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EDCO 268 – Fall 2012
Lifespan Development
Theory
Shawn Ogimachi
[email protected]
Please 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 Development
Shawn N. Ogimachi
[email protected]