Personal and Occupational Development Throughout the Lifespan

Adulthood in the later years of life is different from the previous stages of life. Unlike the stages in later adulthood, the earlier stages emphasize developmental growth and achievements. In the later years in life, a person must deal with deteriorating health and death. The developmental theories in late adulthood involve the methods in which an individual can deal with their relationships with their bodily changes, mental abilities, changes in close relationships, families, overall society, and intended and unintended relocations (Rathus, 2013).

Vocational Psychology is a concept that emerged in the early twentieth century at the time of industrialization (Vocational Psychology - Career Development - IResearchNet, 2017). It is a specialty within applied psychology, and uses ‘the application of psychological principles to the problems of vocational choice, behaviour, selection and training’ (Definition of VOCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2017). Vocational behaviour is the nature of how and why individuals choose and adjust to occupations (Munley, 1975). Based on this concept of vocational behaviour Munley (1975), sort to look at it through the life span development theory of Eric Erikson.

From ages 6-11 you are considered early middle childhood. Around these ages you start changing your physical development by growing about 2 to 3 inches in height and 5 pounds in weight each year. A female body will mature quicker than the male body. Girls are slightly lighter and shorter than boys at ages 6-8, and then at age 9 it gets reversed. Around the middle childhood age the lower portion of the body is growing fastest, children appear to look long-legged. Girls end up having slightly more body fat and boys have more muscle. Between ages 6-8 the child should be able to do independent things like dress themselves, and tie their shoes. Children also start to develop more independence from their parents. It becomes important for a child

It is essential that robust methods are used in qualitative research as maintaining confidentiality is critical. Confidentiality issues must be addressed by the researcher in relation to individual participants as well as to the sites in which the research is conducted. With regard to individual participants, researchers may need to address confidentiality by using not only pseudonyms --non-identifying names in all written records, but also to be selective when describing defining characteristics of participants which could reveal their identity (Polit & Beck

P2: explain the potential effects of five different life factors on the development of an individual

Elderly people physically slow down and have lower energy levels. There are changes in the body systems and organs that can usually result in all types of

*For the purpose of this assignment and to keep the privacy of participates, the interviewee will be addressed as such, or as Person A.

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.

As adults enter the stage of later adulthood, many changes will begin to develop for each person. The aging process includes transitioning from work life to retirement, changes to roles, social positions, social policies, determining living accommodations with healthcare needs, and relationships with families and peers. The stage known as the golden years comes with great challenges while adjusting to the many changes in a person’s life. (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Transition from work to retirement

Since 1970 the people's society increased a number of jobs by 23%. This reveals that as the community develops, careers do as well. Some occupations are more difficult than others, as for a surgeon.

Regarding the principles of occupational therapy, individual needs to engaged in occupation is consistent throughout the life. According to the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), human occupation can be explained by examining how an individual is motivated and how occupations are patterned and performed (Kielhofner, 2008). In order to explain middle adulthood as a result, biological, psychological and social change and development will be illustrated. Also, the occupational change and development of midlife will be focusing on two main occupations of midlife — working and parenting. Model of Human Occupation will be utilised to explain how occupational transition occur and what are the driving force of occupations.

There are three known major areas of study in Lifespan Development which are the Physical, Cognitive, and personal and social development. These groups have to do with age and range of Lifespan Psychology. Lifespan literally connotes from cradle to grave, in other words from conception to death. Lifespan is divided into these following age periods; prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood and death.

There was no mention of description about participants and researcher’s credentials. There was no description of relationship of the researchers with participants, researcher’s role or level of participation. Those participants who were interested in sharing life story and life experiences were selected by the researchers. The study interviewed each of the four participants twice during the study. The first interview with each participant focused on open-ended questions to gather information about occupations during their life. In the second interview participants described life story section of Occupational Performance History Interview II. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed by the author.

Throughout an individual’s life, they take part in occupations that give their lives meaning. While there are occupations that people take part in throughout their lives, these occupations can still vary a great deal from person to person. There are a many environmental, social, demographic, physical, and cognitive factors that affect the occupations that a person takes part in. Through the study that we have conducted we looked at the occupations of an a parent of a baby, a school aged child, a retired person, and an individual with a disability. This study should a great deal of similarities and differences between the individuals in the occupations that they took part in, the way that they did these occupations, and the meaning that they attributed to these occupations.

Emerging adulthood is a time when one explores their identity in relation to a career path, reduce their alcohol and drug intake and are the most sexually active. During this stage, young adults are trying to find their career path and eventually “seek to establish their emerging career and start moving up the career ladder” (Tung, 15). By this time,