what is a course called lifespan development?

by Zena Wilderman I 4 min read

Welcome to the study of lifespan development! This is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time. This is a very interesting and meaningful course because it is about each of us and those with whom we live and work.

Lifespan Development is a course which will examine developmental psychology, including theories and methodologies used by developmental psychologists. The course will examine continuity and change from conception to death and the interaction of biological, psychological and social aspects of development.

Full Answer

What is lifespan development in psychology?

Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.

What is lifelong development?

Feb 14, 2014 · Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.

What is lifespan perspective?

Mar 10, 2022 · Welcome to the study of lifespan development! This is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time. This is a very interesting and meaningful course because it is about each of us and those with whom we live and work.

What are the chapters in the life cycle of development?

In this course, we will strive to learn about each phase of human development and the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, all the while making cross-cultural and historical comparisons and connections to the world around us. In addition, we will take a lifespan developmental approach to learning about human development.

What is a lifespan study?

The Life Span Study (LSS) is a research program investigating life-long health effects based on epidemiologic (cohort and case-control) studies. Its major objective is to investigate the long-term effects of A-bomb radiation on causes of death and incidence of cancer.

Is lifespan development a science?

Developmental Psychology, also known as Human Development or Lifespan Development, is the scientific study of ways in which people change, as well as stay the same, from conception to death. You will no doubt discover in the course of studying that the field examines change across a broad range of topics.

What is life span psychology?

Life-span psychology aims to identify and illuminate normal developmental changes in all areas of psychological functioning, including but not limited to personality, from birth until death.

What is lifespan human development?

Human development encompasses the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes that occur throughout a lifetime. Human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the lifespan.

Why do we study lifespan development?

Appreciate Development Through Life As you enter adulthood, navigate middle age, and face the onset of old age, having a greater understanding of how people continue to grow and change as they get older can help you appreciate and manage all the stages of your life.Apr 28, 2020

What are the 5 stages of lifespan development?

The five stages of child development include the newborn, infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age stages. Children undergo various changes in terms of physical, speech, intellectual and cognitive development gradually until adolescence. Specific changes occur at specific ages of life.

How do we study lifespan development?

Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.

Is lifespan development the same as developmental psychology?

developmental psychology, also called Life-span Psychology, the branch of psychology concerned with the changes in cognitive, motivational, psychophysiological, and social functioning that occur throughout the human life span.

What is lifespan development Quora?

Throughout life span one changes from baby to infant, adolescent, adult, “senior”. Some capabilities increase, other ones decrease: all those changes constitute “development”, or rather evolution. Some changes are beneficial to the individual, others are not.

What are the characteristics of lifespan development?

Key characteristics of life-span developmentDevelopment is multidirectional: ... Development is plastic: ... Development is dependent on history and context: ... Development is multidisciplinary: ... Development is contextual: ... Development Involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation of Loss. ... Theme 2.Biological Processes.More items...•Jan 1, 2015

What are the 8 stages of lifespan development?

Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development include:Trust vs. Mistrust. ... Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. ... Initiative vs. Guilt. ... Industry vs. Inferiority. ... Identity vs. Role Confusion. ... Intimacy vs. Isolation. ... Generativity vs. Stagnation. ... Ego Integrity vs. Despair.

What are the four important issues of lifespan development?

These four major topic areas—physical, cognitive, social, and personality development—are summarized in Table 1.1. on page 6.

What is cognitive development?

cognitive development: domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. continuous development: view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills.

What are the three developmental domains?

They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains—physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness.

What is developmental psychology?

They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial. There are many theories regarding how babies and children grow and develop into happy, healthy adults.

What is Sarah's background in developmental psychology?

Sarah is a freshmen interested in taking a developmental psychology course. She is under the assumption that developmental psychology begins once you are born and ends once you enter into adulthood. Having just read a brief introduction to developmental psychology, you can now confidently tell her that developmental psychology starts at

When does a child start walking?

