Jean Piaget conducted research by a clinical method, whereby, to establish his theory, he presented children with problems to solve and watched and recorded A) the ways in which they approached them and B) their reasoning. He did this with varying ages. To him children were not just passive receivers. Piaget’s theory is based primarily upon development. Piaget argued that children’s development occur in the sequence of 4 stages.
Human Life Span Development Marty Annette Hill PSY/375 July 18, 2013 Instructor: Lateefah Wielenga, PhD Human Life Span Development Introduction From the time a human life enters the world, grows, develops, and matures mentally and physically, and then, ultimately, dies; all is considered as part of the human life span. Life is a continuous strand of changes from beginning to end. Psychologists have dubbed the term “Lifespan Development” for referencing the continuous physical and cognitive changes which occur regularly throughout one’s lifetime (Meacham, 2013). This essay purposes to explain the Life Span Development Perspective, examine two theories of Life Span Development, and explore how heredity and environment serve to produce differences in human development. Life Span Perspective of Development Many characteristics are associated with human development.
The characteristics of each disorder will be examined and whether there is cognitive and/or motor deficits associated. Development is a continuous process of change in our capacity to interact and exist within the world by a cumulative process (Getchell and Haywood, 2005). Along with being a continuous process development has two other defining characteristics. Getchell and Haywood (2005) describe how development is closely related to age and certain periods of rapid and slow change (p. 5). Lastly development is based on a sequence series of events that build off the previous.
The Life-Span Perspective of Development Kimberlynn Silva PSY375 April 22, 2013 Dr. Judith Suggs The Life-Span Perspective of Development The life-span perspective of development, according to Berger (2011), “views human development as (1) multidirectional, (2) multicontextual, (3) multicultural, (4) multidisciplinary, and (5) plastic” (p. 10). While each of these categories is separate, they are all important to the development of the human person in the span of life. Multidirectional development shows the ways in which the human person changes, and the rate at which those changes occur. The traditional belief has been that change advances continuously until about 18 and then levels out until approximately 50, at which time the changes begin again (Berger, 2011). Some of the major theorists, such as Freud, Erikson, and Piaget theorize that these changes occur in age-related stages; while others, such as Skinner and Maslow do not (Berger, 2011).
Both Piaget and Freud looked at development over a life span in stages. In addition to these theories there has been a debate of "Nature vs. Nurture" that raises questions of what has more influence in development; A person's nature and innate qualities or the external experiences they experience? Looking at development through the lens of an entire lifespan has been something explored for quite a long time. Ancient societies had various viewpoints of an individual's development believing in things like destiny and definite role in life in which a person would develop (Guest,2011), but over time through the simplest method of human observation there was noticed of changes affected by experience that created a debate "between an assumption that people have inherent developmental destiny, and the knowledge that what happens to people in the social world can alter that destiny". Looking at development through lifespan can help us as individuals through the rest of our years as well as help shape future generations by identify key segments during their own development over time.
Sarah Kingham Psychology of Education: What is lifespan development and how does it relate to lifelong learning? Lifespan development, or what can also be referred to as life course development, can be defined as, ‘the sequence of events and experiences in a life from birth until death, and the chain of personal states and encountered situations which influence, and are influenced by this sequence of events’ (Runyan, 1978 as cited in Sugarman, 1986). Our society has constructed a series of systematic events, often related to age, that individuals progress through throughout their lifetime. There is said to be different types of change over the lifespan; changes which are ‘common to everyone in a species which are linked to specific ages’, changes which are ‘less universal’ and are often shared by subgroups i.e. different cultures, and also changes which are of a result of a ‘unique, nonshared event’ (Bee, 1997a).
Ecological Systems Theory Affects of Development According to Brofenbrenner’s theory of ecological development there are four main systems that work together that influence a person’s development. Brofenbrenner developed these systems so he could better understand human development within the context of relationships that make up the person’s environment. The ecology of human development is the scientific study of the progressive relationships between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives. This process is affected by the relations between these settings and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded (Miller, J. 2003).
Developmental norms refer to typical characteristics or patterns of development at any given age. http://parentingliteracy.com/parenting-a-z/44-overview/50-developmental-norms The key terminologies used throughout life are- Life course- is an individual's passage through life, and includes life choices, and life-events that influence an individuals life, for example, these are some things that could be a life choice or life event birth, marriage, parenthood, divorce, and retirement. Life expectancy- Is the amount of time an individual is expected to live, taking into account sex, physical condition, occupation, etc. Life span- this is how long you will live for, but it is not a fixed time. It depends on the person.
Others are called mini theories; these on the other hand deals on a limited aspect of development for instance social and cognitive growth. A major theorist such Sigmund Freud outlined the various stages of development in children where growth transformations occur. He called it the psychosexual stages of development, which largely emphasized on the significance of childhood experiences and events. Freud’s stages included oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. All the stages involve the fulfillment of libidinal desires that play significant roles in adulthood.
COPYRIGHT MICHAEL P M MHLANGA THE NATURE NURTURE DEBATE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALS. MICHAEL P M MHLANGA GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY The concepts of nature and nurture shape the development of human beings. This write up sets out to assess the nature nurture debate, pinpointing the effects each has on the development of children. Terms that will be defined are nature nurture debate, nature and nurture. Feldman (2009) defines the nature nurture debate as the issue of the degree to which environment and hereditary factors influence the behaviour.