2. The Life-Span Perspective
2
Development: the pattern of growth that begins at
conception and continues through the human life
span
Involves growth and decline
Traditional Approach: emphasizes extensive
change from birth to adolescence, little to no
change in adulthood, and decline in old age
Life-Span Approach: emphasizes developmental
change throughout childhood and adulthood
3. The Life-Span Perspective
3
Life Span: the maximum
number of years a species
can live
Currently 122 years
Life Expectancy: average
number of years that a
person can expect to live
Currently 78 years
4. The Life-Span Perspective
4
Life-Span Perspective views development as:
Lifelong Multidimensional
Multidirectional Plastic
Multidisciplinary Contextual
A life-span theorist believes that developmental
changes occur in the early, middle and late years of
life.
Development is a process that involves growth,
maintenance, and regulation of loss
Development is constructed through biological,
sociocultural, and individual factors working together
5. The Life-Span Perspective
5 Development is Lifelong
Early adulthood is not the endpoint of development
No age period dominates
Development is Multidimensional
Occurs in three distinct dimensions: biological, cognitive,
and socioemotional.
Development is Multidirectional
Some dimensions (or components of a dimension) expand,
and others shrink
6. The Life-Span Perspective
6
Development is Plastic
Plasticity: capacity for change
Development is Multidisciplinary
Development is of interest to psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers
Development is Contextual
All development occurs within a context (setting)
Each setting is influenced by historical, economic, social, and
cultural factors
7. Some Contemporary Concerns
7
Health and Well-Being
Parenting and Education
Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
Culture: behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products
of a particular group of people that are passed on from
generation to generation
Ethnicity: cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and
language
Socioeconomic Status (SES): a person’s position within
society based on occupational, educational, and economic
characteristics
Gender: characteristics of people as males and females
8. Social Policy Issues
8
Older Adults
Number of older adults in the U.S. is growing
dramatically
A significant increase will occur in the number of
individuals in the 85-and-older group
Access to affordable, adequate health care is a
significant issue
Many will need society’s help, as more older adults
will be unmarried, childless, and living alone
9. The Aging of America
9
People today are waiting longer to marry and raise
children. In the 1950s, it was more common for
people to marry and start a family before they were
20 years old. This difference is an example of
normative history-graded influence on development.
10. The Nature of Development
10
Development is the product of biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional processes
Biological: changes in an individual’s physical nature
Cognitive: changes in thought, intelligence, and
language
Socioemotional: changes in relationships with other
people, changes in emotions, and changes in
personality
11. The Nature of Development
11
Developmental Period: a time frame in a person’s
life that is characterized by certain features
Prenatal period: conception to birth (9 months)
Tremendous growth
Infancy: birth to 18-24 months
Dependenceupon adults
Development of many psychological activities
Early childhood: end of infancy to 5-6 years
Preschool years
Self-sufficiency and increased play
12. The Nature of Development
12
Developmental Period (continued)
Middle and late childhood: 6-11 years
Reading, writing, and arithmetic
Focus on achievement and self-control
Adolescence: varying endpoints; from 10-12 to 18-22 years
Rapid physical changes
Pursuit of independence and identity
Early adulthood: late teens to early 30’s
Personal and economic independence
Selecting a mate
13. The Nature of Development
13
Developmental Period (continued)
Middle adulthood: 40-60 years
Social involvement and responsibility
Assisting the next generation
Late adulthood: 60’s-70’s to death
Lifereview
Adjustment to new social roles
Longest developmental span
“youngest old” vs. “oldest old”
14. The Nature of Development
14
Conceptions of Age
How relevant is chronological age to understanding a
person’s psychological development?
How should age be conceptualized?
