Assessment Description: Report “Secure attachment was once viewed as important for infant development. More re- recently, it has been deemed the most important ingredient for successful relationship formation, strong self-identity & confidence to function and achieve in our lifetime.” Please discuss the above statement.
You will need to examine and review the developmental theory literature on this statement. This will include researching early work around attachment however you are expected to extend this research to the adult attachment theories that emerged in the 80’s that stem from earlier attachment theories. Using your research to support your arguments, discuss the above statement. Your report should arrive at a conclusion based on your research.
Assessment Brief
Program
Bachelor of Applied Social Science
Subject
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Subject code
COU103A
Name of assessment
Assessment 3 – Report
Length
1500 words
Learning outcomes addressed
by this assessment:
A, B, C, D, E
Submission Date:
End of Week 11, Sunday 11.55 pm
Assessment brief summary:
This assessment is a report. Scroll down to find further details of the assessment requirements.
Total marks
40
Weighting
40%
Students are advised that any submissions past the due date incur a 10% penalty per day,
calculated from the total mark e.g., a task marked out of 40 will incur a 4-mark penalty per day.
Participating in the forum discussion is mandatory. Please note that you must attempt all tasks
in a subject to be eligible to pass the subject.
For more information, please refer to the Academic Progression Policy at
http://www.torrens.edu.au/policies- and-forms.
BASS – COU103A_04022021
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Assessment Description: Report
“Secure attachment was once viewed as important for infant development. More re- cently,
it has been deemed the most important ingredient for successful relationship formation,
strong self-identity & confidence to function and achieve in our lifetime.”
Please discuss the above statement.
You will need to examine and review the developmental theory literature on this statement.
This will include researching early work around attachment however you are expected to
extend this research to the adult attachment theories that emerged in the 80’s that stem
from earlier attachment theory.
Using your research to support your arguments, discuss the above statement. Your report
should arrive at a conclusion based on your research.
Marking Criteria:
Max. in
category
Comprehensive literature review on issue
10
Life span development / attachment theory identified and explained
10
Analysis and examination of theory & argument established
10
Number and choice of appropriate references
4
Correct referencing style: in‐text references and reference list
3
Word count, readability and essay structure used
3
TOTAL:
Comments
40
Your
points
Referencing
It is essential that you use appropriate APA style for citing and referencing research. Please see more
information on referencing here at
https://laureateau.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_20163_1&content_id=_249884
7_1&mode=reset
Submission Instructions
Save your report using the following naming convention: POA612_A_Jones_Assessment_1.pdf
Submit your report via the Assessment link in Blackboard. Your Learning Facilitator will provide feedback via
the Grade Centre. Feedback can be viewed in My Grades.
Academic Integrity
The work you submit for this assessment task must be your own and align with the Torrens University
Australia Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. Before submission, please make sure you have read
and are aware of this policy, viewable online at http://www.torrens.edu.au/policies- and-forms.
Also, please keep a copy of all submitted material and your drafts.
BASS – COU103A_04022021
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COU103A
Understanding human behaviour
across the lifespan
© All rights reserved. Provider: Think Colleges Pty Ltd t/a Jansen Newman Institute,
ABN: 93 050 049 299, CRICOS: 00246M, RTO: 02697
Human Development
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COU103A
Human Development across the lifespan.
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1
1. Introduction to understanding human development across the lifespan…………………………..5
2. Historical and theoretical background to human development…………………………………….. 25
3. Foundations of development……………………………………………………………………………………45
4. Infancy and toddlerhood ………………………………………………………………………………………….70
5. Childhood …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………96
6. Adolescence ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..143
7. Early adulthood …………………………………………………………………………………………………… .166
8. Middle adulthood …………………………………………………………………………………………………. .187
9. Late adulthood ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …208
10. The end of life …………………………………………………………………………………………………… .…245
11. Developmental disorders ……………………………………………………………………………………… 262
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Introduction
This subject introduces students to the field of developmental psychology and explores why
people do what they do, and what drives or motivates human behaviour. It examines the key
life stages of birth, early and later childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mid-life, ageing
and death in their social and cultural contexts. The subject explores how theories of
attachment, cognitive and social development explain human development over the lifespan.
The subject also examines the role of the family and the community in supporting healthy
development. Disorders such as autism spectrum disorders and developmental delays are
explored to develop an understanding of the needs of disabled individuals. The needs of the
aged are also discussed, including a study of dementia.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
describe and discuss the theories of developmental psychology
identify stages and associated features of human development across the lifespan
describe physical, cognitive and socio-emotional developments across the lifespan
discuss the impact of the family, society and culture on human development
identify a range of disorders relating to specific stage groups.
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Structure
There are 12 sections in this subject, delivered over 12 weeks. The week-by-week
course structure is:
1. Introduction to understanding human behaviour across the lifespan
2. Historical and theoretical background to human development
3. Foundations of development
4. Infancy and toddlerhood
5. Early childhood Middle childhood
6. Adolescence
7. Early adulthood
8. Middle adulthood
9. Late adulthood
10. The end of life
11. Developmental disorders
12. Revision
Each section represents one week’s study. The notes contained in this study guide summarise
the required reading from the textbook. Throughout the reading, you are asked to complete
activities. These activities reinforce the reading you have completed by requiring you to
consider the learning in a practical situation.
Each week you are also required to participate in an online discussion around a topic from
that section’s study. Your lecturer will provide each week’s topic.
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Resources
The textbook prescribed for this unit is:
Berk, L.E. (2018). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). London, UK:
Pearson Education. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.laureate.net.au/lib/
think/reader.action?docID=5441008&ppg=1 (this link takes you to the library where
you can download your weekly readings).
Recommended reading
Textbooks
Berk, L.E. (2013). Child development (9th ed). New Delhi, India: Prentice Hall of India.
Cavanaugh, J. & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2009). Adult development and aging (5th ed.).
Belmont,CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Feldman, R.S. (2008) Development across the life span, 5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Findlay, B. (2006). How to write psychology research reports and essays (4th ed.).
Frenchs Forest, Australia: Prentice Hall.
Gerrig, R.J., & Zimbardo, P.G. (2007). Psychology and life (18th ed.). New York, NY:
Pearson Education.
Hall, L.J. (2008) Autism spectrum disorders: From theory to practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
Peterson, C. (2004). Looking forward through the lifespan (4th ed.). Sydney, Australia:
Pearson Education.
Sigelman, C.K., & Rider, E.A. (2008). Life-span human development (6th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Steinberg, L. (2007). Adolescence (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Westen, D., Burton, L. & Kowalski, R. (2006) Psychology: Australian and New Zealand
Edition. Melbourne, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.
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Journals
Australian Journal of Psychology
British Journal of Developmental Psychology
Developmental Psychology
European Journal of Developmental Psychology
International Journal of Behavioral Development
Journal of Attachment and Human Development
Journal of Research in Human Development
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Websites
Alzheimers Australia: http://www.dementia.org.au
Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology:
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp/
Australian Psychological Society: http://www.psychology.org.au
Autism Spectrum Australia: http://www.aspect.org.au
Autism Today: http://www.autismtoday.com
Psychology:
Questia: http://www.questia.com/library/psychology/human-behaviour.jsp
You are also encouraged to source other articles from the Gale Library:
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/think
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Section 1
Introduction to understanding human
development across the lifespan
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1. Introduction to understanding human development
across the lifespan
This section introduces the study of human development across the lifespan. It defines
lifespan development as the study of how people grow and change over the course of their
lives. It outlines the main approaches researchers use in the study of lifespan development,
describes the major age-related periods of development, discusses key issues and basic
assumptions of lifespan research, and reviews the dynamic systems approach that lifespan
development represents.
The section continues with consideration of the methods used to research human behaviour
and development, and concludes with discussion of some of the ethical issues involved in
lifespan study.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this section, students will be able to:
• define lifespan development
• describe various approaches to the study of lifespan development
• identify the three major issues of lifespan development
• describe the lifespan perspective
• outline the various research methods used to study lifespan development
• demonstrate an understanding of some of the ethical issues involved in the study of
human behaviour across the lifespan.
Textbook reading
Please read Chapter 1 of your textbook.
