Development and Change People often say they hate change Development is not possible without change Development is change over time Not all time periods are equal o Different rates foci of development in different eras Not all change is development o Functionally significant o Relatively permanent All of this change takes place In contexts In relationships Across all of life Development is essentially systematic change over time that is functionally significant and relatively permanent o Across bio psycho social and spiritual Useful applied to real life setting o Quality of life clients students etc Conditions Parents situations dads alcoholism moms recovering AA Shanes mood problems my own self esteem issues socioeconomic college I chose Events Twist dying Rennie dying Alicia Moms surgery sports Relationships With my family Sue Aunt Carol Jeff Farrington Farms friends Twist Rennie Girl Cat Neo Buddy Development in personal context What is just one of the factors change how different would you be why One implication you can change some relationships and some events and some conditions so you can influence development Another implication you did not choose ALL the conditions relationships or events so some development is resistant to influence through interventions Development is probabilistic NOT deterministic Lifespan Development From conception to death Longest authenticated life for a person is 122 years 164 days Think of all the changes that took place in her life walk talk etc during her life history and cohort effects bio psycho social spiritual CONTEXTS o Multiple intersection contexts that we often associate with DIVERSITY o Race class gender sexual preference Cohort culture health ability personality family form and family functioning educational attainment Big Questions in Development Persistent across time and contexts Nature Nurture Heredity Environment Continuity Discontinuity Smooth progression abrupt shifts Universal Context specific Everyone Personal Pendulum swings within disciplinary advances e g technology or theoretical advances and then social backlashes Life Span Perspectives Understanding development is critical for provisions of optimal services to clients patients students and families Understanding development is beneficial for enhancing your own development life satisfaction and relationships Understanding inter relatedness of choices actions contexts and development Shaping Human Development in Applied Perspective Building an Understanding of Development Fact to Ponder