Lifespan Development - chapter 1

devp is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual - constructed through biological, and sociocultural

the capacity for change - development is plastic!  we posess less capcity for change when we are old

devp consists of physical or biological, congnitive and socioemotional dimensions.

its a setting. include families, schools, peer groups, churches, cities, neighborhoods - each setting is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors

biological processes such as puberty and menopause, also ex such as beginning formal education (kindergarten) and retirement

• history influenced
• example:  great depression, baby boomers, world war II, groups of ppl within a certain period of history

unusual life events - winning lottery, hurricane, pregnancy teen

beliefs of one group passed on from generation to next - culture results from interaction of ppl over many years

Greek "nation" is rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion and language.

refers to persons position within society based on occupational, educational, and economic characterisitcs

psychological and sociocultural dimensions of being female or male

• biological/physical - produces change in ones physical nature
• ex: genes, dvp of brain, height, weight, hormonal changes in puberty, exercise, nutrition

• cognitive - change in one's thought, intelligence and language
• ex: memorizing, imagining, solving puzzle

• socioemotional - change in one's relationships with other people, emotions and personality
• ex: baby's smile in response to touch, joy at prom, affection of elderly couple.

ALL 3 PROCESSES ARE INTERTWINED!!!

multidisciplinary scientific study of how people stay the same and how they change

to understand cognitive development is QUANTITIVELY - a continous change

qualitiy = discontouous - abrupt stages such as a catapillar to butterfly

development primarily on the unconscious mind and relies heavily in emotion, early experiences are important in dvlp. 

ex: Freuds Theory,  and Eriksons Psychosocial theory

• "psychoanalysis"
• basic personality shaped in first 5 years, early experiences more important than later.

placed heavy emphasis on sexual motivation

ID, ego, superego, unconscious

psycho-sexual dvlp stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

dvlp of self in relation to others - motivation is social , dvlp change occurs throughout life!!

• Erikson had 8 stages (like freud favored discontinous)
• each individual must go through each crises, its not a bad thing but a turning point in ones life - more successful one resolves crisis, the healthier the dvlp will be

• trust vs mistrust
• autonomy vs shame
• initiative vs guilt
• industry vs inferiority
• identity vs confusion
• intimacy vs isolation
• generativity vs stagnation
• integrity vs despair

whereas pyschoanlytic stress unconscious, cognitive emphasize conscious thoughts

important cognitive theories:

Piaget - cognitive developmental theory

Vygotsky - sociocultural cognitive

Informational-processing theory

knowledge is discovered - we need experimentation/exploration ; we have tabular rosa "blank slate"

children go through 4 stages of cognitive dvlp

• 2 processes we use to make sense of the world: 
• organization - we organize our experiences and ideas
• adaptation - we adapt adjusting to new demands

• When we adapt, we:
• assimilation - take info in & already fits in how you see the world! fits in!
• accomodation - when it doesnt fit, we have to change the way you think - ex: 9/11 world changed, we have to rethink

SCHEMA - a mental/cognitive structure (representation) that organizes thought & guides action  AKA mental structure, mental represntation, cognitive structure

• cognitive equilibrium - baby is born w schema - reflex is to suck, it will suck on
• 1.breast
• 2.bottle
• 3.thumb
• 4.pacifier
• THIS IS ASSIMILATION

• cognitive disequilabrium
• sucking on daddys hair leg
• this is ACCOMODATION

• 1. senori-motor - object permanence (birth-2 yrs)
• ex: peek a boo 0 baby thinks you dissapeared, understand the world by the senses coming to you.

• 2. pre-operational - egocentric, only 1 view (2-6 yrs)
• only know what "I think", cant take another's perspective. begins to think symbolically

• 3. concrete operations - physical, but logical (7-11 yrs)
• must give them objects FIRST to think logical, need to show them concrete things

• 4. formal operations - abstract, hypothetical (12-adulthood)
• once you're freed from concrete world, you can think abstract

underestimated infant's capabilities

overestimated adolescents capabilities

no consideration for cultural differences

• looked at how society & culture influences you by using psychological tools
• most important is language!

believed you learn from ppl around you and society you grew up in

• ZPD - Zone of Proximal Development
• society shapes you first! then you internalize
• little and big circle:
• little (internalize)- what you can do right now
• ZPD bigger circle (social) - potential with the help of others who are more experienced

• Information Processing Theory
• sensory memory - short term memory - long term memory

• we manipulate information, monitor it, and stategize about it - it is not stage life, but continuous
• we perceive, encode, represent, store, and retrieve info : this is thinking!

• information precessing is sequential, we organize and elaboration (meaningful, have it connect w your life). 
• Sensory memory - we use it or lose it!
• short term - repitition!
• long term - we organize and ellaborate

• operant conditioning consequences:
• reinforcement : increases liklihood of repeated behavior
• + reinforcement - you get + behavior, you add something, GOOD JOB!
• - reinforcement - the behavior goes away, time out, cant watch tv, things taken away

• observational learning - we imitate and model
• ex: watching brother get hit, we observe and learn

• model of learning: 3 factors:
• behavior
• person/cognition
• environment
• ALL BIDIRECTIONAL!

stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, tied to evolution

Bowlby - attachment to caregiver over 1st year of life has important consquences throughout lifespan - if attachment is +, then person will be positive

Lorenz' imprinting - baby chicks followed him and thought he was mother - critical period

ecological - stresses on environmental factors

• Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory:
• 5 layers of environmental system:
• 1. Microsystem - setting where one lives
• ex: family, friends, school, neighborhood
• most direct interactions with child - bidirectional influences
• 2. Mesosystem - ex: connection between family experiences to school experiences, church experiences

• 3. exosystem - defines the larger social system in which the child is not directly involved in
• ex: parents workplace schedule, mass media, social welfare services

4. macrosystem - involves culture, cultural values and laws (outermost layer)

• 5. chronosystem - dimension of time as it relates to a child's environment
• ex: divorce