Development - pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and
continues through the human life span
Life-span perspective views development as lifelong, multidimensional,
multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual and as a process that
involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
Views of development
Development is lifelong
Development is multidimensional
o Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional
dimensions
o Under cognitive dimension: Attention, memory, abstract thinking,
speed of processing information, and social intelligence
Development is multidirectional
o Some aspects or components of a dimension expand or shrink
Development is plastic
o Plasticity - capacity for change
Developmental science is multidisciplinary
Development is contextual
o Context - families, schools, peer groups, churches, cities,
neighborhoods, university laboratories, countries
o Influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors
o Context has three types of influences
Normative age-graded influences - similar for individuals in a
particular age group; menopause, puberty, also include socio-cultural
and environmental process like beginning of formal education
Normative history graded influences - common to people of
particular generation because of historical circumstances
Nonnormative or highly individualized life events - unusual
occurances that impact an individual's life
Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
o Mastery of life involves conflicts, and competition among three goals
of human development: growth, maintenance, and regulation of
loss
Development is a co-construction of biology, culture, and the individual
Culture - encompassses the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products
of a particular group of people that are passed on from generation to
generation
Cross-cultural studies - compare aspects of two or more cultures
Ethnicity - rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language
Socioeconomic status - person's position within society based on
occupational, educational, and economic characteristics
Gender - characteristics of peolple as males and females
, Social policy - government's course of action designed to promote the welfare
of its citizens
The Nature of Development
Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Process
Biological process - produce changes in an individual's physical nature
o Genes inheretied from parents, the development of brain, height, and
weight, changes in motor skills, nutrition etc
Cognitive process - individual's thought, intelligence, and language
Socioemotional process - changes in the individual's relationships with other
people, changes in personality
Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are bidirectional
Periods of development
Developmental period - time frame in a person's life that is characterized by
certain features
Prenatal period - time from conception to birth. Involves tremendous growth
from single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities
Infancy - developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months. Time of
extreme dependence upon adults. Beginning of psychological activtiies like
language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning
Early childhood infancy to 5 or 6. Preschool years. Learning to become self-
sufficient
Middle or late childhood - developmental period from 6-11 years old.
Fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered.
Achievement is more central theme of the child's world, and self-control
increases
Adolescence - childhood to early adulthood - starts at 10-12, and ends at 18-
21 years old. Begins with rapid physical changes and dramatic gains in height
and wright, changes in body contour, and development of sexual
characteristics like breasts, pubic and facial hair etc
Early adulthood - developmental period that begins in early 20s and lasts
through 30s. Time of establishing personal and economic independence, career
development, and learningto live with someone in an intimate way, starting a
family and rearing children
Middle adulthood - developmental period of approximately 40 years of age to
about 60. Expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility
Late adulthood- 60s or 70s and until death. Life review, retirement,
adjustment to new social roles involving decreasing strength and health
o Longest life span
o Oldest- old -85 years of age - major changes have to take place
o Young-old - 65-84 - have substantial potential for physical and
cognitive fitness, retain much of their cognitive capacity, and can develop
strategies to cope with the gains and losses of aging
First age: Childhood and adolescence
Second age: Prime adulthood, 20s through 50s
Third age: Approximately 60 to 79 years of age
continues through the human life span
Life-span perspective views development as lifelong, multidimensional,
multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual and as a process that
involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
Views of development
Development is lifelong
Development is multidimensional
o Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional
dimensions
o Under cognitive dimension: Attention, memory, abstract thinking,
speed of processing information, and social intelligence
Development is multidirectional
o Some aspects or components of a dimension expand or shrink
Development is plastic
o Plasticity - capacity for change
Developmental science is multidisciplinary
Development is contextual
o Context - families, schools, peer groups, churches, cities,
neighborhoods, university laboratories, countries
o Influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors
o Context has three types of influences
Normative age-graded influences - similar for individuals in a
particular age group; menopause, puberty, also include socio-cultural
and environmental process like beginning of formal education
Normative history graded influences - common to people of
particular generation because of historical circumstances
Nonnormative or highly individualized life events - unusual
occurances that impact an individual's life
Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
o Mastery of life involves conflicts, and competition among three goals
of human development: growth, maintenance, and regulation of
loss
Development is a co-construction of biology, culture, and the individual
Culture - encompassses the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products
of a particular group of people that are passed on from generation to
generation
Cross-cultural studies - compare aspects of two or more cultures
Ethnicity - rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language
Socioeconomic status - person's position within society based on
occupational, educational, and economic characteristics
Gender - characteristics of peolple as males and females
, Social policy - government's course of action designed to promote the welfare
of its citizens
The Nature of Development
Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Process
Biological process - produce changes in an individual's physical nature
o Genes inheretied from parents, the development of brain, height, and
weight, changes in motor skills, nutrition etc
Cognitive process - individual's thought, intelligence, and language
Socioemotional process - changes in the individual's relationships with other
people, changes in personality
Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are bidirectional
Periods of development
Developmental period - time frame in a person's life that is characterized by
certain features
Prenatal period - time from conception to birth. Involves tremendous growth
from single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities
Infancy - developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months. Time of
extreme dependence upon adults. Beginning of psychological activtiies like
language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning
Early childhood infancy to 5 or 6. Preschool years. Learning to become self-
sufficient
Middle or late childhood - developmental period from 6-11 years old.
Fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered.
Achievement is more central theme of the child's world, and self-control
increases
Adolescence - childhood to early adulthood - starts at 10-12, and ends at 18-
21 years old. Begins with rapid physical changes and dramatic gains in height
and wright, changes in body contour, and development of sexual
characteristics like breasts, pubic and facial hair etc
Early adulthood - developmental period that begins in early 20s and lasts
through 30s. Time of establishing personal and economic independence, career
development, and learningto live with someone in an intimate way, starting a
family and rearing children
Middle adulthood - developmental period of approximately 40 years of age to
about 60. Expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility
Late adulthood- 60s or 70s and until death. Life review, retirement,
adjustment to new social roles involving decreasing strength and health
o Longest life span
o Oldest- old -85 years of age - major changes have to take place
o Young-old - 65-84 - have substantial potential for physical and
cognitive fitness, retain much of their cognitive capacity, and can develop
strategies to cope with the gains and losses of aging
First age: Childhood and adolescence
Second age: Prime adulthood, 20s through 50s
Third age: Approximately 60 to 79 years of age
