1. From Birth to Death: Life-Span Development
Chapter 4
From Birth to Death: Life-Span Development
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2. Life Events
Developmental Tasks: These must be mastered for optimal development (e.g., learning to read and adjusting to sexual maturity)
Developmental Milestones: Notable events, markers, or turning points in personal development
Psychosocial Dilemma: Conflict between personal impulses and the social world
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3. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas
Stage One: Trust Versus Mistrust (Birth-1): Children are completely dependent on others
Trust: Established when babies given adequate warmth, touching, love, and physical care
Mistrust: Caused by inadequate or unpredictable care and by cold, indifferent, and rejecting parents
Stage Two: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt (1-3)
Autonomy: Doing things for themselves
Overprotective or ridiculing parents may cause children to doubt abilities and feel shameful about their actions
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4. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas (cont.)
Stage Three: Initiative Versus Guilt (3-5)
Initiative: Parents reinforce via giving children freedom to play, use imagination, and ask questions
Guilt: May occur if parents criticize, prevent play, or discourage a child’s questions
Stage Four: Industry Versus Inferiority (6-12)
Industry: Occurs when child is praised for productive activities
Inferiority: Occurs if child’s efforts are regarded as messy or inadequate
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5. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas (cont.)
Stage Five (Adolescence): Identity Versus Role Confusion
Identity: For adolescents; problems answering, “Who am I?”
Role Confusion: Occurs when adolescents are unsure of where they are going and who they are
Stage Six (Young adulthood): Intimacy Versus Isolation
Intimacy: Ability to care about others and to share experiences with them
Isolation: Feeling alone and uncared for in life
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6. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas (cont.)
Stage Seven (Middle adulthood): Generativity Versus Stagnation
Generativity: Interest in guiding the next generation
Stagnation: When one is only concerned with one’s own needs and comforts
Stage Eight (Late adulthood): Integrity Versus Despair
Integrity: Self-respect; developed when people have lived richly and responsibly
Despair: Occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret; experiences heartache and remorse.
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7. Normal Childhood Problems
Sleep disturbances
Specific fears of the dark, dogs, school, or a particular room or person
Most children will be overly timid at times, allowing bullying
Temporary periods of dissatisfaction, when nothing pleases the child
General negativism
Clinging to a parent(s) or caregiver
Reversals or regressions to more infantile behavior occur with almost all children (Chess, Thomas, & Birch, 1976)
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8. Rivalry and Rebellion
Sibling Rivalry: Competition among brothers and sisters
Childhood Rebellion: Open defiance of adult authority
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9. Serious Childhood Problems
Toilet Training Problems: Average age for completion is 30 months; some children will take up to six months longer
Enuresis: Lack of bladder control; bedwetting. May be physical problem. Much more common in males
Encopresis: Lack of bowel control; soiling. Not as common as enuresis
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10. Serious Childhood Problems: Feeding Disturbances
Overeating: Eating in excess of daily caloric needs; significant problem because of convenience and fast foods
Anorexia Nervosa: Self-starvation or sustained loss of appetite that is assumed by some to have psychological origins
Pica: Eating or chewing inedible objects or substances such as lead, chalk, paint chips, clay and so on. Note: Eating inedible foods on occasion is not uncommon among young toddlers
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11. CNN – Sleep Disorders
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12. Fig. 4.1 Dramatic differences in physical size and maturity are found in adolescents of the same age. The girls pictured are all 13, the boys 16. Maturation that occurs earlier or later than average can affect the “search for identity.” (Reprinted with permission of Nelson Prentiss.)
