The scientific study of human growth throughout life

EDCO 268 – Fall 2012 Lifespan DevelopmentTheoryShawn Ogimachishogimac@cabrillo.eduPlease place “268” in the subject line of email

Lifespan Development • 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 • Multidisciplinary or Interdisciplinary • Predictable milestones of the human journey • Focuses on the individual differences • Explores the impact of life transitions • Normative transitions - predictable • Non-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

Changing Conceptions of Later Life • 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

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 Albert Bandura 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

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

Ending Slide EDCO 268 – Fall 2012 Practicum in Lifespan and Career DevelopmentShawn N. Ogimachishogimac@cabrillo.edu

The scientific study of human growth throughout life