The document discusses life-span development as a continuous process from conception to old age, highlighting the multidimensional, lifelong, and contextual nature of development. It outlines various developmental periods, the impact of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes, and introduces different theoretical perspectives on development, including psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral, and ecological theories. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of research methods and ethical considerations in studying human development.

1. Life-Span Development,
Twelfth Edition
Chapter 1: Introduction

2. The Life-Span Perspective
 Development: the pattern of movement or change
that begins at conception and continues through the
human life span
 Involves growth and decline
 Traditional Approach: emphasizes extensive
change from birth to adolescence, little to no
change in adulthood, and decline in old age
 Life-Span Approach: emphasizes developmental
change throughout childhood and adulthood

3. The Life-Span Perspective
 Life Span: based on
oldest age documented
 Currently 122 years
 The oldest verified person on record was
French woman Jeanne Calment (1875–
1997), who lived to the age of 122 years, 164
days.
 Life Expectancy: average
number of years that a
person can expect to live
 Currently 78 years

4. The Life-Span Perspective
 Life-Span Perspective views development as:
 Lifelong
 Multidimensional
 Multidirectional
 Plastic
 Multidisciplinary
 Contextual
 Development is a process that involves growth,
maintenance, and regulation of loss
 Development is constructed through biological,
sociocultural, and individual factors working together

5. The Life-Span Perspective
 Development is Lifelong
 Early adulthood is not the endpoint of development
 No age period dominates
 Development is Multidimensional
 Consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional
dimensions
 Multiple components within each dimension

6. The Life-Span Perspective
 Development is Multidirectional
 Some dimensions (or components of a dimension) expand,
and others shrink
 Development is Plastic
 Plasticity: capacity for change
 Development is Multidisciplinary
 Development is of interest to psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers

7. The Life-Span Perspective
 Development is Contextual
 All development occurs within a context (setting)
 Each setting is influenced by historical, economic, social, and
cultural factors
 Contexts exert three types of 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
 Non-normative life events: unusual occurrences that have a major
impact on the individual’s life

8. The Life-Span Perspective
 Development Involves Growth, Maintenance, and
Regulation of Loss
 Development is a Co-Construction of Biology,
Culture, and the Individual

9. Some Contemporary Concerns
 Health and Well-Being
 Parenting and Education
 Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
 Culture: behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products
of a particular group of people that are passed on from
generation to generation
 Ethnicity: cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and
language
 Socioeconomic Status: a person’s position within society
based on occupational, educational, and economic
characteristics.

10. Social Policy Issues
 Social Policy: a government’s course of action
designed to promote the welfare of its citizens

11. The Nature of Development
 Development is the product of biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional processes
 Biological: changes in an individual’s physical nature
 Cognitive: changes in thought, intelligence, and
language
 Socioemotional: changes in relationships with other
people, changes in emotions, and changes in
personality

12. Biologica
l
processes
Socioemotional
processes
Cognitive
processes
Developmental Changes Are a Result of Biological,
Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes

13. The Nature of Development
 Developmental Period: a time frame in a person’s
life that is characterized by certain features
 Prenatal period: conception to birth (9 months)
 Tremendous growth
 Infancy: birth to 18-24 months
 Dependence upon adults
 Development of many psychological activities
 Early childhood: end of infancy to 5-6 years
 Preschool years
 Self-sufficiency and increased play

14. The Nature of Development
 Developmental Period (continued)
 Middle and late childhood: 6-11 years
 Reading, writing, and arithmetic
 Focus on achievement and self-control
 Adolescence: varying endpoints; from 10-12 to 18-22 years
 Rapid physical changes
 Pursuit of independence and identity
 Early adulthood: late teens to early 30’s
 Personal and economic independence
 Selecting a mate

15. The Nature of Development
 Developmental Period (continued)
 Middle adulthood: 40-60 years
 Social involvement and responsibility
 Assisting the next generation
 Late adulthood: 60’s-70’s to death
 Life review
 Adjustment to new social roles
 Longest developmental span
 “youngest old” vs. “oldest old”

16. The Nature of Development
 Four “Ages” of Development
 First Age: Childhood and adolescence
 Second Age: Prime adulthood (20’s through 50’s)
 Third Age: Approximately 60 to 79 years of age
 Fourth Age: Approximately 80 years and older
 The Significance of Age
 Age and Happiness:
 No specific age group reports more happiness or satisfaction than
another
 Each age period has its own stresses, advantages, and
disadvantages

17. 100
0
20
40
80
60
Happy
people
(%)
Age range (years)
Age and Happiness
65 +
15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

18. The Nature of Development
 Conceptions of Age
 How relevant is chronological age to understanding a
person’s psychological development?
 How should age be conceptualized?
 Chronological age: number of years that have elapsed
since birth
 Biological age: a person’s age in terms of biological health
 Psychological age: an individual’s adaptive capacities
compared with those of other individuals of the same
chronological age
 Social age: social roles and expectations related to a
person’s age

