Understanding lifespan, human development Flashcards
What do we mean by development?
Systemic changes and continuities in an individual
Occur between conception and death: physical development, cognitive development, psychosocial development
Defining development
Growth - physical changes: conception to maturity
Biological aging - deterioration of organisms, gain stability loss
Aging - physical, cognitive and psychosocial changes; positive and negative
Periods of the lifespan
Prenatal period: conception to birth
Infancy: first two years of life
Preschool Period: 2 to 5/6 years
Middle childhood: 6 to 10 years
Adolescence: 10 to 18 years
Emerging adulthood: 18 to 25 years
Early adulthood: 25 to 40 years
Middle adult head: 40 to 65 years
Late adult hood: 65 years and older
Cultural differences
Age means different things in different societies
Age grade
Socially defined age group in a society
Assigned different roles, responsibilities, statuses, privileges
Rite of passage
That marks the persons passage from one status to another
Age norms
Societies way of telling people how to act their age which influence peoples decisions about how to lead their lives
Social clock
Person sense of: when things should be done, when they are ahead or behind schedule, dictated by age norms
Subcultural differences
Ethnicity, socioeconomic, statuses,
Developmental changes by nature
Hereditary, maturation, genes, innate, or biologically based predispositions
Developmental changes by nurture
Environment, learning, experience, cultural influences
How does the concept of aging differ from the concept of biological aging?
Biological aging refers to the biological deterioration of the organism leading to death
Aging refers to positive as well as negative changes in a range of areas (physical, cognitive psychosocial) in mature organisms
Goals of studying development
Description prediction explanation optimization
Theory
Propositions intended to describe and explain certain phenomena
Hypothesis
Predictions regarding a particular set of observations
Three major types of data collection
Verbal reports
Behavioral observations
Physiological measurements
Verbal reports
Interviews
questionnaires or surveys
ability and achievement tests
Personality scales
Behavioral observation
Naturalistic observation – observing people in every day surroundings
Physiological measurements
Hormones
Heart rate
Skin conductance
Brain activity
Case study
In-depth examination of one or a few individuals
Can complement correlation on experimental research
Can be a good source of hypothesis
Can provide a rich picture of atypical development
May not generalize to other individuals
Experimental method
Investigator manipulates variable(environment)
Independent variable (IV) “cause” Variable that is manipulated so that causal effects can be assessed
Dependent variable (DV) “effect” variable expected to be affected
Three key features of a true experiment
- random assignment of participants to different experimental conditions
- manipulation of the IV
- Experimental control – factors other than IV are held constant.
Cross-sectional design
Different age groups are compared
Provides information about age differences
Age effects
Relationship between age and development
Define cohort
A group of people born at the same time
Longitudinal design
One cohort of individuals assessed repeatedly overtime
Provide information about age changes rather than age differences
Can indicate whether correct characteristics/behaviors measured remain consistent overtime 
