...HS 5003, Survey of Research in Human Development and Behavior Course Instructor: Gerald Thauberger, MS, DM 05/30/2009 Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory Aaron D. Stewart "Ecological systems theory is an approach to study of human development that consists of the 'scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation, throughout the life course, between an active, growing human being, and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by the relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded'" (Bronfenbrenner, 1989, page or #). When reading and researching to gain deeper understanding and appreciation of personal development, it is clear that we, as humans, continually change and adapt to our environment. Bronfenbrenner's levels of development play an essential role in this process. The first stage in Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory is the Microsystem. The Microsystem is described as the intimate system (the one we interact most commonly with); this system consists of family, school, peers, neighborhoods, churches, and health services. The Microsystem is the layer closest to the child and contains the structures with which the child has direct contact. The Microsystem encompasses the relationships and interactions a child has with their immediate surroundings (Berk, 2000). At this level, relationships have impact in two directions...
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...Considering the Present In life I have encounter some life changing events, some was negative and somewhere positive. Either way it has made an impact on my life. I have overcome the obstacles that have come along the way and it had definitely shape me into the person I am today. In the paper I will discuss some past experiences of, which have influenced my abilities in online learning. Family and graduating from a low budget high school and the influences of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, which includes the theory of the microsystem and mesosystem (Mossler, 2013) assisted me with the ability to study online productively. I will discuss how my past experiences of family and living a healthy lifestyle have influenced my online learning in the present. Family Stepping out and getting married to start my own family, I knew changes and me adapting to a whole different environment was part of this new life. The fact that I was accepting the life as an Air force Wife I knew that I was going to have to make some scarifies. I was fine with making scarifies when the time came, but I didn’t want that to have to go towards my education. My husband understood and knew how going to school was important to me. So I went to a community college until I found out I was expecting my first child and my husband was getting deployed. So I had to put my school off due to the fact, it was impossible to accomplish going to school and taking care of a baby while my husband was deployed....
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...laboratory, for, as Bronfenbrenner (1979, p. 27) points out, “Development never takes place in a vacuum; it is always embedded and expressed through behavior in a particular environment.” One cannot grasp human development by simply observing and measuring individuals’ behavior in clinical settings that are divorced from their relevant social, physical, and cultural environments. Of course, change must occur over time, and so Bronfenbrenner added the concept of the chronosystem to capture the dynamics of development with and across other systems. The chronosystem refers to changes within the individual and changes in the environment across time, as well as the relationship between the two processes. For example, if a divorce occurs in a child’s family during the preschool period, it will have a different impact than if the child is an adolescent or young adult. Bronfenbrenner’s ideas have been influenced by Freud, Piaget, Vygotsky, and, most importantly, Kurt Lewin. According to Lewin’s field theory, the “dialogue” between the person and the environment can be expressed in the formula B=f(PE): Behavior is determined by the interaction between the Person and the Environment. Bronfenbrenner modifi ed the formula to refl ect the distinction between behavior and development so that his formula reads D=f(PE): Development is the result of the interaction between the Person and the Environment. By substituting development for behavior in the equation, he highlights the importance of...
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...paper I will discuss how becoming a father and how being the first in my family to attend college had a profound influence on my life. I will asses the influence of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory of each experience. According to (Mossler, 2013) “Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed a theory of ecological systems, which focused on broad, interconnected influences on human development.” (Section 2.6 “Urie Bronfenbrenner and Ecological System Theory,” para. 1). I will also examine how I learned from each of my experiences that are apparent in whom I am today and how these experiences apply to my online learning. There was a time when my wife and I thought we were incapable of having our own children together. Her doctor told her that she would never have children due to a procedure that was done during her early teen years on her cervix. This discouraging news made it seem impossible for us to have own our children. Despite the news, we never stopped trying. One day we finally got our blessing and it was confirmed that my wife was pregnant. I remember feeling like I had just hit the lotto when I got the news. The excitement only grew once the months rolled on. It was an incredible feeling when I got the chance to hear the heart beat for the first time and to find out that we were having a boy during a 3D ultrasound. I was ecstatic about becoming a father. I always wanted my own family and I did not feel like my wife and I were complete until we had children. The day our son...
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...PSY 202 Week 2 Assignment My two life events are the birth of my son and being in the military, the reason I have chosen these two events are because they have both significantly had a positive impact on my life the following paragraphs will show why I believe that these events have positively impacted my life. The first event is my son, when he was born my life was completely changed for once it was up to me to take care of another human being besides myself, I had to feed him, change his diaper, give baths and take him to the doctor for checkups. This was life changing for me because I had never had to do any of those things before. There was no more going out to parties and hanging out with friends all hours of the night, my life was totally devoted to him. It was a life changing experience that I had to change and adapt to in a short amount of time, thus impacting my life in a positive manner. Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed a theory of ecological systems, which focuses on broad, interconnected influences on human development. It proposes that we can best explain development in terms of the interaction between individuals and the environments in which they live(Bronfenbrenner, 2004) The second event would be my career in the military. I had to completely change my way of thinking because being on a military routine is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for everyone. I had to go off on my own and have a stranger telling me what to do, where to go, how to properly address...
