History of the Study of Human Development Preformation Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin Six Major...
-
Upload
ashlie-page -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
4
Transcript of History of the Study of Human Development Preformation Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin Six Major...
History of the Study of Human Development
PreformationLocke, Rousseau, and Darwin Six Major TheoriesCurrent Theoretical Perspectives
History
• To a large extent, the study of human development is the study of child development.
– Most significant changes take place from infancy through adolescence.
History
Life phases evaluated in this course: Infancy Childhood Adolescence Young adulthood Middle adulthood Late adulthood
Childhood has been of interest for a long time. Adulthood became of interest in the late 1900’s. Childhood seen as special time of growth and change,
influenced by child-rearing practices, childhood experiences, and environmental influences.
History
Since 1900, the older adult population has increased dramatically:
Greatest increases up to 2040 will be in the 85-and-over and 100-and-over age groups.
A girl born today in the U.S. has a 1-in-3 chance of living to be 100 years old.
Changes in adulthood are just as important as the changes in childhood:
There are great changes in body, personality, and abilities during adulthood.
Average Human Life Expectancy (in Years) at Birth, from Prehistoric to Contemporary Times
Years
77
1820
3335
41
47
5
4
70
19th Century England
1620 Mass. Bay
Colony
Prehistoric times
Ancient Greece
Middle Ages,
England
2002 USA
1900 USA
1915 USA
Time Period
1954 USA
The Aging of America
Americans over 65
(in millions)
40
0
10
20
30
Male Female
Year
1940 2000 20401900
History
Characteristics of the life-span perspective: Development is lifelong.
Biological, cognitive, and socioeconomic dimensions of experiences and psychological orientation are very important.
Development is multidirectional:
Some aspects of dimensions shrink and some expand.
Development is plastic:
It has the capacity for change
Development is multidisciplinary:
Psychologists
Sociologists
Anthropologists
Neuroscientists
Medical researchers
History
Development is contextual:
Biological processes
Sociocultural and environmental experiences
Historical circumstances
Life events or unusual circumstances impacting on the specific individual
Development involves:
Growth
Maintenance
Regulation
History
Contemporary concerns (in the media):
Health and well-being:
Lifestyle
Drug and alcohol use
Parenting:
Divorce
Child maltreatment
Education:
U.S. system
Bilingual education
Poverty
Cooperative learning
History
Contemporary Concerns (continued):
Sociocultural contexts and diversity: SES
Gender
Context
Culture
Ethnicity
Social policy
History
Life-span psychologists focus on shared
Characteristics.
Not individual uniqueness.
Biological processes focus on:
Physical nature and genetic influences
Height and weight
Brain development
Motor skill changes
Hormonal changes of puberty
Cardiovascular decline
Cognitive processes focus on changes in individual thought, intelligence, and language.
History
How should age be conceptualized?
• Chronological age
• Biological age
• Psychological age
• Social age
Age in terms of physical health
Biological age
Social roles and expectationsrelative to chronological age
Social age
Number of years since birth
Chronological age
Adaptive capacity compared withothers of the same chronological age
Psychological age
Conceptions of age
Main Debates
Issue Details
Nature/Nurture How do genetic inheritance(our nature) and experience(the nurture we receive)influence our behavior?
Continuity/Stages Is developmental a gradual,continuous process or asequence of separate stages?
Stability/Change Do our early personalitytraits persist through life, ordo we become differentpersons as we age.
Preformation
Defined: (Previous Formation) Development involves merely an increase in size.
• Women were merely a housing unit designed to help the fathers fully formed child to grow.
• Homunculus: (Little Man) Miniature adult that inhabits the germ cell and produces a mature individual.
Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin • John Locke (1632-1704)
– Tabula Rasa: Blank Slate– Whatever comes into the mind comes from the environment.– Knowledge depends on the experience of the sense organs.– Environment molds the mind.– Thoughts and feelings develop through associations,
repetition, and imitation.– Learn through rewards and punishment.
Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
– People are always looking for the man in the child, without considering what he is before he becomes a man.
– Childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking, and feeling.– According to Nature’s Design.– Created four stages in child development.
Locke, Rousseau, and Darwin• Charles Darwin
– Children develop through evolution.– Explains mental and psychological traits as
adaptations and the functional products of natural selection.
– To bring the functional way of thinking about biological mechanisms into the field of psychology.
– Applys to all organisms as opposed to just humans.• Applys to any organism with a nervous system.
Six Major Theories
• Psychodynamic Theory
(Sigmund Freud)• Epigenetic Theory
(Erik Erikson)• Integrated-Attachment Theory
(John Bowlby/Mary Ainsworth)• Social-Cognitive Learning Theory
(Albert Bandura)• Genetic Epistemology
(Jean Piaget)• Cognitive-Mediation Theory
(Lev Vygotsky)
Current Theoretical Perspectives• Psychodynamic• Behavioral• Cognitive• Humanistic• Biological• Evolutionary• Social