Lifespan Development Theory

Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my

For instance, half of all children can sit unsupported by the age of 6 months, while the majority, (90%) can take up to 7 ½ months. What this means is that for accurate data we would need to observe theses children multiple times to see the growth they are making.

This has been a very fascinating journey from prenatal, birth to old age. The goal of this paper is to show how my knowledge and understanding of life span development has increased, as well as demonstrate how this knowledge and understanding will apply to and can be used within my area of specialization, Leadership Coaching.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison of my knowledge and understanding of lifespan development at the outset of course PSY 7210 Lifespan Development and at the courses’ end. In this paper I will explore lifespan development by identifying and discussing the stages of development, theoretical perspectives and research related to lifespan development. I will conclude with discussing how my knowledge and understanding of lifespan development can be applied within my specialization of Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology.

For Life-Span Development class, on February 13, 2017, the class had the opportunity to observer the physical, cognitive and social development. In this observation the class Riley, a five month old, female toddler. As a class at the Dordt College, gave the class the opportunity to live observe in the child with the infant’s parent consent.

The theory of psychosocial development developed by Erik Erikson is one of the best-known theories of personality. Erikson believed that personality develops in a series of stages and described the impact of social experience across the lifespan. Similar to Sigmund Freud, but unlike Piaget, Erikson believed that personality develops in a series of stages that are predetermined. Unlike Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages, Erikson’s theory, that of a psychosocial behavior, describes the impact of social experience across the entire lifespan. At each stage of development, Erikson described conflicts that act as turning points in life. This paper will discuss what Erikson’s theories is sheltered instruction, and how they apply to

B. F. Skinner thought of personality in terms of the effects external stimuli have on behavior. This emphasized the mutual interaction of the person or "the organism" with its environment. An example of this is something a baby learns. If a baby cries and receives attention, it teaches the baby that in order to get attention they need to cry. Princess Diana learned that external stimuli have a huge effect on her behavior.

Life span developmental psychology takes a scientific approach to human growth and change, focusing on change during the life span. There are three main aspects to life span development: cognitive, social, and physical development. This class is not simply a discussion of nature vs. nurture, it explores the interaction between genetic and environmental factors that orient us towards specific behaviors. Initially, my views on life span development were limited to more sociological factors, and did not take into consideration physical developments of the brain. In relation to my personal and professional identity this course has made me realize that development occurs on a spectrum and that not everyone develops at the same time, in the same ways, making me more understanding and compassionate towards those who developed differently than me. The three most important lessons I have learned from this class are that development occurs throughout the entire life span, infants begin learning at a very young age, and that senescence begins as early as young adulthood.

     Going back forty-five years is not an easy task to complete because I can’t remember some of the finer details of my childhood. I know I was born on a hot August afternoon in Birth Year at Place Of Birth in City ands State. My mother was just twenty-two at the time and was already the mother of two, I was her third child. My father was twenty-one and already a workaholic, I know because my mother would constantly remind me not to be like that. My mother and father were good parents and they tried to give us the best upbringing they could. My father was the kind of person that believed he should provide and protect his family, and he did a very good job of doing that.

In order to find the appropriate research-based intervention, it is important to review the lifespan developmental theories which may apply in this case.

The sensorimotor stage infants develop their schemas through sensory and motor activities. Followed by the preoperational stage where children begin to think symbolically using words, to represent concepts. Next concrete operational stage children display many important thinking skills, like ability to think logically. Finally, formal operational stage young adolescences formulate their operations by abstract and hypothetical thinking. Piaget’s theory provides ample and insightful perspectives, so it remains the central factor of contemporary

There are several key issues in Lifespan Psychology which are centered on these following factors which are; cultural factors, continuous vs discontinuous change, critical periods vs sensitive periods, lifespan approach vs particular periods approach, nature vs nurture.

On March 10th, 2016, I decided to observe my younger brother, Nathan, who just turned 15 years old. I observed him while I was at home for spring break for my Life-Span Development class that I am taking at Dordt College. Before I observed my younger brother, I followed the proper procedure of asking for consent from his mother and having her sign a confidentiality statement. I had the pleasure of using my younger adolescent brother for this report and I was able observe him while he is in this adolescent stage of development.

After reviewing the two articles provided and studies of my proposed topic, there was no evidence of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks in six of my studies. However, there is one theoretical framework in my quantitative study that focuses on the individual and is grounded within the context of the life-span perspective of human development theory. Contextual influences include the types of changes in resources that occur in response to the individual's needs for resources throughout a changing life-span. Life-span development involves biological considerations, cultural considerations, and individual factors working together. The life-span perspective put emphasis on the development of the course of a lifetime, and all stages of the

The life-span perspective is a modern scientific approach to the study of human development that accounts for all phases of life including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and it breaks each phase into individual stages of development (Berger,2014). This perspective suggests that development is multidirectional, metacontextual, and all stages of development are important and play a crucial role in the individuals cognitive health (Berger,2014). The stages of development are categorized as infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, adulthood, and late adulthood. For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing on the infancy stage due to the importance of cognitive development before the age of two, middle childhood due to a child’s social structure becoming a defining factor in their lives, and emerging adulthood due to the stresses that an individual must endure while maturing into a young adult.