Developmental Psychology.ppt

Developmental Psychology 2110 3.0 H (Fall Term) Introduction Definition of Development The pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span Why Study Life-Span Development? You can gain insight to your own life as a child, adolescent, and young adult. You will learn about life through the adult years—middle age, and old age. You may be a parent or a teacher some day. Life-span development is linked with many different areas of psychology. Assumptions influence practices Original Sin - children were perceived as being basically bad, born into the world as evil beings. Tabula Rasa - children are like a “blank tablet,” and acquire their characteristics through experience. Innate Goodness - children are inherently good. Where do our assumptions come from? Tradition Personal experience Experts Research History:Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Young Men: “Young men have strong passions, and tend to gratify them indiscriminately” Elderly Men: “They are cynical … small-minded, cowardly, and are always anticipating danger …they love life; and all the more when their last day has come …” Men in their prime: “all the valuable qualities that youth and age divide between them are united in the prime of life .. the body is in its prime from thirty to five-and-thirty; the mind about forty-nine” History:English-speaking pioneers Charles Darwin (1809-1882): “A Biographical Sketch of an Infant” (1877) G.S. Hall (1844-1924): “Adolescence” (1907):”Most savages in most respects are children, or, because of sexual maturity, more properly, adolescents of adult size” Traditional Approach vs. Life-Span Approach The traditional approach emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood, and decline in late old age. The life-span approach emphasizes developmental change during adulthood as well as childhood. Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective Development is lifelong Development is multidimen