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Lifespan development
If you have ever wondered what a newborn baby can see, how a pre-schooler learns to tie
shoelaces, what motivates teenagers to experiment with drugs, or why some elderly people
seem to age gracefully while others do not, then you have asked the kinds of questions
investigated by specialists in the field of lifespan development. Lifespan development is the
field of study that examines how people grow and change over the course of their lives, from
conception through to death. The goal of those who study human development is to identify
factors that influence our behaviour, and how we change across our lifespan. Later in this
section we will explore what some of these influences are, but before we do we consider a
more detailed definition of lifespan development.
In its study of growth and change, lifespan development takes a scientific approach.
Researchers in the field develop theories about the nature and course of human development,
and test the accuracy of their assumptions by using methodical and systematic scientific
techniques.
Lifespan development is not, however, simply a matter of scientific curiosity. Research about
lifespan development has been stimulated by social pressure to improve people’s quality of
life. For example, parents have continually sought advice about how to rear their children,
educators have demanded knowledge about what and how to teach children of different ages,
medical professionals have required understanding of the stages of physical development, and
social service professionals have sought information about personality and social
development in order to help people adjust to major life events such as parenthood, divorce,
job loss and death of loved ones.
The response to these social forces from many fields of study has resulted in a wealth of
interdisciplinary information. Researchers from psychology, sociology, anthropology,
biology and neuroscience have joined with education, medicine, public health and social
service professionals. The field of lifespan development has produced a body of knowledge
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that is not only scientifically interesting, but has important applied and practical relevance
(Berk, 2018, p.5).
Developmental specialists focus on the ways people grow and change throughout their lives.
They also consider behaviours that reveal stability, consistency and continuity with prior life.
Researchers of human development assume that in some respects people continue to grow
and change throughout their entire lives, while in other ways their behaviour remains stable.
Moreover, no particular period of life is believed to govern all development. Every stage of
life contains the potential for growth and decline in abilities.
The study of lifespan development is scientific in approach, interdisciplinary in its
application, and concerned with growth, constancy and change throughout the course of
human life.
With this definition in mind, this section discusses the scope of the lifespan development
field. It outlines some of the basic issues and key assumptions of lifespan development, and
describes the research methods used to test them.
Approaches to lifespan development
The field of lifespan development is extensive, and covers several different areas.
Consequently, those who study lifespan development often choose to specialise in one
particular area of development (Feldman, 2008, p.6). The four main areas of development
researchers examine are: biological development, cognitive development, emotional
development, and social development. According to the lifespan perspective, these areas are
interrelated. They interact and combine to produce a complex and dynamic map of human
behaviour across the lifespan.
Biological development
Biological or physical development is determined by genetically guided maturation;
environmental resources such as nutrition, sunlight, toxins; accidents, illnesses and diseases;
and lifestyle patterns such as eating, sleeping, exercising and the use of drugs. Physical
development emphasises how the brain, nervous system, skeletal system and sensory system
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affect behaviour. Specialists in the area of physical development might examine the benefits
of breast milk for infants, the effects of malnutrition on the rate of growth in children, or the
causes of early or late onset of sexual maturation.
Cognitive development
The cognitive approach to development emphasises how growth and change in intellectual
capabilities influence behaviour across the lifespan. Specialists in cognitive development
examine learning, memory, problem solving, and intelligence. They might be interested in
how early childhood trauma affects memory; how age influences problem-solving skills; how
genetically transmitted diseases result in intellectual impairment; or whether intelligence
declines in late adulthood.
Emotional development
Specialists in the area of emotional development examine the role that emotions play in
determining human behaviour. They have discovered that emotional development is related
to how an individual interacts in social relationships, explores the world and achieves a sense
of self. Specialists in this area might explore how toddlers emotionally bond with their
caregiver, how empathy develops in early childhood as a motivator of prosocial behaviour,
how depression affects teenagers, or how young adults explore and establish intimate
relationships.
Social development
Finally, researchers who specialise in social development emphasise the influence that
society has on behaviour. They might examine the role of punishment as a reinforcer for good
conduct and moral behaviour in young children; the influence of gender-stereotyping on
identity; how peer pressure affects teenagers; how poverty impairs optimal development; or
how culture influences attitudes to death and bereavement.
Age ranges and individual differences
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In addition to focusing on a particular area of development, lifespan specialists also typically
look at a particular age range. The lifespan is generally divided into major periods of
development: the prenatal period (conception to birth); infancy and toddlerhood (birth to age
2); early childhood (2 to 6 years); middle childhood (6 to 11 years); adolescence (11 to 18
years); early adulthood (18 to 40 years); middle adulthood (40 to 65 years); and late
adulthood (65 years to death).
It is important to remember that these major periods of development are, to some extent,
socially defined and culturally derived (Feldman, 2008, p.6). While some periods of
development are marked by clear-cut transitions (such as infancy beginning with birth and
adolescence beginning with the onset of puberty) others are not. For example, many young
adults in Western societies are choosing not to leave home after finishing high school. In
some ways, the attainments of early adulthood, such as financial independence and starting
one’s own family, are being postponed. To some extent then, the age ranges within a period,
and even the periods themselves are arbitrary. When developmental specialists refer to age
ranges, they are referring to the times when people, on average, reach particular milestones.
It needs to be noted that individual differences exist in the timing of events in people’s lives.
People mature physically at different rates on account of biology, and emotionally on account
of a range of genetic and environmental factors. There are also significant cultural variations
in the age at which it is considered appropriate for a child to work, or for a couple to marry.
In other words, some people will reach milestones earlier than others. Deviations from the
average age of milestone attainment might be culturally determined or they might require
specialist attention and intervention in a case where, for example, a child has learning
difficulties (Feldman, 2008, p.8).
The link between developmental areas and ages
Each of the four main areas of development: physical, cognitive, emotional, and social play a
role throughout the lifespan. Some specialists might choose to focus on physical development
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during the prenatal period, cognitive development during infancy, or emotional development
during adolescence, while others might focus on social development during later adulthood.
Other specialists might take a broader approach, and look at a particular area of development
through the entire lifespan. In the following sections, physical, cognitive, emotional and
social development will be approached chronologically.
Activity 1.1
¤
Think of a period in your life when you were either relatively early or late in regard to some
aspect of your development, and then reflect on the following questions:
• Did your rate of development impact on your self-esteem either positively or
negatively?
• What are some of the ways culture has affected your development?
Basic issues of development
Now that we have defined lifespan development and described the main areas and age-related
periods of research, we can outline some of the basic issues facing development specialists.
Speculation about how people grow and change has existed for many centuries, dating back to
the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century,
however, lifespan development started to become established as a scientific field of research
(Feldman, 2008, p.10).
Gradually, theories have emerged to replace speculation. Theories of development provide
organising frameworks for our observations of human behaviour, and require verification to
remain valid. The field of lifespan development contains many theories about how people
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grow and change physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially. In general, most of the
major lifespan theories take a position on three major issues:
1. To what extent is the course of development continuous or discontinuous
2. Is there only one, or are there many possible paths of development?
3. What is the relationship between genetic and environmental factors in influencing
development?
Continuous versus discontinuous change
One of the primary issues faced by developmental specialists is whether development is a
continuous process or a discontinuous, stage-related series of events. From the perspective of
continuous change, development is seen as gradual. Each developmental achievement builds
upon preceding achievements. For example, some theorists suggest that changes in people’s
thinking capabilities result from gradual and continuous improvements, rather than from the
emergence of entirely new cognitive processes. For more information, refer to the textbook
on page 6.
Alternatively, development can be viewed as discontinuous, where change occurs in distinct
and discrete stages. From this perspective, new and different ways of being and responding to
the world emerge at specific times. An assumption of the stage theory is that people undergo
rapid transformations during certain periods.
In general, developmental specialists agree that taking an either/or stance on the issue of
continuous versus discontinuous change is inappropriate (Feldman, 2008, p.11).
Developmental change comes about through both continuous and discontinuous processes.
Paths of development
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According to stage theory, people everywhere follow the same sequence of development.
Recently, theorists have begun to challenge this view, to suggest that different contexts can
produce different paths of change and development. For example, cultural differences can
profoundly influence a person’s intellectual development, their concept of self, their concept
of family, and the way they interact socially (Peterson, 2004, p.5).
Nature versus nurture
In addition to describing the course of development, theories also attempt to address the
fundamental question of what causes behaviour. How much is due to genetics and how much
to the environment? This is the age-old ‘nature versus nurture’ controversy. Nature refers to
hereditary information passed on genetically by our parents such as traits, abilities, and
capacities. Nurture refers to the complex forces of the world that influence development
(such as parenting styles, educational opportunities, and socio-economic circumstances).
