1. Lifespan Development Jen Smith
Today Introductions Syllabus Textbook E-mail What is Psychology of the Lifespan?
Learning Goals for Today Understand guidelines and schedule of the course. Describe the Lifespan Perspective of development. Understand how different historical ideas about development affected children. Describe the 3 basic key developmental issues.
“Why do people turn out the way that they do?” Lifespan Development Pattern of change that begins at conceptions and continues through the life cycle. The BIG question: “Why do people turn out the way that they do?”
Jo the Nanny Nick Nolte Paris Hilton old Japanese man Andre 3000 Meth addict
Do you believe that development is influenced by: environment biology both
Historical Perspective Child Development Middle ages…original sin view End of the 17th Century….tabula rasa view (John Locke) 18th Century…innate goodness view (Rousseau)
So What? Implications of each of these views on parenting? Bad child Blank tablet Innate goodness
Implications Original sin, born bad…salvation, remove sin from the child’s life Tabula rasa….childhood experiences are important in determining adult characteristics…parents teach, spend time Innate goodness….children should be permitted to grow naturally with little parental monitoring or constraint Speculate about what students think our perspective is today.
Today Childhood lays the foundation for the adult years Distinct periods…shared characteristics (e.g., we all walked at about 1 year)
Contemporary Concerns Health and well-being (e.g., exercise, loneliness) Parenting Education Sociocultural Contexts; context, culture, ethnicity and gender Political Policies…will they be good for our children?
3 Key Developmental Issues Nature v. Nurture Genetics vs. environment Continuity v. Discontinuity Gradual changes or distinct stages One Course v. Many Possible Courses One size fits all or many options for dev’t?
The Lifespan Perspective Development is: Lifelong Multidimensional biological cognitive socioemotional Multidirectional (e.g., language)- maintenance and decline
The 3 Multidimensional Developmental Processes Biological….changes in individual physical nature Cognitive…changes in individuals thoughts, intelligence, and language Socioemotional ….changes in individual relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality.
Development is also Contextual: Normative age-graded influences….biological and environmental influence of a particular age group (e.g., puberty, retirement) Normative history-graded influence…common to particular generation (e.g., Role of women, technology revolution) Non-normative life events…..major impacts that are unique to individuals (e.g., death of child, winning the lottery)
Healthy males experience puberty withn a certain age range Normative age-graded influence Normative history-graded influence Non-normative life event influence
Losing a parent in childhood Normative age-graded influence Normative history-graded influence Non-Normative life event influence
Challenger space shuttle explosion Normative age-graded influence Normative history-graded influence Non-normative life event influence
Periods of development Prenatal period: conception to birth Infancy: birth -2 years Early childhood: 2 -6 years ( before school) Middle and late childhood: 6 -11 Adolescent: 11 -18/20 Early Adulthood: 20 -40 Middle Adulthood: 40-65 Late Adulthood: 65 –death (retirement phase)
Question: What do you think is the best age to be? Why?
Age is not related to happiness! Good News Age is not related to happiness! Different ways to conceptualize age: Chronological age….years since birth Biological age….biological health Psychological age…adaptive capacities Social age….social roles and expectations
Re-cap: Learning Goals for Today Understand guidelines and schedule of the course. Describe the Lifespan Perspective of development. Understand how different historical ideas about development affected children. Describe the 3 basic key developmental issues.