Chapter 2 The Science of Life-Span Development. Black Hawk College2

Chapter 2

The Science of Life-Span

Development

Black Hawk College 2

Th eo ries o fD evelo p m en t

R esearchM eth o d s

R esearchJo u rn als

R esearchC h allen ges

Th e S cien ce o fL ife-S p an D evelo p m en t


As researchers formulate a problem to study, they often draw

on theories and develop hypotheses.


Definition of Theory

• A theory is an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and to make predictions.


Definition of Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a specific assumption or prediction that can be tested to determine its accuracy.


P sych o an alyticTh eo ries

E th o lo gicalTh eo ry

C o gn itiveTh eo ries

E co lo gicalTh eo ry

B eh avio ral an dS o cial C o gn itive

Th eo ries

A n E clecticTh eo retica lO rien tatio n

Th eo ries o fD evelo p m en t


Psychoanalytic Theories

• Behavior is primarily unconscious— beyond awareness.

• Behavior is heavily colored by emotion.

• Behavior is merely a surface characteristic with symbolic meaning.

• Early experiences with parents extensively shape behavior.


Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Medical doctor specializing in neurology

• Developed ideas about psychoanalytic theory from work with mental patients

• Considered problems to be the result of experiences early in life


Freud’s Three Structures of Personality

• Id

• Ego

• Superego


The Id

• Totally unconscious: has no contact with reality

• Consists of instincts: our reservoir of psychic energy

• Has no morality


The Ego

• Deals with the demands of reality

• Called the “executive branch” of personality: uses reasoning to make decisions

• Has no morality


The Superego• The moral branch of

personality• Takes into account

whether something is right or wrong

• Our “conscience”


Psychosexual Development

• Five stages• Each stage focuses on a part

of the body for experiencing pleasure.

• How conflicts between sources of pleasure are resolved determines adult personality.


Definition of Erogenous Zone

• Erogenous zones are parts of the body that have especially strong pleasure-giving qualities at particular stages of development.


The Five Stages of Psychosexual Development

• The Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months)

• The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)

• The Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)• The Latent Stage (6 years to

puberty)• The Genital Stage (Puberty on)


The Oral Stage

• Pleasure centers around the mouth.

• Chewing, sucking, biting are sources of pleasure.


The Anal Stage

• Pleasure centers around the anus.

• Eliminative functions are sources of pleasure.


The Phallic Stage• Pleasure focuses on

the genitals.• Self-manipulation is a

source of pleasure.• Oedipus Complex

appears.


Definition of the Oedipus Complex

• The Oedipus Complex is Freud’s term for the young child’s development of an intense desire to replace the same-sex parent and enjoy the affections of the opposite-sex parent.


Resolution of the Oedipus Complex

• Children recognize that their same-sex parent might punish them for their incestuous wishes.

• To reduce this conflict, the child identifies with the same-sex parent, striving to be like him or her.


The Latent Stage• The child represses all interest

in sexuality.• The child develops social and

intellectual skills.• Energy is channeled into

emotionally safe areas.• The child forgets the highly

stressful conflicts of the phallic stage.


The Genital Stage

• This is a time of sexual reawakening.

• The source of sexual pleasure comes from someone outside the family.

When conflict is not resolved:

Individuals may develop a fixation


Definition of Fixation

• A fixation occurs when the individual remains locked in an earlier developmental stage because needs are under- or over-gratified.


Examples of Fixations• Oral - Due to a parent weaning too early, as an

adult the individual seeks out oral gratification through smoking, drinking, gum chewing.

• Anal - Due to a parent being too strict with potty training, as an adult the individual is excessively neat and orderly (known as “Anal Retentive”).

• Phallic - Due to a parent punishing the child for masturbating, as an adult the individual seeks out pornography.

• Genital - Due to a parent smothering a child with too much attention, as an adult the individual has difficulty in romantic relationships due to being extremely “needy.”


