...Life Span Perspective Paper Life Span Perspective Most of us, at one point in time or another, have reflected back to earlier periods of time in our lives and thought about the differences between how we were then and the people we are today. We may wonder why we have changed and how we evolved to this point. We may even think about the future and the people we will be decades from now. The process of changes we experience is examined and explained through the science of human development. This ongoing study looks at why and how people of all ages change over time. Scientists examine the young, old, rich, poor, various ethnicities and cultures, as well as those of various sexual orientations. They seek to better understand the continuity and discontinuity, and the consistencies and transformations the human race goes through from the point of conception until death (Berger, 2011). From this, we attempt to gain a better understanding of the people we are. Views of the Life Span Perspective The life span perspective holds many principles within human development. In our earlier school years Newton’s Law of Motion taught us that for every action there is a reaction (Boyd & Bee, 2009). In human development we have learned that our changes are multidirectional; each change produces some type of advancement or retreat. It is also multicontextual occurring is all of our various physical and social environments. Wide-spread culture across the globe creates unique methods...
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...Life Span Perspective The life span perspective of development provides intriguing information about the development of individuals through their lifespan, such as who individuals are, how individuals came to be who they are, and who those individuals will become. Psychoanalytic theories offer insight into life span development and explain the stages of development that individuals proceed through in their lifespan. The life span perspective of development also provides important information in regard to how the effects of heredity, and the environment may interact to produce individual differences in life span development. Life Span Perspective of Development To study human development the life span perspective is necessary because it does not just take into account the development that occurs in childhood or adulthood but every phases of life (Berger, 2011). The life span perspective is a view of human development characterized by multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, multidirectional, and plastic characteristics Development is multicontextual, therefore the several contexts, such as economic constraints, family patterns, and historical conditions embed the lives of humans (Berger, 2011). Development is multicultural; therefore several cultures affect the development of individuals. Development is multidisciplinary; therefore psychology and other disciplines, such as biology, neuroscience, education, economics, anthropology, sociology, religion...
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...Life Span Human Development Paper Life Span Perspective Tonya Larson August 27, 2015 University of Phoenix, PSY/280, Professor Barch Abstract The life span perspective of development provides interesting information about the development of individuals through their life, such as who they are, how they came to be who they are, and who they will become. Psychoanalytic theories offer some insight into life span development and help explain the stages of development that individuals go through in their lifespan. The life span perspective of development also provides important information in regard to how the effects of heredity and the environment may interact to produce unique characteristics in the life span development. Life Span Perspective of Development To study human development, the life span perspective is necessary because it takes into account every phase of life. The life-span perspective, was first set forth by Paul and Margaret Baltes and their associates (P. B. Baltes et al., 2006; Staudinger & Lindenberger, 2003). The life-span perspective notes that development throughout life is: (1) multidirectional, therefore change occurs in every aspect of life and in every direction and not just in a straight line, (2) multicontextual, therefore the several contexts, such as economic constraints, family patterns, and historical conditions embed the lives of humans, (3) multicultural, therefore several cultures...
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...Life Span Perspective Malisa Morris PSY/375 October 2, 2013 Mr. Amanze Ihedioha Life Span Perspective Life Span Development is a concept of understanding why people grow and change over a period of time. Human Development begins at birth and throughout all of life. People of all ages, all over creation, change at some point and time. Scientifically, the human body is designed to experience change. Human growth development has several perspectives and characteristics to explain lifespan. The following essay will explore five developmental perspectives and explore two theories of life span development. These perspectives include; Multidirectional, Multicontextual, Multicultural, Multidisciplinary, and Plasticity lifespan development. Explanations will also explain how heredity and the environment interact to produce individual differences in human development. Life Span Perspective Developing human beings of every age, culture, and experiences demonstrate to us what is widespread as well as what is distinctive. Some periods of life are life-threatening and complex at times, yet the interaction between the environment and family is always evident. Differences among people are not essentially necessary, although some people mistakenly assume that their own path is best for everyone. Change is ongoing, and dynamic throughout the entire life span. Life span development occurs in several directions. These perceptions are Multidirectional, Multicontextual, Multicultural, Multidisciplinary...
