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Summary PYC4805 Developmental psychology EXAM prep scope 2021 ADULT
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PYC4805 Developmental psychology EXAM prep scope 2021 ADULT
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Test Bank For Adult Development and Aging 8th Edition by John C. Cavanaugh, Fredda Blanchard-Fields 9781337559089 Chapter 1-14 Complete Guide.
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Test Bank For Adult Development and Aging 8th Edition by John C. Cavanaugh, Fredda Blanchard-Fields 9781337559089 Chapter 1-14 Complete Guide.
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PYC4805 Assignment Pack - Covers most topics you will get
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PYC4805 ADULTHOOD EXAM PREP 2021These exam preparation study notes were created based on
Cavanaugh, J. C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2019). Adult development and aging (8th ed.).
London: Wadsworth.
The content covered was suggested by Tutorial letters of PYC4805 for 2021.
Each Chapter mentioned here has one or multiple questions which are to be studied for exams.
CONTENTS
Format of the exam paper 2
Chapter 1 2
Theme 1 2
Theme 2 7
Theme 3 11
Chapter 2 18
Chapter 3 20
Chapter 4 26
Chapter 5 33
Theme 1 33
Theme 2 35
Chapter 6 36
Theme 1 36
Theme 2 47
Chapter 7 51
Chapter 8 52
Chapter 9 55
Theme 1 55
Theme 2 64
Chapter 11 71
Chapter 12 77
Chapter 13 83
Theme 1 83
Theme 2 87
Chapter 14 88
Page 1 of 77
,There are a total of 21 possible exam questions. Each question is introduced with the phrase 'GUIDELINES' followed by
the actual question.
1. Format of the examination paper; Adult Development and Aging
Section A: Four questions for 20 marks each chosen from the questions in Tutorial Letter 102/2021 on adult development
and aging; you have to answer three questions in this section.
Section B: Two questions for 15 marks each chosen from the questions in Tutorial Letter 102/2021 on adult development
and aging; you have to answer one question in this section.
Length of answers and time allocation
Because handwritings and writing styles differ, we cannot specify what the length of your examination answers should
be, but we suggest that you should spend approximately 45-50 minutes per 20 mark question and 30-35 minutes per
15 mark question.
2. Adult development and aging, basic guidelines
Topics and questions are based on the information in your prescribed book:
Cavanaugh, J. C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2019). Adult development and aging (8th ed.). London: Wadsworth.
CHAPTER 1
Theme 1
QUESTION 1:
Answer the following two questions with regard to the forces that determine the nature of development during
adulthood: [20]
(a) Explain how the interaction of biological, psychological, sociocultural and life-cycle forces shape a person’s
development and, therefore, could explain individual differences in development during adulthood. (10)
(b) Explain how normative and non-normative influences determine the degree to which the combination of
biological, psychological, sociocultural and life-cycle forces will be common or unique according to Baltes (in
Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2015). (10)
Q1: Answer
Page 2 of 77
,The nature of Adult Development
(a) Explain how the interaction of biological, psychological, sociocultural and life-cycle forces shape a person’s
development and, therefore, could explain individual differences in development during adulthood. (10)
Adult development encompasses the changes that occur in biological and psychological domains of human life from the
end of adolescence until the end of one's life. The amount of grey hair, ability to memorise and recall new information,
and even activity levels can be vastly different between two individuals of the same age.
To understand why adults differ so much we are required to understand the basic forces that shape us across time from
inception until death in old age. From a Developmentalist view there are four interactive forces namely the Biological,
Psychological, Sociocultural and Life-Cycle forces.
These four interactive forces are briefly described below;
• Biological forces include all genetic and health – related factors that affect development. Examples of
biological forces include menopause, facial wrinkling, and changes in the major organ systems.
• Psychological forces include all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect
development. Collectively, psychological forces provide the characteristics we notice about people that make
them individuals.
• Sociocultural forces include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development.
Sociocultural forces provide the overall contexts in which we develop.
• Life-cycle forces reflect differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological, and
sociocultural forces affects people at different points in their lives. Life-cycle forces provide the context for the
developmental differences of interest in adult development and aging.
