Chapter 1: Introduction

The Lifespan Perspective:

Development is the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and
continues though the human life span.
- Most development involves growth, but it also includes decline and dying.

Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective:

Although growth and development are dramatic during the first two decades of
life, development is not something that only happens to kids.
- The life-span perspective emphasizes developmental change throughout
adulthood as well as during childhood.

The max life span of humans has not changed since the beginning of recorded
history, life expectancy (the average number of years that a person born in a
particular year can expect to live), however, has changed. In the 20th century life
expectancy increased 30 years!

The life-span perspective the belief that development occurs throughout life is
a central idea.
- However, it has other characteristics as well. It views development as lifelong,
multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual,
and as a process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.
- In Bates view, it is important to understand that development is constructed
through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors working together.

Looking at each of these characteristics:

o Development is Lifelong Early adulthood is not the end of development.
- No age period dominates development.
o Development is Multidimensional At every age, your body, mind, emotions, and
your relationships change and affect each other.
- It is biological, cognitive, and socioemotional and within each of these
dimensions are many components.
o Development is Multidirectional Throughout life, some dimensions or
components of a dimension expand and others shrink.
- For example, when one language such as English is acquired early in
development, the capacity for acquiring a second language decreases later in
development, especially after early childhood.

o Development is Plastic Plasticity is the capacity for change.

- Cognitive skills of older adults can be improved through training and
development of better strategies.
- However, it is possible that we possess less capacity for change when we
become old.
o Developmental Science is Multidisciplinary Psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers all have an interest in
development.
o Development is Contextual
- gg
o Development Involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation of Loss - Achieving
mastery of life involves conflict and competition among 3 goals in development:
growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.
- For example: A 75 y/o will not aim to improve his memory or golf swing, but to
maintain his independence and continue playing golf.
- So he shifts away from growth, and focus more on maintenance and regulation,
which is more for someone in middle to late adulthood.
o Development is a Co-construction of Biology, Culture, and the Individual For
example the brain shapes culture, but it is also shaped by culture and experiences
that a person has or pursues.

Some Contemporary Concerns:

The roles that health and wellbeing, parenting, education, and sociocultural context play
in life-span development:

Health and Well-Being: Health professionals today recognize the power of

lifestyles and psychological states in health and well-being. Questions such as
what roles do parents and peers play in whether adolescents abuse drugs? Are
important to life-span development.

Parenting and Education: Are gay men able to raise a healthy family? Are
children harmed is both parents work outside of the home? Are all questions lifespan development attempts to answer.

Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity: Health, parenting, and education like

development itself are shaped by their sociocultural context. When analyzing
this, 4 concepts are especially useful:

Culture: Is the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a

particular group of people that are passed down the generations.

A cultural group can be very large (The U.S.) or very small (Appalachian
town).
Culture results from interaction of people over many years.
The groups culture influences the behavior of its members.
Cross-cultural studies: Compare aspects of 2 or more cultures.

Ethnicity: Greek meaning Nation. It is rooted In cultural heritage,

nationality, race, religion, and language.

Socioeconomic status (SES): Refers to a persons position within society

based on occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.

Gender: The characteristics of people as females or males. It is very

central to our identity and social relationships.

Social Policy: Values, economics, and politics all shape a nations social policy.
The U.S. has a very high poverty percentage (21.9%), putting many children in
danger of poor housing quality, family turmoil, etc.
- At the other end of the life-span, efforts to promote the well-being of older
adults also create policy issues. Key concerns are controlling health care
costs and ensuring that they have access to adequate care.
- Today, U.S. adults are less likely to be married, more likely to be childless,
and more likely to be living alone children and spouses are traditionally
the main sources of support for older adults.

