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chapter 1, basic issues in human development...

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Chapter 1 Theory & Research in Human Development + Book notes .,

Basic Issues in Development  Developmental Science: a field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan. o What makes on unique? o What leads us to remain the same yet evolve and change? o How do historical and cultural conditions affect well-being throughout life? o How does the timing of events affect development? o What factors, both personal and environmental, lead to death?  Theory: an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. ----- Describe, explain, predict o Theories provide organizing framework for our observations in people, they guide and give meaning to what we see. o Theories that are verified by research provide a good basis for practical action. o Every theory must be tested, and the findings must endure and be replicated over time.

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Continuous or discontinuous? – changes occur gradually in development (continuous)  Continuous: a process of gradually augmenting the same type of skills that were there to begin with.  Discontinuous: a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge as specific times.  Stages: qualitative changes in thinking, feelings, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development.

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One course of development or many? – many courses of development  Limiting/opening themselves to different opportunities  Contexts: unique combination of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change. Relative influence of nature and nurture? – Some things are very much genetic (hair color, height, etc) o Parenting (nurture) plays a role in development.  Plasticity: throughout life – as open to change in response to influential experiences.

Contexts of Development

o Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances can result in different paths of change o What is the path we can put our clients on that will allow them to change for the better? o How does your client view how (family, SES, birth order, location, etc) impacted them.

Basic Issues: Nature vs. Nurture Nature - genetics o Hereditary information o Received from parents at conception Nurture o Physical and social forces o Influences biological and psychological development

Stability and Plasticity o We will help clients change who they are – help them cope, find support in order to help them have more control. Stability o Persistence of individual differences o Lifelong patterns established by early experiences o Behavior/attitudes are established early and are reinforced Plasticity o Development is open to lifelong change o Change occurs based on influential experiences o We are open to change, big events can change our development

Development as a Dynamic System o Ongoing process from conception to death o Molded by network of influences:  Biological  Psychological – how you view an event/stage in life may change your developmental course.  Social – is there support

Lifespan Perspective o Different aspects in life have a role in development. o We impact people and they impact us, may be positive or negative.

Development is  lifelong  multidimensional and multidirectional - Multidimensional: we develop in different ways.  Affected by a blend of biological, psychological, and social forces.  

- Multidirectional: moving forward/backward in life. highly plastic influenced by multiple, interacting forces  Age graded influences: events that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly predictable in when they occur and how long they last.  Walking, talking, puberty milestones.  History-graded influences: explain why people born around the same time – called cohort – tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times. Ex: baby boomers  Normative influences: events that are irregular: they happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable. (they enhance the multi-directionality of development) 

Periods of Development

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o Parents need to put in work in early childhood. o There is a lot of change in between each stage. – A lot of variance in each stage. Prenatal: the one-celled organism transforms into a human baby with remarkable capacities to adjust to life outside the womb. ◦ Conception to Birth Infancy & toddlerhood: dramatic changes in the body and brain support the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities and first intimate ties with others. ◦ Birth to 2 years Early Childhood: during “play years,” motor skills are refined, thought and language expand at an astounding pace, sense of morality is evident, and children make tied with peers. ◦ 2-6 years Middle Childhood: the school years are marked by improved athletic abilities, more logical thought processes; mastery of basic literacy skills; advances in selfunderstanding,, morality, and friendship,; and the beginnings of peer-group membership. ◦ 6-11 years Adolescence: puberty leads to an adult-sized body and sexual maturity. Thought becomes abstract and idealistic and school achievement more serious. Adolescents being to establish autonomy from the family and to define personal values and goals. ◦ 11-18 years

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Early Adulthood: most young people lease home, complete their education, and being full-time work. Major concerns are developing a career, forming an intimate partnership, and marrying, rearing children, or establishing other lifestyles. ◦ 18-40 years Middle Adulthood: many people are at the height of their careers and attain leadership positions. They must also help their children begin independent life and their parents adapt to again. They become more aware of their own mortality. ◦ 40-65 years Late Adulthood: people adjust to retirement, to decreased physical strength and health, and often to the death of a spouse. They reflect on the meaning of life. ◦ 65-death

Resilience: Ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development 

Factors in resilience:  personal characteristics  warm parental relationship  social support outside family  community resources and opportunities – do people have the resources they need? o Trauma- does it define you, or will you overcome it. o Optimistic/pessimistic o How the view of the world impacts your resilience – parental relationships

Lifespan View of Development 

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Development is a process that occurs in three spheres: they play off of each other ◦ Physical ◦ Cognitive ◦ Social/Emotional Development continues throughout the lifespan ◦ With what happens in infancy & childhood affecting adulthood

Theories of Development 

Beginning Theorists: ◦ Darwin, Hall & Gesell, Binet ◦ Darwin: theory of evolution, natural selection, survival of the fittest. ◦ Hall & Gesell: maturational process: a genetically determined series of events that unfold automatically, much like a flower. ◦ Normative approach: measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals, and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development.

