and heavily colored by emotion
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Theories of Development
• Psychoanalytic theories
• Cognitive theories
• Behavioral and social cognitive theories
• Ethological theory
• Ecological theory
• An eclectic theoretical orientation
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Figure 1.11 - Freudian Stages
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Psychoanalytic Theories
• Erikson’s psychosocial theory
– Eight stages of development
• Trust versus mistrust
• Autonomy versus shame and doubt
• Initiative versus guilt
• Industry versus inferiority
• Identity versus identity confusion
• Intimacy versus isolation
• Generativity versus stagnation
• Integrity versus despair
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Psychoanalytic Theories
• Evaluation
– Emphasis on:
• A developmental framework
• Family relationships
• Unconscious aspects of the mind
• Criticisms
• Lack of scientific support
• Too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings
• An image of people that is too negative
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Figure 1.13 - Piaget’s Four Stages of
Cognitive Development
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Cognitive Theories
• Vygotsky’s theory: Emphasizes how culture
and social interaction guide cognitive
development
• Information-processing theory: Emphasizes
that individuals:
– Manipulate information
– Monitor it
– Strategize about it
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Cognitive Theories
• Evaluation
– Positive view of development
– Emphasis on the active construction of
understanding
– Criticisms
• Skepticism about the pureness of Piaget’s stages
• Little attention to individual variations
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Behavioral and Social Cognitive
Theories
• Skinner’s operant conditioning
– Development consists of the pattern of behavioral
changes that are brought about by rewards and
punishments
• Bandura’s social cognitive theory
– Emphasizes behavior, environment, and cognition
as the key factors in development
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Behavioral and Social Cognitive
Theories
• Evaluation
– Emphasis on scientific research and
environmental determinants of behavior
– Criticisms
• Little emphasis on cognition in Skinner’s view
• Inadequate attention paid to developmental changes
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Ethological Theory
• Ethology: Stresses that behavior is strongly
influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and
is characterized by critical or sensitive periods
• Konrad Lorenz helped bring ethology to
prominence
• John Bowlby - Attachment to a caregiver over
the first year of life has important
consequences throughout the life span
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Figure 1.15 - Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Theory of Development
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Five Environmental Systems
Bronfenbrenner’s Model
• Microsystem - Setting in which the individual
lives
• Mesosystem - Relations between
microsystems or connections between
contexts
• Exosystem - Links between a social setting in
which the individual does not have an active
role and the individual’s immediate context
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Five Environmental Systems
Bronfenbrenner’s Model
• Macrosystem - Culture in which individuals
live
• Chronosystem - Patterning of environmental
events and transitions over the life course and
sociohistorical circumstances
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Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
• Does not follow any one theoretical approach
– Selects from each theory whatever is considered
the best in it
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Research in Life-Span
Development
• Methods for collecting data
• Research designs
• Time span of research
• Conducting ethical research
• Minimizing bias
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Methods for Collecting Data
• Observation
– Laboratory: Controlled setting in which many of
the complex factors of the real world are removed
– Naturalistic observation: Studies that involve
observing behavior in real-world settings
• Survey and interview
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Methods for Collecting Data
• Standardized test: Uniform procedures for
administration and scoring
• Case study: In-depth look at a single individual
• Physiological measures
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Research Designs
• Descriptive research: Designed to observe
and record behavior
• Correlational research: Describe the strength
of the relationship between two or more
events or characteristics
– Correlation coefficient: A number based on
statistical analysis that is used to describe the
degree of association between two variables
– Ranges from -1.00 to +1.00
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Research Designs
• Experimental research
– Experiment: One or more of the factors are
manipulated while all other factors are held
constant
– Independent and dependent variables
– Experimental and control groups
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Time Span of Research
• Cross-sectional approach: Individuals of
different ages are compared at one time
• Longitudinal approach: Same individuals are
studied over a period of time, usually several
years or more
• Cohort effects: Due to a person’s time of
birth, era, or generation rather than the
person’s actual age
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Conducting Ethical Research
• Informed consent
• Confidentiality
• Debriefing
• Deception
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Minimizing Bias
• Gender bias
• Cultural and ethnic bias
– Ethnic gloss: Using an ethnic label in a superficial
way that portrays an ethnic group as being more
homogeneous than it really is
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