This document provides an overview of key concepts from Chapter 1 of the textbook "Life-Span Development". It discusses the life-span perspective on development, which views development as lifelong, multidimensional, and influenced by biological, sociocultural and individual factors. It also outlines the major processes, periods and theories of development discussed in the chapter, including psychoanalytic, cognitive, and behavioral theories. The chapter examines issues like nature vs nurture and continuity vs discontinuity in development.

1. LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
Sixteenth Edition
Chapter 1
Introduction
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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
• Address contemporary concerns in the field

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The Importance of Studying Life-Span
Development (1 of 2)
• Prepares individual to take responsibility for
children
• Gives insight about individuals’ lives
• Provides knowledge about what individuals’
lives will be like as they age

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The Importance of Studying Life-Span
Development (2 of 2)
Development
• Pattern of change that begins at conception
and continues through the life span
• Involves growth as well as decline brought on
by aging and dying
Life-span perspective
• Involves growth, maintenance, and
regulation
• Constructed through biological, sociocultural,
and individual factors working together

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Life Expectancy (1 of 2)
The upper boundary of
human lifespan is 122
years. The average life
expectancy is 79 years.
• In the 20th century,
expected life has increased
by 32 years
• Currently, there are more
people over 60 then under
15

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Life Expectancy (2 of 2)
• This rapid increase in life expectancy has
implications for quality of life for older adults
– Society is reflective of the needs of younger
individuals
 E.g. parks, transportation system, staircases,
hospitals, etc.
o Do not take into consideration individuals with
low stamina or strength
– Larger focus has been on what older adults
lack rather then what they can contribute to
society

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Characteristics of the Life-Span
Perspective
• Development is/involves:
– Lifelong
– Multidimensional
– Multidirectional
– Plastic
– Multidisciplinary
– Contextual
– Growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
– Co-construction of biology, culture, and
individual

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Types of Contextual Influences
• Normative age-graded influences: Similar for
individuals in a particular age group
– Ex: puberty and menopause
• Normative history-graded influences
– Common to people of a particular generation
because of historical circumstances
 Cuban missile crisis; assassination of JFK
• Non-normative life events: Unusual
occurrences that have a major impact on an
individual’s life
– Death of parent when child is young; winning
the lottery

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The Life-Span Perspective (1 of 2)
• 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
 Cross-cultural studies: Comparison of one
culture with one or more other cultures

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The Life-Span Perspective (2 of 2)
 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 socio emotional
processes
• Periods of development
• The significance of age
• Developmental issues

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Biological, Cognitive, and
Socioemotional Processes (1 of 2)
Biological processes
• Changes in an individual’s physical nature
Cognitive processes
• Changes in an individual’s thought,
intelligence, and language
Socioemotional processes
• Changes in an individual’s relationships with
other people, emotions, and personality

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Biological, Cognitive, and
Socioemotional Processes (2 of 2)
• Are bidirectional and inextricably intertwined
• Connection is evident in following emerging
fields
– Developmental cognitive neuroscience -
Explores links between development, cognitive
processes, and the brain
– Developmental social neuroscience - Examines
connections between socioemotional
processes, development, and the brain

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Processes and Periods of
Development

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Periods of Development (1 of 4)
• Developmental period – refers to a time
frame in a person’s life that is characterized
by certain features
– The most widely used classification uses 8
periods
 Prenatal period
 Infancy
 Early childhood
 Middle and late Childhood
 Adolescence
 Early adulthood
 Middle adulthood
 Late adulthood

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Periods of Development (2 of 4)
• Four ages – those who focus on adult
development and aging typically describe life-
span in terms of 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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Periods of Development (3 of 4)
Normal aging
• Characterizes most individuals
Pathological aging
• Characterizes those who show greater than
average decline
Successful aging
• Characterizes those whose positive
development is maintained longer

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Periods of Development (4 of 4)
• Three Developmental Patterns of Aging
– Provides a portrait of how aging can involve
individual variation
• Connections Across Periods of Development
– Significant interaction between periods of the
lifespan just as with socioemotional,
biological, and cognitive processes

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Significance of Age
• 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
– Psychological age
 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 (1 of 3)
• 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 (2 of 3)
• Stability-change issue: Debate about whether
individual:
– Become older renditions of their early
experience
– Develop into someone different from who they
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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Developmental Issues (3 of 3)
• Evaluating the Developmental Issues
– Most develop mentalists acknowledge that
development is combination of each of these
views
 The extent to their individual influences is still
highly debated

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Theories of Development (1 of 3)
• Psychoanalytic theories
• Cognitive theories
• Behavioral and social cognitive theories
• Ethological theory
• Ecological theory
• An eclectic theoretical orientation

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Theories of Development (2 of 3)
• Scientific method: 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 (3 of 3)
• Theory: 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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Freudian Stages (1 of 2)
• Oral Stage
– Birth to 1 ½ Years
 Infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth
• Anal Stage
– 1 ½ to 3 Years
 Child’s pleasure focuses on the anus
• Phallic Stage
– 3 to 6 Years
 Child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals.

