LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT A TOPICAL
APPROACH 2026 CERTIFICATION EVALUATION
TEST PAPER QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A PLUS
◉ What are the domains of development?
Answer: Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and emotional
◉ Physical development
Answer: Changes in the body and how a person uses their body
◉ Why study lifespan development?
Answer: Indicates typical behaviour, enables appropriate responses,
recognises deviations from the norm and enables advocacy.
◉ List the 3 different lifespan development perspectives
Answer: Ecological system - 'Brofenbrenner'
Normative and non-normative system - 'Paul Baltes'
Developmental system - 'Ford + Lerner'
◉ Theory
,Answer: A set of ordered, integrated statements that seek to explain,
describe and predict human behaviour.
◉ Cognitive Development
Answer: Changes in methods and styles of thinking, language ability
and language use, and strategies for remembering and recalling
information.
◉ Psychosocial development
Answer: Changes in feelings or emotions and well as changes in
relations with other people.
◉ psychodynamic developmental theories
Answer: Freudian Theory - psychosexual development
Erikson's psychosocial theory
Object relations - Mahler, Stern
◉ behavioural and social cognitive developmental theories
Answer: Classic conditioning - Pavlov
Operant conditioning - Skinner
Observational learning - Bandura
◉ cognitive developmental theories
, Answer: Piaget's cognitive theory
Information Processing Theory
Neo Piagetian (Case, Fisher)
◉ contextual developmental theories
Answer: Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
Ethological theory
◉ Adulthood and lifespan developmental theories
Answer: Normative-crisis model
Timing of events model
Dynamic systems perspective
◉ Ecological system model
Answer: Individual develops within a complex system of
relationships and contexts which are sets of people, settings,
recurring events, cultural values and programs related to one
another, have stability and influence the person over time.
◉ Microsystem
APPROACH 2026 CERTIFICATION EVALUATION
TEST PAPER QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A PLUS
◉ What are the domains of development?
Answer: Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and emotional
◉ Physical development
Answer: Changes in the body and how a person uses their body
◉ Why study lifespan development?
Answer: Indicates typical behaviour, enables appropriate responses,
recognises deviations from the norm and enables advocacy.
◉ List the 3 different lifespan development perspectives
Answer: Ecological system - 'Brofenbrenner'
Normative and non-normative system - 'Paul Baltes'
Developmental system - 'Ford + Lerner'
◉ Theory
,Answer: A set of ordered, integrated statements that seek to explain,
describe and predict human behaviour.
◉ Cognitive Development
Answer: Changes in methods and styles of thinking, language ability
and language use, and strategies for remembering and recalling
information.
◉ Psychosocial development
Answer: Changes in feelings or emotions and well as changes in
relations with other people.
◉ psychodynamic developmental theories
Answer: Freudian Theory - psychosexual development
Erikson's psychosocial theory
Object relations - Mahler, Stern
◉ behavioural and social cognitive developmental theories
Answer: Classic conditioning - Pavlov
Operant conditioning - Skinner
Observational learning - Bandura
◉ cognitive developmental theories
, Answer: Piaget's cognitive theory
Information Processing Theory
Neo Piagetian (Case, Fisher)
◉ contextual developmental theories
Answer: Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
Ethological theory
◉ Adulthood and lifespan developmental theories
Answer: Normative-crisis model
Timing of events model
Dynamic systems perspective
◉ Ecological system model
Answer: Individual develops within a complex system of
relationships and contexts which are sets of people, settings,
recurring events, cultural values and programs related to one
another, have stability and influence the person over time.
◉ Microsystem