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...Life Span Paper Janet Nienhueser Psychology 375 June 22, 2012 Moriel McDuffy In this paper I will be explaining the life span perspective of development. I will be listing the eight developmental stages throughout life, and the three key developmental domains. I will then summarize two of the theories of the life span development. I will list the four I will then explain how heredity and the environment interact to produce individual differences in development. I will then summarize everything that I have wrote in this paper in a conclusion of the paper. I will also list the references that I have used to write this paper. After several hours of research, I have put this paper together. I hope that you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Throughout this paper you will know how the life span development works and what all is entailed in it. You will be able to understand the two theories that I have chosen. You will also know how heredity and the environment interact to produce individual differences in development. Explain the life span perspective of development. The life span perspective is all about understanding all of the changes that take place throughout ones’ life and the changes have to be observed as a result of the culture and the situations that surround each change. Life span is also known as and referred to as being life-long changes that continue and is not based by just one age period. The life span perspective consists of physical, cognitive...
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...Lifespan Perspective Paper PSY/375 July 1, 2013 Life Span Perspective Humans are in a constant state of development. It begins when our cells start to divide while in the womb and continues until the last breath a person takes. A human beings development is special because not only are humans going through constant physical changes, but also they go through psychological, cognitive, and biological throughout a life span as well. Life span development involves all of the changes that a person goes through while in the different stages of life. Each stage is very important for the next stage and is responsible for a person’s ability to learn, communicate, love and even create new life. Life Span Perspective of development The life span perspective of development is that a person is changing throughout their lives. That means that from conception to death a person is developing to different stages of life. According to Bornstein and lamb “developmental study is a science that seeks to understand the changes that occur as people age” (as cited in Berger, 2011, p.5). A life span development has three different domains cognitive, biological, and social. The Biological developmental domain deals with the physical and genetic changes such as height and weight fluctuation, also the changes that occur when an individual goes through physical changes that occur naturally, these are all changes that are known within the biological development, added to physical...
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...Life Span Perspective Babette Marcia Harwell- Taylor PSY/375 January 14, 2013 Shaun-Katherine Robles Life Span Perspective Life span development is the physical and cognitive changes that occur throughout a person’s life. A life span perspective is an approach to the study of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood (Berger, 2011). This paper will discuss the life span perspective of development, summarize two theories of life span development and give explanation to how heredity (nature) and the environment (nurture) interact to produce individual differences in development. The life span perspective encircles the length of a person’s span of life. It then considers the wide range of conditions while making observations along the way. It is depended upon observing and experimenting. The life span perspective views human development in five characteristics: multidirectional, multi-contextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic (Berger, 2011). The multidirectional characteristic is the multiple ways in which human characteristics change over time – increasing, decreasing, or holding steady; in a line (linear), a curve (curvilinear), or up and down (zigzag) (Berger, 2011). The multidirectional characteristic enables researchers to recognize that gains and losses often occur simultaneously. According to Berger, every change – going to college, getting married or divorced, moving to another location,...
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...Life Span Perspective Paper PSY/375 October 15, 2013 Dr. Cynthia Jenkins We all start out as babies coming into the world knowing nothing about our lives or where our lives will take us. This paper will explain the life span perspective of development and summarize two theories of life span development. As humans we have the genetics and heredity issues that can contribute to our development in our life span. Then there is the environment we live in that can produce individual differences in development. Let’s first take a look at the life span perspective of development. To understand the life span perspective you must first know what it means. The life span perspective is an approach to the study of human development that takes into account all phase of life, not just childhood and adulthood (Berger, 2011). Human development can be viewed in five characteristics 1. Multidirectional- when life takes a turn such as divorce. The next direction in life is to adapt to the new single life that may now include children. 2. Multicontextual- would consist of your surrounding that is changing such as family and friends, school, workplace, and the world of politics, and economics. 3. Multicultural-consists of being exposed to the different cultures in life. This could be living in a neighborhood, members of an ethic group, and even students in college who are all coming from different cultures but trying to create a classroom environment. 4. Multidisciplinary-a...
