Sydney Sturgen
PSY 230
Assignment #1
1- Summarize two theories of development. Compare and contrast these two theories.
Erikson’s psychosocial theory states that there eight developmental stages. Each stage has its
own ‘crisis’ or turning point that can determine how healthy the development of the person will be
(Santrock 2018). Each stage sets the individual up for their next stage of development and unsuccessful
development at different stages can cause issues further along in life.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory focuses on the environment of the individual. The
environment is broken down into five different environmental systems that have different types of
influence on the person. The different levels of the environment are interrelated as the chronosystem
deals with time that has passed since a major life event from that may have happened on any other
environmental level and the mesosystem makes connections between the influences in the microsystem
(Santrock 2018).
These two theories are similar in that they are broken down into several different parts that all
influence each other. Both theories show how all areas of development intertwine and feed off each other.
Both theories account for the context of life situations. Erikson's theory most certainly focuses more
normative age-graded influences but acknowledges that the context of different influences can have a
major impact on that level of development and can contribute to later areas of development.
Bronfenbrenner’s theory has context of life events more scattered throughout the different settings but
does touch on each major context.
The main difference is the angle they approach development from. While Erikson’s theory has it
split by age groups and each phase builds off the previous developmental age, Bronfenbrenner’s theory
focuses on the person’s environment, beginning with the person’s immediate family and surroundings and
builds outward from there.
2- Discuss three methods of research used in lifespan development.
Experimental research is used to study cause and effect. This research method consists of
typically a control group, which is used as a baseline and experiences all the same variables as the
experimental group, apart from the variable being manipulated. The manipulated variable is the
independent variable because it is manipulated independent from all other variables (Santrock 2018). The
dependent variable is the thing affected by the manipulation of the independent variable. Experimental
research can happen in or out of a lab, although a laboratory environment is preferred as it is easier to
control other variables that could skew results of an experiment.
Another method of research used in lifespan development is the cross-sectional study. This type
of research collects data from the population and can compare different age groups. This is beneficial
because this type of research can be completed quickly (Santrock 2018), but it doesn’t follow the same
individual, so it cannot see how each group developed over time or the long term progress a group would
make.
In contrast to the cross-sectional study, the longitudinal study follows the same group of
individuals for a long period of time. This is beneficial because it does account for the long-term progress
and development of a group of individuals. Unfortunately, because of the length of the study it takes a
long time to see results to compare. It also is much more expensive, and the sample of people used will
dwindle over time for various reasons, such as death or participants losing interest (Santrock 2018).
This study source was downloaded by 100000845738910 from CourseHero.com on 04-22-2022 06:30:43 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/48865498/PSY-230-Assignment-1docx/
PSY 230
Assignment #1
1- Summarize two theories of development. Compare and contrast these two theories.
Erikson’s psychosocial theory states that there eight developmental stages. Each stage has its
own ‘crisis’ or turning point that can determine how healthy the development of the person will be
(Santrock 2018). Each stage sets the individual up for their next stage of development and unsuccessful
development at different stages can cause issues further along in life.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory focuses on the environment of the individual. The
environment is broken down into five different environmental systems that have different types of
influence on the person. The different levels of the environment are interrelated as the chronosystem
deals with time that has passed since a major life event from that may have happened on any other
environmental level and the mesosystem makes connections between the influences in the microsystem
(Santrock 2018).
These two theories are similar in that they are broken down into several different parts that all
influence each other. Both theories show how all areas of development intertwine and feed off each other.
Both theories account for the context of life situations. Erikson's theory most certainly focuses more
normative age-graded influences but acknowledges that the context of different influences can have a
major impact on that level of development and can contribute to later areas of development.
Bronfenbrenner’s theory has context of life events more scattered throughout the different settings but
does touch on each major context.
The main difference is the angle they approach development from. While Erikson’s theory has it
split by age groups and each phase builds off the previous developmental age, Bronfenbrenner’s theory
focuses on the person’s environment, beginning with the person’s immediate family and surroundings and
builds outward from there.
2- Discuss three methods of research used in lifespan development.
Experimental research is used to study cause and effect. This research method consists of
typically a control group, which is used as a baseline and experiences all the same variables as the
experimental group, apart from the variable being manipulated. The manipulated variable is the
independent variable because it is manipulated independent from all other variables (Santrock 2018). The
dependent variable is the thing affected by the manipulation of the independent variable. Experimental
research can happen in or out of a lab, although a laboratory environment is preferred as it is easier to
control other variables that could skew results of an experiment.
Another method of research used in lifespan development is the cross-sectional study. This type
of research collects data from the population and can compare different age groups. This is beneficial
because this type of research can be completed quickly (Santrock 2018), but it doesn’t follow the same
individual, so it cannot see how each group developed over time or the long term progress a group would
make.
In contrast to the cross-sectional study, the longitudinal study follows the same group of
individuals for a long period of time. This is beneficial because it does account for the long-term progress
and development of a group of individuals. Unfortunately, because of the length of the study it takes a
long time to see results to compare. It also is much more expensive, and the sample of people used will
dwindle over time for various reasons, such as death or participants losing interest (Santrock 2018).
This study source was downloaded by 100000845738910 from CourseHero.com on 04-22-2022 06:30:43 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/48865498/PSY-230-Assignment-1docx/
