Human Development

seeks to describe, explain, predict and modify behavior

         The historical background of Human Development – How did the study come into existence?

o    Scientific Curiosity

o   Social pressure to improve peoples’ lives

o   The interest of the medical profession in improving peoples’ health (understanding physical development, nutrition & diseases)

o   The social profession’s desire to treat emotional problems and to help people adjust to major life events required a comprehensive understanding of development

o   Most recently --what and how to teach children of different ages

1. Interdisciplinary

2. Applied

3. Ascientific

o   Multiple disciplines, combining psychology, biology, sociology, neuroscience and anthropology, with other professions from education, medicine, family studies, public health and social services to improve lives

Uses a rational approach based on tested

theories and research to study the development

of human beings

1. Created after observation & Testing

2. A set of statements or principles derived to explain a group of facts or phenomenon, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena

1. Is development a continuous or discontinuous process?

2. Is there one course of development or many possible courses?

3. Is development determined primarily by nature vs nurture, and is it stable or open to change?

Heated debate:

Continuous - Development is gradual, building upon the achievements of the previous stage

Discontinuous - Each stage brings behavior much different than earlier stages

Children pass through different stages where they achieve gratification from a different body part or function

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency & Genital

Emphasizes that social interactions challenge and shape us

Trust vs. Mistrust

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Initiative vs. Guilt

Industry vs. Inferiority

Identity vs. Role Diffusion

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Ego-integrity vs. Despair

John Watson's Behaviorism Theory

Theory that the key to understaing development lies in observable behavior and outside stimuli in the environment

Albert Bandura's

Social-Cognitive Learning Theory

Jean Piaget's

Theory of Cognitive Development

Focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand, and think about the world.

As people develop, quantity and quality of information they learn grows.

Lev Vygotsky's

Sociocultural Theory

Charles Darwin's

Theory of Evolution

Suggests that unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior.

Different parts of a personality:

Id - Raw, unorganized primitive part, hunger, sex, aggression and irrational impulses. Goal is to maximize satisfaction and reduce tension (pleaseure Principle).

Ego - Operates on reality principle , rational and reasonable; instinctual energy is restrained in order to integrate person to society.

Superego - A person's conscience, which determines the difference between right and wrong

Prenatal - Conception to Birth

Infancy - Birth to 3 Years

Early Childhood - 3 to 6 Years

Middle Childhood - 7 to 12 Years

Adolescence - 13 to 17 Years

Young Adulthood - 18 to 40 Years

Middle Adulthood - 40 to 65 Years

Late Adulthood - 65 Years to Death

Cross sectional

Longitudinal

Correlational

Exparimental