Lifespan development

What is development? Development is a process involving change in thinking, feeling and behaving. Many developmental changes are age-related and occur throughout the lifespan. Change is not necessarily gaining something or doing something better. Change can also involve cessation or loss eg. menarche (first occurrence of menstruation) vs menopause (menstruation stops).

What is lifespan development? Lifespan development refers to the age-related changes that occur from birth, throughout a person’s life, into and during old age. Development occurs before birth but this is primarily physiological development. Psychologists are more interested in the development of psychological characteristics, which primarily occur following birth.

What are the key stages in lifespan development?

1. Infancy: birth – 2 yrs

2. Childhood: 2 – 10 yrs

3. Adolescence: 10 – 20 yrs

4. Early adulthood: 20 – 40 yrs

5. Middle age: 40 – 65 yrs

6. Older age: 65 yrs+

What are the areas of lifespan development? Emotional Development Cognitive development Social development Physical development

1. Physical development Changes in the body

2. Social development Changes in relationships

3. Cognitive development Changes in thinking, perceiving, remembering, language etc.

4. Emotional development Changes in the ability to perceive, understand and use emotions (feelings)

How does development progress? Simultaneous development in different areas but not necessarily in the same way or at the same rate in all areas. eg. physical, social, cognitive and emotional development occur at the same time (but differently).

Continuous Vs Discontinuous Continuous development: gradual and ongoing changes throughout the lifespan without sudden shifts, with abilities in the earlier stages of development providing the basis of skills and abilities required for the next stages. Discontinuous development: distinct and separate stages, with different kinds of abilities occurring in each stage. Abilities develop within each stage.

Developmental tends to be sequential usually an orderly sequence simple to complex can stop or slow down for a while can skip a step What are some examples in which each of these aspects of development’s sequential nature might be evident?

Individual differences in development No two individuals develop at exactly the same rate or in exactly the same way, even if they are identical twins.

Individual differences in development Differences between individuals in their development eg. some individuals develop more slowly or more quickly than others, in some, most or all areas of development Development can vary within individuals eg. some individuals are slow to talk then at first then language development proceeds at a rapid rate; change in different areas occurs at its own pace in the same individual

Qualitative and quantitative changes occur Qualitative change: change in ‘quality’, kind or type eg. thinking differently, expressing emotions differently, interest in boys or girls. Quantitative change: change in ‘quantity’, or amount eg. number of words spoken, how many colours are known, degree of visual acuity, number of decibels at which sound is perceived.