Contemporary View of Freud’s Theory

• Unconscious thought remains central theme

• Conscious thought plays larger role

• Less emphasis on sexual instincts

• Greater emphasis on cultural experiences


Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

• Recognized Freud’s contributions

• Believed Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development

• Developed the Psychosocial Theory of Development


The Psychosocial Theory of

Development• The primary motivation for human

behavior is social and reflects a desire to affiliate with other people.

• Eight stages of development unfold throughout the entire life span.

• Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be faced.


The Psychosocial Theory of

Development• Crises are not catastrophes but

rather turning points of increased vulnerability and enhanced potential.

• The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be.


Stages of Psychosocial Development

• Trust vs. Mistrust• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt• Initiative vs. Guilt• Industry vs. Inferiority• Identity vs. Identity Confusion• Intimacy vs. Isolation• Generativity vs. Stagnation• Integrity vs. Despair


Trust vs. Mistrust (First Year)

• A sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and a minimal amount of fear and apprehension about the future.

• Trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place.


Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Second

Year)• After gaining trust in their caregivers,

infants begin to discover that their behavior is their own.

• They start to assert their sense of independence or autonomy.

• They realize their will.• If infants are restrained too much or

punished too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame and doubt.


Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool Years)

• As preschool children encounter a widening social world, they are challenged more than when they were infants, and active, purposeful behavior is needed to cope with these challenges.

• Children are asked to assume responsibility for their bodies, behavior, toys, and pets.

• Guilt may arise if the child is irresponsible and made to feel anxious.


Industry vs. Inferiority (Elementary School

Years)• As children move into middle and late

childhood, they direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills.

• The danger during this time is the development of a sense of inferiority—feeling incompetent and unproductive.

• Erikson believes that teachers have a special responsibility for children’s development of industry.


Identity vs. Identity Confusion

(Adolescence)• Individuals are faced with finding out who they

are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life.

• Adolescents are confronted with many new roles and adult statuses.

• If the adolescent explores roles in a healthy manner and arrives at a positive path in life, then positive identity will be achieved.

• If an identity is pushed on the adolescent by parents, if the adolescent does not adequately explore many roles, then identity confusion reigns.


Intimacy vs. Isolation (Early Adulthood)

• Individuals face the developmental task of forming intimate relationships with others.

• Intimacy is defined as finding oneself yet losing oneself in another.

• Intimacy is achieved through the formation of healthy friendships and an intimate relationship with another individual.

• Isolation results from failure to achieve the above.


Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle

Adulthood)• A chief concern is to assist the

younger generation in developing and leading useful lives (generativity).

• The feeling of having done nothing to help the next generation is stagnation.


Integrity vs. Despair

(Late Adulthood)• This involves reflecting on the past

and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one’s life has not been well spent.

• Integrity is achieved through reflecting on a past deemed worthwhile.

• If the older adult resolved many of the earlier stages negatively, looking back will lead to doubt or gloom (despair).


Contributions of Psychoanalytic Theories

• Early experiences play an important part in development.

• Family relationships are a central aspect of development.

• Personality can be better understood if it is examined developmentally.

• The mind is not all conscious; unconscious aspects of the mind need to be considered.

• Changes take place in the adulthood as well as the childhood years (Erikson).


Criticisms of Psychoanalytic

Theories• The main concepts have been difficult

to test scientifically.• Much of the data used to support

these theories come from individuals’ reconstruction of the past, often the distant past, and are of unknown accuracy.

• The sexual underpinnings of development are given too much importance (especially by Freud).


Criticisms of Psychoanalytic

Theories (cont’d)• The unconscious mind is given

too much credit for influencing development.

• Psychoanalytic theories present an image of humans that is too negative (especially Freud).

• Psychoanalytic theories are culture- and gender-biased.


Cognitive Theories

• Piaget’s cognitive development theory

• Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory

• The information-processing approach


Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• Swiss psychologist• Observed his own children

to develop theory of cognitive development

• Changed how we think about the development of children’s minds


Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Theory• Children actively construct

their understanding of the world.

• Children progress through four stages of cognitive development.

• Two processes underlie development: assimilation and accommodation.


