1. The Study of Human Development
Chapter 1

2. Thinking About Development Learning Objectives
-What fundamental issues of development have
scholars addressed throughout history?
-What are the basic forces in the biopsychosocial
framework?
-How does the timing of these forces make a difference
in their impact?
How does neuroscience enhance our understanding of human development?

3. Recurring Issues of Human Development
Nature vs. Nurture
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Universal vs. Context-Specific Development

4. Recurring Issues of Human Development
Nature vs. Nurture: the degree to which genetic or hereditary influences (nature) and experiential or environmental influences determine the kind of person you are.
Continuity vs. Discontinuity: concerns whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression through the life span (continuity ) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity)
Universal vs. Context-Specific Development: concerns whether there is just one path of development or several that depend on the environment and culture

5. Basic Force in Human Development: The Biopsychosocial Framework
-Biological Forces – genetics and health
-Psychological Forces – cognitive, emotional perceptual, personality forces, that are demonstrated through behavior
-Sociocultural Forces: family, friends, co-workers, teachers, institutions, cultural group etc.
Life-Cycle Forces – situation, age, finances

6. Developmental Theories Learning Objectives
What is developmental theory?
How do psychodynamic theories account for development?
What is the focus of learning theories of development?
How do cognitive-developmental theories explain changes in thinking?
What are the main points in the ecological and systems approach?
What are the major tenets of life-span and life-cycle theories?

7. What is theory?
An organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development.
develop predictions about behavior
result in research that helps to support or clarify the theory

8. Major Theoretical Perspectives on Human Development
Psychodynamic – development determined by how well people resolve conflict.
-Freud, Erikson
Learning – learning influences behavior
-Watson, Skinner, Bandura
Cognitive-Developmental – how people think and how thinking changes over time
-Piaget, Kohlberg, Vygotsky
Ecological & Systems – human development is inseparable from the environment, all aspects of development are interconnected
-Bronfenbrenner, Lawton &
Nahemow
Lifespan
-Baltes

9. Psychodynamic Theories
Development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts
Erickson’s psychosocial Theory – personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands

10. Erikson’s 8 stages of development
Trust vs. mistrust - birth to 1 year
Autonomy vs. shame years
Initiative vs. guilt – 3-6 years
Industry vs. inferiority – 6- adolescence
Identity vs. identity confusion – Adolescence
Intimacy vs. isolation – Youne adulthood
Generativity vs. stagnation – Middle adulthood
Integrity vs. despair – Late life

11. Learning Theory Concentrates on how learning influences behavior
Emphasizes the role of experience
Stresses the influence of consequences on behavior
Recognizes that people learn from watching
Two theories
Behaviorism
Social Learning

12. Watson’s Behaviorism Learning determines behavior
Experience is sufficient to explain the course of development
Watson did little research to support his claims
B.F. Skinner did the research

13. B. F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
The consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be repeated
A reinforcement increases the chance that a behavior will be repeated. Positive and negative.
A punishment decreases the chance that a behavior will be repeated

14. Social Learning Theory
Observational Learning or Imitation
-People learn by watching others
-Imitation is more likely when the subject of
observation is seen as smart, popular, or talented
observation is rewarded for the behavior

15. Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Cognitive – people actively try to understand what is going on rather that just imitate
Social – what other people do is an important source of information
Emphasizes how we perceive our world and experiences
Experience gives self-efficacy, our belief about our own abilities and talents

16. Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Emphasizes the development of the thought process as we mature
Three approaches to the development of cognition
-We develop our thinking in stages (Piaget,
Kohlberg)
-Like computers, we become more efficient at
processing information as we mature (Information-
Processing Theory)

17. Cognitive-Developmental Theory Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Children gradually learn more about how the world works by little “experiments” in which the test their understanding
Cognitive development consists of stages in which children’s understanding of their surrounding become increasingly complex and accurate

19. Cognitive-Developmental Theory Piaget’s Stage of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)
-The infant interacts with the world through sensation
and movement
-Develops the ability to hold a mental representation
of objects
Preoperational Stage ( 2 to 7 years)
-Develops the ability to use symbols
-Egocentric: understands the world only from
his/her perspective

20. Cognitive-Developmental Theory Piaget’s Stages
Concrete Operational Thought (7 years to early adolescence)
-Can us logic and reasoning
-Cannot accurately consider the hypothetical
Formal Operational Thought (Adolescence and beyond)
-Thinks abstractly
-Deals with hypothetical concepts

21. Cognitive-Developmental Theory Information – Processing Theory
Uses the computer as a model of how thinking develops
Mental Hardware: psychological structures such as memory capacity
Mental Software: cognitive abilities that process information and help us to interact with the world

22. Cognitive-Developmental Theory Vygotsky’s Theory
Emphasized the impact of socio-cultural influence on child development
Focused on how adults pattern aspects of the culture on children
Viewed development as an “apprenticeship”

23. The Ecological and Systems Approach
Views all aspects of human development as interconnected
No aspect of development alone can adequately explain development
Understanding requires considering all factors:
-environmental
-family
-social
- and how they interact

24. The Ecological and Systems Approach Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
The Microsystem
-People and objects in the immediate environment
The Mesosystem
-Influences the Microsystems have on each other
The Exosystem
-Social, environmental, and government forces
The Macrosystem
-Subcultures and cultures in which the other three systems are
imbedded and influence development

26. The Ecological and Systems Approach Lawton and Nahemow’s Competence-Environmental Press THeory
Adaptation or development depends upon a match between a person’s abilities or “competencies” and their environment and demands it places on them.
-Emphasis is on how these factors interact

27. Questions Traditional Theories of Human Development Do Not Adequately Address
Does development continue throughout the lifespan?
What are the unique or specific developmental influences or issues of adulthood?
How do we explain the apparent decline of abilities in
later adulthood?

