In 1987 Paul Baltes created a theory based on the lifespan of human development. From his studies, he came up with six characteristics of adult development rather than child development. He was the first to focus on how a person develops throughout their lifetime rather than only the beginning. His theory states that "lifespan of human development is multidirectional and involves both gains and losses; plasticity is the rule over stability; development is influenced by historical and social contexts; and human development is multidisciplinary in nature." (pg 24) This is how his theory is relevant in my life.
Life is multidirectional in the sense that as a person develops, some things get worse and some get better. Things will change in a person's life at any given moment. A loss can change things just as much as a gain can. Throughout my high school years, I noticed a change in my mother. She used to be my
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Plasticity is the ability to be molded or change while still holding a specific durability. Plastic does not refer to the hard bowl you put your leftovers in instead, it's referring to that bowl's ability to be molded into a new shape with the right effort without breaking. It is possible for an old dog to learn new tricks. I work at an electronic cigarette store, selling better alternatives to cancer sticks. I have to convince people who have been smoking one to three packs a day for up to fifty years to stop. I have seen people give up, but I have also watched people change. I have listened to their stories about how they never thought they could smoke their last cigarette by choice. I hear about how much better they feel, how good things smell and taste now that they have their life back. I get to help people learn to better themselves by kicking a bad habit. On a daily basis, I witness first hand how plastic a person's development really
Human growth and development over a lifetime shows how a person evolves from birth to the time of death. Psychologists study the development of children teaching influencing their future. My childhood experiences influences my adulthood, but I have to show maturity. Does this mean that I do the same things I did as I child? What kind of growth did I show from elementary age to high school age? How much of my child will influence my decision-making as I move forward in my developmental stages? Does my spiritual have an impact on how I view myself? I have to take a step back into my past to view my challenges and obstacles. My
This essay will demonstrate my understanding of developments which occur at each stage of an individual's life cycle. I will relate these developments to two relevant psychological theories and discuss how an individual's needs must be met to enable them to develop.
Research on human development has been much devoted towards determining when one should expect children to be capable of certain skills. Every day, our communities develop as generations of individuals make choices and invent solutions to changing circumstances. Our ongoing daily activities, ranging from learning when to brush our teeth, to learning the numbers on a telephone. Barbara Rogoff’s The Cultural Nature of Human Development discusses cultural patterns as they relate to human development. Human development is a cultural process by which devices such as language and literacy are employed by means of learning from one another. To date, the study of human development has been largely based around research and theoretical knowledge coming from middle-class communities in Europe, as well as North America. Questions such as “When does children’s intellectual development permit them to be responsible for others?” and “When can they be trusted to take care of an infant?” are vital in recognizing cultural approaches among different cultural communities. Rogoff’s work discusses the importance of increasing the understanding of the cultural basis of our own lives as those of our neighbors and those individuals we do not know personally.
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
This paper serves to apply the knowledge learned throughout the course, COUN 502, to the development and growth in my lifespan. I will aim to demonstrate a working knowledge of the theories, terminology, and concepts of human growth and development. I will show how these disciplines apply to my own life experiences and how I did throughout my key life events, through the use of empirical studies.
The field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire lifespan is called lifespan development. Lifespan development takes a scientific approach in its study of growth, change, and stability. This development emphases on human development. Developmentalists study the course of development in nonhuman species, the most popular examine growth and change in people. In contrast I will focus on the ways people and myself change and grow during our lives, with the consideration of stability in our live span. Together, these findings suggest that we will go through
Human development is a process that occurs throughout the lifespan, and lifespan development theories offer frameworks for which to understand human growth. Different approaches focus on specific aspects of human life to determine which has the most significant influence on development. However, one theory usually does not account for all variables of human growth so more than one perspective may be used to analyze development. Two such perspectives, the behavioral and the contextual, explain development in different ways. The behavioral perspective focuses on observable behavior, while the contextual perspective focuses on interrelated systems that influence development. When applied to the case study in the index, the differences in the behavioral and contextual theories become evident.
The three theories I have chosen to discuss are all extremely relevant ideas; although I prefer Erik Erikson’s stage of psychosocial development. Erik Erikson’s theory covers a person’s entire lifespan showing the many different stages throughout one’s life. A person is always
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.
Many human development specialists have examined memory loss of adults later in life. During the past fifty years, there have been many studies in children’s cognitive development and earlier childhood memory loss. Ernest G. Schachtel conducted studies on why people forget childhood memories as they grow older. He described the processes that could be involved in early memory loss (Crain, 2005). He was influenced by Sigmund Freud’s cognitive theory (Crain, 2005). Lev S. Vygotsky, however, described children’s early memory development as a holistic process that involved society, physiological, cultural, and economical environments. (Vygotsky,
Development of a person throughout his or her whole lifetime can be seen either as a continuous process or as a final status to be attained. Psychologists agree
Developmental psychology is the study of how human beings age and transform throughout the eight major stages of life. This paper will focus on the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of individuals found in stage two, (early childhood 1-6 year olds). Through exploring, and examining the countless influences that affect their growth development.
Lifespan Development is the field of study that examines patterns, modes of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire lifespan of an individual. There are so many things to keep in mind about Lifespan Psychology;
Psychosocial development throughout the Life Cycle theory (sometimes known as individual development theory) proposes that each individual has the ability to master their environment at all stages of life (Coady & Lehman, 2008; Hutchison, 2008). The theory had its