Lifespan Development ●Developmental psychologists seek to understand the changes that occur across the human lifespan, whether physical, cognitive, or social changes ●Definition ○Development refers to organisms’ progressive change ●An important issue is the extent to which human biology influences thought and behavior and the extent to which environmental influences such as family and culture influence behavior ○Nature vs Nurture ■Nature refers to the genetic and biological disposition of individuals ■Nurture refers to the environmental influences on individuals, such as friends, family, and culture ●Biological psychologists often lead toward nature explanations of behavior ●Counselors lean toward nurture ●Lifespan approach ○Emphasizes human change across the lifespan, from conception to death ○Each period of life is considered to be important, and more and more researchers are examining adolescence, adulthood, and late adulthood ●Cross sectional designs ○Takes a cross section or group of people at one period of time ○Example ■Group of four year olds as they enter preschool ●Longitudinal studies ○Examines people over a period of time ○Example ■Study examines 10 year olds and then has them come in to the laboratory annually until they graduate high school ●Attrition has to do with something being reduced ○Refers to people dropping out of the study ●Cohort effects are effects that are due to being part of a particular cohort, which is a group of people born at the same time ○Example ■Changes occurring to people entering late adulthood right now could be due to aging or could be due to these adults having lived through the 1960s ■Aging is a biological issue, but commonalities people experience from having live through the 1960s would be a cohort effects Physical Development ●Growth ○Physical process of development ○Includes growing taller in observable ●Maturation
○Can be physical, emotional, or cognitive ○Has to do with something becoming more developed and more advanced ○Example ■Our brains don't grow in size across the lifespan, but they mature ●Aging ○Process of growing older ○Typically use this term for adults ●Prenatal Development ○Development that occurs in utero, before a baby is born ○Three periods of prenatal development ■Germinal ●Takes place during the first two weeks after conception ●When the zygote is created and attaches to the uterine wall ■Embryonic ●2-8 weeks after conception ●Layers of cells are formed ●Layers will develop into organs and support system for cells ●Inner layer of cells develop into the respiratory and digestive systems while the outer layers becomes the nervous system and sensory systems ■Fetal ●Begins two months after conception and lasts approximately seven months ●Major growth and development takes place ○Teratology ■
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