Chronological age: number of years that have elapsed
since birth
Biological age: a person’s age in terms of biological health
Psychological age: an individual’s adaptive capacities
compared with those of other individuals of the same
chronological age
Social age: social roles and expectations related to a
person’s age
15. Developmental Issues
15
Nature and Nurture: the extent to which
development is influenced by biological inheritance
and/or environmental experiences
Nature proponents argue that an evolutionary and
genetic foundation produces commonalities in growth
and development
Nurture proponents emphasize the importance of both
the biological and social environment
Life-span psychologists generally agree that nature and
nurture both influence development.
16. Developmental Issues
16
Stability and Change: the degree to which early
traits and characteristics persist through life or
change
Stability: traits and characteristics are seen as the result
of heredity and early life experiences
Change: traits and characteristics can be altered by
later experiences
Role of early and later experiences is hotly debated
17. Developmental Issues
17
Continuity and Discontinuity: focuses on whether
development is either:
A process of gradual, cumulative change (continuous)
A set of distinct stages (discontinuous)
Evaluating Developmental Issues:
Most developmentalists acknowledge that
development is not all-or-nothing
There is debate regarding how strongly each of these
issues influences development
18. Theories of Development
18
Diverse but complementary theories are used for
explaining life-span development:
Psychoanalytic theories
Cognitive theories
Behavioral and social cognitive theories
Ethological theory
Ecological theory
•Our relationships with others, changes in
emotions, and changes in personality are all
examples of socioemotional processes.
19. Psychoanalytic Theories
19
Psychoanalytic Theories: describe development as
primarily unconscious
Freud’s Theory:
Focus of sexual impulses changes throughout
development
Five stages of psychosexual development (oral, anal,
phallic, latency, genital)
Adult personality is determined by the way we resolve
conflict within each stage
Modern theorists place less emphasis on sexual
instincts and more on cultural experiences
20. Psychoanalytic Theories
20
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory:
Focused on our desire to affiliate with other people
Believed that developmental change occurs throughout
the life span
Proposed eight stages of development
Each stage comprises a crisis that must be resolved
21. Cognitive Theories
21
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory:
Stresses conscious thoughts
Emphasizes the processes of organization and
adaptation
Four stages of cognitive development in children
Each stage represents a qualitatively different way of
understanding the world
22. Cognitive Theories
22
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory:
Children actively construct their knowledge
Emphasizes how social interaction and culture guide
cognitive development
Learning is based upon the inventions of society
Less-skilled persons learn from those who are more
skilled
23. Cognitive Theories
23
Information-Processing Theory:
Emphasizes that individuals manipulate information,
monitor it, and strategize about it
Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for
processing information
Thinking is information processing
Individuals learn strategies for better information
processing
24. Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
24
Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories:
Behaviorism: we can study scientifically only what
can be directly observed and measured
Development is observable behavior that can be learned
through experience
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning:
Consequences of a behavior produce changes in the
probability of the behavior’s occurrence
A rewardincreases likelihood of behavior
A punishment decreases likelihood of behavior
25. Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
25
Bandura’s Social Cognitive
Theory:
Behavior, environment, and
cognition are key factors in
development
Observational learning:
learning through observation
People cognitively represent
the behavior of others
26. Ethological Theory
26
Ethology: stresses that behavior is strongly
influenced by biology and evolution
Characterized by critical or sensitive periods
Brought to prominence by Konrad Lorenz
Studied imprinting in geese
Bowlby stressed the importance of human attachment
during the first year of life
27. Ecological Theory
27
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory: development
reflects the influence of five environmental systems:
Microsystem: setting in which the individual lives
Mesosystem: relations between microsystems
Exosystem: links between a social setting in which the
individual does not have an active role and the individual’s
immediate context
Macrosystem: culture in which individuals live
Chronosystem: patterning of environmental events and
transitions; sociohistorical circumstances
28. Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
28
Eclectic Theoretical Orientation:
No single theory can explain all of development
Every theory has contributed to our understanding
Eclectic orientation does not follow any one theoretical
approach
Instead, it selects from each theory whatever is considered
its best features
