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Kuther Lifespan PPT 01
Kuther Lifespan PPT 01
Kuther Lifespan PPT 01
– Cognitive development
• Maturation of thought processes
– Socioemotional development
• Changes in personality, emotions, views of
oneself, social skills, and interpersonal
relationships
Kuther, Lifespan Development: Lives in Context. © 2017, SAGE Publications. 6
Development is Multidirectional
• Development consists of:
– Gains and losses
– Growth and decline
– Example:
• Older adults’ social networks narrow and
have fewer friends; however, their
relationships become more significant and
meaningful
– History-graded influences:
• Wars, epidemics, and economic shifts (i.e.,
The Great Depression)
– Age-graded influences:
• Events tied to chronological age (i.e., age
when someone graduates from high school)
Kuther, Lifespan Development: Lives in Context. © 2017, SAGE Publications. 10
Development is Multidisciplinary
• The contributions of many disciplines are
needed to understand how people grow,
think, and interact with their world
– Psychologists
– Sociologists
– Anthropologists
– Biologists
– Neuroscientists
– Medical researchers
• Discontinuous
– Abrupt change
• Example: Puberty
• Example:
– Children who are learning language
frequently ask the question “Why?” Adults
answer their questions, furthering their
knowledge
Kuther, Lifespan Development: Lives in Context. © 2017, SAGE Publications. 15
Nature and Nurture
Influence Development
• Nature:
– Developmental change is caused by inborn
genetic endowments or heredity,
maturational processes, and evolution
• Nurture:
– Individuals are molded by the physical and
social environment in which they are raised,
including the home, school, workplace,
neighborhood, and society
• Criticisms:
– Freud did not study children
– Too much emphasis on infant sexuality
– The unconscious cannot be directly tested
Kuther, Lifespan Development: Lives in Context. © 2017, SAGE Publications. 21
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
• Criticisms:
– Difficult to test
• Criticisms:
– Focused too heavily on cognition and ignored emotional
and social factors in development
– Neglected the influence of contextual factors
– Some say that cognitive development is not a
discontinuous, stage-like process
• Criticisms:
– A computer model cannot capture the complexity of the
human mind and people’s unique cognitive abilities
– Findings from laboratory research may not extend to the
everyday contexts of people’s lives
• Criticisms:
– Overemphasizes the role of context
– Minimizes the role of individuals in their own
development
– Neglects the influence of genetic and biological factors
• Criticisms:
– The bioecological model is so complex that we can
never measure and account for all of the potential
influences on development at once