Introduction to Human Development

• Human development represents the scientific study of change and stability throughout a person's lifespan.
• Studying human development is important for understanding child rearing practices, education, health, and social policy.
• A lifespan perspective views human development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically, from "womb to tomb," acknowledging both positive and negative changes.

Goals of Human Development

• Describe established normal patterns of development across the lifespan, such as language acquisition.
• Explain how developmental milestones are typically acquired or delayed, like how we acquire knowledge.
• Predict future behavior, such as the likelihood of developmental problems like language problems.
• Intervene or modify development through referrals for interventions.

Domains of Development

• Physical development involves growth of the body, brain, sensory capacities, motor skills, and health.
• Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.
• Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Periods of the Lifespan

• The concept of dividing the lifespan into periods is a social construct.
• The lifespan is generally divided into eight periods, each with its own developmental needs and tasks.
• Prenatal period: conception to birth.
• Infancy and Toddlerhood: birth to 3 years.
• Early childhood: 3 to 6 years.
• Middle childhood: 6 to 11 years.
• Adolescence: 11 to 20 years.
• Emerging and Young adulthood: 20 to 40 years.
• Middle adulthood: 40 to 65 years.
• Late adulthood: 65 years and over.

Influences on Development

• Heredity (nature) refers to the biological processes and inborn traits inherited from biological parents.
• Environment (nurture) encompasses influences stemming from experience that are non-hereditary.
• Extreme deviation from the average may indicate exceptionally advanced or delayed development.

Context of Development

• Family structure can influence development
• Socioeconomic status, measured by income, education, and occupation, can be a risk factor that influence development.
• Culture shapes behavior patterns passed down through generations.
• Ethnicity is characterized by cultural heritage.
• Historical context, tied to time and date, affects development.

Types of Influences

• Normative influences are biological or environmental events that affect people in similar ways.
• Normative age-graded influences are similar for individuals in a specific age group.
• Normative history-graded influences are similar for a particular generation due to historical circumstances.
• Nonnormative influences are unusual events that have a major impact on individual lives.
• Atypical time of life events.
• Atypical events.

Timing of Influence

• Critical period refers to a specific time when an event or its absence has a specific impact on development.
  • This period is a rigid window where experiences must occur, as illustrated by imprinting, an instinctive learning form during a critical period in early development.
  • Plasticity refers to the range of modifiability of a performance
• Sensitive period refers to times in development when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences.
  • For example, language development (before age 7) and second language acquisition (easier during childhood).