PSYCH102 Chapter Notes - Chapter chapter 1: Cognitive Development, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Behaviorism
Do you feel this document is helpful?
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Human Development
THE LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE
Development - The pattern of movement or
change that begins at conception and continues
through the human life span.
Importance of Studying Life-Span Development
ā¢ The more we learn about Life-span
development, the better understanding we can
achieve about our own existence.
ā¢ It addresses some provocative questions about
who we are, how we can came to be this way, and
where our future will take us.
ā¢ It examines the life span from the point of
conception until the time when life ends. ā¢ We can
be motivated in considering experiences that will
affect oneās development.
Characteristics of the Life- Span Perspective
ā¢ Life- Span Perspective ā The perspective that
development is lifelong, multidimensional,
multidirectional, multidisciplinary, and contextual;
that it involves growth, maintenance and
regulation; and that it is constructed through
biological, sociocultural, and individual factors
working together.
ā¢ Developmental is Lifelong ā Early childhood is
not the endpoint of development; rather, no age
period dominates development.
ā¢ Development in Multidimensional ā
Development consists of biological, cognitive, and
socio-emotional dimensions. Even within each of
those dimensions, there are many components.
ā¢ Development is Multidirectional ā Throughout
life, some dimensions or components of a
dimension expand and others shrinks (et.al.,
learning other language or changing relationship
status)
ā¢ Development is Plastic ā Plasticity means the
capacity to change (et.al., Are you destined to be
shy forever?). Researchers have found that the
cognitive skills of older adults can be improved
through training and developing better strategies.
ā¢ Development Science is Multidisciplinary ā
Psychologists, sociologists and other field of
knowledge share an interest in unlocking the
mysteries of development through the life span.
ā¢ Development is Contextual ā All development
occurs within a context
Context- the setting in which development
occurs which is influenced by historical,
economic, social, and cultural factors
Normative age- graded influences-
biological and environmental influences
that are similar for individuals in a particular
age group
Normative history-graded influence-
biological and environmental influences
that are associated with history.
Non-normative life events- Unusual
occurrence that have a major impact on a
personās life. The occurrence, pattern, and
sequence of those events are not applicable
to many individuals.
ā¢ Development involves growth, maintenance,
and regulation of loss.
ā Baltes and his colleagues (2006) assert that the
mastery of life often involves conflicts and
competition among three goals of human
development: growth, maintenance and regulation
of loss (old age)
ā¢ Development is a Co-construction of biology,
culture and the individual ā Development comes
from biological, cultural and individual factors
influencing each other.
Contemporary Concerns in Life-Span Development
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
ā¢ Health and Well-Being ā Health professionals
today recognize the power of lifestyles and
psychological states in health and wellbeing.
ā¢ Parenting and Education ā Issues on
homosexuality, the effects of divorce, parenting
styles, intergenerational relationships, early
childhood education and others.
ā¢ Social Policy ā It is a governmentās course of
action designed to promote the welfare of its
citizens. Children who grow up in poverty
represent a special concern.
ā¢ Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
Culture - the behavior patterns beliefs, and all
other products of a group that are passed on from
generation to generation.
Cross-cultural studies - comparisons of one culture
with one or more other cultures.
Ethnicity- a range of characteristics rooted in
cultural heritage, including nationality, race,
religion and language.
Socioeconomic status (SES) - refers to the
conceptual grouping of people with similar
occupational, educational, and economic
characteristics.
Gender- the characteristics of people as females
and males.
The Nature of Development
ā¢ Biological Processes ā Changes in an individualās
physical nature
ā¢ Cognitive Processes ā Changes in an individualās
thought, intelligence and language
ā¢ Socio-emotional Processes ā Changes in an
individualās relationship with other people,
emotions and personality.
Connecting Biological, Cognitive, and Socio-
emotional Processes
ā¢ Developmental Cognitive Neuro-science ā which
explores links between development of cognitive
processes and the brain
ā¢ Developmental Social Neuroscience ā Which
examines connections between socio-emotional
processes, development and the brain.
Periods of Development
ā¢ Prenatal Period ā Time from conception to birth
ā¢ Infancy ā Is the developmental period from birth
to 18 or 24 months
ā¢ Early Childhood ā Developmental period from
the end of infancy to age 5 or 6 (preschool years)
ā¢ Middle and Late Childhood ā Developmental
period from about 6 to 11 years of age
ā¢ Adolescence ā Encompasses the transition from
childhood to early adulthood, entered at
approximately 10 to 12 years of age and ending at
18 to 22 years of age
ā¢ Early Adulthood ā Developmental period that
begins in the late teens or early twenties and last
through the thirties
ā¢ Middle Adulthood ā Developmental period from
approximately h40 years of age to about 60.
ā¢ Late Adulthood ā Developmental period that
begins in the sixties or seventies and lasts until
death.
Conceptions of Age
ā¢ According to some life- spam experts,
chronological age is not very relevant to
understanding a personās psychological
development
ā¢ Chronological age, moreover, is not the only way
of meeasuring age.
Four Types of Age
ā¢ Chronological Age ā The actual age that you have
ā¢ Biological Age ā Personās age in terms of
biological health .
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
ā¢ Psychological Age ā An individualās adaptive
capacities compared with those of other individuals
of the same chronological age
ā¢ Social Age ā Refers to connectedness with others
and the social roles individuals adopt. Individuals
who have better social relationships with others
are happier and more likely to live longer.
Development Issues
ā¢ Nature and Nurture Issues ā Concerns the extent
to which development is influenced by nature and
by nurture. Nature refers to an organismās
biological inheritance while nurture to its
environmental experiences
ā¢ Stability and Change ā The degree to which early
traits and characteristics persist through life or
change. Stability is the result of heredity and
possibly early experiences in life.
ā¢ Continuity and Discontinuity ā The extent to
which development involves gradual, cumulative
change (continuity) or distinct stages
(discontinuity). In terms of continuity, development
is continuous. In terms of discontinuity, at some
point a child moves from not being able to think
abstractly about the world. Therefore,
discontinuous change is qualitative and continuous
change is quantitative.
Theories of Development
ā¢ Theory ā It is an inter-related, coherent set of
ideas that helps to explain phenomena and make
predictions.
ā¢ Hypotheses ā This is a specific assertions and
predictions that can be tested.
1. Psychoanalytic Theories
ā¢ These are theories holding that development
depends on primarily on the unconscious mind and
is heavily couched in emotion, that behavior is
merely a surface characteristic, that it is important
to analyze the symbolic meanings of behavior and
that early experiences are important in
development.
2. Freudās Theory
3. Eriksonās Psychosocial Theory
4. Cognitive Theories
ā¢ Vygotskyās Sociocultural Cognitive Theory ā It is
a sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes
how culture and social interaction guide cognitive
development. Cognitive development as
inseparable from social and cultural activities.
ā¢ Information- Processing Theory ā A theory that
emphasizes that individuals manipulate
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Development - the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span. Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional dimensions. Researchers have found that the cognitive skills of older adults can be improved through training and developing better strategies: development science is multidisciplinary . Psychologists, sociologists and other field of knowledge share an interest in unlocking the mysteries of development through the life span: development is contextual all development occurs within a context. Context- the setting in which development occurs which is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors. Normative age- graded influences- biological and environmental influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group. Normative history-graded influence- biological and environmental influences that are associated with history. Non-normative life events- unusual occurrence that have a major impact on a person"s life.