Assimilation

• Incorporating new information into their existing knowledge

Accommodation• Adapting one’s existing

knowledge to new information


Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive

Development• Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs.)

• Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs.)

• Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs.)

• Formal Operational Stage (11 and up)


The Sensorimotor Stage

• Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motor actions.

• At the beginning, newborns are limited to reflexive patterns.

• By the end, 2-year-olds are beginning to operate with primitive symbols.


The Preoperational Stage

• Children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings.


Definition of Operations

• Internalized mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they previously did physically


The Concrete Operational Stage

• Children can perform mental operations.

• Logical reasoning replaces intuitive thought, as long as reasoning can be applied to concrete examples.

• Algebra is too abstract for this stage.


The Formal Operational Stage

• Individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in abstract, more logical terms.

• Problem solving is more systematic and involves hypotheses.

• Adolescents develop images of ideal circumstances.


Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive

Theory• Shares Piaget’s view that children

actively construct their knowledge.

• Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of language, and social relations.

• Like Piaget, Vygotsky’s ideas were not introduced in America until the 1960s.


Vygotsky’s 3 Basic Claims about Children’s

Development• The child’s cognitive skills can be

understood only when they are developmentally analyzed and interpreted.

• Cognitive skills are mediated by words, language, and forms of discourse.

• Cognitive skills have their origins in social relations and are embedded in a sociocultural backdrop.


The Information-Processing Approach

• Emphasizes that individuals manipulate, monitor, and strategize about information.

• Central are the processes of memory and thinking.

• Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information.

• This enables the acquisition of increasingly complex knowledge and skills.


Contributions of the Cognitive Theories

• They present a positive view of development, emphasizing individuals’ conscious thinking.

• They emphasize the individual’s active construction of understanding.

• Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories underscore the importance of examining developmental changes in children’s thinking.

• The information-processing approach offers detailed descriptions of cognitive processes.


Criticisms of the Cognitive Theories

• There is skepticism about the pureness of Piaget’s stages.

• They do not give adequate attention to individual variations in cognitive development.

• Information processing doesn’t provide adequate description of developmental changes in cognition.

• Psychoanalytic theorists argue that the cognitive theories do not give enough credit to unconscious thought.


Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories• These theories believe that

scientifically we can only study what can be directly observed and measured.

• They also believe that development is observable behavior that can be learned through experience with the environment.


Classical Conditioning• In the early 1900s, Russian

physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered the phenomenon in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a behavioral response originally produced by another stimulus.


Operant Conditioning

• B.F. Skinner demonstrated that the consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior occurring again.

• Consequences can be either rewards (increasing the likelihood of behavior recurrence), or punishment (decreasing this chance).


Social Cognitive Theory

• Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel believe that cognitive processes are important mediators of environment-behavior connections.

• Learning occurs through observing what others do, as individuals cognitively represent what they see and adopt the behavior themselves.


Contributions of Behavioral and Social

Cognitive Theories• They emphasize the importance of

scientific research.

• They focus on the environmental determinants of behavior.

• They underscore the importance of observational learning (Bandura).


Criticisms of Behavioral and Social Cognitive

Theories• Pavlov and Skinner put too little

emphasis on cognition.• They put too much emphasis on

environmental determinants.• They give inadequate attention to

developmental changes.• They are too mechanical and give

inadequate consideration to the spontaneity and creativity of humans.


Ethological Theory

• Behavior is strongly influenced by biology.

• Behavior is tied to evolution.• Behavior is characterized by critical

periods.• European zoologist Konrad Lorenz

(1903-1989) identified imprinting.• John Bowlby theorizes about

attachment.


Definition of Critical Period

• A fixed time period very early in development during which certain behaviors optimally emerge


Definition of Imprinting• The rapid, innate

learning within a limited critical period of time that involves attachment to the first moving object seen


Attachment• A concept based on principles of

ethological theory.• Attachment to a caregiver over the

first year of life has important consequences:– Positive and secure attachment

results in positive development.– Negative and insecure attachment

results in problematic development.