According to the normative approach, the average age a child starts to walk is 12 months. However, at 14 months Louisa’s daughter still isn’t walking. She tells Kimberly she is worried that something might be wrong with her baby. Kimberly is surprised because her son started walking when he was only 10 months old.

Who proposed the theory of cognitive development?

Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that explains how children think and reason as they move through various stages. Finally, Lawrence Kohlberg turned his attention to moral development. He said that we pass through three levels of moral thinking that build on our cognitive development.

What are the methods used by developmental psychologists?

These methods include naturalistic observations, case studies, surveys, and experiments, among others.

What age do you learn about development?

In turn, learning about all of that development and development during adolescence and early adulthood will help us to more fully understand the person at age 46 (and so on throughout midlife and later adulthood). Development does not stop at a certain age; development is a lifelong process.

What is the difference between cognitive and physical development?

Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Why is hypothesis important?

The hypothesis is extremely important because it bridges the gap between the realm of ideas and the real world. As specific hypotheses are tested, theories are modified and refined to reflect and incorporate the result of these tests. In essence, lifespan theories explain observable events in a meaningful way.

How are case studies used?

Case studies involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or children reared in isolation. And they are often used by clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal practice when gathering information about a client or patient coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail about situations or conditions. However, the findings from case studies cannot be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for comparison. (Read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Dr. Oliver Sacks as a good example of the case study approach.)

When did the study of children begin?

The scientific study of children began in the late nineteenth century and blossomed in the early twentieth century as pioneering psychologists sought to uncover the secrets of human behavior by studying its development. Developmental psychology made an early appearance in a more literary form, however.

Who wrote the book Psychological Care of Infant and Child?

When John Watson wrote the book Psychological Care of Infant and Child in 1928, he sought to add clarification surrounding behaviorists’ views on child care and development. Watson was the founder of the field of behaviorism, which emphasized the role of nurture, or the environment, in human development.

Why is it important to learn science?

An important part of learning any science is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon.

Why It Matters: Lifespan Development

Welcome to the study of lifespan development! This is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time.#N#This is a very interesting and meaningful course because it is about each of us and those with whom we live and work.

The Lifespan Perspective

Click the image to watch Mentoring Makes a Difference. A new window will open.

Psychodynamic Theories

What you’ll learn to do: use psychodynamic theories, like those from Freud and Erikson, to explain development.#N#Many people sometimes feel intimidated by theory; even the phrase, “Now we are going to look at some theories…” may elicit some blank stares or yawns.

Behavioral and Cognitive Theories

What you’ll learn to do: explain key principles of behaviorism and cognitive psychology.

The Humanistic, Contextual, and Evolutionary Perspectives of Development

What you’ll learn to do: describe the humanistic, contextual, and evolutionary perspectives of development.

Licenses & Attributions

Lifespan Development. Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at: courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-lifespandevelopment/. License: CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted.

Why study lifespan development?

Welcome to the study of lifespan development! This is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time.

Think It Over

Wherever you are in your own lifespan developmental journey, imagine yourself as an elderly person about to turn 100 years old (becoming a “centenarian”).

Who studied the lifespan of a child?

In one classic example of this research method being applied to a study of lifespan development, Sigmund Freud analyzed the development of a child known as “Little Hans” (Freud, 1909/1949).

What are the three developmental domains?

They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains—physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness.

Why is experimental research important?

As such, experimental research allows developmental psychologists to make causal statements about certain variables that are important for the developmental process.

What are the methods used by developmental psychologists?

These methods include naturalistic observations, case studies, surveys, and experiments, among others .

Who was the stage theorist who developed the theory of personality development?

Erik Erikson (1902–1994) ( Figure 9.4 ), another stage theorist, took Freud ’s theory and modified it as psychosocial theory. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory emphasizes the social nature of our development rather than its sexual nature. While Freud believed that personality is shaped only in childhood, Erikson proposed that personality development takes place all through the lifespan. Erikson suggested that how we interact with others is what affects our sense of self, or what he called the ego identity.