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13. Speech Disturbances
Delayed Speech: Speech that begins well after the normal age for language development
Stuttering: Chronic hesitation or stumbling in speech. Seems to involve speech timing mechanisms in brain; NOT parent’s fault
Four times more common in males
May be partially inherited
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14. Learning Disorders
Includes problems with reading, math or writing. Exists when academic achievement is significantly lower than expected for child’s intellectual level and age
Dyslexia: Inability to read with understanding. Classic example is reversing letters
Affects about 10-15% of all school-age children
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15. CNN – Dyslexia Study
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16. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Behavioral problem characterized by short attention span, rapid speech, impulsivity, and rarely finishing work. Much more common among boys than girls
Treatment Methods:
Drugs: Ritalin (methylphenidate): Stimulant; seems to lengthen attention span and reduce impulsiveness
Behavior Modification: Application of learning principles to change or eliminate maladaptive or abnormal behavior
Reward child for being calm and paying attention
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17. CNN – Hyperactive Brains
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18. Conduct Disorder Affected children are aggressive and harm others
Engage in vandalism, lying, or stealing
Persistently violate rules
Usually in trouble at school, at home, and in the community
Generally have low self-esteem
Outlook for successful treatment is poor; parents need to seek professional help for such children
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19. Autism
Severe disorder involving mutism (silence), sensory spin-outs (watching a faucet drip for hours), sensory blocking (not responding to an extremely loud noise), tantrums, and unresponsiveness to others, among other symptoms
Echolalia: When an autistic child parrots back everything said, like an echo
“Rain Man” is a decent example on film
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20. Child Abuse
Physical or emotional harm caused by violence, mistreatment, or neglect
3.5 to 14 percent of all children are physically abused by parents
Abusive parents typically have high level of stress and frustration in their lives
About 1/3 of all parents who were abused as children mistreat their own children
One method to prevent child abuse is to change attitudes; not a parent’s right to hit or slap their child
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21. Adolescence Culturally defined period between childhood and adulthood
Puberty: Hormonal changes promote rapid physical growth and sexual maturity
Puberty tends to increase body awareness and concerns about physical appearance
Growth Spurt: Accelerated growth rate
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22. Adolescence (cont.)
Social Markers: Visible or tangible signs that indicate a person’s social status or role, e.g., driver’s license or wedding ring
Imaginary Audiences: People adolescents imagine are watching them
Peer Group: People who share similar social status
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23. CNN – Heroin Addiction
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24. Lawrence Kohlberg and Stages of Moral Development
Moral Development: When we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior
Three Levels
Preconventional: Moral thinking guided by consequences of actions (punishment, reward, exchange of favors)
Conventional: Reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values
Postconventional: Follows self-accepted moral principles
Stage theorist, like Freud and Erikson
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25. Developmental Challenges for North American Adults (Gould)
Escape From Dominance (Ages 16-18)
Leaving the Family (Ages 18-22)
Building a Workable Life (Ages 22-28)
Crisis of Questions (Ages 29-34)
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26. Developmental Challenges for North American Adults (Gould) (cont.)
Crisis of Urgency (Ages 35-43)
Attaining Stability (Ages 43-50)
Mellowing (Ages 50 and up)
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27. Middle Age Issues: Mid-Life Crises?
Menopause: Menstruation ends and a woman is no longer able to bear children. Estrogen levels also drop, sometimes causing mood or appearance changes.
Hot flashes: Sudden uncomfortable sensation of heat; symptom of menopause in some women
Climacteric: When men experience a significant change in vigor or appearance; may be psychological in origin
Andropause: Reduced testosterone levels; can lead to decreased sex drive, fatigue, and obesity
Empty Nest Syndrome: A woman may become depressed after her last child leaves home
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28. Fig. 4. 8 At what point during life are people most productive
Fig. 4.8 At what point during life are people most productive? On average, when do people make their greatest contributions to fields such as science, literature, philosophy, music, and the visual arts? No matter how achievement is tallied, productivity tends to rise rapidly to a single peak that is followed by a slow decline. The graph you see here is typical of contributions to the field of psychology. Fields such as poetry, pure math, and theoretical physics have earlier peaks, around the early 30s or even the late 20s. Other fields, such as novel writing, history, philosophy, medicine, and scholarship are marked by peaks in the late 40s, 50s, or even 60s. (After Simonton, 1988.)
