LS- MH-CH. 1 - PART 1 - INTRO. LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT
1. Development is lifelong
2. Development is multi-dimensional..
biological, cognitive, socio-emotional
3. Development is multi-directional-expands, shrinks
4. Development has plasticity
5. Developmental Science is Multidisciplinary
6. Development is Contextual - family, schools, work
7. Development involves growth, maintenance, regulation of loss.
8. Development is co-construction of Biology,Culture, and the Individual
CONTINUITY- DISCONTINUITY
Focus on the degree to which development involves gradual,
cumulative change (continuity)
or distinct stages (discontinuity.
NATURE-NUTURE
l s - ch. 1 - part 1 - INTRODUCTION LIFE SPAN PSYCHOLOGY
3 DOMAINS of HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:
1. BIOLOGICAL
2. COGNITIVE
3. SOCIOEMOTIONAL
Nature is that which is inherited/genetic.
Nurture refers to all environmental influences after conception, i.e. experience.
DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS:
Cross-sectional Designs-compares the performances of people of different age groups or cohorts- Millennials and Boomers - Computer Usage, What is Important in Life....

Longitudinal Designs- study of individuals over a lengthy period of time - Terman's study of gifted individuals.

Sequential Designs - Combo of the cross-sectional design and the longitudinal design.

RESEARCH PROCEDURES:
1. Conducting Culturally Sensitive Research
2. Protecting the rights of research participants through informed consent, debriefing, protection from harm, and confidentiality.
Psychology – the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes.

Development – Systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur
between conception and death
(womb to tomb - prenatal to death)


DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
8 PERIODS OF
THE LIFE SPAN
1. PRENATAL - Conception to Birth
2. INFANCY - 1st two years of life
3. EARLY CHILDHOOD - Ages 2-6
4. MIDDLE CHILDHOOD - Ages 7-12 (until onset of puberty)
5. ADOLESCENCE - Ages 12-20
6. EARLY ADULTHOOD - Ages 20-40
7. MIDDLE ADULTHOOD-Ages 40-6
8. LATE ADULTHOOD- Ages 60+

Developmental Scientists Face Special Challenges: 1. They must conduct studies in a variety of ecological contexts
2. They must be culturally sensitive.
3. They must adhere to standards of ethical research.
THE M & M EXPERIMENT TERMINOLOGY: Hypothesis, Control Group, Experimental Group, Variable, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable, Stable Variables, Replication (Refer to the Wiki page entitled M & M Experiment)

Life Span Development