Welcome to Psychology 41Lifespan Development

1-1

A pattern of change involving growth and decline, from the womb to the tomb.

Lifespan Development

1-2

Biology, culture, and individual factors all work together. [next]

LifelongMultidimensionalMultidirectionalPlasticContextualMultidisciplinary

Lifespan Development is

Bronfenbrenner and the ecological approach

Four major levels:

1) Microsystem

2) Mesosystem

3) Exosystem

4) Macrosystem

5) Chronosystem

1-3

Developmentalists focus on different topics…

1. Physical DevelopmentIncluding the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep

Malnutrition, declining athletic performance

“How does malnutrition affect the growth of children?”

“How does an athlete’s physical performance decline during adulthood?”

1-4

Topical areas studied by developmentalists

2. Cognitive DevelopmentGrowth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior

Learning, memory, problem solving skills, and intelligence across the lifespanHow do you explain academic successes and failures?When are first memories solidified?How does mental capacity change as we age?

1-5

Topical areas studied by developmentalists

3a. Personality Development (part of psychosocial)

Enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another; remain stable or change over the life spanDoes personality change?How do patterns of activities change as we

age?

1-6

Topical areas studied by developmentalists

3b. Social Development (part of socioemotional/psychosocial)

1-7

How does poverty, racism, and divorce affect development?How are one’s peers predictive of future successes and failures?Who fares better when an older spouse dies?

– Interactions and social relationships; how they grow, change, and remain stable

People mature at different rates and reach developmental milestones at different

points

1-8

A 13-year-old boy waits to leave on patrol in Nicaragua

So how do you measure stages of development?

1-9

Biological processes

Socioemotional processes

Cognitive processes

Developmental Changes Are a Result of the Interaction of Physical, Cognitive, and

Socioemotional Processes

1-10

Biological processes

Socioemotional processes

Cognitive processes

Developmental Changes Are a Result of the Interaction of Physical, Cognitive, and

Socioemotional Processes

The lifespan is usually divided into broad age

ranges.

1-11

1-12

Emerging Adulthood 19 to middle 20s

Key Issues in Lifespan Development

Continuous vs. Discontinuous Change

1-13

Ethological Theory andCritical/Sensitive Periods

Nature vs. Nurture

Stability vs. Change

1-14

Key Issues in Lifespan Development

Theoretical Perspectives

Psychodynamic

Freud – Psychoanalytic Theory

Erikson – Psychosocial Development

1-15

Behavioral Perspective(Skinner)

1-16

We can only accurately study what can be observed.

Social-Cognitive Perspective(Bandura)

1-17

Person Behavior

Environment

Cognitive Perspectives

1-18

Piaget

Vygotsky• Socio-cultural (contextual) theory

1-19

Information-Processing Theory