19. Developmental Issues
 Nature and Nurture: the extent to which
development is influenced by biological inheritance
and/or environmental experiences
 Nature proponents argue that an evolutionary and
genetic foundation produces commonalities in growth
and development
 Nurture proponents emphasize the importance of both
the biological and social environment

20. Developmental Issues
 Stability and Change: the degree to which early
traits and characteristics persist through life or
change
 Stability: traits and characteristics are seen as the result
of heredity and early life experiences
 Change: traits and characteristics can be altered by
later experiences
 Role of early and later experiences is hotly debated

21. Developmental Issues
 Continuity and Discontinuity: focuses on whether
development is either:
 A process of gradual, cumulative change (continuous)
 A set of distinct stages (discontinuous)
 Evaluating Developmental Issues:
 Most developmentalists acknowledge that
development is not all-or-nothing
 There is debate regarding how strongly each of these
issues influences development

22. Theories of Development
 Scientific Method: A four-step process:
1. Conceptualize a process or problem to be studied
2. Collect research information (data)
3. Analyze data
4. Draw conclusions
 Theory: an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that
helps to explain phenomena and make predictions
 Hypotheses: specific assertions and predictions that
can be tested

23. Theories of Development
 Diverse but complementary theories are used for
explaining life-span development:
 Psychoanalytic theories
 Cognitive theories
 Behavioral and social cognitive theories
 Ethological theory
 Ecological theory

24. Psychoanalytic Theories
 Psychoanalytic Theories: describe development as
primarily unconscious
 True understanding requires analyzing the symbolic
meanings of behavior
 Early experiences with parents extensively shape
development

25. Psychoanalytic Theories
 Freud’s Theory:
 Focus of sexual impulses changes throughout
development
 Five stages of psychosexual development (oral, anal,
phallic, latency, genital)
 Adult personality is determined by the way we resolve
conflict within each stage
 Modern theorists place less emphasis on sexual
instincts and more on cultural experiences

26. Psychoanalytic Theories
 Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory:
 Focused on our desire to affiliate with other people
 Believed that developmental change occurs throughout
the life span
 Proposed eight stages of development
 Each stage comprises a crisis that must be resolved

27. Psychoanalytic Theories

28. Psychoanalytic Theories
 Evaluating Psychoanalytic Theories:
 Contributions:
 Emphasis on a developmental framework, family
relationships, and unconscious aspects of the mind
 Criticisms:
 Lack of scientific support
 Too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings
 Negative image of people

29. Cognitive Theories
 Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory:
 Stresses conscious thoughts
 Emphasizes the processes of organization and
adaptation
 Four stages of cognitive development in children
 Each stage represents a qualitatively different way of
understanding the world

30. Cognitive Theories

31. Psychoanalytic Theories

32. Cognitive Theories
 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory:
 Children actively construct their knowledge
 Emphasizes how social interaction and culture guide
cognitive development
 Learning is based upon the inventions of society
 Less-skilled persons learn from those who are more
skilled

33. Cognitive Theories
 Information-Processing Theory:
 Emphasizes that individuals manipulate information,
monitor it, and strategize about it
 Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for
processing information
 Thinking is information processing
 Individuals learn strategies for better information
processing

34. Cognitive Theories
 Evaluating Cognitive Theories:
 Contributions:
 Positive view on development
 Emphasis on the active construction of understanding
 Criticisms:
 Skepticism about the pureness of Piaget’s stages
 Too little attention to individual variations

35. Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
 Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories:
 Behaviorism: we can study scientifically only what
can be directly observed and measured
 Development is observable behavior that can be learned
through experience
 Skinner’s Operant Conditioning:
 Consequences of a behavior produce changes in the
probability of the behavior’s occurrence
 A reward increases likelihood of behavior
 A punishment decreases likelihood of behavior

36. Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
 Bandura’s Social Cognitive
Theory:
 Behavior, environment, and
cognition are key factors in
development
 Observational learning:
learning through observation
 People cognitively represent
the behavior of others

37. Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
 Evaluating Behavioral and Social Cognitive
Theories:
 Contributions:
 Emphasis on scientific research and environmental
determinants of behavior
 Criticisms:
 Little emphasis on cognition (Skinner)
 Inadequate attention given to developmental changes

38. Ethological Theory
 Ethology: stresses that behavior is strongly
influenced by biology and evolution
 Bowlby stressed the importance of human attachment
during the first year of life

39. Ethological Theory
 Evaluating Ethological Theory:
 Contributions:
 A focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of
development
 Use of careful observations in naturalistic settings
 Criticisms:
 Too much emphasis on biological foundations
 Critical and sensitive period concepts may be too rigid