Contemporary theorists reject the notion that development is caused solely by either nature or
nurture. By contrast, more recent developmental theories suggest that both nature and nurture
interact to produce behaviour. According to this view, genetically determined traits impact
the environment, and the environment, in turn, responds to the trait. For example, a child who
cries constantly could elicit frustration from a parent who feels helpless to soothe the child.
This frustration could then prevent the parent from holding the child gently, and the child,
sensing the lack of gentleness and acceptance, could become more upset. Similarly, certain
genetic predispositions require an appropriate environment for expression. For example, an
adolescent who is academically gifted, but socio-economically disadvantaged might not have
the opportunity to attend university.
In sum, the question of nature and nurture continues to be a complex and challenging one.
Background and environment are inextricably linked, and combine to influence development
throughout the entire lifespan.
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Activity 1.2
¤
Reflecting on your own upbringing, consider the following questions
1. What traits, characteristics and capabilities do you think you might have inherited?
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2. In what ways do you think you are unique?
3. What are some of the environmental forces that have influenced who you are today?
4. In light of your own experiences, do you agree with theorists who suggest that
genetic and environmental forces are intertwined?
The lifespan perspective
In order to reconcile some of the issues of lifespan development, contemporary theorists
suggest that change is both a continuous and discontinuous process, that development has
some universal and some unique, contextual features, and that hereditary and environmental
forces are interrelated (Berk, 2018, p.7). This approach seeks to understand development as a
dynamic system – a complex process in which biological, psychological, and social influences
combine to produce patterns of change and periods of stability from conception to death. The
dynamic systems approach to development is based on four main assumptions:
1. Development is a lifelong process
2. Development is multidimensional and multidirectional
3. Development is ‘plastic’
4. Development is influenced by multiple, interacting forces.
Development is life-long
In the first half of the twentieth century it was assumed that development occurred rapidly in
children and stopped when physical growth stopped at adolescence (Peterson, 2004, p.3).
Adulthood was viewed as a plateau, and aging was seen as decline. According to the lifespan
perspective, no age period is more important than another. Each has its own unique demands
and challenges, and offers the potential for consolidation, growth and change.
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Lifespan development is multidimensional. Biological, psychological and social forces
combine to produce a person’s experience of life. It is also multidirectional in that
development is not just about improving. Every period involves growth as well as decline. In
older age, for example, skills can be developed to compensate for the reduction in memory
capacity.
Development is plastic
Plasticity refers to the notion that every age offers the potential for change. While there are
individual differences in the capacity to adapt, and development gradually becomes less
plastic with age, evidence makes it clear that change is possible if new experiences support it
(Berk, 2018, pp. 9-10).
Development is influenced by multiple, interacting forces
According to the lifespan perspective, development is influenced by biological, historical,
social, and cultural forces. For each person, these forces combine and interact in unique ways
to create individual differences in the experience of life. There are three main categories of
influences:
• Age-graded
• History-graded
• Non-normative
Age-graded influences refer to those events that are strongly related to age. For example,
most individuals walk around their first birthday, school starts at 5 or 6 and puberty generally
occurs between 11 and 14. It needs to be recalled, however, that there are exceptions to these
developments.
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History-graded influences refer to the effect that historical events – such as wars, recessions,
and technological advances – have on development.
Non-normative influences are events that are irregular, or do not follow a predictable
timetable. As society becomes more diverse and less conventional, contemporary
developmental specialists are beginning to see non-normative influences as more powerful
than age-graded influences.
Reading 1.1
Baltes, P, Staudinger, U., & Lindenberger, U. (1999). Lifespan psychology: Theory
and application to intellectual functioning. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 471.
This reading provides an in-depth account of the lifespan perspective. It covers the history
and overall architecture of lifespan psychology as well as its application to intellectual
development. It is available via the EBSCO Host database on the library webpage.
Research methods
In the introduction to this section, you were asked if you’d ever wondered about human
behaviour – about how people learn, grow, change, adapt and age. In order to answer such
questions, developmental specialists are assisted, among other things, by the scientific
method. This is the process of posing and answering questions using methodical and
systematic techniques. It involves three major steps: 1) identifying questions of interest, 2)
formulating a possible explanation, and 3) carrying out research that either supports or refutes
that explanation. After the questions have been identified, a theory is developed. A theory is a
broad explanation about the phenomena in question. Researchers use theories to form
hypotheses. A hypothesis is a prediction about behaviour that is stated in a way that allows it
to be tested.
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Once the hypothesis is formed, researchers must develop a strategy for testing its validity.
There are two major categories of research: correlational research and experimental research.
Correlational research
Correlational research seeks to identify whether there is an association between a
participant’s characteristics and their behaviour or development. For instance, correlational
research could tell us if there is an association between infant-parent bonding and adult
intimacy style, or if the arrival of a newborn affects a couple’s marital satisfaction. It is
important to understand that correlational research cannot be used to infer cause and effect.
Correlational research can only tell us if there is a relationship between the two factors being
examined.
In correlational studies, researchers examine the strength of the relationship between two
factors using a correlational coefficient. The correlational coefficient is a number that can
range in value from +1.00 to -1.00. A zero correlation indicates that there is no relationship
between the factors. The closer the value is to either +1.00 to -1.00, the stronger the
relationship. The sign of the number (+ or -) refers to the direction of the relationship. A
positive number indicates that as one factor increases, so does the other. A negative number
indicates that as one factor increases, the other factor decreases.
It is important to remember that even if a strong correlation is found to exist between two
factors, there is no way of knowing whether one factor caused the other factor to vary. It
simply means that the two factors are associated with one another and that a more powerful
experimental strategy might be able to reveal a causal relationship between the factors if one
exists.
Types of correlational research
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Naturalistic observation
Naturalistic observation involves a non-interventionist approach to the observation of
naturally occurring behaviour. For example, a researcher might observe the play styles of
preschoolers by observing the children playing without interfering in the situation. This type
of study has the advantage of observing participants in their natural environment, but is
limited in that the researcher has no control over the factors of interest. In addition, when
participants know they are being observed, they may modify their behaviour.
Increasingly, naturalistic observation is coming to rely on an anthropological method called
ethnography. Ethnographic research involves the researcher participating in the daily life of a
culture or distinct social group for substantial periods of time. In ethnography, the
researcher’s goal is to understand a culture’s values and attitudes by careful observation and
in-depth interviews.
Clinical or case studies
The clinical or case study approach involves extensive, in-depth interviews, observations, and
sometimes test scores. The aim is to obtain as complete a picture as possible of a participant’s
psychological functioning. Case studies provide researchers with useful information that may
be used to form hypotheses for further research.
Surveys
Surveys represent another correlational strategy. In survey research, a group of people are
asked questions about their behaviour, thoughts and attitudes on a particular topic. From their
responses, inferences are drawn about the larger population.
Experimental research
The second major category of research design is experimental research. Unlike correlational
research, experimental research is designed to reveal causal relationships between various
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factors. In experimental research, changes are introduced to carefully controlled situations,
and then the effects or consequences of these changes are measured.
In an experiment, a researcher typically devises two different conditions and then studies the
effects of these conditions on behaviour. Usually, one group is exposed to the treatment
variable being studied (the treatment group) and the other is not (the control group). For
example, a researcher might want to examine the effects of exposure to television violence on
adolescent behaviour. In order to study this, one group of adolescents could be shown movies
containing violent imagery. Another group could be shown movies containing no violence.
The subsequent behaviours of both groups could then be measured and compared.
Comparison between the treatment group and the control group is a central feature of this
type of research methodology. It allows for conclusions to be drawn about cause and effect.
In experimental research, the independent variable is the factor that the experimenter
expects to cause changes in the other variable. The dependent variable is the factor the
experimenter expects to be affected by the independent variable. In the example above, the
independent variable is exposure to television violence. The dependent variable is adolescent
behaviour.
To ensure that their studies are not influenced by factors other than the variables being
examined, researchers use a procedure known as random assignment. In this procedure,
participants are randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. This ensures that
personal characteristics which could affect the outcome of the experiment are equally
distributed between the two groups. The equivalence of groups allows researchers to draw
conclusions from the experiment with confidence.
The obvious advantage of the experimental method is that it provides a means of determining
cause and effect. The limitation of this method lies in the fact that not every situation can be
controlled. There are also situations where control would be unethical (Feldman, 2008, p.35).