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Freudian Stages (2 of 2)
• Latency Stage
– 6 Years to Puberty
 Child represses sexual interest and develops
social and intellectual skills
• Genital Stage
– Puberty Onward
 A time of sexual reawakening: source of sexual
pleasure becomes someone outside the family

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Psychoanalytic Theories (1 of 3)
• Describe development as primarily
unconscious and heavily colored by emotion
• Behavior is a surface characteristic, and the
symbolic workings of the mind have to be
analyzed to understand behavior
• Early experiences with parents extensively
shape development

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Psychoanalytic Theories (2 of 3)
• Erikson’s psychosocial theory
– Stages of human 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 (3 of 3)
• Evaluation
– Emphasis on:
 Developmental framework
 Family relationships
 Unconscious aspects of the mind
– Criticisms
 Lack of scientific support
 Too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings
 Image of people that is too negative

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Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive
Development (1 of 4)
• Birth to 2 to 3 Years
– Sensorimotor Stage
 The infant constructs an
understanding of the
world by coordinating
sensory experiences with
physical actions. An
infant progresses from
reflexive, instinctual
action at birth to the
beginning of symbolic
thought toward the end
of the stage.

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Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive
Development (2 of 4)
• 2 to 7 Years of Age
– Preoperational Stage
 The child begins to
represent the world with
words and images.
These words and images
reflect increased
symbolic thinking and go
beyond the connection
of sensory information
and physical action

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Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive
Development (3 of 4)
• 7 to 11 Years of Age
– Concrete Operational
Stage
 The child can now
reason logically about
concrete events and
classify objects into
different sets.

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Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive
Development (4 of 4)
• 11 Years of Age Through
Adulthood
– Formal Operational Stage
 The adolescent reasons
in more abstract,
idealistic, and logical
ways.

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Cognitive Theories (1 of 2)
• Vygotsky’s theory: Emphasizes how culture
and social interaction guide cognitive
development
• Information-processing theory: Emphasizes
that individuals manipulate information,
monitor it, and strategize about it

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Cognitive Theories (2 of 2)
• 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 (1 of 2)
• 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 (2 of 2)
• 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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Bandura’s Social Cognitive Model

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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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Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
of Development

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Five Environmental Systems In
Bronfenbrenner’s Model (1 of 2)
• 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 In
Bronfenbrenner’s Model (2 of 2)
• 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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Comparison of Theories and Issues
in Life-span Development (1 of 2)
THEORY ISSUES ISSUES
Continuity/discontinuity,
early versus later
experience
Biological and environmental
factors
Psychoanalytic
Discontinuity between stages—
continuity between early
experiences and later
development; early
experiences very important;
later changes in development
emphasized in Erikson's theory
Freud's biological determination
interacting with early family
experiences; Erikson's more
balanced biological-cultural
interaction perspective
Cognitive
Discontinuity between stages—
continuity between early
experiences and later
development; early
experiences very important;
later changes in development
emphasized in Erikson's theory
Piaget's emphasis on interaction
and adaptation; environment
provides the setting for cognitive
structures to develop; information-
processing view has not addressed
this issue extensively but mainly
emphasizes biological-
environmental interaction

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Comparison of Theories and Issues
in Life-span Development (2 of 2)
THEORY ISSUES ISSUES
Continuity/discontinuity,
early versus later experience
Biological and environmental
factors
Behavioral
and social
cognitive
Continuity (no stages):
experience at all points of
development important
Environment viewed as the cause
of behavior in both views
Ethological
Discontinuity but no stages;
critical or sensitive periods
emphasized; early experiences
very important
Strong biological view
Ecological
Little attention to
continuity/discontinuity; change
emphasized more than stability
Strong environmental view

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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 (1 of 2)
• 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 (2 of 2)
• 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 (1 of 2)
• 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: 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 (2 of 2)
• 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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Possible Explanations of Correlational
Data (1 of 3)
Observed Correlation: As permissive
parenting increases, children’s self-control
decreases.
Possible explanations for this observed
correlation
• An observed correlation between two events
cannot be used to conclude that one event
causes the second event. Other possibilities are
that the second event causes the first event or
that a third event causes the correlation between
the first two events.

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Possible Explanations of Correlational
Data (2 of 3)
• Permissive parenting causes Children’s
lack of self-control
• Children’s lack of self-control causes
Permissive parenting
• A third factor such as genetic tendencies
or poverty tendencies or poverty causes
both Permissive parenting and children’s
lack of self-control

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Possible Explanations of Correlational
Data (3 of 3)

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Principles of Experimental Research
• Participants randomly assigned to
experimental and control groups
– Independent variable
 Experimental group (meditation)
 Control group (no meditation)
– Dependent variable
 Newborns’ breathing and sleeping patterns

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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