TOPICAL APPROACH TO LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT

- the younger the person's biological age, the longer the person is expected to live Psychological age - individual's adaptive capacities compared to those of the same chronological age Social age - connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adapt. People with better social relationships are more happy There are 3 developmental issues - answer-the nature-nurture stability-change continuity-discontinuity nature-nurture issue - answer-Debate about whether devlopement is primilary influenced by nature or nurture. Nature refers to to an organism's biological inhertiance, nurture to its environmental experiences. - EVOLUTIONARY and GENETIC foundation produce commonalities in growth and development - extreme environments can depress development stability-change issue - answer-Debate as to whether and to what degree we become older renditions of our early experience (stability) or whether we develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier point in development (change). - some say stability is the result of heredity and possibly early life experiences - the roles of early and late experience are aspect of stability change issue that has been debated Evaluating the developmental issue - answer-Nature and nurture, stability and change, and continuity and discontinuity characterize development continuity-discontinuity issue - answer-the continuity-discontinuity issue is a debate that focuses on the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity). - developmentalists who support NURture -- see development as gradual, continuous - developmentalists who support nature -- see it in distinct stages (dicontinuity) theory - answer-The interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and make predictions. hypotheses - answer-Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy. There are 5 theoretical orientations of development - answer-1. Psychoanalytic theory 2. Cognitive 3. Behavioral and social cognitive 4. Ethological 5. Ecological - the theories sometimes disagree, but mainly agree most of the time psychoanalytic theories - answer-Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized. Psychoanalytic theories include - Freud's Theory - Eriksons' Psychosocial Theory Freud's Theory - answer-Emerging Adulthood Theory: the developmental time frame occurring approximately 18 to 25 years of age; this transitional period b/t adolescence and adulthood is characterized by experimentation and exploration 1. Oral: birth-1 1/2 years --- infants pleasure centre is in the mouth 2. Anal: 1 1/2- 3 years ---child's pleasure focuses on the anus 3. Phallic: 3-6 years ---child's pleasure focuses on the genitals 4. Latency: 6-puberty ---child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skillls 5. Genital: puberty onward ---a time of sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside of family Erikson's theory - answer-Theory that proposes eight stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved. 1. Trust vs mistrust ---infancy 2. Autonomy vs shame and doubt --- infants start to see themelves independently 3. Initiative versus guilt ----occurs in the preschool years 4. Industry versus inferiority ---- in the elementary years ---- they direct energy towards knowledge ---- negative outcome is that they may feel inferior