Chapter 1

Introduction

We reach backward to our parents and forward to our children, and through their
children to a future we will never see, but about which we need to care.
-Carl Jung
Swiss Psychiatrist, 20
th
Century

Learning Goals
Discuss the life-span perspective of development.
Identify the most important developmental processes and periods.
Describe three key developmental issues.

Historical Perspective
Historically, attitudes toward childhood have varied considerably.
In the Middle Ages, children were viewed as infants until age 6 or 7.
Children above age 7 or so were considered small adults and were treated to adult
conversation, jokes, music, food, and other entertainment (Aries, 1962; Plumb, 1971).
Medieval painters typically didn't distinguish between children and adults except for
physical size.
Although it appears that at least some accounts of children as "miniature adults" were
exaggerated (Pollock, 1983, 1987; Elkind, 1986; Hanawalt, 1993), there is still no
doubt that children were treated differently in the Middle Ages than they are now

By 1600, however, childhood was beginning to be considered a period of
innocence, much as it is today, and parents began trying to protect children from
the excesses and sins of the adult world.

As attitudes toward children changed, so did child-rearing practices.
The twentieth century brought not only a shift toward more humane child-rearing
practices, with legal protection for children's rights, but also the increased questioning
of preconceptions about children and development.

The Historical Perspective
Original Sin - children were perceived as being basically bad, born into the world
as evil beings.
Tabula Rasa - children are like a blank tablet, and acquire their characteristics
through experience.
Innate Goodness - children are inherently good.

Traditional Approach vs. Life-Span Approach
The traditional approach emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence,
little or no change in adulthood, and decline in late old age.
The life-span approach emphasizes developmental change during adulthood as well
as childhood.

Characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective
Development is lifelong
Development is multidimensional
Development is multidirectional
Development is plastic
Development is multidisciplinary
Development is contextual
Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation

Development is Lifelong
No age period dominates development.
Researchers increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of
adults at different points in their development.

Development is Multidimensional
There are biological dimensions.
There are cognitive dimensions.
There are socioemotional dimensions.

Development is Multidirectional
Some dimensions or components of a dimension increase in growth.
Some dimensions or components of a dimension decrease in growth.

Development is Plastic
Plasticity involves the degree to which characteristics change or remain stable.

Development is Multidisciplinary
Psychologists
Sociologists
Anthropologists
Neuroscientists
Medical Researchers


Development is Contextual
Normative age-graded influences
Normative history-graded influences
Nonnormative life events


Biological Processes
Involve changes in the individuals physical nature such as:
Height and weight gains
Development of the brain
Changes in motor skills
Hormonal changes in puberty
Cardiovascular decline

Cognitive Processes
Involve changes in the individuals thought, intelligence, and language such as:
Watching a mobile swing above a crib
Creating a two-word sentence
Memorizing a poem
Imagining being a movie star
Solving a crossword puzzle

Socioemotional Processes
Involve changes in the individuals relationships with other people, changes in
emotions, and changes in personality such as:
An infant smiling from her mothers touch
A young boy hitting a playmate
A girls development of assertiveness
The joy of a senior prom
The affection of an elderly couple

Conceptions of Age
Chronological Age
Biological Age
Psychological Age
Social Age

Chronological Age
The number of years that have elapsed since a persons birth
Biological Age
A persons age in terms of biological health
Psychological Age
An individuals adaptive capacities compared to those of other individuals of
the same chronological age
Social Age
Refers to social roles and expectations related to a persons age

Age and Happiness
No particular age group says they are happier or more satisfied than any other age
group.

Developmental Issues
Nature and Nurture
Continuity and Discontinuity
Stability and Change

The Nature-Nurture Issue
Involves the debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or
nurture

Nature
1. An organisms biological inheritance

Nurture
An organisms environmental experiences
The Continuity-Discontinuity Issue
This issue regarding whether development involves gradual, cumulative change
(continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity).
Continuity
Development results from a gradual process occurring over several weeks, months,
and possibly years.

Discontinuity
Development occurs through a sequence of stages in which change is qualitatively
rather than quantitatively different.
The Stability-Change Issue
This issue involves the degree to which we become older renditions of our early
experience or instead develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier
point in development.
It considers the extent to which early experiences (especially in infancy) or later
experiences are the key determinants of a persons development.

Evaluating the Developmental Issues
Most life-span developmentalists recognize that extreme positions are unwise.
The key to development is the interaction of nature and nurture rather than either
factor alone.
There still exists strong debate regarding how strongly development is influenced by
each of the factors.



The Early-Later Experience
A number of life-span developmentalists stress that too little attention has been given
to later experiences in development.
People in Western cultures tend to support the idea that early experiences are more
important than later experiences.
By contrast, the majority of people in the world do not share this belief.

The Early-Experience View
Some believe that unless infants experience warm, nurturant caregiving in the first
year or so of life, their development will never be optimal.

The Later-Experience View
Others believe that children are malleable throughout development and that later
sensitive caregiving is just as important as earlier sensitive caregiving.