1. Developmental Psychology
H (Fall Term)

2. Introduction
Developmental
Quiz

3. Definition of Development
The pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span

4. Why Study Life-Span Development?
You can gain insight to your own life as a child, adolescent, and young adult.
You will learn about life through the adult years—middle age, and old age.
You may be a parent or a teacher some day.
Life-span development is linked with many different areas of psychology.

5. Assumptions influence practices
Original Sin - children were perceived as being basically bad, born into the world as evil beings.
Tabula Rasa - children are like a “blank tablet,” and acquire their characteristics through experience.
Innate Goodness - children are inherently good.

6. Where do our assumptions come from?
Tradition
Personal experience
Experts
Research

7. History: Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Young Men: “Young men have strong passions, and tend to gratify them indiscriminately”
Elderly Men: “They are cynical … small-minded, cowardly, and are always anticipating danger …they love life; and all the more when their last day has come …”
Men in their prime: “all the valuable qualities that youth and age divide between them are united in the prime of life .. the body is in its prime from thirty to five-and-thirty; the mind about forty-nine”

8. History: English-speaking pioneers
Charles Darwin ( ): “A Biographical Sketch of an Infant” (1877)
G.S. Hall ( ): “Adolescence” (1907):”Most savages in most respects are children, or, because of sexual maturity, more properly, adolescents of adult size”

9. Traditional Approach vs. Life-Span Approach
The traditional approach emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood, and decline in late old age.
The life-span approach emphasizes developmental change during adulthood as well as childhood.

10. Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective
Development is lifelong
Development is multidimensional
Development is multidirectional
Development is plastic
Development is contextual
Development is studied by a number of disciplines
Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation

11. Development is Lifelong
No age period dominates development.
Researchers increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of adults at different points in their development.

12. Development is Multidimensional
There are biological dimensions.
There are cognitive dimensions.
There are socioemotional dimensions.

13. Development is Multidirectional
Some dimensions or components of a dimension increase in growth.
Some dimensions or components of a dimension decrease in growth.

14. Development is Plastic
Plasticity involves the degree to which characteristics change or remain stable.

15. Development is Contextual
Normative age-graded influences
Normative history-graded influences
Nonnormative life events

16. Development is Studied by a Number of Disciplines
Psychologists
Sociologists
Anthropologists
Neuroscientists
Medical Researchers

17. The Three Goals of Human Development
Maintenance
Growth
Regulation

18. Biological Processes
Involve changes in the individual’s physical nature such as:
Height and weight gains
The development of the brain
Changes in motor skills
Cardiovascular decline

19. Cognitive Processes
Involve changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence, and language such as:
Watching a mobile swing above a crib
Creating a two-word sentence
Memorizing a poem
Imagining being a movie star

20. Socioemotional Processes
Involve changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality such as:
An infant smiling from her mother’s touch
A young boy hitting a playmate
A girl’s joy at her senior prom
The affection of an elderly couple

21. Periods of Development
The prenatal period
Infancy
Early childhood
Middle and late childhood
Adolescence
Early adulthood
Middle adulthood
Late adulthood

22. The Prenatal Period
The time from conception to birth
From a single cell to an organism complete with a brain and behavioral capabilities
Approximately a 9-month period

23. Infancy
The developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months
A time of extreme dependency on adults
Many psychological activities are just beginning

24. Early Childhood
The developmental period extending from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years
Often called the “preschool years”
Children learn to become more self-sufficient
Children now develop school readiness skills
Children spend many hours playing with peers

25. Middle and Late Childhood
The developmental period extending from about 6 to 11 years of age
Approximately corresponds to the elementary school years
Fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered
Child is formally exposed to larger world and its culture

26. Adolescence
The developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood—entered at years, ending at years
Begins with rapid physical changes.
Pursuit of independence and identity are prominent
Thought is now more logical, abstract, and idealistic

27. Early Adulthood
The developmental period beginning in the late teens or early twenties and lasting through the thirties
A time of establishing personal and economic independence
Also a time of career development
Early adults select a mate, start a family, and rear children

28. Middle Adulthood
The developmental period beginning around 40 years of age and extending to about 60
A time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility
Also a time of assisting the next generation in becoming competent
Middle adults reach and maintain satisfaction in a career

29. Late Adulthood
The developmental period beginning in the sixties or seventies and lasting until death
A time of adjustment to decreasing strength and health
Also a time of life review, retirement, and new social roles

30. Age Groups in Late Adulthood
The Young Old, or Old Age (65-74 years of age)
The Old Old, or Late Old Age (75 years and older)
The Oldest Old (85 years and older)

31. Age and Happiness
No particular age group says they are happier or more satisfied than any other age group.

32. Conceptions of Age
Chronological Age
Biological Age
Psychological Age
Social Age

33. Chronological Age
The number of years that have elapsed since a person’s birth

34. Biological Age
A person’s age in terms of biological health

35. Psychological Age
An individual’s adaptive capacities compared to those of other individuals of the same chronological age

36. Social Age
Refers to social roles and expectations related to a person’s age

37. Developmental Issues
Nature vs. Nurture
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Stability vs. Change
Activity vs. passivity
Universal vs. particular

38. The Nature-Nurture Issue
Involves the debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture

39. Nature
An organism’s biological inheritance

40. Nurture
An organism’s environmental experiences

41. The Continuity-Discontinuity Issue
This issue focuses on the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change or distinct stages.

42. Continuity
Development results from a gradual process occurring over several weeks, months, and possibly years.

43. Discontinuity
Development occurs through a sequence of stages in which change is qualitatively rather than quantitatively different.

44. The Stability-Change Issue
This issue involves the degree to which we become older renditions of our early experience or whether we develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier point in development.
It considers the extent to which early experiences (especially in infancy) or later experiences are the key determinants of a person’s development.

45. Evaluating the Developmental Issues
Most life-span developmentalists recognize that extreme positions are unwise.
The key to development is the interaction of nature and nurture rather than either factor alone.
There still exists strong debate regarding how strongly development is influenced by each of the factors.