Transcript A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development

Lifespan
Development: A Topical
Approach
Robert S. Feldman
Orientation
What is Human Development?
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It is a pattern of movement and change
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Some things change
Some things stay the same
Movement & change include growth,
transition, and decline.
The Lifespan Perspective
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History
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Studied child development since about 1900.
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Studied adult development since about 1960.
The reason for the difference is cultural
change & increased longevity (life
expectancy).
Life Expectancy Changes
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Lifespan, the maximum number of years a
human being could live (about 120 years)
remains relatively constant.
Life expectancy, the number of years a
person can expect to live when born in a
certain place in a certain year, changes.
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U.S., 1900 47 years
U.S., 2005, 77 years (30 year increase)
Lifespan Research is Multidisciplinary
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Where did this information come from?
Research and study in many fields of
endeavor including psychology, sociology,
anthropology, education, and medicine.
What types of influences form the
context of development?
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Normative age-graded (cultural)
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Normative history-graded (historical)
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e.g., puberty, graduation, retirement
e.g., war, famine, earthquakes, terrorism
Non-normative life events & conditions
(personal)
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Individual experiences, biology, personality
Assumptions
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In order to discuss or examine
phenomena or issues, we must make
assumptions.
If we do not make the same assumptions,
we need to know that and not waste time
talking past one another.
Worldview
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Collective assumptions about how the
world operates or should operate
Examples:
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socialist vs. capitalist
Origins: evolution, creation, intelligent
design, pan-spermia (ancient aliens), don’t
know
Historical Views of Human Nature
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Prevailing views of children (human nature)
throughout history?
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Preformationism
Original Sin
Tabula Rasa
Innate Goodness
How does each view affect child-rearing
practices?
Historical View: Preformationism
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Time: 6th 15th Centuries
View: Children are basically small adults
without unique needs and characteristics.
Effect: Little or no need for special
treatment
Historical View - Original Sin
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Time: 16th Century (Puritan)
View: Children are born sinful and more
apt to grow up to do evil than good.
Effect: Parents must discipline children to
ensure morality and ultimate salvation.
Historical View - Tabula Rasa
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Time: 17th Century, philosopher John
Locke (behaviorist)
View: Children are born “blank slates”
and parents can train them in any
direction they wish (with little resistance).
Effect: Shaping children’s behavior by
reward and punishment.
Historical View – Innate Goodness
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Time: 18th Century, philosopher Jean
Jacque Rousseau (humanist)
View: Children are “noble savages” who
are born with an innate sense of morality.
Effect: Parents should not try to mold
them at all.
Issue: Nature vs. Nurture
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Nature = biological inheritance (genetics)
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Nurture = all experience
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Rousseau (humanists)
Locke (tabula rasa)
Is that all there is? (Is it neither?)
Are they separable? Is it both?
What is epigenetic theory?
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Interaction of nature and nurture
What does age have to do with it?
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How many ways can we conceptualize (think
about) age?
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Chronological age: years since birth
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Biological age: health; vital organ capacity
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Psychological age: adaptable; learning;
flexible; good judgment
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Social age: roles, expectations
What are the periods (age groups) of
development?
These are not standard across textbooks.
However, they roughly agree.
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Prenatal - conception to birth
Infancy – birth to about 2 years
Early childhood – about ages 2-6 (preschool)
Middle & late childhood – about ages 6-11
Adolescence – ages 10-12 or puberty until about
ages 18-22 or independence
What are the periods (age groups) of
development?
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Early adulthood – ages 20/25 – 40/45
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Middle adulthood – ages 40/45 – 60/65
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Late adulthood – ages 60/65 on
 Young old: 65-84
 Oldest old: 85+
To what extent are we becoming
an age-irrelevant society?
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People‘s lives are more varied.
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We have a loose “social clock.”