Contributions of Ethological Theory

• It has an increased focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of development.

• It uses careful observations in naturalistic settings.

• It emphasizes critical periods of development.


Criticisms of Ethological Theory

• The critical period concept may be too rigid.

• It places too strong an emphasis on biological foundations.

• It gives inadequate attention to cognition.

• It has been better at generating research with animals than with humans.


Ecological Theory• Developed by Urie

Bronfenbrenner.• Consists of 5 environmental

systems:– The Microsystem– The Mesosystem– The Exosystem– The Macrosystem– The Chronosystem


The Microsystem• The setting in which the individual

lives.• Includes the person’s family, peers,

school, and neighborhood.• In the microsystem, the most direct

interactions with social agents take place.

• The individual is not passive, but rather helps construct the settings.


The Mesosystem

• Involves relations between microsystems or connections between contexts.

• Examples: – The relation of family experiences

to school experiences.– The relation of family experiences

to peer experiences.


The Exosystem• Involved when experiences in

another social setting—in which the individual does not have an active role—influence what the individual experiences in an immediate context.

• Example:– Work experiences may affect a

woman’s relationship with her husband and child, due to travel and increased job responsibilities.


The Macrosystem

• Involves the culture in which individuals live.


The Chronosystem• Involves the patterning of

environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances.

• Example:– The effects of divorce on children

vary based on the time since the divorce and the gender of the children.


Contributions of Ecological Theory

• It provides a systematic examination of macro and micro dimensions of environmental systems.

• It gives attention to connections between environmental settings.

• It gives consideration to sociohistorical influences on development.


Criticisms of Ecological Theory

• Even with the added discussion of biological influences in recent years, there is still too little attention to biological foundations of development.

• It gives inadequate attention to cognitive processes.


An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation

• Does not follow any one theoretical approach

• Selects and uses whatever is considered best from each theory

• Acknowledges that no one theory provides a complete description and explanation of development, and that each has made important contributions to understanding development

• Presented and maintained throughout the book


O b servatio n S tan d ard izedTes ts

P h ys io lo gicalan d A n im al

R esearch

E x p erim en talR esearch

In terview s an dQ u es tio n n aires

L ife-H is to ryR eco rd s

C o rre la tio n alR esearch

Tim e S p ano f R esearch

C ase S tu d ies

R esearchM eth o d s


Observation• Requires:

– Knowing what you’re looking for– Conducting observations in unbiased manner– Accurately recording and categorizing what

you see– Effectively communicating your observations

• Can be made in laboratories or naturalistic settings


Laboratories vs. Naturalistic Settings

• Laboratories are controlled settings from which many of the complex factors of the real world have been removed. Criticized for being artificial.

• Naturalistic observation occurs outside a laboratory in the “real world”; places such as schools, home, museums, and offices.


Interviews and Questionnaires• Used to learn about experiences,

beliefs, and feelings• Involve concrete, specific,

unambiguous questions• Problems may arise with the social

desirability effect: when individuals respond in a way they think is most socially desirable, rather than how they truly feel.


Case Studies• An in-depth look at an individual• Used when unique aspects of a

person’s life cannot be duplicated• Provides information about a person’s

fears, hopes, fantasies, traumatic experiences, etc.

• Findings are not readily generalizable• Concern over reliability of judgements

made by single psychologist


Standardized Tests• Commercially prepared tests that

assess individuals’ performance in different domains

• Allow an individual’s performance to be compared to the performance of others

• Used for:– Outcome measures for research studies– Helping psychologists and educators

make decisions and comparisons


Life-History Records

• Records of information about a lifetime chronology of events and activities

• Involve a combination of data records on education, work, family, and residence

• Using multiple materials enables comparison of information from varied sources, resulting in a more accurate record.


Physiological Research and Research with Animals• These focus on the biological basis

of behavior.• Much physiological research cannot

be carried out with humans, thus animals are studied.

• Animal studies enable researchers to control subjects’ genetic background, diet, experiences, etc.


