Life Span Psychology PDF

Life span psychology Psychological understanding from beginning to Ending Definition Life span psychology is a branch of psychology which studies life long process of change. Life span psychology or developmental psychology What is Development? Systematic changes and continuit...

Life span psychology Psychological understanding from beginning to Ending Definition Life span psychology is a branch of psychology which studies life long process of change. Life span psychology or developmental psychology What is Development? Systematic changes and continuities – In the individual – Between conception and death “Womb to Tomb” Three broad domains – Physical, Cognitive, Psychosocial Major objectives of developmental psychologist To find out what are the common and characteristics age changes in appearance ,in behavior ,in interest To find out when these changes occur To find out what causes them To find out how they influence behavior To find out whether they can or can not be predictable To find out whether they are universal or individual Theoretical Issues Key development issues include: – Nature versus nurture To what extent are behaviors the result of experience or the result of biological processes such as maturation? – Stability versus change To what extent are behaviors constant over the life span? – Continuity versus stages Continuity view suggests that change is uniform and gradual Stage theory suggests that change can be rapid with qualitatively different stages evident across the life span Significance facts about development Early foundations are critical Role of maturation and learning in development Development follows a definite and predictable patterns All individuals are different Each phase of development has characteristic behavior Each phase of development has hazards Development is aided by stimulation Development is affected by cultural changes Social expectation for every stage of development Developmental Research Methods Historical Foundations: Early Philosophers Provided enduring insights about critical issues in childrearing, even though their methods were unscientific Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the long-term welfare of society depended on children’s being raised properly, but they differed in their approaches Historical Foundations: Plato vs. Aristotle Plato emphasized self-control and discipline – Aristotle was concerned with fitting child rearing to the needs of the individual child Plato believed that children are born with innate knowledge – Aristotle believed that knowledge comes from experience Historical Foundations: Later Philosophers The English philosopher John Locke(1632- 1704), like Aristotle, saw the children are created (born) equal , and the mind of a newborn infant is like a piece of white paper as a tabula rasa and advocated first instilling discipline, then gradually increasing the child’s freedom Child is products of their environment and upbringing  Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, believed that children born with knowledge and ideas, which unfold naturally with age. Referred as Nativism (THEORY THAT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESULTS PRINCIPLY FROM INBORN PROCESSES THAT GUIDED THE EMERGENCE OF BEHAVIORS IN PREDICTABLE MANER ) Development fallows a predictable series of stages that are guided by inborn timetable. child Knowledge acquired gradually from 1)Intraction with environment 2)Child own interest 3)Level of development  He considered pioneer for guiding child rearing practices and educational psychology Child rearing practicing principle According to him child learning based on processes of exploration and discovery. He argued that parents and society should give the child maximum freedom from the beginning Educating the child 3 suggestions regarding educating the child that are promoted by many educators today 1) children should be exposed to new body of knowledge only after they display cognitive “readiness" to learn it 2) Children learn best when they are allowed to acquired ideas or information through their own discovery process 3) Educators should encourage a permissive style that allows children to follow their own natural inclinations Historical Foundations: Research-Based Approach Emerged in the nineteenth century, in part as a result of two converging forces – Social reform movements established a legacy of research conducted for the benefit of children and provided some of the earliest descriptions of the adverse effects that harsh environments can have on child development – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution inspired research in child development in order to gain insights into the nature of the human species Pioneers of child psychology G.Stanley Hall(1846-1924) He conducted and published the first systematic studies of children in united state. He trained first generation of developmental researchers. He established several journal for reporting findings related to child development researches. He adopted the view that children's development RECAPITULATES THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES  Education and child rearing should encourage the NATURAL tendencies of the child that reflect the behavior and development of earlier form of the species Adolescence marked end of biological recapitulation and first opportunity for the child to developed individual talents and abilities.  Child development emerged as a formal field of inquiry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Sigmund Freud and John Watson formulated influential theories of development during this period  Freud concluded that biological drives, especially sexual ones, exerted a crucial influence on development Watson argued that children’s behavior arises largely from the rewards and punishments that follow particular behaviors Although the research methods on which these theories were based were limited, the theories were better grounded in research and inspired more sophisticated thinking than their predecessors Arnold Gesell (1880-1961) He established yale clinic of childe development and spent 50 years with studying development of typical child Disagree with HALL and limit the role of environment Believed on biological process of series of change Growth and motor skills should follow the predictable patterns (age can change but sequence can not change)  Two basic concept 1)Maturation 2)Norms Maturation ; biological process that guide development NORMS; a sort of developmental timetable that describes the usual order in which children display various early behaviors and the age range within which each behavior normally appear. Subdivision of the life span stages in the life span Prenatal period (conception to birth) Infancy (birth to the end of second week) Babyhood (end of the second week to end of the second year )  Early childhood (two to six year) Late childhood (six to ten or twelve years) stages in the life span Puberty or preadolescents ( ten or twelve to thirteen or fourteen to eighteen years)  Adolescence (thirteen or fourteen to eighteen years) Early adulthood (eighteen to forty years) Middle age (forty to sixty years) Old age (sixty year to death)