CHAPTER 1 & 2: LIFESPAN
DEVELOPMENT - A TOPICAL
APPROACH. EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 100% PASS 2026/2027
Lifespan development - ANS Field of study that explores patters of stability, continuity,
growth and change that occur from birth to death
What are the domains of development? - ANS Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and
emotional
Physical development - ANS Changes in the body and how a person uses their body
Why study lifespan development? - ANS Indicates typical behaviour, enables appropriate
responses, recognises deviations from the norm and enables advocacy.
List the 3 different lifespan development perspectives - ANS Ecological system -
'Brofenbrenner'
Normative and non-normative system - 'Paul Baltes'
Developmental system - 'Ford + Lerner'
@2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED 1
, Theory - ANS A set of ordered, integrated statements that seek to explain, describe and
predict human behaviour.
Cognitive Development - ANS Changes in methods and styles of thinking, language ability and
language use, and strategies for remembering and recalling information.
Psychosocial development - ANS Changes in feelings or emotions and well as changes in
relations with other people.
psychodynamic developmental theories - ANS Freudian Theory - psychosexual development
Erikson's psychosocial theory
Object relations - Mahler, Stern
behavioural and social cognitive developmental theories - ANS Classic conditioning - Pavlov
Operant conditioning - Skinner
Observational learning - Bandura
cognitive developmental theories - ANS Piaget's cognitive theory
Information Processing Theory
Neo Piagetian (Case, Fisher)
contextual developmental theories - ANS Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
Ethological theory
Adulthood and lifespan developmental theories - ANS Normative-crisis model
@2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED 2
DEVELOPMENT - A TOPICAL
APPROACH. EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 100% PASS 2026/2027
Lifespan development - ANS Field of study that explores patters of stability, continuity,
growth and change that occur from birth to death
What are the domains of development? - ANS Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and
emotional
Physical development - ANS Changes in the body and how a person uses their body
Why study lifespan development? - ANS Indicates typical behaviour, enables appropriate
responses, recognises deviations from the norm and enables advocacy.
List the 3 different lifespan development perspectives - ANS Ecological system -
'Brofenbrenner'
Normative and non-normative system - 'Paul Baltes'
Developmental system - 'Ford + Lerner'
@2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED 1
, Theory - ANS A set of ordered, integrated statements that seek to explain, describe and
predict human behaviour.
Cognitive Development - ANS Changes in methods and styles of thinking, language ability and
language use, and strategies for remembering and recalling information.
Psychosocial development - ANS Changes in feelings or emotions and well as changes in
relations with other people.
psychodynamic developmental theories - ANS Freudian Theory - psychosexual development
Erikson's psychosocial theory
Object relations - Mahler, Stern
behavioural and social cognitive developmental theories - ANS Classic conditioning - Pavlov
Operant conditioning - Skinner
Observational learning - Bandura
cognitive developmental theories - ANS Piaget's cognitive theory
Information Processing Theory
Neo Piagetian (Case, Fisher)
contextual developmental theories - ANS Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
Ethological theory
Adulthood and lifespan developmental theories - ANS Normative-crisis model
@2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED 2
