Human Development
1 Meta-Theories
1.1 What is Development?
scientific study of the ways in which people change, as well as remain the same, from conception to
death; include physical and neurophysiological processes, cognition, language, emotion, personality,
moral, and psychosocial development
Lifespan Perspective
o Development is lifelong. development is life-long, and change is apparent across the
lifespan. No single age period is more crucial, characterizes, or dominates human
development
o Development is multidirectional and multidimensional. different people follow different
developmental pathways, and proceed along pathways at different rates. Even within the
same person, different dimensions or domains of development can change in different ways
o Development includes both gains and losses. at every age, we may show gains in some
areas of development, while showing losses in other areas. Every change, whether it is
finishing high school, getting married, or becoming a parent, entails both growth and loss.
o Development is characterized by plasticity. Plasticity is about malleability, or our potential
to change and to follow a wide range of developmental pathways. For instance, plasticity is
illustrated in the brain’s ability to learn from experience and the many ways it can recover
from injury
o Development is embedded in historical and cultural contexts development is influenced by
the many social contexts in which it unfolds. How people develop will depend on their
societal and cultural contexts, and on the historical period during which their development
takes place
o Development is multiply determined. development is caused by multiple factors, and is
always shaped by both biological and environmental factors. In addition, the individual plays
an active rile in his or her own development.
o Development is multidisciplinary. human development is such a vast topic of study that it
requires the theories, research methods, and knowledge bases of many academic disciplines
Contextualism as paradigm
o Normative age-graded influences: An age-grade is a specific age group, such as toddler,
adolescent, or senior. Humans experience particular age-graded social experiences (e.g.,
starting school) and biological changes (e.g., puberty)
o Normative history-graded influences: The time period in which you are born shapes your
experiences. A cohort is a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a
particular society. These people travel through life often experiencing similar historical
changes at similar ages. History-graded influences include both environmental determinants
(e.g., historical changes in the job market) and biological determinants (e.g., historical
changes in life expectancy)
, o Non-normative influences: People’s development is also shaped by specific influences that
are not organized by age or historical time, such as immigration, accidents, or the death of a
parent. These can be environmental (e.g., parental mental health issues) or biological (e.g.,
life threatening illness)
Domains of development.
o physical domain includes changes in height and weight, sensory capabilities, the nervous
system, as well as the propensity for disease and illness
o cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence, wisdom, perception, problem-
solving, memory, and language
o psychosocial domain focuses on changes in emotion, self-perception and interpersonal
relationships with families, peers, and friends
Contextual perspective
o Socioeconomic status (SES) is a way to identify families and households based on their
shared levels of education, income, and occupation
Poverty level
o associated with poorer health and a lower life expectancy due to poorer diet, less
healthcare, greater stress, working in more dangerous occupations, higher infant mortality
rates, poorer prenatal care, greater iron deficiencies, greater difficulty in school, and many
other problems
Culture
o teaches us how to live in a society and allows us to advance because each new generation
can benefit from the solutions found and passed down from previous generations
o ethnocentrism & Cultural relativity
Age
Biological, Psychological, Social & Chronological Age
Meta-theories of Human Development
sets of assumptions people hold about the nature of humans and the meaning of development
key assumptions
o Assumptions about human nature: whether people are born as blank slates (tabula rasa) or
whether people are inherently good or inherently bad
, o Assumptions about the causes of development: whether development is determined by
nature (genes, biology) or determined by nurture (environment, learning)
o Assumptions about the role of the individual in his or her own development: whether
people are passive participants, reacting to external forces or whether they are active in
choosing and shaping their own development
o Assumptions about stability vs. change: whether traits, characteristics, and experiences
early in life have permanent effects or whether people are malleable and open to change
throughout life.
o Assumptions about continuity vs. discontinuity: whether development involves quantitative
incremental change or qualitative shifts
o Assumptions about universality vs. context specificity: whether development follows a
universal pathway or depends more on specific experiences and environmental contexts
Guiding Meta-Theories
o Maturational meta-theory (development like plants)
include some formulations of behavioral genetics, sociobiology, evolutionary,
ethological, neuroscience, temperament, and personality theories
o Mechanistic meta-theory
behaviorist, operant, and classical conditioning learning theories, like social learning
theory, cognitivistic theories (brain as a computer)
o Organismic meta-theory (Butterfly)
Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive and affective development, and the several
neo-constructivist theories that were inspired by Piaget, for example, Kohlberg’s
theory of the development of moral reasoning
Werner’s comparative psychology, focusing on the orthogenetic principle of
differentiation and integration, and Erikson, who posited universal agegraded
developmental tasks
o Contextual meta-theory
Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model and the lifespan approach
o Current paradigms: Cognitivism & Neuroscience
Historical Theories of Development
Until 18th century Preformationism, or the belief that a tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the
sperm or egg at conception and then grows in size until birth
John Locke & tabula rasa; groundwork for the behavioral perspective
Rousseau & biological maturation; considered the father of developmental psychology
Gesell & development unfolded in fixed sequences activated by genes
Freud & Psychodynamic and Psychosexual development
Contemporary Theories on Development
, Learning Theories
o Behaviorism, is based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind,
and therefore psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself
o Conditioning & reinforcements
Social Learning Theory
o Bandura, Modelling
o There is interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they
influence us. This concept is called reciprocal determinism
Cognitive Theory
o Piaget & Vygotsky
Ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner; provides a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on
human development
1 Meta-Theories
1.1 What is Development?
scientific study of the ways in which people change, as well as remain the same, from conception to
death; include physical and neurophysiological processes, cognition, language, emotion, personality,
moral, and psychosocial development
Lifespan Perspective
o Development is lifelong. development is life-long, and change is apparent across the
lifespan. No single age period is more crucial, characterizes, or dominates human
development
o Development is multidirectional and multidimensional. different people follow different
developmental pathways, and proceed along pathways at different rates. Even within the
same person, different dimensions or domains of development can change in different ways
o Development includes both gains and losses. at every age, we may show gains in some
areas of development, while showing losses in other areas. Every change, whether it is
finishing high school, getting married, or becoming a parent, entails both growth and loss.