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...uses Bronfenbrenner's ecological model to explain how children's development is affected by different groups within their world. Using this theory, we can understand how children are socialized both intentionally and unintentionally. You must understand how this theory applies to your own upbringing as well as a young child's upbringing in order to truly comprehend the concept. After reading the text and the "Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory" article, use your understanding of this theory to respond to the questions below. Using Bronbenbrenner's ecological model, respond to the following questions: a. How did the microsystem that you grew up in differ from your parents’ or grandparents’ microsystems? Do you think this is a detrimental or an affirmative change to society as a whole? b. How do you think technology, specifically social media, influences a child's mesosystems? Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system contains four parts beginning with microsystem. The article states, “The microsystem- this is the layer closest to the child and contains the structures with which the child has direct contact. The microsystem encompasses the relationships and interactions a child has with her immediate surrounds (Berk, 2000).” My microsystem was very different from my parents. My father’s father passed away when he was seven years old. He grew up with a single mother who had to work full time and was not able to spend a lot of time at home with him. My mother...
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...that best fits with my childhood memory is the ecological theory. Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed the Bronfenbrenner’s model in 1977. This model suggests that each person’s development is influenced by the five different systems. These systems include, the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. The microsystem includes the face-to-face interactions the person has with other people. This mainly includes family, teachers and friends. These are the people that will have the most time with the child. The mesosystem is the influence of connecting two separate microsystems. For instance, the influence that the interaction between a child’s friends and parents or parents and a teacher can influence the child’s development....
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...Literature Reviews: Adolescent Addiction Gambling Shortens This Life Span by Valdora L Avery Mrs. Linda Vesey-Gutierrez MA FST 613 Spring Arbor University-Detroit February 15-2013 Categories of Studies 1. Conceptualization of Adolescent Gambling Types A. Research on Adolescent Population 13-22 years old B. Cross-Cultural Studies 2. Level specific Gambling/Adolescent Prevention Strategies A. Gambling regulation enforcement B. Gambling Adolescence behavior 3. Spectrum gambling impact on the Adolescent Life Span Category 1: Edinete R. M., & Fudge. J., Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development: Its evolution from ecology to bioecology. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 5, 243-250. (2013) Glass Q.V. & Few-Demo L.A. (2013). Complexities of informal social support arrangements for black lesbian couples. Family Relations Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies 62(5).714-724. (2013) Mamta, S., & Kari A., (2013). Siblings of individuals with disabilities: Reframing the literature through a bioecological lens. Journal of Family theory & Review, 5, 300-312. (2013) Swenson. S & Lakin.C. A wicked problem: Can government be fair to families living with disabilities. Family Relations Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies 63(1), 185-198. (2014) Wehmeyer. L.M. (2014). Self-determination: A family affair. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied...
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...Provide two (2) specific examples of how your development has been influenced by the “rings,” or systems, of influence as he suggests. What influences were the strongest? Does nature (our genetic makeup) or nurture (our environment) have a stronger influence on adult development? Explain. The strongest influences of the “ring” or system were the microsystem which I think is right when it comes to our daily environment, family, neighborhood and the religion we were brought up in or around that really does have a significant impact on us as children and up into adulthood. And also the mesosystem which has a connection with all the microsystems because it all boils down to what children see they pick up on or should I say they pick up on what they see and this could have a great effect on them until adulthood. In my personal opinion it could be a little bit of both nature versus nurture, because our genetic makeup has a lot to do with who we are and our environment has a lot to do with who we are as well as where we came from and our beliefs and some people may argue that its one or the other but to me it’s both because it stems from childhood all the way to adult and make us who we are. So one could argue that it’s either both or one another depending on which way you view and the person at the time. I really like Bronfenbrenner’s belief “that environment or “systems” in which a person lives influences them to varying degrees.” (Witt, G. A. and Mossler, R. A., 2010) ...
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...lifespan is from the moment of conception through death. Lifespan development is the different stages a person passes through as he or she develops. Perspective of lifespan development understands the changes that occur in development. Freud and Piaget have very different theories of lifespan development. Freud’s theory is a basis of id, ego, and superego, whereas Piaget’s is a cognitive development that occurs over a person’s lifetime. Nature and Nurture are more than perspectives in lifespan development they influence how and who a person will be. Lifespan development is the time from conception to death as a person develops and grows; the perspective in relationship to human development is lifelong, and theories of lifespan development can be seen in Freud, and Piaget, while the influences of a person life is nature and nurture. What is Lifespan Development A person’s lifespan begins as a fetus and as it develops and grows for nine months in the womb becoming a person either male or female will continue through stages in a his or her life. The study of human development is a science seeking to understand how humans change over their lifetime (Berger, 2008). The changes a person goes through as he or she grows can be linear-gradual, predictable, steady, but normally they are none of these. The common stages are birth, infancy, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and the ending death. To define lifespan development is also to mention that humans in their lifetime learn to communicate...
