1. The Developing Person Through the Life Span by Kathleen Stassen Berger
Chapter 1– Introduction
The science of human development

2. Defining Development
The science of human development… seeks to understand how and why people -all kinds of people, everywhere, of every age - change over time.

3. Understanding How and Why
Something that is empirical is based on observations, repeated experiences, verifiable experiments. It is not theoretical. Empirical evidence, also known as sensory experience, is the knowledge received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and experimentation.
The scientific method is a way to answer questions using empirical research and data-based conclusions.

4. Understanding How and Why
Five Basic Steps of the Scientific Method
1. Begin with curiosity.
2. Develop a hypothesis.
3.Test the hypothesis.
4. Draw conclusions.
5. Report the results.

5. The Scientific Method
Often, a sixth step is needed before the scientific community accepts conclusions.
Replication: The repetition of a study, using different participants. Replication is one of the main principles of the scientific method, a.k.a. reproducibility

6. The Nature-Nurture Debate
The nature versus nurture debate is about which part of a person is more important - their inherited qualities, which includes genes, or their personal experiences and the way they were brought up.
Nature refers to the influence of genes which we inherit.
Nurture refers to environmental influences, such as:
health and diet of the embryo’s mother
family
school
community
society

7. The Life-Span Perspective
An approach to the study of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood.
Development is Multidirectional
Over time, human characteristics change in every direction.
Several major theorists describe stages of development: Freud, Erickson, Piaget.
Others view development as a continuous process.

8. Critical and Sensitive Periods
A critical period is a time when certain things must occur for normal development.
A sensitive period is when a particular development occurs most easily.

10. The Life-Span Perspective
Ecological-Systems Approach
The view that in the study of human development, the person should be considered in all the contexts and interactions that constitute a life. (Later renamed bioecological theory.)
Bronfenbrenner

11. The Life-Span Perspective
Development Is Multicontextual
Historical Context- All persons born within a few years of one another are said to be a cohort, a group defined by the shared age of its members.
Cohort: a group of people banded together or treated as a group.

12. Socioeconomic Context
socioeconomic status (SES)
A person’s position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation.

13. The Life-Span Perspective
Development Is Multicultural
Culture - patterns of behavior passed from one generation to the next.
Vygotsky described the interaction between culture and education.
Development Is Multicontextual
Development Is Multicultural
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of human learning describes learning as a social process and the. origination of human intelligence in society or culture. The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical. framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition.

14. The Life-Span Perspective
Development Is Multicultural
Ethnic group - People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion
Race – A group of people who are regarded by themselves or by others as distinct from other groups on the basis of physical appearance.

15. Deficit or Just Difference?
difference-equals-deficit error: the mistaken belief that a deviation from some norm is necessarily inferior to behavior or characteristics that meet the standard.

16. The Life-Span Perspective
Development Is Multidisciplinary
Genetics and neuroscience are two of the newer disciplines in lifespan research.
Every trait—psychological as well as physical—is influenced by genes.
Development Is Multicontextual
Development Is Multicultural
Development Is Multidisciplinary

17. The Life-Span Perspective
Development Is Plastic
Human traits can be molded, yet people maintain a certain durability of identity (as plastic can).
Mirror neurons- Cells in an observer’s brain that respond to an action performed by someone else in the same way they would if the observer had actually performed it. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species.
Multidirectional - change is not always linear.
• Multicontextual - embedded in many contexts.
• Multicultural
• Multidisciplinary - Studied by everyone.
and Development Is: Plastic

18. Dynamic-Systems Theory
Development Is Plastic
Dynamic-Systems Theory
A view of human development as an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial influences. The crucial understanding is that development is never static but is always affected by, and affects, many systems of development

19. Differential Sensitivity
Development Is Plastic
Differential Sensitivity
According to the differential susceptibility hypothesis individuals vary in the degree they are affected by environmental, psychological and social factors they are exposed to. Some individuals are more susceptible to such influences than others - not only to negative but also to positive ones.
Differential susceptibility versus diathesis-stress
The idea that individuals vary in their responsivity to qualities of the environment is generally framed in diathesis-stress or dual-risk terms. That is, some individuals, due to their biological, temperamental and/or behavioral characteristics (i.e., “diathesis” or “risk 1”), are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of negative experiences (i.e., “stress” or “risk 2”), whereas others are relatively resilient with respect to them.
A fundamentally different, even if not competing view, of the very same phenomenon is central to Belsky’s differential susceptibility hypothesis and Boyce and Ellis’ (2005) related notion of biological sensitivity to context: Individuals do not simply vary in the degree to which they are vulnerable to the negative effects of adverse experience but, more generally, in their developmental plasticity. More “plastic” or malleable individuals are more susceptible than others to environmental influences in a for-better-and-for-worse manner,[5] that is, to both the adverse developmental sequelae associated with negative environments and the positive developmental consequences of supportive ones. Less susceptible individuals, in contrast, are less affected by rearing conditions, be they presumptively supportive or undermining of well being.

20. Using the Scientific Method
Scientific Observation
Requires the researcher to record behavior systematically and objectively.
May be done in a naturalistic setting such as a home, school, or other public place.
May be done in a laboratory.

21. Using the Scientific Method
The Experiment establishes causal relationships among variables.
independent variable- variable that is introduced to see what effect it has on the dependent variable.
dependent variable- variable that may change as a result of whatever new condition or situation the experimenter adds.

22. The Experiment
experimental group - gets a particular treatment (the independent variable).
comparison group (also called a control group), which does not get the experimental group treatment.

23. Using the Scientific Method
The Survey
Information is collected from a large number of people.
Acquiring valid survey data is not easy.
Some people lie, some change their minds.
Survey answers are influenced by the wording and the sequence of the questions.

24. Case study
Case study in psychology refers to the use of a descriptive research approach to obtain an in-depth analysis of a person, group, or phenomenon. A variety of techniques may be employed including personal interviews, direct-observation, psychometric tests, and archival records.

25. Studying Development over the Life Span
Cross-sectional Research
Groups of people of one age are compared with people of another age.
Longitudinal Research
Collecting data repeatedly on the same individuals as they age.
Cross-sequential Research
Study several groups of people of different ages (a cross-sectional approach) and follow them over the years (a longitudinal approach). It aims to correct for some of the problems inherent in the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.
Cross sequential studies combine both longitudinal and cross sectional methods in an attempt to both shorten the length of the research and minimize developmental assumptions, so has the benefits of both the other two methods.

26. Using the Scientific Method - fyi

27. Cautions from Science Correlation and Causation
A correlation exists between two variables if one variable is more (or less) likely to occur when the other does.
Positive correlation - both variables tend to increase or decrease together.
Negative correlation - one variable tends to increase while the other decreases.
Zero correlation - no connection is evident.
Correlation is not causation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28. Cautions from Science Quantity and Quality Quantitative research
Provides data that can be expressed with numbers, such as ranks or scales.
Qualitative research
Considers qualities instead of quantities.
-Descriptions of particular conditions and participants’ expressed ideas are often part of qualitative studies.

29. Ethics
Each academic discipline and professional society involved in the study of human development has a code of ethics.
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) ensures that research follows established guidelines and remains ethical.
Participation is voluntary, confidential, and harmless.
Research subjects must give informed consent- understand the research procedures and any risks involved.

30. Ethics – 4 Guiding Principles
First: Respect for the dignity of persons Second: Responsible caring Third: Integrity in relationships Fourth: Responsibility to society

31. The End