1. Chapter One Introduction
PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont College

2. Studying the Life Span: Five Characteristics
The study of human development is the science that seeks to understand
how and why all kinds of people change over time
how and why they remain the same
the generalities and the specifics
Focus is on all kinds of people
age, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, background, culture, and nationality

3. Studying the Life Span: Five Characteristics, cont.
Change from conception to death—the five characteristics
A Life-Span Perspective
multidirectional—nonlinear progression (1)
multicontextual—a number of contexts (2)
multicultural—many cultural settings (3)
multidisciplinary—many academic disciplines contribute data (4)
plasticity—change through the life span (5)

4. Multidirectional (1) Each aspect of life is multidirectional
physical health, intellectual growth, and social interaction
up, down, stable or erratic
Dynamic Systems
process of continual change within a person or group, in which each change is connected systematically to every other development in each individual and every society

5. Physical Growth Growth in height and weight is not linear
Fluctuations in body weight are affected by many other changes
appetite, nutrition, family, stress, exercise, culture, food supply, and climate
historical changes can have powerful effects
“obesity epidemic” in the U.S. today

6. Effects, Large and Small
Butterfly effect—the idea that a small action or event may set off a series of changes culminating in a major event
Opposite Idea
a large change may have little or no effect
Family Dynamics
influence vulnerability or resiliency
strong bond with loving caregiver can protect against adversity of many kinds

7. Multicontextual (2)
Humans develop in many contexts that influence development
physical and family
focus on three facets of social context
historical, socioeconomic, and cultural

8. Three Broad Contexts Within the Social Context

9. Historical Context
Historical context involves cohorts, social constructions
impact of historical context varies with age

10. The Socioeconomic Context
Socioeconomic includes
socioeconomic status (ses),
education, income, neighborhood, occupation of household head

11. Families and Neighborhoods
Economics
poverty
Collective Efficacy—neighbors that create a functioning, informal network of people who show concern for each other and their block
Supportive Family Relationships
quality of parenting
family support best predictor of health and happiness

12. The Cultural Context
Cultural—set of values, assumptions, and customs as well as physical objects such as clothing, housing, etc.
includes all decisions people make
is dynamic, supportive

13. Who Sleeps with Whom?
Example from Figure 1.2 showing configuration of sleeping arrangements
in Western cultures, husband and wife sleep together
not all cultures have the same ideas about sleeping arrangements

14. Multicultural (3)
Two examples of various practices provide insights into culture—(1) Too Rich to Marry? And (2) The Children’s House

15. Too Rich to Marry?
Worldwide, the richer the man, the more likely he is to marry
Is a woman a less desirable mate if she earns more income and therefore would be less dependent on the male?
higher income for women
reduced marriage prospects in Japan
increased marriage prospects slightly in U.S.
increased marriage prospects significantly in Sweden
findings reflective of a country’s gender equality

16. The Children’s House Kibbutz Sleeping Arrangements
different sleeping practices, with some children sleeping in Children’s House, while others slept at home
children who slept away ended up having negative consequences
difficulty talking about, relating to family members

17. Ethnicity, Race, and Income
Ethnic group—collection of people who share certain attributes, almost always including ancestral heritage and often including national origin, religion, customs, and language
People can belong to more than one culture

18. Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.
Race—a social construction by which biological traits are used to differentiate people whose ancestors came from various regions of the world
a distorted concept
SES variations tend to follow ethnic variations

19. Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.
The Person Within the System
divergent directions, contextual influences, cohort effect

20. Multidisciplinary (4) Body, Mind, and Spirit Three domains
biosocial
cognitive
psychosocial
Williams Family Example
Combination of Nature vs. Nurture

21. Plasticity (5) Plasticity—capacity to change
Characteristics can be molded into different forms and shapes or a durability can be maintained
Provides hope and realism
change is possible
people must build on what came before (raw materials = genes, families, cultures, experiences)

22. The Person Within the Context
Person is guided in divergent directions by many contextual influences
No one is “average”— each person unique
each person has unique genes and experiences
Paul Baltes (Founder of lifespan developmental study)
“We need to keep in mind that the future is not something we simply enter, the future is also something we help create.”

23. Developmental Study as a Science
Based on objective evidence (objective)
Laden with personal implications and applications (subjective)

24. Scientific Method
Scientific method—general way to seek evidence to answer question, involving four basic steps and sometimes a fifth.
1. formulate a research question
2. develop a hypothesis
hypothesis—a specific prediction that is stated in such a way it can be tested and either confirmed or refuted

25. Scientific Method, cont.
3. test the hypothesis
4. draw conclusions
5. make findings available
replication—the repetition of a scientific study using the same procedures on another group of participants to verify or refute the original study’s conclusion

26. Research Methods Four Methods of Testing Hypotheses observations
experiments
surveys
case studies

27. Observation
Scientific observation—observing and recording (unbiased) in a systematic way what people do
Limitation: it does not indicate what causes behavior we observe

28. Observation, cont. Correlation and Causation
Naturalistic observation provides no definitive answers about causes
Correlation exists between two variables if one variable is more (or less) likely to occur when the other occurs
correlation indicates a connection, but does not specify reason (cause) for it

29. The Experiment
Experiment—investigation designed to untangle cause from effect
independent variable—imposed treatment or special condition
dependent variable—specific behavior being studied
experimental group—participants who are given particular treatment
comparison (control) group—participants who are not given special treatment but are similar to experimental group in other relevant ways

30. How to Conduct an Experiment

31. The Survey
Survey—information collected from personal interview, questionnaire, etc.

32. The Case Study
Case study—intensive study of one individual or situation

33. Studying Changes over Time
Developmental research must be able to deal with changes that continue over time
research design allows researchers to include time, or age, as a factor
three basic designs:
cross-sectional, longitudinal, cross-sequential

34. Cross-sectional Research
Cross-sectional research-research that studies groups differing in age but sharing other important characteristics (education, SES, ethnicity)

35. Longitudinal Research
Longitudinal research—research that studies individuals over a long period; valuable developmental information from longitudinal studies includes
adjustment to divorce
role of fathers in child development
prevention of teenage delinquency

36. Cross-Sequential Research
Cross-sequential research—research that studies several groups of people of different ages, then follows those groups longitudinally

37. Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and Cross-Sequential Research: Which is Best?

38. Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and Cross-Sequential Research: Which is Best?, cont.

39. The Ecological-Systems Approach: A Synthesis
Ecological-systems approach—research that takes into consideration the relationship between the individual and the environment
Uri Bronfrenbrenner

43. Ethics and Science General principles of code of ethics
never harm participants either physically or psychologically
explain purposes and procedures of study
secure informed consent
keep data on participants private
allow participants to stop at any time

44. Implications of Research
Deliberate or accidental deception?
Misinterpretation?
Replicable?

45. What Should We Study?
Are scientists studying issues that are crucial to human development?
human sexual urges and actions to prevent STDs, pregnancy, and sexual abuse and to cure infertility
stress, poverty, and prejudice
children’s anger
retirement