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...August 31, 2014 The first event that I choose was graduating high school. The reason I choose this event and experience is because no one in my family had ever graduated high school. My mother, father, nor my brother ever got a high school education. Although, my mother and father never married I can remember them both saying that they didn’t finish high school. My father got a GED but my mother still to this day doesn’t have either a high school diploma or GED. My brother just quit school at the age of 17 and took to the streets. So this was very important ordeal for me. I can also remember other family members say that I wasn’t going to graduate high school or I would come up pregnant while in high school because my circumstances was different than everyone in the family. I proved them all wrong and graduated high school without becoming pregnant and most of the one’s that was downing me their kids ended up pregnant in high school and didn’t graduate high school. The second experience I choose from my list was joining the Army when I graduated high school. The reason I choose this experience was because after I graduated high school I felt like I still had something that I had to prove to others. Just because my surroundings and environment was different from others doesn’t mean that I was going to succumb to my environment or surroundings. While in the Army I learned discipline, respect and courage. I got to see many places that some people will never get...
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...environmental changes and does not tell us specifically what steps the organism takes in order to adapt to change, this is where general systems theory, the second contributor to ecosystems theory, comes to play a part [ (Greif, 1986) ]. General systems theory shows how an organism’s interaction with another cannot only instigate change within itself but can also instigate change in others as well. According to Wakefield (1996), Systems are sets of interacting elements; systems can be open or closed to interaction with the outside world; systems are linked hierarchically; systems can possess states of homeostasis and equilibrium or can be in disequilibrium; systems are regulated through positive and negative feedback; and, again, causal influences are circular, in that changes in one system have consequences for other linked systems that, in turn, through feedback, have consequences for the first system (p. 4). Systems can be referred to as schools, neighborhoods, communities, government, and biological environment. The ecosystems perspective, when applied to humans, studies the interactions between the systems surrounding the person and how these systems have an effect upon the person. While the person in the environment is still central to the social worker...
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...In Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of suggestions I agree with him because, Ecological theory proposes that human development is best explained in terms of the interaction between individuals and the environments in which they live or have lived. I must say that I have moved a couple of times which have called for me to make new friends, question myself about the moves I’ve made to better myself. To relate to the “RINGS” I would say that it would be the economy. Due to the fact the economy was going through its crisis I had to find a second job. Which in my situation I have my Associates degree already and I felt like it’s not doing its job. So I have to suck it up to get my bills paid and to trying stay above water because without a job how would I be able to pay my bills, take care of the things that need to be taken care of? I have great family and friends but yet again it wasn’t enough but through my religion and group affiliations all things have worked itself out. I now only work one job, I don’t worry about how the bills are getting paid and more the less I am at a comfortable place in my life that I don’t worry about the economy anymore. The second part that I can relate to form the “Rings” would be family. I think I have the best family in the world. The reason I say so is because without out a positive, loving, caring, and religious support system I wouldn’t be where I am at today. For my parents had worked to keep a roof over my head, they had sacrificed their...
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...The Ecological Model and My Own Development David O Cook Liberty University Counseling 620 April 12, 2015 Abstract According to McWhirter (2013), “Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological model rests on the thesis that humans develop and grow within the context of a number of reciprocal systems” (p. 21). The theory presents that adolescence’s development is effected by everything in their surroundings. This paper will address the different systems that divide the ecological systems theory and how they have affected my own development through my life. Microsystem The first level discussed in the ecological theory will be the microsystem. This is the part that is closest around the person and is especially important to development because there is direct contact to the person (McWhirter et al, 2013). Example of the system would be a home environment, work place and school. This microsystem would include family members, other peers and direct caregivers. These relationships that are in this system can be viewed as reciprocal in direction. The interactions in the relationships are made up of reactions on both sides. These actions of the person are influenced by how they are treated in the relationship. This could be looked at as the most influential system in the theory. The microsystem in my own development would consist mostly of my family in the home environment. In my early life I was around four older brothers and two older...
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...transition to college is an exciting time in one’s life. The greatest appeal is the independence college brings, but it is also the greatest challenge. Academically and socially college is much more demanding than high school and to succeed students need to have the self-motivation and will power to find the balance between work and play. To manage my transition to college I had to use my cognitive, emotional, and social competencies attained during youth to thrive in this new environment. My mother has had a huge influence on my success in college. She helped me develop study habits and a strong work ethic in my younger years; I can attribute many of my cognitive strengths to her involvement in my academic life. During my youth she taught me the value of effort and accuracy, rewarding me when I correctly and efficiently completed assigned work. I see now that she was employing a form of operant conditioning, where, if I completed my homework early enough and to her satisfaction, I was able to play board games, socialize with my friends and sisters, or watch TV if I so choose. If not, then I had to forgo these activities. Major theorists such as Edward Thorndike, John Watson, and B. F. Skinner were of the belief that learning was the result of consequences (Huitt & Hummel, 1997). This is why operant conditioning was so successful for me in elementary and high school and why I continue to use it in college. Only when I finish my course work do I allow myself to socialize with friends...
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