Development Across the
Life Span
Developmental Psychology
, Human Development
Development is best understood in terms of a continuous
interplay of biology and experience.
Human development is the scientific study of the changes that
occur in people as they age, from conception until death. It is
examining the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects
of development.
Three Developmental Research Designs:
1) Longitudinal design – observes the same people repeatedly
over time. Longitudinal studies are done to see, e.g., how
personality and behavior change over time. Do shy children
become shy adults. The major strength of longitudinal research
is that it allows investigators to examine developmental
processes by observing changes in the same individuals over
time. A drawback is that the study sample may not be
representative of the larger population, which limits the ability to
generalize the results beyond the study group.
, Cross-Sectional Design
2) The cross-sectional design observes people of
different ages at the same point in time. A
problem with this method is the possibility of a
cohort effect – the differences between age
groups as a function of historical or social
influences affecting those groups rather than age
per se.
3) The cross-sequential design is a combination
of the longitudinal and cross-sectional designs in
which participants are first studied by means of a
cross-sectional design but are also followed and
assessed for a period of no more than six years.
, What is the relationship between heredity and
environmental factors in determining development?
Nature (heredity-that which comes from
within the person) refers to the influence of
inherited characteristics on personality,
physical growth, intellectual growth, and
social interactions. Nurture (refers to things
that occur outside of the person)refers to the
influence of the environment on personality,
physical growth, intellectual growth, and
social interactions, along with parenting
styles, physical surroundings, economic
factors etc.
Life Span
Developmental Psychology
, Human Development
Development is best understood in terms of a continuous
interplay of biology and experience.
Human development is the scientific study of the changes that
occur in people as they age, from conception until death. It is
examining the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects
of development.
Three Developmental Research Designs:
1) Longitudinal design – observes the same people repeatedly
over time. Longitudinal studies are done to see, e.g., how
personality and behavior change over time. Do shy children
become shy adults. The major strength of longitudinal research
is that it allows investigators to examine developmental
processes by observing changes in the same individuals over
time. A drawback is that the study sample may not be
representative of the larger population, which limits the ability to
generalize the results beyond the study group.
, Cross-Sectional Design
2) The cross-sectional design observes people of
different ages at the same point in time. A
problem with this method is the possibility of a
cohort effect – the differences between age
groups as a function of historical or social
influences affecting those groups rather than age
per se.
3) The cross-sequential design is a combination
of the longitudinal and cross-sectional designs in
which participants are first studied by means of a
cross-sectional design but are also followed and
assessed for a period of no more than six years.
, What is the relationship between heredity and
environmental factors in determining development?
Nature (heredity-that which comes from
within the person) refers to the influence of
inherited characteristics on personality,
physical growth, intellectual growth, and
social interactions. Nurture (refers to things
that occur outside of the person)refers to the
influence of the environment on personality,
physical growth, intellectual growth, and
social interactions, along with parenting
styles, physical surroundings, economic
factors etc.