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For example, it would not be ethical to study the affect of alcohol on foetuses by exposing a
group of foetuses to alcohol. In such instances, a correlational design would be more
appropriate.
Designs for studying development
Lifespan specialists require information about how people grow and change over time. To
answer questions about chronological development, three major research strategies have been
developed: longitudinal design, cross-sectional design and sequential designs.
Longitudinal design
In longitudinal research, participants are studied repeatedly over time. For example,
personality styles could be studied from childhood through to adulthood to see if they remain
stable or are prone to change. Longitudinal studies can provide a wealth of information, but
they require a tremendous investment of resources. Participants can also drop out or become
‘test-wise’. Another limitation of longitudinal design is ‘cohort effects’. Individuals born at
the same time are subject to history-graded influences. Consequently, results based on one
cohort may not offer generalisations about people developing in other times.
Cross-sectional design
To avoid some of the shortcomings of the longitudinal design, some researchers have turned
to cross-sectional studies. In the cross-sectional design, people of different ages are studied at
the same point in time. This approach provides information about differences in development
between different age groups. Cross-sectional studies are more economical than longitudinal
studies because participants are only studied once, but they are unable to provide information
about change in individuals or groups over time.
Sequential designs
Both longitudinal and cross-sectional designs have limitations. In response, researchers have
combined these methods in ways that maximise their strengths and minimise their
weaknesses. In sequential designs, researchers study a number of different age groups at
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several points in time. For example, a researcher might be interested in the internalisation of
gender-stereotypes. The attitudes and behaviours of three groups of children aged 5, 7 and 9
would be measured once, providing information about age-related difference. The same
groups of children would then be tested several more times, every two years – the 5 year olds
at 7, the 7 year olds at 9 and the 9 year olds at 11, and so on. This approach combines the
advantages of the longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, and allows researchers to
distinguish between age versus change differences.
Ethics in lifespan research
Research into human behaviour and development across the lifespan creates ethical issues.
Special guidelines have been developed by major psychological organisations such as the
American Psychological Association to protect the rights of research participants:
• Researchers must protect participants from physical and psychological harm
• Researchers must obtain informed consent from participants, or the parents/guardians
of children and the cognitively impaired, prior to their involvement in a study
• The use of deception in research must be justified and cause no harm
• Participants’ privacy must be maintained
• Participants’ have the right to be informed of research results
• Participants’ have the right to be debriefed following involvement in a study if they
feel it is necessary.
Ultimately, the responsibility for ethical integrity of research lies with the researcher.
Activity 1.3
¤
Think about whether there could be any exceptions to the ethical principle of informed
consent in relation to certain studies. For example, do you think there could be some
circumstances involving adolescents that would justify allowing them to participate in a study
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without parental consent? What types of studies could be affected by this issue? Do you think
that limiting studies to adolescents who have obtained permission for their involvement could
lead to bias in the findings?
Summary
The study of lifespan development is scientific in approach, interdisciplinary in
application, and concerned with the transformations and consistencies that occur over the
course of human life from conception to death.
Researchers typically focus on one main area of development: physical, cognitive,
emotional or social. They also generally focus on one major age-related period: prenatal,
infancy/toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood,
middle adulthood or late adulthood.
There are three basic issues of development that lifespan theorists and researchers address:
the extent to which development is continuous or discontinuous (stage-based), whether
there is one general sequence of development or multiple paths of change, and the
relationship between nature and nurture in human development.
Contemporary theorists have developed an approach to resolve some of these issues.
The lifespan perspective represents a dynamic systems approach to human development.
It is based on four main assumptions: development is a life-long process; development is
multidimensional and multidirectional; development is plastic; and development is
influenced by multiple, interacting forces.
Researchers use a variety of research methods to study human behaviour across the
lifespan. The two major methods are correlational research and experimental research.
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Special research designs have been developed to study change over time. The three major
strategies are longitudinal, cross-sectional, and sequential designs.
Researchers are responsible for the ethical integrity of their research, and special
guidelines have been developed to protect the rights of research participants.
References
Baltes, P, Staudinger, U., & Lindenberger, U. (1999). Lifespan psychology: Theory and
application to intellectual functioning. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 471.
Berk, L.E. (2018). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). London, UK: Pearson
Education.
Feldman, R.S. (2016). Development across the lifespan, (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Peterson, C. (2004). Looking forward through the lifespan, 4th ed.). Sydney, Australia:
Pearson Education.
Plomin, R. (2004). Genetics and developmental psychology. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50
(3), 341-353.
Internet resources
Administration of Aging
http://www.acl.gov
Association for Rational Psychology
http:// http://www.arp.org/
Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp/
Australian Psychological Society
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http://www.psychology.org.au
Institutional Review Board Services (ethics)
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/boards/irb/index.cfm
Psychology
https://www.verywellmind.com/developmental-psychology-4157180
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Section 2
Historical and theoretical background to
human development
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2. Historical and theoretical background to
human development
In this section we examine the historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary
lifespan development research. We discuss how concepts of the lifespan, and its distinctive
periods, have evolved.
As its starting point, the section examines the recognition of childhood during the late
nineteenth century as a distinct phase of life. It discusses the influence of the Enlightenment
on views of children, and describes how conceptions of development were extended
through adulthood. It outlines how early observations and philosophies of childhood and
adulthood were gradually influenced by scientific thought, and subject to rigorous testing
during the first half of the twentieth century.
This section continues by examining how lifespan development expanded into a legitimate
area of inquiry by the mid-twentieth century. It discusses psychoanalytic, behavioural and
cognitive perspectives of human development, and describes how these approaches have
been questioned, elaborated, combined and improved to form the bases of the most recent
lifespan approaches. These include information processing, cognitive neuroscience,
sociocultural, evolutionary, and ecological systems theories.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this section, students will be able to:
• understand the historical and philosophical foundations of lifespan research
• describe how scientific advancements influenced the consolidation of
lifespan development into a legitimate academic field
• identify the main mid-twentieth century approaches to lifespan study
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• demonstrate an understanding of contemporary theoretical approaches to
human development.
Textbook reading
Please read Chapter 1 of your textbook.
Historical foundations
To understand the contemporary field of lifespan development, we need to examine its
historical foundations. Current theories are the result of centuries of change in Western
philosophical thought and scientific progress.
Philosophies of childhood
Childhood started to be regarded as distinct from adulthood in the latter stages of the
nineteenth century. Written texts began referring to children as a distinct group, as opposed
to simply being thought of as miniature adults. Laws started to recognise that children needed
protection from maltreatment, and manuals offering advice on how to care for children began
to appear.
By contrast, medieval religious beliefs about children had been contradictory. Children were
portrayed as either possessed by the devil and in need of purification, or as angelic and
innocent. During the sixteenth century, the Puritan belief in original sin produced a view of
children as inherently wilful and stubborn. Harsh, repressive and punitive parenting practices
were recommended as the only way of civilising depraved children. With the rise of
modernity, this view of childrearing was gradually tempered by more moderate practices
that balanced severity and permissiveness.
John Locke
In the seventeenth-century, the philosophies of the Enlightenment began to challenge the
Puritanical view of children. According to the British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704),
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children were born without any characteristics. He proposed that children are like a tabula
rasa, a ‘blank slate’, and that their characters are shaped by experience alone. In line with
this
view, Locke described parents as ‘rational tutors’ who had the responsibility of providing
careful instruction and good role modelling.
In Section 1, we looked at the three basic issues that human development theorists take a
stance on. If we look at Locke’s ideas with reference to these issues, we can see that Locke
regarded development as continuous. Responsible and civilised adult-like behaviours were
established through steady parental guidance. His view of the child as a tabula rasa made
him an advocate of the power of nurture to shape the child. And his emphasis on nurture
suggests that many paths of development are possible according to one’s context and
experiences.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
In the eighteenth century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) disputed the notion that
children were blank slates. Rather, Rousseau saw children as ‘noble savages’. In his view,
they were innately good, born with an innate sense of morality and a blueprint for orderly,
healthy development. According to Rousseau, adult instruction and societal intervention
were potentially harmful for a child’s natural development. Rousseau’s philosophy was
child- centred. In this view, parents needed to be receptive and responsive to children’s needs
during the four stages of infancy, childhood, late childhood, and adolescence. Rousseau saw
development as a discontinuous, stage-wise process. If children were not constrained,
Rousseau believed they would develop along the one path that nature had designed.