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...Life Span Perspective Paper Kyla Rash University of Phoenix Life Span Human Development Psychology 375 Professor Kathleen Phelps March 05, 2012 Life Span Perspective Paper No one brought evolution to light like Charles Darwin. His book, titled On the Origin of Species, offered compelling evidence for evolution within species and drew in large amounts of controversy. This controversy led to more and more field work and observations of nature. Eventually, Darwin’s research and studies turned to people and the study of the human life span (Beddall, 1968). The study of the human life span gained momentum in the years that followed the publishing of Darwin’s famous book as psychologists around the world developed different perspectives and theories regarding life span. The following examination focuses on explaining the life span perspective of development, summarizing two different theories of life span development, and offering an explanation to how heredity and the environment produce differences in overall development. The study of human development centers on how a person changes over a lifetime. A person starts life with the birth stage, and then moves through infancy, adolescence and puberty, adulthood, and finishes with death (Berger, 2008). Berger (2008) describes these changes as being linear, gradual, predictable, and sometimes steady. During their life spans, humans learn to communicate, work together, experience emotions...
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...The life span perspective of development The science of human development attempts to understand how and why an individual will change or remain the same over time (Berger, 2008). There are stages in life that begins with birth and infancy then continues to early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, adulthood, late adulthood, and finally the end of one’s life (Berger, 2008). If an individual lives a full lifetime, the stages mark different developments including physical, emotional, and psychological. Currently, there are five characteristics of development. First, multidirectional is a characteristic suggesting change occurs in every direction (Berger, 2008). Another characteristic is multicontextual which suggests human lives are rooted in many contexts, such as historical and economic conditions, and family patterns (Berger, 2008). The third characteristic is multicultural which suggests many cultures are involved in how an individual develops (Berger, 2008). The fourth characteristic is multidisciplinary which illustrates multiple academic fields contributing his or her data and insights (Berger, 2008). However, no single stage controls all development because the fifth characteristic of development is plastic. The term “plastic” suggests development can go in many directions and can be influenced by events occurred in the past (Berger, 2008). The most important developmental study is science. Science depends on theories, data, analysis, critical...
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...Introduction The goal of the life span perspective of development is to understand how and why all different kinds of people, everywhere, and of every age, change over time (Berger, 2011). Developmental psychologists study the constant changes we experience throughout life, including physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. Psychologists also study how we are affected by, react to, and process the world around us (Stone, 2011). The first aspect of developmental science is to understand how and why people change. Another aspect of developmental science is to identify universal similarities and differences among people, and then use that information to unify humanity as well as distinguish us as individuals (Berger, 2011). The most important aspect of developmental science is to understand that people change over time. According to Berger (2001), “Change is systematic, ongoing, and dynamic throughout the entire life span.” Explain the life span perspective of development. According to Paul and Margret Baltes, life-span perspective views human development as multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic. Development is considered multidirectional because change occurs in all directions, in every part of life. Human characteristics can increase, decrease, or remain the same (Berger, 2011). Development is also multicontextual. It can occur in many different physical and social environments. We develop, regardless of where we are...