40. Ecological Theory
 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory: development
reflects the influence of five environmental systems:
 Microsystem: setting in which the individual lives
 Mesosystem: relations between microsystems
 Exosystem: links between a social setting in which the
individual does not have an active role and the individual’s
immediate context
 Macrosystem: culture in which individuals live
 Chronosystem: patterning of environmental events and
transitions; sociohistorical circumstances

41. Ecological Theory

42. Ecological Theory
 Evaluating Ecological Theory:
 Contributions:
 Systematic examination of macro and micro dimensions of
environmental systems
 Attention to connections between environmental systems
 Criticisms:
 Giving inadequate attention to biological factors
 Too little emphasis on cognitive factors

43. Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
 Eclectic Theoretical Orientation:
 No single theory can explain all of development
 Every theory has contributed to our understanding
 Eclectic orientation does not follow any one theoretical
approach
 Instead, it selects from each theory whatever is considered
its best features

44. Research Methods
 Methods for Collecting Data:
 Observation:
 Laboratory: controlled setting that eliminates many
complex “real-world” variables
 Participants typically know they are being studied
 Setting is unnatural
 May not represent general population
 Some individuals may be intimidated by laboratory setting
 Naturalistic: observing behavior in real-world settings
 Researcher makes no effort to manipulate or control the situation

45. Research Methods
 Methods for Collecting Data:
 Survey and Interviews:
 Standard sets of questions are used to obtain people’s
attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic
 Can be used to study a wide variety of topics
 Participants may answer in a way that is considered socially
desirable and acceptable

46. Research Methods
 Methods for Collecting Data:
 Standardized Test:
 Uniform procedures for administration and scoring
 Most allow a person’s performance to be compared with
that of others
 Assumes consistency and stability across time and
situations
 Case Study:
 In-depth look at a single individual
 Difficult to generalize to others
 May not be reliable

47. Research Methods
 Methods for Collecting
Data:
 Physiological Measures:
 Many uses; technology is
constantly improving
 Functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI):
uses electromagnetic waves to
construct images of brain
tissue and biochemical
activity

48. Research Designs
 Three main types: descriptive, correlational, and
experimental
 Descriptive: aims to observe and record behavior
 Methods discussed so far are descriptive
 Cannot prove causation, but can reveal important
information

49. Research Designs
 Correlational: describes the strength of the
relationship between two or more events or
characteristics
 Correlation Coefficient: a number based on a
statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of
association between two variables
 Ranges from +1.00 to -1.00
 + means a positive association; - means a negative association
 Higher number indicates a stronger association

50. Research Designs

51. Research Designs
 Experimental Research:
 Experiment: carefully regulated procedure in which
one or more factors believed to influence the behavior
being studied are manipulated while all other factors
are held constant
 Can demonstrate cause and effect
 Independent Variable: manipulated, influential,
experimental factor
 Dependent Variable: a factor that can change in an
experiment, in response to changes in the independent
variable

52. Research Designs
 Experimental Research:
 Experimental Group: a group whose experience is
manipulated
 Control Group: a comparison group whose
experience is not manipulated
 Random Assignment: researchers assign participants
to experimental and control groups by chance
 Reduces the likelihood of preexisting differences between
groups

53. Research Designs

54. Research Designs
 Time Span Research:
 Cross-Sectional: simultaneously compares individuals
of different ages
 Advantage: researcher does not have to wait for individuals
to grow older
 Disadvantage: does not give information about the aging
process
 Longitudinal Approach: studies the same individuals
over a period of time, usually several years or more
 Advantage: provides information about the aging process
 Disadvantage: expensive and time-consuming

55. Research Designs
 Time Span Research:
 Cohort Effects:
 Cohort: a group of people who are born at a similar point in
history and share similar experiences
 Cohort effects: differences due to a person’s time of birth,
era, or generation, but not to actual age
 Cross-sectional studies can show how different cohorts respond,
but they may confuse age effects and cohort effects
 Longitudinal research can study age changes, but only within
one cohort

56. Conducting Ethical Research
 Informed Consent: all participants must know what
their research participation will involve and what
risks might develop
 Confidentiality: researchers are responsible for
keeping the data completely confidential and, if
possible, anonymous

57. Conducting Ethical Research
 Debriefing: after the study, participants should be
informed of the study’s purpose and methods that
were used
 Deception: researchers must ensure that deception
will not harm participants, and that participants are
fully debriefed

58. Conducting Ethical Research
 Minimizing Bias:
 Gender Bias: preconceived notions about the abilities
of women and men
 Research can affect how people think about gender
differences
 Cultural and Ethnic Bias:
 Life-span research needs to include more people from
diverse ethnic groups
 Ethnic gloss: using an ethnic label in a superficial way that
portrays an ethnic group as being more homogenous than it
really is