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Human Development
Human development is the study of processes of change and stability throughout the life span
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3 Domains/Types of Development
- Physical – growth of body, sensory capabilities, motor skills, health
- Cognitive– mental ability, learning, attention, memory, language
- Psychosocial–emotions, personality, social relationships
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Social Construction
concept or practice that may appear natural but is an invention of a particular culture or society
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Culture
- a society or groups total way of life – all learned behaviors
- passed on from parents to children - customs, traditions, beliefs, values, language
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Baltes – Seven principles of life-span development
- Development is lifelong
- Development is multidimensional –biological & social develop at different rates
- Development is multidirectional – gain in one area, loose in another (adults)
- Relative influence of biology and culture shift over the lifespan – biological abilities weaken with age but cultural ability (education, relationships) grows
- Development involves changing resource
- allocations – childhood resources go to growth – old age to regulation of loss
- Development shows plasticity –abilities can be increased with training and practice
- Development is influenced by the historical and cultural context – the time and place we live
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Describe
Explain
Predict
Intervein – cause change
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Theory
set of logically related concepts that seek to describe and explain development and predict what kinds of behavior might occur in different conditions – organize and explain data
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Hypothesis
possible explanation for phenomena – used to predict outcomes of research
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5 Major Theories
- 1. Psychoanalytical
- 2. Learning
- 3. Cognitive
- 4. Contextual
- 5. Evolutionary
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Learning –
Behaviorism (traditional learning theory)(Pavlov, skinner, Watson) – people are responders –reactive
Social Learning – children learn in social context by watching others – Active and reactive
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Cognitive
- Piaget congnitive stage – changes in thought occur between infancy and adolescence – children are active initiators of development – active
- Vygotsky sociocultural – social interaction is central to cognitive development – active
Information-processing – human beings are processers of symbols – active
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Contextual
Bronfenbrenners bioecological – development is interaction between developing person and surroundings – from Microsystems to chronosystems
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Evolutionary
Bowlby attachment theory – Humans have adaptive mechanism to survive – critical and sensitive period of development – evolutionary and biological bases for behavior – predisposition toward learning
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Research Methods
- Qualitative research – measurable data
- Quantitative research – nonnumeric al data
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Scientific Method
- Hypothesis
- Collect data
- Analyze data
- Tentative conclusions
- Disseminating findings
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Data Collection
- Self – report – diaries, interviews, questionares
- Naturalistic observations – watch people in normal settings
- Laboratory observation – watch people in lab
- Behavioral and performance measures – tested on abilities, skills,knowledge, physical response
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