7121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Anal Stage, Genital Stage, Naturalistic Observation
21 Jun 2018
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LECTURE 1
LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT: Theories and Methodologies
Lifelong Development
- Psychological growth continues past adolescence
oImpact of life events on personal growth
- Continuity vs change
oAcknowledges importance of periods of stability or the stability of certain traits
oTraits that are uniquely ‘you’ can be maintained despite continued psychological growth
throughout the life
oQuantitative change
Changes in degree
oQualitative change
Change occurs in large steps rather than progressive changes
Personal Meaning
- Personal age consciousness is your attitude towards age and ageing
oHow do you feel about your current age?
- Our perception of age is often inaccurate
oThis influences our planning for later stages of life
Cultural and social influences
- Culture has a significant impact on personal meaning of age
- Different cultures have differing views on accepted transitional stages
oBoth explicit and implicit
Eg stages of schooling, moving out of home, marriage
- Age grading
oIncreases social status based on age
Assumptions
- Psychological development is lifelong
oThere is no one age bracket where psychological development starts or ends
- Plasticity
oCapacitiy for growth is lifelong
- Culture
oEarly on, biological and genetic influences dominate development, as we age – culture
becomes more important
- Scientific investigation
oEssential for an objective understanding of psychological growth and development
Theories and Methodologies
3 goals
- Description
oWhat happens when we grow older
- Explanation
oWhy
- Optimization
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oHow can we ensure that we develop to our potential
- Descriptive research
oCollecting information about age groups and age related changes
oAllows us to follow developmental process of a particular psychological attribute eg
intelligence
oUsed to produce age norms – typical or expected
- Explanatory research
oAttempts to identify casual explanations
oUsing descriptive data to formulate hypothesis
o‘mini-theories’ are developed from explanatory research
Theories that apply to narrow psychological constructs and/or narrow age
ranges
- Optimization
oRefers to the fostering of optimal developmental throughout the lifespan
oTake the descriptive and explanatory data and develop interventions
Can a theory suggest an intervention?
Does this intervention work?
Pre Theoretical Models
- Environmental-mechanistic model
oEmphasis on the role of the external environment
oIdentifies complex, mature behaviours as functions of their smaller components and
earlier forms
- Organic-maturational model
oPsychological development unfolds according to a pre determines genetic blueprint
oFocusses on qualitative change
Step/stage approach rather than progressive change
- Dialectical model
oExplains psychological growth as the resolution of opposing forces or conflicts
oGenuine development comes from challenged and times of apparent stagnation
Research Methods
- Case studies
oHighly detailed
- Naturalistic observation
oLeast intrusive for data collection
- Experimental designs
oUse of highly controlled methods for the establishment of causality
- Self report
oInvolves interviews or the administration of questionnaires or standardized tests
- Cross sectional
oObservation at a dingle point in time
oComparison of those in diff age groups
oPotential for cohort effects
- Longitudinal
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Document Summary
Psychological growth continues past adolescence: impact of life events on personal growth. Continuity vs change: acknowledges importance of periods of stability or the stability of certain traits, traits that are uniquely you" can be maintained despite continued psychological growth throughout the life, quantitative change. Change occurs in large steps rather than progressive changes. Our perception of age is often inaccurate: this influences our planning for later stages of life. Culture has a significant impact on personal meaning of age. Different cultures have differing views on accepted transitional stages: both explicit and implicit. Eg stages of schooling, moving out of home, marriage. Age grading: increases social status based on age. Psychological development is lifelong: there is no one age bracket where psychological development starts or ends. Culture: early on, biological and genetic influences dominate development, as we age culture becomes more important. Scientific investigation: essential for an objective understanding of psychological growth and development. Description: what happens when we grow older.