What is achievement gap?

The achievement gap refers to the persistent difference in grades, test scores, and graduation rates that exist among students of different ethnicities, races, and—in certain subjects—sexes (Winerman, 2011). Research suggests that these achievement gaps are strongly influenced by differences in socioeconomic factors that exist among the families of these children. While the researchers acknowledge that programs aimed at reducing such socioeconomic discrepancies would likely aid in equalizing the aptitude and performance of children from different backgrounds, they recognize that such large-scale interventions would be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is recommended that programs aimed at fostering aptitude and achievement among disadvantaged children may be the best option for dealing with issues related to academic achievement gaps (Duncan & Magnuson, 2005).

Who developed the theory of moral development?

A major task beginning in childhood and continuing into adolescence is discerning right from wrong. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) extended upon the foundation that Piaget built regarding cognitive development. Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive development, follows a series of stages. To develop this theory, Kohlberg posed moral dilemmas to people of all ages, and then he analyzed their answers to find evidence of their particular stage of moral development.

What are the stages of development?

Think about the lifespan and make a list of what you would consider the basic periods of development. How many periods or stages are on your list? Perhaps you have three: childhood, adulthood, and old age. Or maybe four: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Developmentalists often break the lifespan into eight stages: 1 Prenatal Development 2 Infancy and Toddlerhood 3 Early Childhood 4 Middle Childhood 5 Adolescence 6 Early Adulthood 7 Middle Adulthood 8 Late Adulthood

What is physical development?

Physical development also includes puberty, sexual health, fertility, menopause, changes in our senses, and primary versus secondary aging. Healthy habits with nutrition and exercise are also important at every age and stage across the lifespan.

What is the difference between cognitive and physical development?

Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Is Andrea's brain growing?

Andrea's brain has recently reached its adult size, though it continues to develop ; her body's growth has slowed down for now, and her motor skills are more coordinated. She is busy with learning and testing in school; her friendships with other girls are especially important. Considering all of this information, Andrea is probably in this period of human development:

What is developmental psychology?

Many academic disciplines contribute to the study of development and this type of course is offered in some schools as psychology (particularly as developmental psychology); in other schools, it is taught under sociology, human development, or family studies. This multidisciplinary course is made up of contributions from researchers in the areas ...

What is the age range for preschool?

Early childhood, or the preschool years, around ages 2-6, is filled with incredible amounts of growth and change. Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years, consisting of the years that follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling, roughly from around ages 2 to 5 or 6.

What is the age of adolescence?

Adolescence, or the age roughly between 12-18, is marked by puberty and sexual maturation, accompanied by major socioemotional changes. Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty; timing may vary by gender, cohort, and culture.

How does language develop?

Language develops as long as the infant is exposed to it. No teaching, training, or reinforcement is required for language to develop. Skinner and reinforcement: Learning theorist, B. F. Skinner, suggests that language develops through the use of reinforcement.

What is the language acquisition device?

Chomsky and the language acquisition device: The view known as nativism advocated by Noam Chomsky suggests that infants are equipped with a neurological construct referred to as the language acquisition device or LAD that makes infants ready for language. Language develops as long as the infant is exposed to it.

How do infants communicate?

Instead, they communicate their thoughts and needs with body posture (being relaxed or still), gestures, cries, and facial expressions. A person who spends adequate time with an infant can learn which cries indicate pain and which ones indicate hunger, discomfort, or frustration.

What is social pragmatics?

Social pragmatics: Another view emphasizes the child’s active engagement in learning language out of a need to communicate. The child seeks information, memorizes terms, imitates the speech heard from others and learns to conceptualize using words as language is acquired.

What are some examples of overextension?

In overextension all animals become “doggies”, for example. First words and cultural influences: First words if the child is using English tend to be nouns. The child labels objects such as cup or ball. In a verb-friendly language such as Chinese, however, children may learn more verbs.

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