History of the Study of Human Development

PreformationLocke, Rousseau, and Darwin Six Major TheoriesCurrent Theoretical Perspectives

History

• To a large extent, the study of human development is the study of child development.

– Most significant changes take place from infancy through adolescence.

History

Life phases evaluated in this course: Infancy Childhood Adolescence Young adulthood Middle adulthood Late adulthood

Childhood has been of interest for a long time. Adulthood became of interest in the late 1900’s. Childhood seen as special time of growth and change,

influenced by child-rearing practices, childhood experiences, and environmental influences.

History

Since 1900, the older adult population has increased dramatically:

Greatest increases up to 2040 will be in the 85-and-over and 100-and-over age groups.

A girl born today in the U.S. has a 1-in-3 chance of living to be 100 years old.

Changes in adulthood are just as important as the changes in childhood:

There are great changes in body, personality, and abilities during adulthood.

Average Human Life Expectancy (in Years) at Birth, from Prehistoric to Contemporary Times

Years

77

1820

3335

41

47

5

4

70

19th Century England

1620 Mass. Bay

Colony

Prehistoric times

Ancient Greece

Middle Ages,

England

2002 USA

1900 USA

1915 USA

Time Period

1954 USA

The Aging of America

Americans over 65

(in millions)

40

0

10

20

30

Male Female

Year

1940 2000 20401900

History

Characteristics of the life-span perspective: Development is lifelong.

Biological, cognitive, and socioeconomic dimensions of experiences and psychological orientation are very important.

Development is multidirectional:

Some aspects of dimensions shrink and some expand.

Development is plastic:

It has the capacity for change

Development is multidisciplinary:

Psychologists

Sociologists

Anthropologists

Neuroscientists

Medical researchers

History

Development is contextual:

Biological processes

Sociocultural and environmental experiences

Historical circumstances

Life events or unusual circumstances impacting on the specific individual

Development involves:

Growth

Maintenance

Regulation

History

Contemporary concerns (in the media):

Health and well-being:

Lifestyle

Drug and alcohol use

Parenting:

Divorce

Child maltreatment

Education:

U.S. system

Bilingual education

Poverty

Cooperative learning

History

Contemporary Concerns (continued):

Sociocultural contexts and diversity: SES

Gender

Context

Culture

Ethnicity

Social policy

History

Life-span psychologists focus on shared

Characteristics.

Not individual uniqueness.

Biological processes focus on:

Physical nature and genetic influences

Height and weight

Brain development

Motor skill changes

Hormonal changes of puberty

Cardiovascular decline

Cognitive processes focus on changes in individual thought, intelligence, and language.

History

How should age be conceptualized?

• Chronological age

• Biological age

• Psychological age

• Social age

Age in terms of physical health

Biological age

Social roles and expectationsrelative to chronological age

Social age

Number of years since birth

Chronological age

Adaptive capacity compared withothers of the same chronological age

Psychological age

Conceptions of age

Main Debates

Issue Details

Nature/Nurture How do genetic inheritance(our nature) and experience(the nurture we receive)influence our behavior?

Continuity/Stages Is developmental a gradual,continuous process or asequence of separate stages?

Stability/Change Do our early personalitytraits persist through life, ordo we become differentpersons as we age.

Preformation

Defined: (Previous Formation) Development involves merely an increase in size.

• Women were merely a housing unit designed to help the fathers fully formed child to grow.

• Homunculus: (Little Man) Miniature adult that inhabits the germ cell and produces a mature individual.

Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin • John Locke (1632-1704)

– Tabula Rasa: Blank Slate– Whatever comes into the mind comes from the environment.– Knowledge depends on the experience of the sense organs.– Environment molds the mind.– Thoughts and feelings develop through associations,

repetition, and imitation.– Learn through rewards and punishment.

Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

– People are always looking for the man in the child, without considering what he is before he becomes a man.

– Childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking, and feeling.– According to Nature’s Design.– Created four stages in child development.

Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin• Charles Darwin

– Children develop through evolution.– Explains mental and psychological traits as

adaptations and the functional products of natural selection.

– To bring the functional way of thinking about biological mechanisms into the field of psychology.

– Applys to all organisms as opposed to just humans.• Applys to any organism with a nervous system.

Six Major Theories

• Psychodynamic Theory

(Sigmund Freud)• Epigenetic Theory

(Erik Erikson)• Integrated-Attachment Theory

(John Bowlby/Mary Ainsworth)• Social-Cognitive Learning Theory

(Albert Bandura)• Genetic Epistemology

(Jean Piaget)• Cognitive-Mediation Theory

(Lev Vygotsky)

Current Theoretical Perspectives• Psychodynamic• Behavioral• Cognitive• Humanistic• Biological• Evolutionary• Social