EDCO 268 – Fall 2012 Lifespan Development

Theory 

Shawn Ogimachishogimac@cabrillo.edu

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•The scientific study of human growth throughout life

•Is rooted in Child Development - the scientific study of development from birth to adolescence

•Closely related to Gerontology, the scientific study of aging and Adult Development, the scientific study of the adult stage of life

•Lifespan Development is studied by “Developmental Scientists” also called Developmentalists

Lifespan Development

Lifespan Development •Multidisciplinary or Interdisciplinary

•Predictable milestones of the human journey

•Focuses on the individual differences

•Explores the impact of life transitionsNormative transitions - predictableNon-normative - unforeseen

Contexts of Development

•Contexts of Development - identifiable markers including cohort, socioeconomic status, culture, and gender that influence development throughout the lifespan

•Cohort - our age group, the age group with whom we travel through life

•Baby Boomers - the age group born between 1946 and 1964

•Average Life Expectancy - your fifty fifty chance at birth to living to a certain age

•20th Century life expectancy revolution - the dramatic increase in life expectancy in developed nations and societies

•Maximum lifespan - the biological limit of human life (about 105 years)

•Young Old - 60s and 70s

•Old Old - 80 and beyond

Changing Conceptions of Later Life

Socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status - marker that measures income and education

Developed World - higher incomes, educational levels and life expectancy

Developing World - lower educational levels, income, and life expectancy

Culture, Ethnicity, and Gender

Collectivist Cultures - value social harmony, obedience and close family ties over individual achievement

Individualist Cultures - value independence, competition, and personal success

Gender

Theory

•Perspectives that explain human behavior

•Theories are used to predict behavior and suggest how to intervene to change behaviors

•NATURE - Biological or genetic causes of development

•NURTURE - Environmental causes of Behavior

Traditional Behaviorism - Nurture Theory

John Watson and B. F. Skinner

•Focused on “Objective” or visible behaviors

•Operant Conditioning - we act the way we do because we are reinforced for acting that way

•Reinforcement - Behavioral term for reward

•Extinction - complete lack of reinforcement

Cognitive Behaviorism

People learn by watching others and our thinking about reinforcers determine our behaviors

Modeling - learning by watching and imitating others

Self- efficacy - an internal belief in ourselves that predicts our successes resiliency

Albert Bandura

Attachment Theory John Bowlby

The importance of being connected to a caregiver in early childhood and being attached to a significant other during all of life.

Combines elements of nature and nurture as Bowlby argued that attachment response is genetically programmed in humans

Evolutionary Psychology

Inborn biological forces - explain behavior and development

Certain behaviors cannot be changed by reinforcers

Behavioral Genetics - Studies the role of hereditary forces in determining individual differences in behavior

Nature - Nurture

Evocative forces - inborn (nature) temperaments that evoke or produce responses other humans

Bidirectionality - people affect each other, interpersonal influences flow in both directions

Nature shapes Nurture

Active Forces - genetic temperamental tendencies lead us to actively seek environments that let us be ourselves.

Person-Environment Fit - How well the environment fits our nature

Age Linked Theories Jean Piaget

Cognitive Development Theory - from infancy to adolescence, children progress through four qualitatively different stages of intellectual growth

Assimilation - first step in Piaget’s theory - fitting the environment into our mental capacities

Accommodation - expanding our mental capacities to fit the world

Age Linked Theories Erik Erikson

Theorized that we develop throughout life

Identified 8 life stages with psychosocial tasks at each stage

Developmental Systems Perspective

Stresses the need to use many different approaches

Emphasis the need to look at interactions of processes - every influence on development relates

Research Methods

Correlation study - relating two or more variables

• Mixing the result with the cause

• There may be another variable that explains the result

Experiments - randomly assigning people to different treatments and then looking at the outcome. Isolates the independent variable

Research Methods

Experiments - randomly assigning people to different treatments and then looking at the outcome. Isolates the independent variable

Measuring variables

Naturalistic Observation

Direct observation: codes action

+ Direct record of behavior- Time intensive- People behave differently when watched

Measuring variables

Self Reports - Questionnaires where people report on their feelings, interests, attitudes, and thoughts

+ Easy to administer provides data quickly - Subject to bias

Measuring variables

Ability tests - measuring skills

+ Objective measure of performance

- May not accurately measure that skill in the “real world”

Measuring variables

Observer reports - Knowledgeable person or trained observer completes scales evaluating the person

+ Offers a structured look at the person’s behavior

- Observers have their biases

Cross- Sectional Studies

A developmental research strategy that involves testing different age groups at the same time

Tend to give us snapshots about the differences among cohorts

Measures group differences rather than individual differences

Longitudinal Studies

Research strategy that tests an age group repeatedly over many years

Requires time, planning, resources,

Participants often are motivated individuals

EDCO 268 – Fall 2012 Practicum in Lifespan and

Career Development 

Shawn N. Ogimachishogimac@cabrillo.edu

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