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Binet: child development; Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: provides a score that could successfully predict school achievement. – showed interest in individual differences in development. Psychoanalytical: stages  Psychoanalytical perspective: people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person’s ability to learn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety. ◦ Freud – founder of the psychoanalytic movement. Stressed the influence of the early parent-child relationship on development. ◦ Psychosexual theory: which emphasizes that how parents manage their child’s sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years us crucial for the healthy personality development. ◦ Id: the largest portion of the mind, is the source of basic biological needs and desires. ◦ Ego: the conscious, rational part of the personality, emerges in early infancy to redirect the id’s impulses so they are discharged in acceptable ways. ◦ Superego: ages 3-6, the conscience develops as parents insist that the children conform to the values of society. ◦ Erikson: Neo-Freudian. ◦ Psychosocial theory: Erikson emphasized that in addition to mediating between id impulses and superego demands, the ego makes a positive contribution to development, acquiring attitudes and skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society. Behaviorism & Social Learning: ◦ Pavlov & Watson, Skinner, Bandura ◦ Behaviorism: directly observable events – stimuli and responses - are the appropriate focus of study. ◦ Watson: baby Albert was classically conditioned to fear the white rat because every time he saw the rat there would be a loud sound. ◦ Bandura: social leaning theory: emphasizes modeling, also known as imitation or observational learning, as a powerful source of development. (social cognitive) ◦ Behavior modification: consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses. Cognitive: ◦ Piaget, Information Processing, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience ◦ Cognitive development theory: children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. ◦ Research indicated that Piaget underestimated the competencies of infants and preschoolers. [Limitation]

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Cultural: ◦ Vgyotsky, Bronfenbrenner

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Basic Trust vs Mistrust – attachment: child needs to know their needs will be met. Parents need to accurately/consistently figure out what is wrong. ◦ Birth – 1 year  Autonomy vs Shame/doubt – parents have to give children the opportunity to learn new skills and be patient. Support them and let them build that effort. ◦ 1-3 years  Initiative vs Guilt – have to let children try their new skills (dressing, tie shoes). Give them the time they need. ◦ 3-6 years  Industry vs Inferiority – interventions ◦ 6-11 years  Identity vs role confusion– kids figure out their identity ◦ Adolescence  Intimacy vs Isolation – people want to find a partner ◦ Early adulthood  Generativity vs Stagnation – giving back to the community ◦ Middle adulthood  Integrity vs Despair – did I live my life the way I wanted to? Do I have regrets? ◦ Late adulthood 

Information Processing ◦ Information processing: the human mind might also be viewed as a symbol manipulating system through which information flows. o o o o o

View of the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system Development as a continuous process Use of rigorous research methods Little insight into creativity or imagination Input to the brain – connection – output

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

◦ Mental cognitive neuroscience: bring together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing persona’s cognitive processing and behavior patterns. o Relationship of brain changes to cognitive processing and behavior patterns o What experiences impact brain development o Brings together researchers from  psychology  biology  neuroscience  medicine  Practical applications o Ethology: concerned with the adaptive or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history. o Sensitive period: is a time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which the individual is especially responsive to the environmental influences. However, its boundaries are less well-defined than those of a critical period. Development can occur later, but it is harder to induce. o Evolutionary developmental psychology: seeks to understand the adaptive value of species wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory 

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Sociocultural theory: focuses on how culture – the values, beliefs and customs, and skills of a social group – is transmitted to the next generation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction – in particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society – is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a community. Socially mediated process, in which children depend on assistance from adults and more-expert peers as they tackle new challenges.

Transmission to the next generation of a culture’s values beliefs customs skills Cooperative dialogues between children and more expert members of society Development in one’s culture, values/beliefs Talk about it with the child and an expert

Ecological Systems Theory – views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment. - Each system impacts development - Brofenbrenner 

Individual Microsystem: the innermost level of the environment, consists of activities and interaction patters in the person’s immediate surroundings. ◦ Includes the child, immediate family, childcare center/school, neighborhood

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Mesosystem: connections between microsystems. (connection between child’s school life, home life, social life, etc) ◦ The interaction between the facets of the microsystem

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Exosystem: social settings that do not contain the developing person but nevertheless affect experiences in immediate settings. ◦ Includes the extended family, friends and neighbors, workplace, community health services

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Macrosystem: cultural values, laws, customs and respurces. ◦ Includes customs, laws, and values

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Chronosystem: (time) temporal dimension of his model. Life changes can be imposed externally or, alternatively, can arise from within the person, since individuals select, modify, and create many of their own settings and experiences.

Systematic Observation      

Naturalistic observation: to go to into the field, or natural environment, and record the behavior of interest. Structured observations: in which the investigator sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has equal opportunity to display the response. Clinical interview (self-report): researchers use a flexible, conversational style to probe for the participant’s point of view. Structured interview (self-report): (including tests and questionnaires) in which each participant is asked the same set of questions in the same way. Clinical/case study method: beings together a wide range of information, on one person, including interviews, observations, and test scores. Ethnography: like the clinical method, ethnographic research is a descriptive, qualitative technique. But instead of aiming to understand a single individual, it is directed toward understanding a culture or distinct social group through participant observation.

Research Design 

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Correlational design: researchers gather information on individuals, generally in natural life circumstances, without altering their experiences. Then they look at relationships between participants’ characteristics and their behavior or development. Correlation coefficient: a number that describes how two measures or variables are associated with each other. (+1.00 to -1.00) the magnitude of the number shoes the strength of the relationship. Experimental design: permits inferences about cause and effect because researchers use an evenhanded procedure to assign people to two or more treatment conditions. (independent and dependent variables) Independent variable: researcher directly controls of manipulates. Dependent variable: influenced by the independent variable. Random assignment: by using an unbiased procedure, such as drawing numbers out of a hat or flipping a coin, investigators increase the chances that participants’ characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment groups.

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Longitudinal design: participants are studied repeatedly, and changes are noted as they get older. Cross-sectional design: groups of people differing in age are studied at the same point in time. Cohort effect: individuals born in the same time period are influenced by a particular set of historical and cultural conditions. Results based on one cohort many not apply to people developing at other times. Sequential design: they conduct several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies (called sequences). When researchers combine experimental and developmental designs, they can examine causal influences on development....