Philosophies of adulthood
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the first lifespan perspectives of
development began to emerge. Two German philosophers, John Nicolaus Tetens (17361807) and Friedrich August Carus (1770-1808) suggested that development did not stop at
adolescence, but continued through adulthood. Tetens addressed individual differences, the
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impact of historical periods on the course of life, the degree to which behaviour can be
changed in adulthood, and the extent to which older adults can compensate for declines in
functioning.
Carus extended the four stages of development to include adulthood and old age. He
proposed that aging was about progression as well as decline. He had the remarkable
awareness that development was multidirectional and plastic (Berk, 2018, p.14).
The scientific approach
The study of lifespan development grew rapidly during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century’s. Improved methods were designed to investigate observations and
theories about human behaviour.
Darwin’s theory of evolution
Through his observations of plant and animal species, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) noticed
that no two individuals were exactly the same. His theory of evolution was based on this
observation and included two related principles: natural selection and survival of the fittest.
According to Darwin, certain species survived because they adapted to their environment.
Others died because they did not. Those that survived long enough, were able to reproduce
and pass on their adaptive characteristics to the next generation. Developmental theories
soon began to draw upon Darwin’s idea of the adaptive value of characteristics and
behaviour.
Darwin also noticed that early prenatal development is similar in many species. Prompted
by this observation, other scientists started to make careful observations about aspects of
human prenatal development and children’s behaviour. These first attempts to document
development represented the birth of scientific child study (Sigelman & Rider, 2006, p.11).
The normative period
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G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924), an American psychologist, is generally considered to be the
father of the child study movement. Inspired by Darwin, Hall regarded development as an
automatic, genetically determined process. Hall and his student, Arnold Gessell (18801961), devised the normative approach to the study of children. In this approach, large
numbers of individuals are measured on a range of behaviours, and age-related averages are
calculated to represent typical development. For more information see the Berk text on page
14.
The mental testing movement
At the same time, French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) was also taking a normative
approach to the study of children. Binet was interested in finding a way to identify children
with learning difficulties, so that they could receive remedial attention. To address this
educational concern, Binet constructed the first successful intelligence test: the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scale. Besides being able to predict academic achievement, the test
created interest in individual differences in development. Research started to focus on
gender, ethnicity, birth order, socio-economic background, and other characteristics that
produced differences in scores. Intelligence testing moved to centre-stage of the naturenurture controversy and remains there to this day.
Mid-twentieth century theories
In the mid-twentieth century, a variety of theories emerged to account for human
behaviour across the lifespan.
The psychoanalytic perspective
According to the psychoanalytic perspective, development is characterised by a series of
age- related conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. The way an
individual resolves these conflicts – successfully or unsuccessfully – determines their ability
to learn,
co-operate with others, cope with life and, ultimately, grow. The two major psychoanalytic
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theorists we will focus on are Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson.
Freud’s psychosexual theory
Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese physician whose revolutionary idea that the unconscious
is largely responsible for behaviour profoundly affected psychology, psychiatry, and
Western thought in general. Freud’s psychosexual theory emphasised that healthy
personality development depends on how parents respond to their child’s sexual and
aggressive drives in the first few years of life. The id is the raw disorganised part of the
personality that represents primitive, biological drives related to hunger, sex, aggression and
irrational impulses. The ego is the conscious, rational part of the personality. It emerges in
early infancy to mediate between the id and the outside world. The ego redirects the id’s
impulses so that they are discharged appropriately. The superego represents a person’s
conscience – the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. It emerges between three
and six years of age and develops through interactions with parents, teachers, and other
significant figures who convey that children should conform to society’s values.
According to Freud, the ego faces the challenge of integrating the demands of the id, the
outside world, and the conscience over five stages, from infancy through to adolescence. In
each stage, pleasure or gratification is focused on a particular part of the body or a
biological function. Freud believed that during childhood, pleasure shifts from the mouth
(the oral stage) to the anus (the anal stage) and eventually to the genitals (the phallic and
genital stages). In Freud’s view, if children are unable to gratify themselves sufficiently, or
if they receive too much gratification, the conflict of the stage remains unresolved. If
children’s needs are met appropriately, they have the potential to grow into well-adjusted
adults (Feldman, 2008, p.17).
Erikson’s psychosocial theory
Freud’s theory was the first to emphasise how crucial the early parent-child relationship is in
relation to development, and how much of behaviour is unconsciously motivated. His theory
was, however, criticised for overemphasising the role of sexual feelings in development, and
for being culturally insensitive and sexist. Several of Freud’s followers, including Erik
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Erikson (1902-1994) took what was useful from his theory and improved it. Erikson
retained Freud’s first five stages, expanded on them, and then added three adult stages. At
each stage, a basic psychological conflict, resolved either positively or negatively,
determines whether or not an individual becomes an active, contributing member of society
(Feldman, 2008, p.17).
Despite the importance of Erikson’s view that development continues throughout the
lifespan, the psychoanalytic perspective is no longer part of mainstream human
development research. Because they are based on the clinical or case-study method
(discussed in Section 1), psychoanalytic theories are difficult to test empirically.
Nevertheless, Erikson’s overall outline of lifespan development provides profound insights
into the conflicts and attainments of each major period, from birth through to death.
The behavioural perspective
Behavioural theories reject the psychoanalytic concern with the internal, unconscious
workings of the mind. The behavioural perspective suggests that the key to understanding
development is in observable behaviour stimulated by the outer world, i.e. the
environment. The behavioural perspective emphasises the role of nurture as the primary
influence on development.
Traditional behaviourism
One of the first American psychologists to advocate the behavioural approach was John
Watson (1878-1958). Watson wanted to develop psychology into an objective science. He
suggested that a full understanding of development could be derived from observation of the
stimuli present in the environment. He argued that by controlling a person’s environment, it
was possible to produce any behaviour. Watson’s ideas were influenced by Pavlov’s studies
of classical conditioning in dogs. Classical conditioning involves the repeated pairing of a
neutral stimulus with a stimulus that instinctively evokes a response. For example, Pavlov’s
dogs were trained to salivate when they heard a bell that had repeatedly sounded in
conjunction with the presentation of food. Watson was interested to see if children learned in
the same way. In a well-known and ethically dubious study, Watson paired the appearance
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of a soft white rat with a harsh, loud sound and taught an 11-month-old infant to fear the rat.
Watson concluded that children were indeed ‘blank slates’ and that adults can shape their
behaviour by carefully controlling stimulus-response associations (Berk, 2018, pp.16-17).
In addition to classical conditioning, the behavioural approach is also informed by B. F.
Skinner’s (1904-1990) operant conditioning theory. In operant conditioning, learning is
established through reinforcement or reward, and through punishment. For example,
behaviour might be encouraged by praise or deterred by disapproval. Operant
conditioning has become a widely applied learning principle.
Social learning theory
Building on the principles of classical and operant conditioning, social learning theory was
developed to explain the complexities of social behaviour. Social learning theory emphasises
observational learning. Through processes of imitation and modelling, children (and adults)
acquire new responses and social behaviours. For example, a child might learn to behave
aggressively at school if s/he has been aggressively punished at home. One of the pioneers of
social learning theory was Albert Bandura. Bandura’s most recent research into social
learning emphasises the role of cognition. According to his social-cognitive theory, learning
involves more than the simple, unthinking imitation of behaviour. It involves active
cognitive processes such as paying attention to behaviour, recalling the behaviour, and being
motivated to accurately reproduce the behaviour.
Traditional behaviourism has been criticised for being too narrowly focused on observable
environmental stimuli and responses. Bandura is significant in the field of behaviourism in
that he grants children and adults an active role in their learning.
Reading 2.1
Overskeid, G. (2007). Looking for Skinner and finding Freud. American Psychologist,
62(6), 590–595.
This reading suggests that the view of Freud and Skinner as psychology’s polar opposites
is fallacious. It examines the evidence that Freud’s ideas influenced Skinner’s thoughts,
and highlights the similarities rather than the differences between psychoanalysis and
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behaviourism. This article is available from the EBSCO Host database which is accessible
on the library homepage.
The cognitive perspective
The cognitive perspective focuses on how people think, know and understand the world. It
emphasises the role of information processing in the production of behaviour. Researchers
who take this perspective are interested in how cognitive abilities change as people
develop.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Swiss cognitive theorist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is one of the most influential researchers on
child development. Piaget rejected the behavioural perspective of learning, and suggested
that children actively construct knowledge as they explore and manipulate the world. Piaget
proposed that children move through four universal stages as their brains develop and their
experiences expand. Each stage is characterised by a particular style or quality of thinking.
