Life-Span Human Development

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KFF is an endowed, nonprofit organization filling the need for trusted, independent information on national health issues. The way the authors presented developmental psychology, I also think it brings up some important challenges to the conventional abnormal psychology approach, and abnormal psychology would do well to be more informed by developmental psychology (e. Cognitive change is noticeable when we compare how 6-year olds, 16-year olds, and 46-year olds think and reason, for example. How much is due to genetics and how much is due to environmental influences and experiences (both within our personal control and beyond)? Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others.

The ages of 6-11 comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Of course, there is a certain discomfort in thinking about death, but there is also a certain confidence and acceptance that can come from studying death and dying. In the United States, girls in public school often receive information on menstruation around 5th grade, get a kit containing feminine hygiene products, and receive some sort of education about sexual health. It can also be a time of becoming more realistic about possibilities in life; of recognizing the difference between what is possible and what is likely.The first two areas, health and education, significantly affect adolescent development because healthy children who are educated effectively will tend to develop a higher level of intelligence. For example, individuals may sacrifice their capacity to be spontaneous or creative if they are constantly required to make thoughtful decisions and regulate their emotions. And the community is influenced by macrosystems, which are cultural elements such as global economic conditions, war, technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global community. This video gives a nice overview of the series (through the lens of a film analysis about what makes it so successful and engaging). So much of what developmental theorists have described in the past has been culturally bound and difficult to apply to various cultural contexts.

Extending on the premise of multidirectionality, Baltes also argued that development is influenced by the “joint expression of features of growth (gain) and decline (loss)”. As we have learned, human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes and constancies in humans over time. In this module, we’ll examine some of these major theories and contributions made by prominent psychologists.The concept of a “good death” is described as including personal choices and the involvement of loved ones throughout the process. Many academic disciplines contribute to the study of development and this type is offered in some schools as psychology (particularly as developmental psychology); in other schools, it is taught under sociology, human development, or family studies. A toddler’s fierce determination to do something may give way to a four-year-old’s sense of guilt for doing something that brings the disapproval of others. During childhood, however, we begin to become social beings as we learn how to manage our instincts and transform them into socially acceptable behaviors. And the 46-year old may have acquaintances, but rely more on family members to do things with and confide in.

Inversely, the ability for adolescents to engage in spontaneous activity and creativity, both domains commonly associated with impulse behavior, decrease over the adolescent period in response to changes in cognition.

Similarly, Elder showed that the Great Depression was a setting that significantly affected the development of adolescents and their corresponding adult personalities, by showing a similar common personality development across age groups. For example, the developmental timing of events can affect individuals in different ways because of their current level of maturity and understanding. Controversy surrounds euthanasia (helping a person fulfill their wish to die)—active and passive types, as well as physician-assisted suicide, and legality varies within the United States. Schools participate in this process by comparing students and making these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition.

Cognitive development includes mental processes, thinking, learning, and understanding, and it doesn’t stop in childhood.Late adulthood covers a wide age range with a lot of variation, so it is helpful to divide it into categories such as the “young old” (65-74 years old), “old old” (75-84 years old), and “oldest old” (85+ years old). We will be examining human development in these three domains in detail throughout the modules in this course, as we learn about infancy/toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood development, as well as death and dying. If we use the example of puberty again, we can see that certain domains may improve or decline in effectiveness during this time. Theories can be developed using induction, in which a number of single cases are observed and after patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples.