CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY

- lifespan psych ~ study of lifelong process of change.

- Growth:
• structural & physiological changes (height weight structure).
• quantitative aspect.
• not lifelong. stops when maturity is attained.
• part of developmental process.
• is cellular (multiplication of cells).

- Development:
• systematic physical, cognitive, & psychosocial changes.
• qualitative aspect.
• continues throughout life & is progressive.
• refers to overall changes.
• is organizational (all parts have to grow).
• early foundations are critical.
• follows a definite, predictable pattern.
• each stage of dev has characteristic behavior & hazards.
• is affected by cultural changes.

- HAVIGHURST'S DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS:

1. Babyhood & Early Childhood:

• learning to walk, talk, read.
• developing a conscience.
• learning sex differences & modesty.

2. Late Childhood:
• leaning basic physical, reading, every-day living skills.
 • getting along w age mates.
• achieving personal independence.

3. Adolescence:
• acquiring new & more mature relationships.
• preparing for career, marriage, family life.
• developing set of values & ethical sys.

4. Early Adulthood:
• starting professional career.
• finding a mate, starting a family, rearing children.
• managing home and civic responsibilities.

5. Middle Age:
• achieving civic responsibilities.
• assisting teenage kids.
• developing leisure-time activities.

6. Old Age:
• adjustment to decreasing strength, health, retirement, reduced income.
• adjusting to death of spouse.

- stability ~ traits present during infancy persist.

- change ~ personality is modified by interaction w ppl, environment, cultures etc.
- plasticity ~ capacity of change.
- Continuity:
• change is uniform & gradual.
• development is relatively smooth.
• no sharp or distinct stages.
• e.g.: travel up the mountain.
- Stage:
• change can be rapid with qualitatively diff stages throughout life.
• dev is a series of distinct stages, w at least one task assigned.
• e.g.: climb the stairs.

- HISTORICAL APPROACHES:
- notion of original sin ~ middle ages.
- John Locke ~ tabula rasa ~ late 17th cen.
- Jean Jacques Rousseau ~ innate goodness ~ 18th cen.
- *traditional approach* ~ extensive change in childhood, stability in adulthood, decline in old age.
- *lifespan approach* ~ change is possible throughout lifespan.
- Plato & Aristotle ~ long-term welfare of society depends on children’s being raised properly.

1. Plato:
• emphasized self-control & discipline.
• children are born w innate knowledge (rationalist).

2. Aristotle:
• child rearing should be acc to needs of child.
• knowledge comes from experience (empiricist).

3. John Locke:
• tabula rasa (empiricist).
• advocated first instilling discipline, then gradually increasing child’s freedom.
• a child is a product of their environment and upbringing.

4. Jean Jacques Rosseau:

• children are born with knowledge & ideas, which unfold naturally with age.
• dev results from inborn processes that guide emergence of behaviors in a predictable manner.
 • dev follows a predictable series of stages. follows inborn timetable.
• pioneer for guiding child rearing practices & educational psych.
• believed child learning is based on exploration & discovery.
• argued children should get max freedom from beginning.

- Children acquire knowledge thru:

i) interaction w environment.
ii) child's interest.
iii) level of development.

- Suggestions regarding educating the child:

i) expose them to new knowledge only after they show cognitive readiness to learn it.
ii) learn best when allowed to acquire ideas or info through their own discovery process.
iii) encourage permissive style. allow them to follow their natural inclinations.

- Early 19th century research-based movements:

i) social reforms movement ~ earliest description of adverse effects harsh environments can have on
children.
ii) 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:

1. G. Stanley Hall:
• first to conduct & publish systematic studies on children in US.
• taught first gen of developmental researchers.
• established several child dev research journals.
• believed children recapitulate (repeat) the evolution of species.
• education & child rearing should encourage natural tendencies of child.
• adolescence marks end of biological recapitulation.
2. Freud:
• biological (esp. sexual) drives exert crucial influence on development.

3. John Watson:
• behavior arises largely due to reward or punishment that follows it.
• operant conditioning guy.

4. Arnold Gesell:
• established yale clinic of child development.
• spent 50 years studying dev of normal child.
• disagreed to hall ~ limited role of environment.
• biological process of series of change.
• growth & motor skills follow a predictable pattern.

- DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH METHODS:

1. Cross-Sectional Research:
• different aged participants tested at one point in time.
• to determine age-related differences.
• 2 or more cohorts.

2. Longitudinal Research:
• same participants studied over time.
• to determine age-related changes.
• 1 cohort.
• e.g.: to study change in personality, language dev, intellectual abilities etc.
• takes time, cost, commitment.
• dropout rates are high.

3. Sequential Design Research:

 • combination of cross-sectional & longitudinal designs.
• begins as a cross-sectional, then follows the cohorts longitudinally.
• also called cohort-sequential design.
• examines age-related changes, & cohort and/or time of measurement (history events) effects.

- maturation ~ biological process that guides development.

- norms ~ developmental timetable. age range within which each behavior normally appears.