Cognitive development begins with the baby’s sensory and motor explorations of the world
in the sensorimotor stage. The preschool-age child develops symbolic or illogical thinking in
the preoperational stage. In the concrete operational stage, the school-age child begins to
organise thought into an integrated system of logic and reason. Finally, in the formal
operational stage, thought becomes the complex, abstract, and hypothetically deduced
reasoning system of adolescents and adults.
Piaget proposed that the mechanism for transition through the stages of development was
built on two principles: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of
using existing ways of thinking to understand experiences. Accommodation refers to changes
in existing ways of thinking in response to new experiences. Assimilation and
accommodation work together to achieve cognitive development.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has profoundly influenced lifespan research. He
challenged the notion that children are passive learners, and convinced the field that children
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are actively involved in gathering and processing information about the world. Despite his
contributions, Piaget’s theory has been challenged. The universality and discontinuous
nature of his stages has been disputed. Critics suggest that cognitive development is more
culturally specific, gradual, and continuous than Piaget assumed.
Recent theoretical perspectives
New theories accounting for human behaviour across the lifespan are constantly
emerging. Recent theoretical perspectives build on, enhance, revise and dispute previous
theories.
Information processing
To offer an alternative to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the information
processing perspective suggests that the human mind is a sophisticated system that receives,
codes, and organises information. The information-processing approach has been influenced
by developments in the electronic processing of information. It assumes that the human mind
is similar to a computer, and that complex behaviour such as learning, remembering and
thinking can be broken down into a series of individual steps. In contrast to Piaget’s view
that cognition develops through qualitative changes, information-processing approaches
assume that development is based on quantitative advancements. Children are seen as having
a limited capacity to process information. As they develop, it is assumed they employ more
sophisticated processing skills. Therefore, our capacity to process information, and the speed
and efficiency with which we do so, changes with age. Unlike Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development, information-processing theory suggests development is continuous. Thought
processes are considered to be similar at all ages, but present to a greater or lesser extent.
A great strength of the information-processing approach is its use of rigorous laboratory
research methods. This research has provided precise accounts of how people approach
specific cognitive tasks. However, information-processing approaches have been unable to
offer a complete explanation for real-world behaviours that appear to be non-logical and
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non- linear (such as creativity). In addition, they do not take the socially derived or culturally
influenced aspects of behaviour into account (Feldman, 2008, p.22).
Cognitive neuroscience approaches
Cognitive neuroscience represents one of the most recent additions to the study of lifespan
development. It brings the fields of psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine together
to study the relationship between neurological changes and cognitive behaviour.
Improved brain-imaging techniques have allowed cognitive neuroscientists to identify
locations and functions within the brain that are related to various cognitive processes. For
example, cognitive neuroscientists have demonstrated that thinking about a word’s meaning
activates a different part of the brain than thinking about how the word sounds when it’s
spoken. These techniques are allowing researchers to investigate questions like: How do
early experiences influence brain development in infants? Why is it more difficult to learn a
new language as an adult? And what neurological changes are related to declines in cognitive
capacity in old age?
Neuroscience is also demonstrating that the brain maintains plasticity over the course of life.
It is identifying the types of experiences that the brain is sensitive to at all ages, and
clarifying the neurological bases of many learning and behaviour disorders such as autism
(Feldman,
2008, p.22).
Evolutionary perspectives
The next three theories focus on the contexts for development. The first approach is
evolutionary developmental psychology. It seeks to understand the adaptive value of
cognitive, emotional, and social competencies in the context of their evolutionary history.
Evolutionary psychologists look at behaviours that have developed because they have
helped individuals survive and adapt more effectively. For example, according to John
Bowlby, smiling, gurgling, babbling and crying are a baby’s in-built social signals that
encourage caregiver attention and interaction. Other evolutionary psychologists might look
at the way children play in sex-segregated groups, and investigate how this contributes to
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the gender- typed behaviours that ensure reproduction and effective parenting in adulthood
(Berk, 2018, pp. 21-22). Evolutionary psychology has been criticised for focusing too
narrowly on genetic and biological aspects of behaviour, and discounting the influence of
environmental factors. The next contextual perspective addresses this deficit by highlighting
the social and cultural contexts for development.
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
According to Russian developmentalist Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934), a full
understanding of development is impossible unless culture is taken into account. Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory emphasises the role that social interaction plays in cognitive
development. Through social interaction, the values, beliefs, and customs of a culture are
transmitted to each generation of children. Children acquire the styles of thinking of a
culture through cooperative play with other children, and dialogues with more
knowledgeable peers and adults.
Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children are active explorers of the world. But he
suggested that cognitive development is a socially mediated process as opposed to an
independent pursuit. In this process, peers and adults provide support for children as they try
new tasks and build competencies. Like Piaget, Vygotsky also proposed that development
occurs in stages. For example, when children acquire language, their development with
regard to social interaction makes rapid gains.
Sociocultural theory has become increasingly influential. Researchers are acknowledging the
central importance of cultural factors in development, and that people in every culture
develop distinctive skills. As society becomes more multicultural, sociocultural theory is
revealing the varied influences that shape development. Critics of sociocultural theory
suggest that Vygotsky ignored important biological factors in cognitive change. Another
criticism of sociocultural theory is that by emphasising the social transmission of
knowledge, it underestimates children’s capacity to determine their own development
(Feldman, 2008, p.26).
Ecological systems theory
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Although lifespan specialists often focus separately on the developmental influences of
physical, cognitive, emotional and social factors, this approach is seriously limited. In the
real world, these influences are not distinct. Rather, they constantly combine and interact
with one another. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) is responsible for an approach to human
development that attempts to capture this reality. Ecological systems theory views
development as a process that takes place within a system of relationships. According to
Bronfenbrenner, biology and the environment combine forces to determine an individual’s
development. His bioecological model consists of four environmental levels that
simultaneously influence an individual: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem,
and the macrosystem.
The microsystem
The microsystem is the immediate, everyday environment in which children live and carry
out their daily activities. Immediate family, teachers, child-care minders and friends are part
of this system. The quality of care such people give affects child behaviour, but adult
behaviour is in turn affected and influenced by children. Bronfenbrenner emphasised that
relationships at this level are bi-directional. For example, parents affect a child’s behaviour,
but a child’s temperament, physical attributes, and capacities also evoke particular responses
from parents. Children play an active role in shaping the immediate world in which they
live.
The mesosystem
The second level of Bronfenbrenner’s model is the mesosystem. It is like the connective
tissue between the various aspects of the micro system. For example, if a parent has a
difficult day at work, they might come home in a bad mood and be short-tempered with
their partner and children. Or if a child is not performing well academically, this could be
the result of interacting forces including what goes on in the classroom with teachers and
peers, and whether parents are supportive and involved at home.
The exosystem
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38
The third level, the exosystem, is made up of the broader influences of societal institutions
such as local government, the community, health and welfare services, legal services,
religious organisations, employment organisations, and the media. Each of these
institutions affects how the mesosystem and micro system operate, and can impact on
personal development. For example, whether or not an employer grants maternity or
paternity leave will impact on a parent’s capacity to spend time with a child, and this in turn
impacts on the child’s early development.
The macrosystem
The outermost level of Bronfenbrenner’s model, the macrosystem, represents the larger
cultural influences on an individual. It includes laws, customs, values and resources. For
example, the value that a country, society or culture places on education or caring for the
elderly will affect all levels of the model, and impact directly or indirectly on development.
People are members of a broader culture (Eastern or Western) and a subculture (for
example, Greek-Australian).
The chronosystem
Finally, underlying these four environmental systems is the chronosystem. This is the
temporal dimension of Bronfenbrenner’s model. It involves both the internal and external
passages of time. For example, life changes can arise from within a person, through
choices, transitions, the process of aging, etc., or may be imposed by outer forces such as
historical events.
A dynamic, ever-changing system
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological approach emphasises the dynamic and ever-changing nature
of the environment, and the development of the people who live within it. Through a
process of perpetual feedback, biological and environmental forces combine and interact to
shape development. People are both the producers and products of their environments.
Reading 2.2
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development
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39
Brendtro, L. K. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfrenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids.
Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15(3), 162–167.
This reading provides a profile of Bronfrenbrenner – his life, his work, and the basic
ideas underlying his bioecological model of human development. It is available from the
EBSCO Host database on the library homepage.
Activity 2.1
¤
Apply Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model to your own life and then reflect on
the following questions.
1. How have biological and environmental factors interacted to affect
your development?
2. How have you been influenced by your environment?
3. How have you influenced your environment?
4. What have been some major turning points in your life? For example, the birth of a
sibling, changing a high school, entering university, getting married. How did these
events affect you from the systemic point of view?
5. How have each of Bronfenbrenner’s systems affected your development over
the past year?
A final word on lifespan theory
Throughout this section, we have reviewed the major theoretical approaches to the study of
lifespan development. It is tempting to wonder which of these approaches provides the
most accurate account of human behaviour, and it is natural that you might lean towards
one or another. But to decide that one approach holds all the answers is unwise.
Each perspective emphasises different aspects of development. For example, the
psychoanalytic approach focuses on emotional, covert and unconscious determinants of
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40
behaviour. The behavioural perspective is principally concerned with overt behaviours. The
cognitive perspective stresses changes in thinking. Sociocultural theory looks at the role of
culture and society in determining behaviour. Evolutionary psychologists are interested in
our inherited survival responses, and ecological theorists look at the interconnectedness of
multiple influences on development.
Each of these theories has strengths and limitations. Instead of thinking that one approach
is more accurate than the others, it is more appropriate to see them as complementary.
Considering different views in the light of one another provides a more complete
understanding of lifespan development.
Activity 2.2
¤
Think about which theory of lifespan development most appeals to you. Write an account of
what attracts you to this theoretical perspective. How might this theory account for your
development? Keep your answers to this activity in mind. Throughout the course of this
unit you may find that you revise your thinking.
Summary
In order to understand current perspectives on lifespan development, it is necessary to
appreciate the historical and theoretical background of the field. The section began by
describing how children came to be seen as a distinct category (i.e. separate to adults)
towards the end of the nineteenth century. Prior to this period, religious attitudes held that
children were ‘sinners’ in need of a strict upbringing, and the idea that children might
have specific rights was foreign.
We then went on to discuss how various philosophies emerged to dispute the Puritan view of
children. Locke proposed that children were like `blank slates’, and Rousseau suggested they
were innately good. These contrasting views mark the origin of the nature-nurture debate.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Tetens and Carus suggested that
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41
development did not end when the physical body stopped growing at adolescence. These
philosophers viewed development as a lifelong process and paved the way for today’s lifespan
perspective.
We continued with a discussion about how Darwin’s theory of evolution inspired the
scientific study of children. G. Stanley Hall introduced the normative approach to
child development, and Binet constructed the first successful intelligence test.
By the mid-twentieth century, a variety of theories about human behaviour across the
lifespan existed. Freud and Erikson were proponents of the psychoanalytical perspective;
Watson, Skinner and Bandura championed the behavioural approach; and Piaget took a
cognitive approach to the study of human development.
The section concluded with discussion of the most recent theoretical perspectives on
lifespan development. Information processing, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary
psychology, sociocultural theory, and ecological systems theory all represent contemporary
efforts to broaden and deepen our understanding of lifespan development. It is important to
remember that no single approach is the ‘right’ one.
References
Berk, L.E. (2018). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). London, UK: Pearson
Education.
Brendtro, L. K. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfrenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids,
Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15(3), 162-167.
Feldman, R.S. (2016). Development across the lifespan, (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Overskeid, G. (2007). Looking for Skinner and finding Freud. American Psychologist,
62(6), 590-595.
Section 2: Historical and theoretical background to human
development
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42
Peterson, C. (2004). Looking forward through the lifespan, (4th ed.). Sydney, Australia:
Pearson Education.
Sigelman, C. & Rider, E. (2006) Lifespan Human Development (6th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Internet resources
Association for Rational
Psychology
http://www.aarp.org/bulletin
Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp/
Australian Psychological Society
http://www.psychology.org.au
Jean Piaget Society
Lev Vygotsky Archive
http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky
Psychology
https://www.verywellmind.com/developmental-psychology-4157180
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Section 3
Foundations of development
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Foundations
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3. Foundations of development
In this section we examine the role of genetics and the environment in shaping and
determining development across the lifespan. It begins by describing how we start life as a
single cell. It outlines the basics of heredity – how characteristics are transmitted from
biological parents to their children. It considers the environmental influences that combine to
support or suppress physical and psychological development, such as family, socioeconomic status, and cultural values. It also examines the way that researchers have
attempted to understand the interaction between heredity and environment – whether their
influences can be separated and measured, or if they are inseparable, bi-directional forces.
This section concludes by looking at the very first age-related period of development: the
prenatal stage. It examines the biological and physiological development of the zygote,
embryo, and foetus. It also focuses on how the prenatal environment can threaten or
nurture the beginnings of life.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this section, students will be able to:
• describe the genetic and biological foundations of development
• discuss the environmental contexts for development
• demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between heredity and
the environment
• describe the stages of prenatal development and outline the changes that take
place during pregnancy
• understand the role of environmental influences on prenatal development.
Textbook reading
Please read textbook Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 up to the section ‘Childbirth’.
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Genetic foundations
We start life as a single cell. This first cell, the zygote, is created when a male reproductive
cell, a sperm, combines with a female reproductive cell, an ovum. The male and female
reproductive cells are called gametes. Gametes contain huge amounts of genetic
information, and when two gametes fuse, they combine their genetic instructions (over two
billion chemically coded messages!) to form the beginnings of human life.
The genetic code
At the moment of conception, humans receive between twenty to twenty-five thousand
genes. Genes are the basic units of genetic information. They are composed of sequences of
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules. Genes are arranged in a specific order and location
along rod-like structures called chromosomes. There are 46 chromosomes that are organised
in 23 matching pairs (except for the XY pair in males). One member of the pair is inherited
from the mother, and the other from the father. The pair members correspond with each other
in size, shape, and genetic functions. The 23 pairs of chromosomes in the new zygote contain
the genetic instructions that will guide cell activity throughout life. Through a process called
mitosis, chromosomes replicate themselves. This allows the zygote to develop into a
complex human being. Each new cell body contains the same 46 chromosomes and identical
genetic information. The nature and function of every cell in the body is determined by the
precise location of genes on the chain of chromosomes. For example, genes determine which
cells will become part of the heart and how quickly the heart will beat.
The vast diversity of human beings is explained by the nature of the processes underlying
the cell division of gametes. Gametes are formed through a cell division process called
meiosis. Each gamete has only 23 chromosomes, in contrast to the 46 chromosomes in the
rest of the parent’s body cells. The selection of chromosomes to form the gamete’s cell
nucleus is a random process. Consequently, there are 223, or about eight million, different
chromosomal combinations possible. The ultimate outcome is trillions of possible genetic
possibilities.
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Establishing the sex of the child
Recall that chromosomes are organised in 23 matching pairs. In 22 of these pairs, each
chromosome is similar to the other member. These pairs are called autosomes. The
exception is the 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes. In females, this pair is identified as XX. In
males it is identified as XY. The X is larger than the Y chromosome and carries more genetic
material. The gametes that form in females all carry an X chromosome. When gametes form
in males, the X and Y chromosomes separate into different sperm cells. The sex of a child is
determined by whether an X or Y-bearing sperm fertilises the ovum. Therefore, the
father’s sperm determines the sex of a child. This fact has led to the development of
techniques that will allow parents to specify the sex of their child, which raises practical
and ethical issues (Feldman, 2008, p.50).
Multiple births
Multiple births occur for two reasons. Sometimes, a cluster of cells in the ovum splits off
within the first 2 weeks after fertilisation. This results in two genetically identical
zygotes. They are called monozygotic because they have the same genetic makeup.
Differences between monozygotic twins can only, therefore, be attributed to
environmental factors.
A more common type of multiple birth results from two separate ova being fertilised by two
separate sperm at approximately the same time. Twins produced by this process are known
as dizygotic. They are no more genetically similar than two siblings born at different times.
Other types of multiple births include triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets. The chances of
having multiple births are slim, but increase considerably when couples use fertility drugs.
Older women are also more likely to have multiple births (Berk, 2018, pp. 47-48).
