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Lifespan Perspectives Paper

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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, the death of a family member – produces unexpected advances and retreats. The multi-contextual characteristic welcomes life in its multiple situations, including physical surroundings and family circumstances. Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner argued that develop-mentalists needed to examine the ecological systems that surround each person just as a naturalist examines ecology, or the

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