One useful way to organize the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development is with the
biopsychosocial framework. Together with life-cycle forces, the biopsychosocial framework provides a complete
overview of the shapers of human development. Each of us is a product of a unique combination of these forces.
Numerous twin-study research projects have been conducted with the purpose of understanding how we are shaped as we
develop. Research has established that twins in the same family eventually have their own unique friends, partners,
occupations, and so on.
Picture two plants of the same species growing in two different environments. One seed is planted in a protected inland
area with soft, rich soil and moderate water. Another grows on a rocky cliff near a sea with relentless winds. We can
imagine the shrub inland might grow more upright and have a certain form, while the shrub near the water may grow at
an angle from being windswept and could perhaps have a much different root pattern to adapt to the terrain. Just as
differences in soil, water, wind, and sun exposure can affect the long-term growth of a shrub or tree–such as it is with
humans. This simple analogy can help us understand the different agents that shape us.
Human development happens concurrently at biological, psychological and social levels throughout life, and a full
descriptive account of development must include all three levels.
Biological, psychological and social descriptions and explanations are all as valid as each other, and no level has causal
primacy over the other two.
To understand why all these forces are important, imagine that we want to understand how people feel about forgetting.
We would need to consider several biological factors, such as whether the forgetting was caused by an underlying
disease. We would want to know about such psychological factors as what the person’s memory ability has been
throughout his or her life and his or her beliefs about what happens to memory with increasing age.
Page 3 of 77
, We would need to know about sociocultural factors, such as the influence of social stereotypes about forgetting. Finally,
we would need to know about the age of the person when a forgetting experience occurs. Could ‘forgetfulness’ that
happens to everyone, at any age, become falsely attributed to aging because of the stereotyping of what we except ‘old’
people to experience? Myths and false beliefs abound in the media with many jokes around the supposed bad memory or
physical declines that the elderly all experience creates the impression that this is normal aging, when in fact, most of it is
related to some pathology.
Gaining insight into the biopsychosocial forces at play also requires the life-cycle forces as context for the developmental
differences. Development at each of these three levels reciprocally influences the other two levels; therefore nature
(biology) and nurture (social environment) are in constant complex interaction, when considering how and why
psychological development occurs. Each person is the unique product of the interaction of biological, psychological,
sociocultural, and life-cycle forces.
(b) Explain how normative and non-normative influences determine the degree to which the combination of
biological, psychological, sociocultural and life-cycle forces will be common or unique according to Baltes.
Imagine meeting a person 20, 30, 50 years after last seeing them at school. One would have little difficulty in identifying
that physical change as well as some aspects of their personality are not the same. On the other hand, they may have
retained specific traits and mannerisms across time too. Shyness and intelligence are two such trait that tend to endure
over a lifespan.
In the first half of the twentieth century, it was widely assumed that development stopped at adolescence. Infancy and
childhood were viewed as periods of rapid transformation, adulthood as a plateau, and aging as a period of decline.
However, scientists such as Paul Baltes realised that we do not simply plateau and then decline. Life-span developmental
psychology is the field of psychology which involves the examination of both constancy and change in human behaviour
across the entire life span, that is, from conception to death.
It is important to define the age parameters so that each group can be assessed against a standard, and compared against
other age groups to identify common development and where development is unique. These groups of people, called
‘cohort’ groups, may be born at a specific point such as ‘baby boomers in mid 1960s to mid 1970s, or a specific historical
time such as the Victorian times.
Baltes (1987) stressed the importance of contextualism to the study of life-span development. In order to create a
coherent framework for understanding contextual influences, Baltes proposed a three-factor model of contextual
influences on development.
The first factor is normative age-graded influences. Events that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly
predictable in when they occur and how long they last are called age-graded influences. These are the biological,
psychological and sociocultural influences that happen to most people of that particular age.
• Biological examples are events such as puberty and menopause, and are usually marking a major change.
• Psychological examples include adapting to a working environment or socialising with a younger generation.
They focus on specific concerns at different points in adulthood.
• Sociocultural examples are time-marked events, usually ritualised. They can mark a rite of passage such as
turning 16 or 21.
Page 4 of 77
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