Characteristics of the Life-Span Approach

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What is Development?

• Systematic changes and continuities
• In the individual
• Between conception and death
• Womb to Tomb
• Three broad domains
• Physical, Cognitive, Psychosocial

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Other Developmental Definitions

• Growth Physical changes that occur from birth to
  maturity
• Aging Positive and negative changes in the
  mature organism
• Maturation The biological unfolding of the
  individual genetic plan
• Learning Relatively permanent changes due to
  environmental experiences

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Age Grades, Age Norms, and the Social Clock

• Age Grade Socially defined age groups
• Statuses, roles, privileges, responsibilities
• Adults can vote, children cant
• Age Norms Behavioral expectations by age
• Children attend school
• Social Clock When things should be done
• Early adulthood time for 1st marriages
• Off time experiences are more difficult

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Life-Span Phases in Historical Context

• Only two phases Childhood Adulthood
• 1600 Children viewed as miniature adults
• Modern view innocence, need protection
• Average life expectancy in 1900 49 yrs.
• 1998
• Females White80 yrs, Black75 yrs
• Males White75 yrs, Black 68 yrs
• Increasing population of age 65

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Framing the Nature/Nurture Issue

• Nature heredity
• Maturational processes guided by genes
• Biologically based predispositions
• Biological unfolding of genes
• Nurture environment
• Learning experiences cause changes is thoughts,
  feelings, and behaviors
• Interactionist view nature nurture interact

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Figure 1.1
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Methods of Studying Life-Span Development

• Historical
• Baby Biographies Charles Darwin
• Questionnaires G. Stanley Hall
• Key Assumptions of Modern Life-Span Perspectives
• Lifelong, multidirectional process
• Gain and loss and lifelong plasticity
• Historical/cultural contexts, multiple influences
• Multi-disciplinary studies

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HOW IS RESEARCH CONDUCTED

• The Scientific Method
• Theory- a set of concepts and propositions
  intended to describe and explain some aspect of
  behavior
• Hypothesis- specific prediction regarding a
  particular set of observations
• Sample Selection
• Random Sample- a sample formed by
  identifying all members of the larger population
  and then, by random means, selecting a portion of
  that population to study.

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Conducting Developmental Research

• Self-reports interview, questionnaires, tests
• Behavioral Observations
• Naturalistic
• Advantage natural setting
• Disadvantage conditions not controlled
• Structured (Lab)
• Disadvantage cannot generalize to natural
  settings
• Advantage conditions controlled

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Figure 1.2
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The Correlational Method

• Determine if 2 or more variables are related
• Correlation A measure of the relationship
• Can range from 1.0 to 1.0
• Positive variables move in same direction
• Negative variables move in opposite dir.
• No relationship if correlation is 0
• Cannot establish a causal relationship

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Figure 1.3
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The Experimental Method

• Three Critical Features
• 1. Manipulation of independent variable
• 2. Random assignment of individuals to
  treatment conditions
• 3. Experimental control
• Quasi-Experiment No random assignment

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THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

• Some aspect of the environment is manipulated or
  altered to see how this affects the behavior of
  the sample of individuals being investigated.
• Independent Variable variable in the experiment
  that is manipulated by the experimenter
• Dependent Variable variable in an experiment
  that represents the measurable response or
  behavior of the subjects in the experiment
• Random Assignment researchers assign
  participants to the experimental and control
  groups by chance
• Advantage
• Establishes cause
• Disadvantages
• Generalize to the real world
• Ethical considerations

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DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

• Cross-sectional design- performances of people of
  different age groups, or cohorts are compared.
  Looks at age differences
• Longitudinal design- the performance of one
  cohort of individuals is assessed repeatedly over
  time. Looks at age changes
• Sequential design- combines the cross-sectional
  and longitudinal approach in one study

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Figure 1.4
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Age, Cohort, and Time of Measurement Effects

• Age effects Changes which occur due to age
• Cohort Effects Born in one historical context
• Changes due to differences in society
• Disadvantage of cross-sectional design
• Time of measurement effects Historical
• Take place at time of data collection
• Disadvantage of longitudinal design

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Sequential Designs

• A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal
  designs
• Advantages of both designs
• Gives information about
• Which age-related trends are age effects?
• Which age-related trends are truly cohort
  effects?
• Which age-related trends are a result of
  historical events?

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Figure 1.6
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Protecting the Rights of Participants

• Risk to benefit balance of the research
• Researcher responsibilities
• Informed consent
• Debriefing
• Protection from harm
• Confidentiality

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Sources of Change

• Normative Age Graded Influences
• highly similar across individuals/cultures
• often biological
• relevant to early development
• Normative History Grade Influences
• forces unique to a period in history
• Non-normative Influences
• unique to the individual

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The Ecology of Human Development

• Bronfenbrenner Bioecological Model
• How nature and nurture interact to produce
  development
• The biological, psychological, person
• Four environmental systems
• Microsystem family, school, work
• Mesosystem interactions among microsystems
• Exosystem society
• Macrosystem culture