PSYC 357 Chapter Notes -Ageism, Disengagement Theory, Gerontology

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 357
• Professor: Dagmar Bernstein

Document Summary

Psyc 357- ch2 models of development: nature and nurture in adulthood. Traditional developmental psychology focuses on youth but as knowledge/interest re adult years expands, emphasis shifting toward more all encompassing view of change o. Life span perspective= reflected in shift toward understanding dev as continuous from childhood thru to old age: developmental psych now incorporates social (contextual influences) on dev. Shift arose b/c of now outdated nature vs nurture debate(movement away from versus) Role of environment (specifically parents) to understand sequence of changes and then provide the right growing conditions (not long until nurture position emerged) John b watson said that child"s future could be modeled entirely by the environment parents provide. Growth beyond childhood is manifestation of genetic predisposition expressed in physical and mental dev of indiv. Changes occur thru qualitative/structural alterations in indiv"s psychological qualities (ie intelligence and personality)