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...Life Spain Perspective Paper Teresa Haumschild PSY/375 August 12, 2013 Kay Rubin, MA Life Spain Perspective Paper When it comes to life span development you have to understand what it is and where it comes from or even how it got its name. As it was said by Boyd and Bee that life span development is the name that psychologists have given to the physical and cognitive changes that occur throughout a person’s life (Boyd & Bee, 2009). So I will be first explaining the life span of development, along with summarizing two different theories of life span development, and then the last one is just explaining how heredity and the environment interact to produce individual difference in the development. So what is life span development it is the study of which human development is the changes that do occur within each different period of one’s development and along with the changes they must be interpreted into terms in which the culture and the context do a occur. So it truly beings with conception and birth, because it has stages just like the transition stage that one goes through from childhood to adulthood. With this perspective it has the very same level of important to a person’s changes that lead into adulthood, in which had been just focused on changes in ones childhood instead. It can even be characterized in different things such as interdisciplinary research, multi contextual along with just emphasis on plasticity as well. The two theories that I have chosen...
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...Life Span Perspective Dennis L. Bentley Life Span Human Development- PSY/375 November 7, 2011 Professor Deborah Wilkerson M.A., ABD What is the life span perspective of development? And what do heredity and environment have to do with a persons’ development? These are two questions that shall be answered by this paper along with a summary of the two theories of life span development. This paper will utilize the internet and the library of the University of Phoenix to assist in the answering of these questions. A very through and complete paper is not possible given the restraints, however every effort will be made to achieve the papers’ intention. To begin with the life span development perspective can be defined by Erickson eight stages or the different thoughts brought about by Behavioral, Cognitive, Epigenetic, or Sociocultural theorist. Whatever the school the basics are the same 1) we never stop learning, 2) development begins at birth, and 3), it does not end until death. As Santrock (1999) put it as "some aspects of development increase while others decrease". This is seen as plastic meaning that there is a certain elasticity that occurs in response to the different environmental demands that one might have during life. Like wise there are three domains that key in this perspective they are physical, cognitive, and social. In the physical, height, weight, and shape changes are the ingredients of what a person sees...
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... 1 Karl Ulrich Mayer, 2002 The sociology of the life course and life span psychology - diverging or converging pathways? 1. Introduction In the last twenty to thirty years both life span psychology and the sociology of the life course have experienced a great and long take off with regard to theory building and conceptualization, methodological advances and empirical studies. Within sociology, but also partly in demography, economics and social policy studies, a cohort and life course perspective, event history analysis and microanalytic longitudinal data have become almost predominant (Mayer 1990, 2000; Riley et al. 1994). Baltes et al. (1999: 473) note, for instance, that life span psychology became more prominent due to, among other reasons, “... a concern with life span development in neighboring social science disciplines, especially sociology. Life course sociology took hold as a powerful intellectual force.” At the beginning of this development there were great expectations that the disciplines involved in this “life course turn” - especially life course sociology and life span psychology - would not only grow together in a parallel trajectory, but that there would be co-evolution in the direction of a truly interdisciplinary or even transdisciplinary paradigm on human development. Volumes such as the one edited by Kohli (1978), Sørensen, Weinert and Sherrod (1986) or the series on “Life-Span Development and Behavior” edited by Baltes, Featherman...
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...Life Span Perspective Life Span Perspective People are natural social creatures who progress through life by growth personally and physically. The life span development or science of human development follows the scientific method in order, to prove or disprove development theories. It will be described what life span development is and the purpose of human development. From there an understanding of two development theories will be explained. The theories are to give the reader and understanding of how scientists have tried to partly explain human development. This is also why heredity and environmental influences will also be examined, considering the theories place emphasis on both. The science of human development is “to understand how and why people—all kinds of people, everywhere—change or remain the same over time” (Berger, 2008. p. 3). Further, human development has three fundamentals that help define the study. The first is the science, as stated before the science of human life span development is based on the scientific method. Theories are hypothesized, data is collected on experiments or observation, the data reveals whether the hypothesis is correct or incorrect and form here scientists can determine what the conclusion means (Berger, 2008. p. 4). The second is diversity, in which considering the different kinds of people (Berger, 2008 p. 4). Studying the different people of all ages, race, and around the globe allows further compare and contrast of different...
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