28. Current Perspectives Life-Span Perspective
Human development is a lifelong process
Understanding adult’s experiencer requires appreciating childhood and adolescence

29. Current Perspectives
Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) model
Selection process chooses goals, life domains, and life tasks. Elective or loss-based selection
Optimization and compensation concern maintaining those goals. Compensation includes finding other ways to accomplish the goal. Optimization concerns minimizing loses and maximizing gains.

30. Current Perspectives The Life-Course Perspective
-Examines how different generations experience and adjust to biological, psychological, and socio-cultural forces within the historical time period of their lives.

31. Dynamic interplay between individual and society
How do people time and sequence their lives in the context of historical conditions?
How do people balance their own lives with those of their family?
What is the impact of earlier life events on subsequent ones?

32. Matilda Riley’s Life-Spain Perspective
Emphasizes the need to view the entire life-span to understand a person’s development
The social environment, and historical aspects of one’s life must be considered
Learning about patterns of development influences society

33. Four Features of the Life-span Approach
Multi-directionality
Different areas of development grow and decline at the same time
Plasiticity
Skills and abilities can be improve or developed throughout the life-span
Historical Context
Historical time periods must be considered in examining development
Multiple Causation
Biological, psychological, socio-cultural, and life - cycle changes must be considered

34. Selective Optimization With Compensation (SOC)
Elective Selection
-Making choices to reduce involvement in order to
concentrate on another
Loss-based Selection
-Reducing involvement because of lack of resources
or abilities
Compensation
-Finding alternate ways of meeting goals due to loss
of ability or diminished skills

35. The Life Course Perspective
Emphasizes
-How personal life-events interact with historical
influences
-How individual issues integrate with family issues
-How earlier life events and the period of history
in which they occurred shaped subsequent events
and issues

36. The Big Picture
Jim was a 25 year old firefighter in Cincinnati. On September 11, 2001 he watched on television as the World Trade Center collapsed. He was so moved by the need to help his fellow firefighters, he went to New York to assist in the rescue efforts. Jim now suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome after the weeks of intense work and emotion he experienced.

37. The Big Picture
How did Jim’s age, his profession, and his choices interact to bring him to where he is today?
What impact might this have on his work, family, and his health?
How may these forces impact Jim’s future job choices, his marriage, and feelings about political and racial issues?

38. Doing Developmental Research Learning Objectives
How do scientists measure topics of interest in studying human development?
What research designs are used to study human development?
How do researchers integrate results from multiple studies?
What ethical procedures must researchers follow?
How do investigators communicate results from research studies?
How does research affect public policy?

39. Four Approaches to Human Development Research
Observing systematically
Using tasks to sample behavior
Self reports
Taking physiological measures

40. Measurement in Human Development Research
Systematic Observation
Naturalistic Observation
”Real life” observations
Researchers must decide on variables to watch
Difficult to use with behaviors that are rare or occur in a private setting
Structured Observation
Researcher creates a situation likely to result in a type of behavior in which she/he is interested. Structured setting may distort behavior

41. Other Behavioral Methods
-Sampling Behavior with Tasks – may be invalid if the task does not sample behavior as it occurs naturally.
-Self Reports – People may answer incorrectly because of forgetting or response bias
-Physiological Measures – highly specific so cannot be applied broadly

42. Evaluating Research Methods
Reliability
-Does this method consistantly measure what is
being studied?
Validity
-Does this measure provide a true picture of what is

43. Representational Sampling
Populations
-Broad groups of people in which researchers may be
interested
Sample
-A subset of the population chosen to represent the
population

44. General Research Designs
Corelational Studies
-Measures relationships between variables as they
are observed naturally in the world
-Provides an index call the correlation coefficient
(“r”) which indicates the strength of the relationship
between variables
-The Dependent Variable is the behavior that is
studied for possible change

45. Experimental Studies Studies the effect of one variable on another
Studies possible “cause and effect” relationship
The Independent Variable is the factor that is being manipulated
The Dependent Variable is the behavior that is
studied for possible change
Results may be skewed by
the laboratory
setting that is not
the natural setting.

46. Designs For Studying Development
Longitudinal Studies
Observes or tests one group of individuals over a long period
Is expensive and requires a large time commitment, may have drop outs, or become test wise.
Cross Sectional Studies
Observes or tests groups of different ages
More time effective, less expensive, but cannot show small
changes of continuity of development, may be affected by cohort effects, cannot study stability of behavior

47. Design For Studying Development
Sequential Studies
A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal
designs
Allows for flexibility to collect information in several
ways
Avoids cohort effects (differences in age groups (cohorts) may result as much from environmental events as from developmental processes),expensive and time consuming.

48. Integrating Findings From Different Studies
Meta-analysis
Analysis of many studies to estimate relations
between variables
Allows scientists to verify findings across many
studies

49. Conducting Research Ethically
Minimize and warn of any risks to participants
“Informed Consent”
Avoid deception, if necessary provide a full explanation as soon as possible
Individual results or data must be kept anonymous or confidential
All studies are reviewed by a
panel of experts

50. Communicating Research Results
Research results are published is scientific journals
To be published in journal, research results must be
Useful, well done, and original

51. Applying Research Results: Social Policy
Driving age
Stem cell research
Adoption policies
Laws against child abuse
Laws for consuming
Alcohol
Elimination of
mandatory
retirement
Lead based paint

52. Think About This:
How does being a participant in a scientific study affect behavior?
What if the only way to collect valid information about a factor requires putting subjects at risk, or not informing them of possible risks?