Patterns of genetic inheritance
Patterns of genetic inheritance are produced by the interaction of parents’ genes. This
interaction determines our characteristics, and also some of our disabilities and
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diseases. Remember that all chromosomes come in corresponding pairs except for the
XY pair in males. Two forms of genes, one inherited from the mother and the other
from the father, are located at the same place on the chromosomes. Each form of gene is
called an allele. If the alleles from the parents are similar, a child will be homozygous
for the trait in question. If the alleles are different, a child will be heterozygous for the
trait in question. In this instance, the trait will be determined by the relationship
between the alleles.
Dominant-recessive inheritance
In many heterozygous pairings, dominant-recessive inheritance occurs when one allele, the
dominant allele, affects the child’s characteristics. The other allele, which has no effect, is
called recessive. For example, the allele for brown eyes is dominant (symbolised by B). The
allele for blue eyes is recessive (symbolised by Bb). A child who inherits a homozygous pair
of dominant alleles (BB) and a child who inherits a heterozygous pair (Bb) will both be
brown eyed, even though their genotypes are different. A genotype is the combination of
genetic material. In contrast, a phenotype is the observable trait, the outward expression of
the genotype. Blue eyes can be determined only by two recessive alleles (bb). Heterozygous
individuals with one recessive allele (Bb) can pass that trait to their children. These children
are known as carriers of the trait.
We can see this process at work by looking at the transmission of phenylketonuria (PKU).
PKU is one of the most frequently occurring recessive disorders. It affects the way the body
breaks down phenylalanine contained in milk and other foods. If left untreated, PKU allows
phenylalanine to build up to toxic levels, causing brain damage. If both parents are
heterozygous carriers of PKU (symbolised as Np), we can predict that 25 percent of their
children are likely to be normal (NN), 25 percent are likely to inherit the disorder (pp) and
50 percent are likely to be carriers (Np). It’s rare that serious diseases are transmitted by
dominant alleles. Children who inherit the dominant allele seldom live long enough to
reproduce. Huntington’s disease is an exception. The symptoms of this condition, involving
the degeneration of the nervous system, do not usually appear until around the age of 35.
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Co-dominance and incomplete dominance
Not all single-gene-pair traits conform to dominant-recessive inheritance. Sometimes each
member of a gene pair is equivalently dominant, or co-dominant. A heterozygous genotype
can produce a combined phenotype. For example, a child with an AB blood-type inherits an
A gene from the mother and a B gene from the father. In incomplete dominance, a
dominant gene incompletely dominates a recessive partner gene and results in a new trait
that is a blend of the parents’ traits. For example, a dark-skinned parent and a light-skinned
parent have a child with light brown skin.
X-linked inheritance
Inheritance patterns can differ depending on the baby’s sex. Recessive disorders carried on
the autosomes have an equal chance of affecting males and females. However, a number of
recessive genes, called X-linked genes, are only located on the X chromosome. Remember
that the 23rd pair of chromosomes in females is an XX pair, while for males it is an XY
pair. As a result, males have a higher risk for some X-linked disorders because they lack the
second X chromosome that can counteract the genetic information that produces the
disorder. An example of an X-linked inheritance disorder is haemophilia.
Genetic imprinting
Most human characteristics follow either the dominant-recessive or incomplete dominance
pattern of inheritance. Geneticists have identified some exceptions. In genetic imprinting,
alleles are imprinted or marked in a way that allows one member of the chromosomal pair
to be activated regardless of its makeup. For example, diabetes is more likely to be inherited
from the father, asthma and autism from the mother.
Genetic mutation
Harmful genes are first created by a sudden change in a segment of DNA. This change,
known as mutation, can occur spontaneously or through exposure to hazardous
environmental agents. In germline mutation, changes take place in the cells that give rise to
gametes. When reproduction occurs, the affected individual passes the defective DNA to
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the next generation. In somatic mutation, normal body cells change by chance and the DNA
defect appears in every cell derived from the affected cell. Somatic mutation is evidence
that none of us have a single, permanent genotype. The genetic makeup of cells can change
over time.
Polygenic traits
In polygenic inheritance, a particular trait results from the combination of multiple pairs
of genes. Patterns of inheritance that either produce a trait or do not are easier to trace than
polygenic traits that vary along a continuum (such as height, intelligence, and personality).
Polygenic inheritance is complex and behavioural genetic researchers often infer the
influence of heredity when precise patterns of inheritance are unknown.
Chromosomal abnormalities
Harmful recessive alleles account for some developmental problems. Others are caused by
chromosomal abnormalities. Most chromosomal defects occur during the process of
meiosis – a chromosome pair fails to separate properly, or part of the chromosome breaks
off. The most common chromosomal disorder is Down syndrome. Down syndrome is
produced by the presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st pair. It results in mental
retardation, memory and speech problems, and slow motor development. It occurs in about 1
out of every 800 births and the risk increases with maternal age.
There are a number of disorders that arise from abnormalities of the sex chromosomes.
Klinefelter’s syndrome affects about 1 in every 400 males and involves the presence of an
extra X chromosome. Triple X syndrome involves the presence of an extra X
chromosome in females. And Turner syndrome involves a missing X chromosome in
females. Such disorders are typically characterised by specific intellectual deficits and
problems related to sexual characteristics (Feldman, 2008, p.55).
Reproductive choices
Genetic counselling
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Genetic counselling is a process designed to help couples deal with issues relating to
inherited disorders. Genetic counsellors consider factors such as family history, age of the
mother and father, and previous abnormalities in other children. Counsellors typically
suggest blood and urine testing or genetic analyses to determine whether a parent is a carrier
of a harmful gene. Counsellors recommend possible paths of action in accordance with test
results. The Human Genome Project has allowed counsellors to provide important
genetic information to couples and families (Sigelman & Rider, 2006, p.70).
Prenatal diagnosis and foetal medicine
Several prenatal diagnostic procedures permit detection of problems before birth. The firsttrimester screen combines blood testing with ultrasound sonography. This procedure can
detect chromosomal abnormalities and other disorders, such as heart problems. A more
invasive technique is chorionic villus sampling (CVS). This involves inserting a thin needle
into the foetus, and taking a sample from the hairlike material that surrounds the foetus. This
procedure runs the risk of producing miscarriage, and as a consequence, is used infrequently
and usually only for women of advanced maternal age. In amniocentesis, a needle is
inserted into the amniotic fluid surrounding the foetus and a sample is taken. This procedure
allows the analysis of foetal cells that can accurately identify a variety of genetic defects.
Prenatal diagnosis has led to the development of foetal medicine. Drugs can be administered
to the foetus and surgery can be performed to repair heart, lung, diaphragm and urinary tract
problems. Foetuses have even been given blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants.
Advances in genetic engineering have also given hope that some hereditary defects can be
corrected. The Human Genome Project has identified the genes involved in many diseases
such as Huntington disease, cystic fibrosis, and some forms of cancer (Berk, 2018, p. 54).
This has given rise to explorations with gene therapy, but treatments are still some time
away, especially for diseases involving multiple genes.
Genetic testing
Genetic testing involves scanning an individual’s DNA for mutations associated with various
diseases. This allows a person to identify their genetic risks, and permits them to take steps
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to reduce these or to modify their behaviour accordingly. The potential benefits of genetic
testing are great, but so are the ethical issues it raises.
Reproductive technologies
A range of reproductive technologies, including donor insemination, in vitro insemination,
and surrogacy, present options for people who want to bear children but cannot due to
infertility, sterility, sexual orientation, or life circumstance. There are a host of pros and
cons involved in reproductive technologies, which has generated heated debate.
Adoption
Adoption is also increasingly being chosen as an alternative to reproduction. There are a
variety of reasons people choose to adopt. Despite the complications involved in raising an
adopted child (such as the child’s early history and adjustment difficulties) most adoptees
are arguably well-adjusted as adults (Berk, 2018, pp. 55-56).
Activity 3.1
¤
Read the ‘Social Issues’ box dealing with the pros and cons of reproductive technologies in
Chapter 2 of your textbook. Imagine that you and your partner are unable to have children
naturally, but really want to have a family. Think about the options that are available.
Which reproductive technology would you choose to pursue? Would you consider
adoption? Give reasons for your choice and discuss some of the implications of your chosen
option.
Environmental foundations
Recall Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model from Section 2. It emphasised the interactions
between biological and environmental factors contributing to development. Now that we
have outlined the biological foundations for development, we can turn our attention to the
environmental contexts for development, such as the family, socio-econo…
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