Chapter 1 The study of Human Development 01 17 2014 Human development focuses on the scientific study of the systematic process of change and stability in people Life span development concept of human development as a lifelong process which can be studied scientifically Domains of Development Three major domains o Physical o Cognitive o Psychosocial Physical development growth of body and brain including motor skills and health Cognitive development pattern of change in mental abilities such as learning memory Closely related to physical emotional and social factors Psychosocial development pattern of change in emotions Social construction there is no defined moment when a child becomes an adult or young person becomes old The concept of childhood itself is a social construction During early childhood children gain more self control and become interested in other children During middle childhood control over behavior shifts from parent to child and the peer group becomes important Typical Major Developments Prenatal period conception to birth physical growth is the most rapid in the life span Infancy and Toddlerhood birth to age 3 abilities to learn and remember are present in early weeks shift from dependence Early childhood 3 6 thinking is ego centric gender identity toward autonomy develops Middle Childhood 6 11 growth slows common respiratory illnesses egocentrism diminishes Adolescence 11 20 physical growth and other changes are rapid and profound search for identity sexual identity becomes central Emerging and Young Adulthood 20 40 everything is pretty stable but changes in personality may be influenced by events lifestyle choices influence health Middle Adulthood 40 65 Mental abilities peak Late Adulthood 65 and over Search for meaning in life assumes central importance health and physical abilities decline Influences on Development Individual differences differences in characteristics influences and developmental outcomes o People differ in gender height weight body build health energy level ect Heredity Environment and Maturation Influences on development Heredity inborn traits or characteristics inherited from the biological parents Environment totality of non heredity or experiential o Nature vs nurture Maturation unfolding of a natural sequence of physical and behavioral changes o Influences brain development Contexts of development and their children Nuclear family household unit consisting of one or two parents Socioeconomic status combination of economic and social factors describing and individual or family Includes income Risk factors conditions that increase the likelihood of a negative education and occupation developmental outcome Race is a factor in research because it makes a difference in how individuals are treated employment opportunities quality of Ethnic gloss overgeneralization that obscures or blurs such healthcare variations Normative and Non normative influences Normative influences biological or environmental events that affect many or most people in a society in similar ways and events Cohort group of people born at the same time Non normative unusual events that have a major impact on individual lives because they disturb the expected sequence of the life cycle Timing of Influences Critical or Sensitive Periods Imprinting instinctive form of learning in which during a critical period in early development a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it sees usually the mother o Duck example Critical period specific time when a given event or the absence of an event has a specific impact on development o If a necessary event does not occur normal development will not occur Many aspects of development have been known to show plasticity range of modifiability in performance Sensitive periods times in development when a person is especially responsive to certain kinds of experiences Paul B Balte s Life Span Developmental Approach Development is o lifelong multidimensional social biological psychological multidirectional grow in one area lose in another relative influences of biology and culture shift over lifespan involves changing resource allocations shows plasticity things can be improved with training influenced by historical and cultural context Chapter 2 theory and research 01 17 2014 Basic Theoretical Issues Scientific theory of development is a set of logically related concepts that seek to describe and explain development and predict the kinds of behaviors that might occur under certain conditions true o Theories inspire further research and predict its results by generating hypotheses o Based on assumptions that may or may not turn out to be o Hypotheses possible explanation for phenomena used to predict the outcome of research The way theorists explain development depends on their assumptions about development o 1 Whether people are active or reactive in their own o 2 Whether development is continuous or occurs in stages Issue 1 Is development active or reactive John Locke said a young child is a Blank slate on which society Writes Jean Jacques Rousseau believed children develop according to their own natural tendencies if not corrupted by society o both views are too simplistic Children have internal drives and needs that influence development They are social animals who cannot develop optimally in isolation Mechanistic Model of development Locke s and Rousseau s philosophies led to two contrasting models o 1 Mechanistic people are like machines that react to environmental input No free will react automatically o 2 Organismic people are active and growing they initiate events not just react driving force for change is internal Environmental influences don t CAUSE development but Issue 2 is development continuous or discontinuous can speed it up or slow it down Mechanistic theorists see development as continuous allows prediction of earlier behaviors from later ones o Quantitative change changes in number or amount such as height weight size of vocab or frequency Quantitative researchers measures how much a person can remember rather than how memory operates o Qualitative change discontinuous changes in kind structure or organization Cannot be anticipated easily ex the change from a nonverbal child to one who understands words and can communicate Theoretical Perspectives Five major perspectives o Psychoanalytic focuses on unconscious emotions and drives o Learning studies observable behavior o Cognitive analyzes thought
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