Human Development Chapter 1

Experience Human Development

• Course information:
  • Instructor: Aylin İlden Koçkar, Psy, Msc, PhD.
  • Year: 2024-2025
  • Contact: psikologaylinildenkockar

The Study of Human Development - Chapter 1

• Overview of the study of human development.
• Genie case study: Raised questions about language acquisition critical periods - comparing adult vs. child language acquisition.
• Guideposts for study:
  • What is human development and its evolution?
  • What do developmental scientists study?
  • What makes individuals different?
  • What are the principles of the lifespan approach?

Formal Study of Human Development

• Development is systematic, adaptive, and lifelong.
• Stanford Studies of Gifted Children
• Berkeley Growth and Guidance Studies
• Oakland Growth Study

Four Goals of Developmental Psychology

• Describe: When do children say first words?
• Predict: Will delayed language affect speech?
• Explain: How do children learn language?
• Modify: Can therapy help speech delays?

Domains of Development

• Physical: Body, brain, senses, motor skills, and health.
• Cognitive: Learning, memory, moral reasoning, language, thinking, and creativity.
• Psychosocial: Personality, emotional life, and relationships.

Periods of the Life Span

• A social construction.
  • Based on perceptions and assumptions.
  • Varies across cultures and generations.
  • Adolescence is a relatively recent concept in some societies.
• Prenatal, Infancy & Toddlerhood, Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, and Late Adulthood.
  • Specific age ranges provided.

Influences on Development

• Heredity (inherited traits from parents).
• Environment (physical and social influences).
• Maturation (sequences of physical and behavioral patterns).

Nature vs. Nurture

• Video resource provided: https://vimeo.com/158310823

Contexts of Development: Family

• What is a family? A definition depends.
• Significant changes over time and across cultures

Nuclear Family

• Two generations (parents and children).
• Economic unit (historically in farming).
• Dominant in Western societies.
• Increasingly diverse (working parents, stepchildren, single parents).

Extended Family

• Multigenerational kinship.
• Includes grandparents, cousins, aunts/uncles (and others).
• Flexible social roles; traditionally common in many cultures (Asian, African, Latin American).
• Less typical in some contexts.

Contexts of Development: Socioeconomic Status (SES)

• Includes income, education, and occupation.
• Poor children are more likely to:
  • Have emotional and behavioral problems.
  • Not reach cognitive potential.
  • Experience poorer school performance.

Poverty Hurts Children

• Data on risk increases with poverty in different areas of development. (health, education)

Low SES & Related Risk Factors

• Poverty increases negative outcomes.
• Features like unemployment in neighborhoods can be factors.
• Limited social support is another factor.

Contexts of Development: Culture

• Culture as a way of life
• Customs, traditions, artwork.
• Learned behaviors passed on.

Contexts of Development: Race & Ethnicity

• Ethnic Group: Shared identity (ancestry, religion, origin).
• Shared attitudes/beliefs.
• Race: Socially constructed term; no universal definition or consensus.
• Race categories are "fluid;" culturally and politically shaped.
• Ethnic gloss: Oversimplification that hides within-group diversity.

Contexts of Development: Historical Context

• Unique period of life and growth.
• Experiences shaped by the time period. (ex: Great Depression, World War II, the '60s)

Age-Graded Normative Influences

• Common to a specific age group.
• Maturational: Events that are fixed in time (e.g., puberty, menopause)
• Social: Events with flexible timing (e.g., marriage or parenthood).

Normative History-Graded Influences

• Events that shape attitudes across a historical generation.
• Ex: Children of WWII shared particular experiences.
• Cohort: A group born around the same time (can be part of several historical generations).

Non-Normative Influences

• Unusual events affecting individual lives.
• Typical events at atypical times (e.g., puberty at age 20, marriage in teens).
• Atypical events (e.g., birth defect, winning the lottery).

Timing of Influences: Critical & Sensitive Periods

• Critical period: Specific time where an event has a significant impact on development (or its absence).
• Sensitive period: Specific time when a child is particularly receptive to certain experiences.

Timing of Influences: Plasticity of Development

• Performance modifiability throughout life.
• Plasticity has limits, illustrated by the Genie example (Genie's case).

Baltes's Life Span Approach: Six Key Principles

• Lifelong development.
• Multidimensional development.
• Multidirectional development.
• Changing resource allocations.
• Plasticity.
• Influence of historical and cultural contexts.

This quiz explores the foundational concepts in the study of human development, focusing on critical topics such as language acquisition and individual differences. It also examines significant case studies, like that of Genie, and discusses the principles of the lifespan approach. Join in to test your knowledge on these key areas of developmental psychology.