o Development is characterized by plasticity. Plasticity is about malleability, or our potential
to change and to follow a wide range of developmental pathways. For instance, plasticity is
illustrated in the brain’s ability to learn from experience and the many ways it can recover
from injury
o Development is embedded in historical and cultural contexts development is influenced by
the many social contexts in which it unfolds. How people develop will depend on their
societal and cultural contexts, and on the historical period during which their development
takes place
o Development is multiply determined. development is caused by multiple factors, and is
always shaped by both biological and environmental factors. In addition, the individual plays
an active rile in his or her own development.
o Development is multidisciplinary. human development is such a vast topic of study that it
requires the theories, research methods, and knowledge bases of many academic disciplines
Contextualism as paradigm
o Normative age-graded influences: An age-grade is a specific age group, such as toddler,
adolescent, or senior. Humans experience particular age-graded social experiences (e.g.,
starting school) and biological changes (e.g., puberty)
o Normative history-graded influences: The time period in which you are born shapes your
experiences. A cohort is a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a
particular society. These people travel through life often experiencing similar historical
changes at similar ages. History-graded influences include both environmental determinants
(e.g., historical changes in the job market) and biological determinants (e.g., historical
changes in life expectancy)
, o Non-normative influences: People’s development is also shaped by specific influences that
are not organized by age or historical time, such as immigration, accidents, or the death of a
parent. These can be environmental (e.g., parental mental health issues) or biological (e.g.,
life threatening illness)
Domains of development.
o physical domain includes changes in height and weight, sensory capabilities, the nervous
system, as well as the propensity for disease and illness
o cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence, wisdom, perception, problem-
solving, memory, and language
o psychosocial domain focuses on changes in emotion, self-perception and interpersonal
relationships with families, peers, and friends
Contextual perspective
o Socioeconomic status (SES) is a way to identify families and households based on their
shared levels of education, income, and occupation
Poverty level
o associated with poorer health and a lower life expectancy due to poorer diet, less
healthcare, greater stress, working in more dangerous occupations, higher infant mortality
rates, poorer prenatal care, greater iron deficiencies, greater difficulty in school, and many
other problems
Culture
o teaches us how to live in a society and allows us to advance because each new generation
can benefit from the solutions found and passed down from previous generations
o ethnocentrism & Cultural relativity
Age
Biological, Psychological, Social & Chronological Age
Meta-theories of Human Development
sets of assumptions people hold about the nature of humans and the meaning of development
key assumptions
o Assumptions about human nature: whether people are born as blank slates (tabula rasa) or
whether people are inherently good or inherently bad
, o Assumptions about the causes of development: whether development is determined by
nature (genes, biology) or determined by nurture (environment, learning)
o Assumptions about the role of the individual in his or her own development: whether
people are passive participants, reacting to external forces or whether they are active in
choosing and shaping their own development
o Assumptions about stability vs. change: whether traits, characteristics, and experiences
early in life have permanent effects or whether people are malleable and open to change
throughout life.
o Assumptions about continuity vs. discontinuity: whether development involves quantitative
incremental change or qualitative shifts
o Assumptions about universality vs. context specificity: whether development follows a
universal pathway or depends more on specific experiences and environmental contexts
Guiding Meta-Theories
o Maturational meta-theory (development like plants)
include some formulations of behavioral genetics, sociobiology, evolutionary,
ethological, neuroscience, temperament, and personality theories
o Mechanistic meta-theory
behaviorist, operant, and classical conditioning learning theories, like social learning
theory, cognitivistic theories (brain as a computer)
o Organismic meta-theory (Butterfly)
Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive and affective development, and the several
neo-constructivist theories that were inspired by Piaget, for example, Kohlberg’s
theory of the development of moral reasoning
Werner’s comparative psychology, focusing on the orthogenetic principle of
differentiation and integration, and Erikson, who posited universal agegraded
developmental tasks
o Contextual meta-theory
Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model and the lifespan approach
o Current paradigms: Cognitivism & Neuroscience
Historical Theories of Development
Until 18th century Preformationism, or the belief that a tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the
sperm or egg at conception and then grows in size until birth
John Locke & tabula rasa; groundwork for the behavioral perspective
Rousseau & biological maturation; considered the father of developmental psychology
Gesell & development unfolded in fixed sequences activated by genes
Freud & Psychodynamic and Psychosexual development
Contemporary Theories on Development
, Learning Theories
o Behaviorism, is based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind,
and therefore psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself
o Conditioning & reinforcements
Social Learning Theory
o Bandura, Modelling
o There is interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they
influence us. This concept is called reciprocal determinism
Cognitive Theory
o Piaget & Vygotsky
Ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner; provides a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on
human development