Correlational Research• The goal is to describe the strength

of the relation between two or more events or characteristics.

• The more strongly two events are correlated, the more effectively we can predict one from the other.

• It needs to be used with caution as correlation does not equal causation.


Experimental Research

• This allows researchers to determine the causes of behavior.

• It uses experimentation: carefully regulated procedures in which one or more significant factors is manipulated, and all others held constant.

• Experimental research involves independent and dependent variables, experimental groups, control groups, and random assignment.


Definition of Independent and

Dependent Variables• Independent variables are the

manipulated, influential, experimental factors.

• Dependent variables are the factors that are measured in an experiment. They can change as the IV is manipulated.


Definition of Experimental and Control Groups

• Experimental groups are groups whose experiences in a study are manipulated.

• Control groups are groups who are treated in every way like the experimental groups except for the manipulated factors. They serve as the baseline against which the effects of the manipulated condition can be compared.


Definition of Random Assignment

• The process of assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, reducing the likelihood that the experiment’s results will be due to any preexisting differences between the groups.


Time Span of Research

• The Cross-Sectional Approach

• The Longitudinal Approach

• The Sequential Approach


The Cross-Sectional Approach: Individuals of

different ages are compared at one time.

Pros– Study can be

accomplished in a short period of time.

– Researchers don’t have to wait for subjects to age.

Cons– Provides no

information about how individuals change.

– Provides no information about the stability of characteristics.


The Longitudinal Approach The same

individuals are studied over a period of time.

Pros– Provide a wealth of

information about stability and change in development.

– Provide insight into the importance of early experience for later development.

Cons– Expensive and time

consuming.– Subjects more likely to

drop out due to moving, losing interest, or illness.

– Subjects who remain may be more compulsive and conformity oriented.


The Sequential Approach

• A combination of the cross-sectional and longitudinal approach.– Begins with a cross-sectional study

of individuals of different ages.– Months or years later, the same

individuals are tested again along with a new group of subjects for each age level.


The Sequential Approach (cont’d)

• Complex, expensive, and time consuming.

• Provides information not obtainable through using either the cross-sectional or longitudinal designs alone.

• Especially helpful in examining cohort effects in life-span development.


Cohort Effects• Cohort effects are due to

a person’s time of birth or generation, but not to actual age.

• They can powerfully affect the dependent measures in a study focused on age.

• Age changes in one cohort can be examined and compared with age changes in another cohort.


R esearchJou rn a ls


Research Journals

• Publish scholarly and academic information.

• Scholars publish most of their research in journals.

• Articles are written for other professionals in the field.

• Articles undergo intense scrutiny by a board of experts in the field.

• Serve as the core of information in virtually every academic discipline.


Some Journals Related to Life-Span Development

• Developmental Psychology• Child Development• Pediatric Nursing• Pediatrics• Journal of Gerontology• Infant Behavior and Development• Journal of Research on Adolescence• Journal of Adult Development• Human Development


Journal Article Format• Abstract- a brief summary of the article.• Introduction- introduces the issue that is being

studied along with a concise literature review, theoretical implications, and hypotheses.

• Method - provides a clear description of the experiment and all its elements.

• Results - reports the analysis of the data collected.

• Discussion - presents conclusions, inferences, and interpretations of findings.

• References - the bibliographic information for each source cited in the article.


E th ics G en d er E th n icity an dC u ltu re

R esearchC h allen ges


Ethics

• Ethics of research are concerned with the well-being of subjects with regard to physical and mental harm. Participants or their parents must give informed consent.


Gender

• A focus on gender in research is concerned with gender bias in all aspects of research (theory, questions, hypotheses, participants, design), primarily against women.


Ethnicity and Culture

• Ethnicity and culture must be considered in research to ensure the inclusion of individuals from minority backgrounds in research.

• There must also be an awareness of ethnic gloss—using an ethnic label, such as African American or Latino, in a superficial way that makes an ethnic group look more homogeneous than it really is.

Documents

Chapter 2 The Science of Life-Span Development. Black Hawk College2