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Invitation to the Life Spanby Kathleen Stassen Berger

Chapter 1The Science of

Development

PowerPoint Slidesdeveloped by

Martin Wolfger and Michael James

Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

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Defining Development

The scienceof

human

development

seeks to understand

how and why

peopleall kinds of

people, everywhere,

of every agechange

over time.

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Understanding How and Why

Five basic steps of the scientific method:

On the basis of theory, prior research, or a personalobservation, pose a question.

Develop a hypothesis, a specific prediction, that can betested.

Test the hypothesis. Design and conduct research togather empirical evidence (data).

Draw conclusions. Use the evidence to support or refutethe hypothesis.

Report the results. Share the data and conclusions, aswell as alternative explanation.

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The Nature-Nurture Debate

Naturerefers to the influence of geneswhich we inherit.

Nurturerefers to environmental

influences, such as: health and diet of the embryos mother

family

school

community

society

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Critical and Sensitive Periods

A critical period is a time when certain

things must occurfor normal development. A sensitive period is when a particular

development occurs most easily.

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The Life-Span Perspective

Development is multidirectional

Over time, human characteristics change in

every direction.

Several major theorists describe stages ofdevelopment: Freud, Erickson, Piaget.

Others view development as a continuousprocess.

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The Life-Span Perspective

Development Is Multicontextual

HISTORICAL CONTEXT- All persons born

within a few years of one another are said to be

a cohort, a group defined by the shared age ofits members.

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The Life-Span Perspective

Socioeconomic Context

socioeconomic status (SES)

A persons position in society as determined byincome, wealth, occupation, education, and

place of residence.

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The Life-Span Perspective

Development Is Multicultural

Culture - patterns of behavior that are passedfrom one generation to the next.

Vygotsky described the interaction betweenculture and education.

Ethnic group - People whose ancestors wereborn in the same region and who often share a

language, culture, and religion

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The Life-Span Perspective

Development IsMultidisciplinary

Genetics and

neuroscience are two ofthe newer disciplines in

lifespan research.

Every traitpsychological

as well as physicalis

influenced by genes.

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The Life-Span Perspective

Development Is Plastic

Human traits can be molded (as plastic can be),yet people maintain a certain durability of

identity (as plastic does). Mirror neurons- Cells in an observers brain that

respond to an action performed by someoneelse in the same way they would if the observer

had actually performed that action.

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Theories of Human

Development

A developmental theory is a systematic

statement of principles and generalizations

that provides a framework forunderstanding how and why people

change as they grow older.

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentPsychoanalytic Theory

A theory of human development that holds that

irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often

originating in childhood, underlie humanbehavior.

Psychoanalytic theory originated with Sigmund

Freud (18561939)

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentEricksons Stages

Erik Erikson (19021994)

Described eight developmental stages, each

characterized by a challenging developmental

crisis.

His first five stages build on Freuds theory; but,

he also described three adult stages.

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Theories of Human

Development

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentBehaviorism

A theory of human development that studiesobservable behavior. Behaviorism is also called

learning theory, because it describes the lawsand processes by which behavior is learned.

Conditioning-According to behaviorism, theprocesses by which responses become linked to

particular stimuli and learning takes place.

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentClassical conditioning - Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936)

(also called respondent conditioning),a process

in which a person or animal learns to associatea neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus,

gradually reacting to the neutral stimulus with

the same response as to the meaningful one.

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentOperant conditioning - B.F. Skinner(19041990)

(also called instrumental conditioning)a learning

process in which a particular action is followedeither by something desired (which makes the

person or animal more likely to repeat the

action) or by something unwanted (which makes

the action less likely to be repeated).

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Theories of Human

Development

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentSocial Learning Theory-Albert Bandura (b.

1925)

An extension of behaviorism that emphasizes

the influence that other people have over apersons behavior.

Modeling- people learn by observing other

people and then copying them.

Self-efficacy- (how effective people think they

are when it comes to changing themselves or

altering their social context.

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentCognitive Theory

Thoughts and expectations profoundly affect

action.

Focuses on changes in how people think over

time.

Jean Piaget (18961980)

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Theories of Human

Development

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Theories of Human

Development Assimilation, in which new experiences

are interpreted to fit into, or assimilate

with, old ideas

Accommodation, in whichold ideas are

restructured to include, or accommodate,

new experiences

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentSystems Theory

Change in one part of a person, family, or society

affects every aspect of development

Ecological systems approach- Urie

Bronfenbrenner (19172005)

The person should be considered in all thecontexts and interactions that constitute a life.

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Theories of Human

DevelopmentFive Components of BronfenbrennersSystem

microsystems(elements of the persons

immediate surroundings, such as family andpeer group)

exosystems(local institutions such as schooland church)

macrosystems(the larger social setting,including cultural values, economic policies, andpolitical processes)

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Theories of Human

Development

chronosystem(literally, time system), which

affects the other three systems

mesosystem, consisting of the connections

among the other systems

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Using the Scientific Method

Scientific Observation

requires the researcher to record behavior

systematically and objectively.

May be done in a naturalistic setting such as ahome, school, or other public place.

May be done in a laboratory.

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Using the Scientific Method

The Experiment establishes causal

relationships among variables.

independent variable-the variable that is

introduced to see what effect it has on thedependent variable.

dependent variable- the variable that may

change as a result of whatever new condition orsituation the experimenter adds.

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Using the Scientific Method

experimental group- gets a particular

treatment (the independent variable).

comparison group (also called a control

group), which does not get the treatment.

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Using the Scientific Method

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Using the Scientific Method

The Survey

Information is collected from a large number of

people by interview, questionnaire, or some

other means. Acquiring valid survey data is not easy.

Some people lie, some change their minds.

Survey answers are influenced by the wordingand the sequence of the questions.

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Studying Development over the

Life Span

Cross-sectional Research Groups of people of one age are compared with

people of another age.

Longitudinal Research Collecting data repeatedly on the same

individuals as they age.

Cross-sequential Research

Study several groups of people of different ages(a cross-sectional approach) and follow themover the years (a longitudinal approach).

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Cautions from Science

Correlation and Causation A correlation exists between two variables if

one variable is more (or less) likely to occurwhen the other does.

A correlation ispositiveif both variables tend toincrease together or decrease together.

A correlation is negative if one variable tends toincrease while the other decreases.

A correlation is zero if no connection is evident. Correlation is not causation

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Ethics

Each academic discipline and professional

society involved in the study of human

development has a code of ethics.

Researchers must ensure that participation is

voluntary, confidential, and harmless.

Subjects (participants in research) must give

informed consent- they must understand theresearch procedures and any risks involved.