Vocabulary from The Life-Span Perspective Section:

Development: The pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and
continues though the human life span.
Life-span perspective View of development as being lifelong, multidimensional,
multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual. Involving growth,
maintenance, and regulation of loss, and constructed through biological, sociocultural,
and individual factors working together.
Non-normative Life Events Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an
individuals life.
Normative Age-Graded Influences Influences that are similar for individuals in a
particular age group.
Normative History-Graded Influences Influences that are common to people of a
particular generation because of historical circumstances.
Culture The behavior, patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group of people that
are passed on from generation to generation.

Cross-cultural Studies Comparison of one culture with one or cultures. These provide
information about the to which development is similar, or universal, across cultures, and
the degree to which it is culture-specific.
Ethnicity A characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race,
religion, and language.
Socioeconomic Status (SES) Classification of a persons position in society based on
occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.
Gender The characteristics of people as females or males.
Social Policy A governments course of action designed to promote the welfare of its
citizens.

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes:

Two concepts help provide a framework for describing and understanding an individuals
development: developmental processes and periods of development
Development is complex, because it is the product of biological, cognitive, and
socioemotional processes.
Biological Processes: Genes inherited from parents, the development of the brain, height
and weight gains, exercise, hormonal changes of puberty, etc. are all examples of
biological processes that affect development.
Cognitive Processes Putting together a two-word sentence, memorizing a poem,
imagining what is would be like to be famous, etc. all involve cognitive processes.
Socioemotional Processes An infants smile in response to a parents touch, a toddlers
aggressive attack on a playmate, an adolescents joy at a senior prom, and the affection
between an older couple, etc. all reflect the influence socioemotional processes have on
development.
Connecting Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional: They are all very intertwined
and in many cases bidirectional (biological processes can influence cognitive processes
and vice versa). See example on pg. 13.
The connection between biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes is very
obvious in 2 fields:
- Developmental cognitive neuroscience: Links between development, cognitive
processes, and the brain.
- Developmental social neuroscience: Links between socioemotional processes,
development, and the brain.

Periods of Development:
A developmental period refers to a time frame in a persons life that is characterized
by certain features.
There are 8 that are most widely used.
Prenatal Period (conception to birth): Involves tremendous growth from a single cell to a
complete organism.
Infancy (birth to 18-24 months): Extreme dependence on adults, language, symbolic
thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning are all beginning.
Early Childhood (3-5 yrs.): AKA the preschool years. Kids become a lot more selfsufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills, etc. 1st grade marks
the end.
Middle and Late Childhood (6-10/11 yrs.): The elementary school years. Fundamental
skills of reading, writing, and math are mastered. They are formally exposed to the larger
world and culture. Achievement becomes more important, and self-control increases.
Adolescence (10-12 ends at 18-21): The transition period from childhood to adulthood.
Rapid physical change and development of sexual characteristics, independence and an
identity are prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic.
Early Adulthood (20s-30s): Time of establishing personal and economic independence,
career development, selecting a mate, learning to live with someone in an intimate way,
and starting a family.
Middle Adulthood (40s-50s): Time of expanding personal and social involvement and
responsibility, and reaching and maintaining career satisfaction.
Late Adulthood (60s to 70s-death): Time of life review, retirement, adjusting to new
social roles.
- It is the longest span of any developmental period and the number of older people
are growing radidly.

The 5 features of emerging adulthood (18-25 yrs.)

Identity exploration Especially in love and work.
Instability There is often instability in love, work, and education.
Self-focused They have little in the of social obligations, duties and commitments, and
lots of autonomy to run their own lives.

Feeling in-between Many dont consider themselves adolescents or full-fledged adults.

The age of possibilities A time when individuals have an opportunity to transform their
lives.

The Significance of Age:

Age has been conceptualized not only as chronological age, but also as biological age,
psychological age, and social age.
Biological Age: A persons age in terms of biological health, involves knowing the
functional capacities of a persons vital organs.
Psychological Age: Reflects an individuals adaptive capacities compared to those of the
same chronological age. Such as continuing to learn, are flexible, cope effectively with
stress, etc. are engaging in more adaptive behavior.
Social Age: Refers to connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt.
Individuals who have better social relationships with others are happier with their lives
and are likely to live longer.