Life Span Perspective Scientific study of how people change over the life span Emphasizes continuity over the lifespan Developmental change is not discrete Development is lifelong Developmental Change Multi directional Some things are gained others are lost Growth Maintenance Regulation of Loss Multi contextual Many different factors affect change Genes environment culture etc Multi disciplinary Change occurs in many ways Neurology learning intelligence social cultural Plasticity Change can occur at any time but to varying degrees General Domains of Change Biological Biological changes How they influence psychological social behavior How social environmental factors affect biological change Cognitive performance Change in perceptual motor cognitive intellectual Psycho Social socioemotional Change in personality self concept relationships Bio Psycho Social Perspective High level view that all factors need to be considered to understand development Nature vs Nurture debate Classical philosophy rationalism vs empiricism Greek rationalism Plato true knowledge attained only through introspection reason and innate ideas British empiricism John Locke blank slate all ideas come from the senses Modern rationalism Genetics Modern empiricism Behaviorism learning theory Nature AND Nurture Biological Perspective Maturational Theory A Gesell Development follows a pre planned program Genetically determined DNA causes development Biological Perspective Ethological Theory e g K Lorenz Role of evolution emphasized Many early behaviors are adaptive and evolutionarily programmed e g Clinging sucking crying Environment is important too Critical Periods in development The Critical Period A time in development when specific learning can occur Before or after this period this specific learning cannot take place or is very difficult Lorenz Baby geese follow their mother instinctively soon after birth Adaptive response evolution Study removed mother for 1st day of chick s life chicks would not follow mother critical period for learning this lasted 1 day Genetic AND environmental influence collaborate Critical Period Preview Language learning Critical period of about 12 years After that extremely difficult to learn language Example Genie Abused child Raised in isolation v rarely spoken to never taught language Discovered at age 13 After intensive teaching never attained fluency better than a 2 year old Psychodynamic perspective Freud s Psychodynamic Theory Unconscious innate instincts drive development Personality develops as instinctual needs are frustrated or indulged Erikson s Psychosocial theory Strong emphasis on psychological and social aspects of development 8 Stages of development Each stage contains a Crisis or challenge that must be met in order to move to next stage Classic example of stage theory of development 8 Psychosocial stages Trust vs Mistrust Autonomy vs Shame and doubt Initiative vs Guilt Industry vs Inferiority Identity vs Identity confusion Intimacy vs Isolation Generativity vs Stagnation Integrity vs Despair Learning Perspective Development depends on learning experience Pavlov Classical conditioning Skinner Operant conditioning Importance of consequences of behavior Reinforcement vs Punishment Cognitive Perspective Bandura s Social Cognitive Theory Observational learning and reasoning Piaget s theory Children as na ve scientists Experiential in nature Children interact with world observe what happens Learning about gravity etc Assimilation vs Accommodation Piaget s 4 stages Sensorimotor Motor and perceptual development Pre operational thought Basic symbolic reasoning Concrete operational thought Logical thought Formal operational thought Abstract thinking Contextual Perspective Strong influence on environment context of Analysis of ecological contexts Family and close friends school church Interaction between different microsystems development Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Community mass media Macrosystem Culture socioeconomic conditions political conditions Experimental methods General scientific method Develop hypothesis Test it Internal validity of experiment Proper controls Must have proper groups for comparison Free from confounding variables Must be no other explanation for your results Example Hypothesis Better nutrition improves intellectual development How to test it Experimental Group Give children good diet programs to follow Observe performance on intelligence measures over time Control Group 2nd group of children no diet program Observe performance on intelligence measures over time Must minimize individual differences between Exp and Control group Randomization Example cont How much time Longitudinal study term Cross sectional study Depends on hypothesis Developmental studies usually fairly long time Follow the same group of children over the long Compare two different groups of children at different ages Inappropriate for current example Developmental Design Longitudinal Design Advantages Following same S s over time so no worry about inter subject variability Disadvantages Takes a long time Cross sectional Design Advantages Takes less time Disadvantages Worry about differences between the groups Cohort effect pre existing differences due to age differences e g generation gap Developmental Design Cross sequential design Combination of both designs Get advantages of both Follow one group over time Compare this group to another age group Logic of Experimental Method Do something to experimental group Do nothing to control group Observe differences between 2 groups Conclude that the thing you did to the 1st group is the cause of the difference between groups The thing you do e g special diet is called the Independent Variable What you measure e g intellectual development is called the Dependent Variable Non Experimental Design Research study without proper controls or an Independent Variable Correlational designs A measure of the strength of the relationship between 2 or more variables e g Strong correlation between ice cream sales and violent crime Correlations Cannot infer any causality E g Does violent crime cause people to buy ice cream Do ice cream sales increase violence Directionality problem which one causes which 3rd variable problem something else causes both namely ambient temperature it s the summer its hot people eat ice cream some people experience stress in the heat become frustrated commit violence Examples of Non Experimental studies Naturalistic