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The frequency of reported happiness is
about the same for all ages. (78%)
Theories (Perspectives) of Development
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Psychoanalytic /Psychodynamic
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Freud: unconscious mind; sexual motivation
 Personality formed by age 6
Erikson: eight socioemotional stages in the life-span
(very influential; not very scientific/testable)
Behavioral (tabula rasa)
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Classical conditioning (automatic learning from
experience
Operant conditioning (reward & punishment)
Social-cognitive learning (observation & imitation)
(very testable, but ignores individual differences)
Psychoanalytic Theory:
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
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Eight psychosocial stages in the lifespan
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Trust v. mistrust
Autonomy v. shame/doubt
Initiative v. guilt
Industry v. inferiority
Identity v. confusion
Intimacy v. isolation
Generativity v. stagnation
Integrity v. despair
Review of Theories
Recommendations:
We will not be studying these theories directly in this course.
However, their general principles may be referred to in
explaining developmental events or processes. If you feel
that you need to review them, I would recommend:
1. your textbook
2. any Introduction to Psychology textbook
3. www. allpsych.com
4. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/perscontents.html
5. Google the word in question, e.g., psychoanalysis,
ethology, B. F. Skinner, etc.
Data
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Where do we get our data?
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What information are we going to believe?
What are the techniques of
collecting data?
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Observation
Survey/interview: asking questions
Standardized Tests
Physiological Measures
Case Study
Life-history records
Research Designs
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Descriptive – includes more detail
Correlational – numbers show strength &
direction of relationship
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Used for prediction
Ranges from -1.00 to +1.00 (+ is direct; - is
inverse); Remember: correlation does not
equal causation
Experimental
Experiments
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Manipulation in experiments means there
is different treatment in different groups.
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The experimental group experiences the
“real” treatment or manipulation.
Control groups do not; they are for
comparison. (“Placebo” controls get a fake
treatment.)
Random assignment of participants to groups
ensures that groups start out the same.
Experiments Provide Evidence of Cause-Effect
Relationships
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This is because of control and manipulation.
One situational factor (Independent Variable) is
manipulated.
A behavior (Dependent Variable) is measured.
All other factors are “held constant” or the same in all
groups. (This is control.)
A change in the dependent variable (behavior) could
only be caused by manipulation of the independent
variable because all else was controlled.
Research on How People Change
across the Lifespan
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Cross-sectional research: People of different
ages are measured in the same year.
 Cohort effects may occur. These are
differences due not to common age, but
common experience
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Longitudinal research: The same people are
repeatedly measured across different years.
 Expensive, time-consuming, dropouts
Research on How People Change
across the Lifespan
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Sequential or cross-sequential research: a
combination of cross-sectional and
longitudinal
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People of different ages are measure the first
year. Then at intervals (e.g., 1, 5, 10 years),
the same people are measured again and new
groups are added.
It is better to have data, but. .
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Data is no guarantee of accuracy.
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Did you do it right?
Did you interpret it right?
Did you fudge the results on purpose?
Could anyone replicate it?
Was it correlational?
Can it even be researched?
So what do we do with other
information?
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Ancient aliens: Do we discount as
mythology? Does archeology count?
Piaget & Freud – mere observation
How do we use data?
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Don’t use it to turn your mind off.
Don’t ignore it
Stop to think why you accept information
or not
Question yourself as to why you believe it
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Logic, evidence, want to?
Ways to be Confused
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Too little information
Too much information
Deliberately sowing false information or
irrelevant information
How Do We Know? Or Do We
Just Believe?
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Robyn Dawes
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Why believe that for which there is no good
evidence?
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http://www.fmsonline.org/dawes.html
(Or possibly evidence to the contrary?)
Most of what we know, we actually believe
that we know from authority and consensus.
How Do We Know? Or Do We
Just Believe?
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Authority implies that the knowledge is
reliable
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Source is trustworthy
No ulterior motives
In position to have this type of knowledge
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However, we often attribute this to consistency of
report/public exposure (media).
Consensus means that no one questions it.