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29. Gerontology and the Study of Aging
Gerontologists study aging and its effects
Intellectual Abilities:
Fluid Abilities: Abilities requiring speed or rapid learning; based on perceptual and motor abilities; may decrease with age
Crystallized Abilities: Learned (accumulated) knowledge and skills; vocabulary and basic facts
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30. Gerontology and the Study of Aging (cont.)
Disengagement Theory: Assumes that it is normal and desirable for people to withdraw from society as they age
Activity Theory: People who remain active physically, mentally, and socially will adjust better to aging
Ageism: Discrimination or prejudice based on age
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31. Fig. 4.6 Longer life expectancy will produce an unprecedented increase in the percentage of the population over age 65. The “boom” is expected to start at the turn of the century and peak by about 2030 to 2050 (Taebuer, 1993).
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32. Fig. 4.7 Physical aging, which is biologically programmed, progresses steadily from early adulthood onward. Regular exercise, good health practices, and a positive attitude can help minimize the impact of physical aging.
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33. Fig. 4.7 Average performance at various ages for verbal, numeric, spatial, and reasoning abilities all fall within the blue area of this graph. Notice that, in general, mental abilities show modest gains from young adulthood to early middle age. After that, they begin a slow decline. Notice, too, that most abilities at age 70 return to about the same levels found at age 25. Only after age 80 do declines become large enough to make a practical difference in mental abilities. One exception is perceptual speed (black line). This fluid ability declines steadily after age 25. (Adapted from Schaie, 1994.)
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34. Four Psychological Characteristics of Healthy, Happy Older People (Vailant, 2002)
Optimism, hope, and interest in the future
Gratitude and forgiveness; an ability to focus on what is good in life
Empathy; an ability to share the feelings of others and see the world through their eyes
Connection with others; an ability to reach out, to give and receive social support
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35. Fig 4. 4 Negative emotions are more common before age 50 than after
Fig 4.4 Negative emotions are more common before age 50 than after. The frequency of positive feelings tends to increase from midlife on into old age.
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36. CNN – Alzheimer’s Babies
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37. Death and Dying; Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Ross is a thanatologist: One who studies emotional and behavioral reactions to death and dying
Ross described five basic reactions to death that occur, not necessarily in the following order or experienced by everyone
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38. Five Basic Reactions to Death (Kubler-Ross)
Denial and Isolation: Denying death’s reality and isolating oneself from information confirming that death will occur. “It’s a mistake; the doctors are wrong.”
Anger: Asking “why me?” Anger may then be projected onto the living
Bargaining: Terminally ill will bargain with God or with themselves. “If I can live longer I’ll be a better person.”
Depression: Feelings of futility, exhaustion and deep sadness
Acceptance: If death is not sudden, many will accept death calmly. Person is at peace finally with the concept of death
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39. Bereavement and Grief
Bereavement: Period of adjustment that follows death of loved one
Grief: Intense sorrow and distress following death of loved one
Shock: Emotional numbness experienced after death of loved one
Pangs of Grief: Intense and anguished yearning for one who has died
Resolution: Acceptance of loss and need to build a new life
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40. CNN – The Grieving Process
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41. Happiness
Subjective Well-Being: Feelings of well-being occur when people are satisfied with their lives, have frequent positive emotions, and have relatively few negative emotions
Happier people tend to be
Married
Comfortable with their work
Extraverted
Religious
Generally optimistic and satisfied with their lives
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42. Attitudes Toward Death
Hospice: Medical facility or program that provides supportive care for terminally ill; goal is to improve person’s final days
Living Will: Written statement that a person does not wish to have his/her life artificially prolonged if terminally ill; a “Do Not Resuscitate” order to doctors
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43. Euthanasia Passive: Death allowed to occur but not actively caused
Active: Steps taken, at patient’s request, to deliberately speed death; usually by injecting drugs that painlessly cause death
Physician-assisted dying: Doctor provides lethal dose of drug that patients take to end life
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44. CNN – Assisted Suicide
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45. Cryonics
Cryonic Suspension: Freezing body (or head) immediately after death
Idea: Keep person frozen until medicine perfects ways to thaw, restore, and revive person
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