2 3 4 5 2 3 Common Criteria of Adulthood 1 can have children Biologically mature based on maturational variables puberty sex characters Age based criteria Chronological Age Social Privilege cost Demonstrated economic independence works and is economically self suffi cient Adult like decisions are made to marry have a vocational identity raise children show adult moral reasoning consider legal applications Psychological factors often theory dependent established sense of self mental age formal operations There is no single factor that is either sufficient or exists in isolation to define adulthood Also consider rights of passage adult making rituals public declarations of adulthood Varied Aspects of Age 1 Chronological Age time since birth or conception Most widely used index of age Mental Age age at which a person is functioning mentally Behavior typical of a certain age Biological Age based on maturation of various biological systems bone age dental tional age 4 5 The age of a person regarding their biological system sometimes called func Social Age how one behaves in terms of social expectations for a certain age Attributional Age the age others think you are dependent upon behavioral factors biological factors social factors What Age Does Age is a highly valued construct young children want to be older teens want to look older adults want to look younger It is also useful in research and practice What Age Does Not Do Age does not cause behavior Age does not cause change Age does not cause development It is simply a measure of time and developmental processes take place over time Useful Terms and Concepts Multi directionality developmental changes can move in different directions simulta neously types of intelligence Epigenetic Inheritance process in which the genes one receives at conception are modified by subsequent environmental events infants of untreated depressed mothers more likely to show markers for depression later in life Stage Theories organized periods of particular behaviors or internal states Discontinuity rather abrupt qualitative changes Plasticity developmental term that means modifiability or changeability Normative History Graded Influences developmental effects connected to events and conditions experienced by everyone in the culture at that time Normative Age Graded Effects common effects of age experienced by most people Many historical examples of age roles must have known development continued after childhood There has always been an interest in reversing the aging process Zeus grants eternal youth Ponce de Leon 1513 looking for fountain of youth Scientific Interest in Aging began in 1920s 1 2 3 G Stanley Hall published Senescence the Second Half of Life Dissemination of Freud s ideas about personality development Pavlov s report on age differences in the ability of older people to be classically conditioned However others say it has been demographic changes that trigger scientific study of adulthood 1 2 3 People live longer than in the recent past There are more older people Older people in many societies have great influence power and wealth How do we get reliable scientific information on adult development and aging Principally through research Reliability repeatability accuracy test retest inter observer internal consistency equivalent form Validity usefulness internal vs external content construct concurrent predictive face Research Approaches and Designs 1 Observational Research 2 Case Studies 3 Self Report Research 4 Correlational a describe the nature and strength of relationship between variables 5 b advantages and disadvantages Experimental Research independent variable that which the experimenter manipulates dependent variable that which is measured experimental group control group placebos and confounds Developmental Research Designs variable seen through the lens of age and time dependent processes Look at three things 1 2 3 What is stable across development What behavior change is seen What changes internally within person level Measured in a developmental design are 1 Age Effects differences in behavior as a function of changes in bio psycho social forces over time 2 3 lives Cohort Effects due to experiences of a particular generation and time that one Time of Measurement Effects influences at work in the environment at the time the data are collected recession famine or really lousy TV programming These confounds can be tricky what defines a generation do TOM effects influence everyone variability in age across systems Major Developmental Designs Cross Sectional people of different ages at same time Longitudinal same people at different times Time Lag same age groups at different times example comparing dating in 1950 1980 2005 different groups of people Scientific approaches to studying adults have been slow coming Research approaches vary from the single case through the groups study correlation experimental developmental Different developmental designs have strengths and weakness but all seek to under stand stability and change as a function of age and time dependent processes Pertinent Theoretical Perspectives How do we explain the human developmental path What are the most significant influences on the development of any given adult Are they biological or social Is there a predictable sequence to the events of adult life Are there stages akin to those we so readily embrace in childhood Are there such individual differences that there is no reasonable way to describe any commonality to the sequence Theories of Adult Development Attempt to describe the common elements and conceptualize the forces at work in mak ing them 1 Assumptions axioms and postulates that the theorist accepts as being self evi dent Example people behave to satisfy their inner drives for food sex control etc Drive Reduction Theory 2 Theorists develop structure and systems in their theories to show relationships between variables and define terms Secondary drives develop from relationships to satisfying physiological needs too such as the drive to get money 3 Logical Deductions Testable hypotheses are developed which suggest expected outcomes if the theory is accurate When a person is in a state of deprivation they will likely seek out the satisfaction of their primary drives When hypotheses repeatedly receive support theorists often advance conclusions in the form of principles or laws Primary Drive Pre eminence person experiencing relative deprivation will