Lifespan Development Chapter 4 Objectives: State the main stages of development Describe how we develop through each stage (socially, behaviourly, cognitively) Explain the role of maturation in development Describe the interactions between heredity and environment in development Understand the research methods and ethics associated with the study of lifespan psychology.

Life span Development Age related changes that occur from birth through to old age Psychology of life span psychology aim to understand, describe, explain and predict our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. A development must be a change that is permanent

Stages: Infancy – birth to 2 years Childhood – 2 to 10 years Adolescence – 10 to 20 years Early adulthood – 20 to 40 years Middle age – 40 to 65 years Older age – 65 years and beyond Movie: The Developing Child – Part 1

Types of Changes Emotional Social Physical Cognitive

Cognitive – eg: Language

Social & Emotional

Movement & coordination Example:

http://brianne-thompson.com/EDTECH/506/summary.php

http://brianne-thompson.com/EDTECH/506/summary.php

How we develop Continuously OR Discontinuously Sequentially Gradual Build on basic skills Distinct, separate stages Ways of thinking, feeling, interacting can have a start & finish Sequentially Abilities to think, feel, interact tend to develop in a set order, from simple to complex

Researching Development Quantitative and Qualitative studies P153, Activity 4.4, Q5

Individual Differences in Development No two individuals develop at exactly the same rate or in exactly the same way, even if they are identical twins What does that tell us about ‘Nature vs Nurture’? Discuss activity 4.5

Hereditary & Environment Hereditary- characteristics are passed on from parents to off-spring via genes. Environment – all the experiences, objects & events to which we are exposed in our life times Heredity? Environment? Mixture of both? P156, activity 4.8 & discuss p160 AT6: activity 4.11

Maturation Sequential changes in the nervous system & other bodily structures Automatic, internal Controlled by our genes ‘Principle of readiness’ Nerves, bones, muscles need to be developed enough for the behaviour to occur

Examples of maturation of nerves & bones

Examples of Maturational developments Sit before stand Sounds before words Adding numbers before starting algebra When should a child start school? www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/05/29/1022569786596.html

Sensitive Periods Periods of rapid change when individual is more vulnerable to the environment Eg: second 6 months of life sensitive to attachment Eg: 1.5-3 years sensitive to language acquisition AT 4 Folio: Activity 4.14

Different Perspectives on Development Emotional Social Physical Cognitive

Ethics in developmental research Remember: Fully informed Consent – how with a child? How with a dementia patient? Confidentiality Safety Debrief

Research methods in development Longitudinal study repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time to study developmental trends across the life span Advantages Permanence in development over time Disadvantages Expensive Takes time with participants (and researchers) not being available

Research methods in development Cross-sectional study designed to look at a variable at a particular point in time. To study developmental differences/similarities between groups eg: memory at different ages Advantages: relatively inexpensive easy to undertake not too time-consuming. Disadvantages: Differences maybe due to other variables Eg: generational influences

Research methods continued Cohort Cross-sectional Study Combination of longitudinal & cross-sectional studies Movie: 49 up

Research Methods Twin Studies using identical (mono-zygotic) and non-identical (fraternal/di-zygotic) twins as participants. Identical especially for nature vs nurture BUT danger (eg more likely to be treated the same by parents) Personality and intelligence investigations Discuss 4.17 ranking

Research Methods Adoption Studies Children raised by different parents – nature vs nurture IQ score studies indicate heredity plays a large role Selective Breeding Using animals with short gestations to study traits longitudinally, with control of genes Unethical in humans but can use

Resources http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/development/dev_flash.html