Life Span Perspective Paper Free Essays

Life Span Perspective Paper Life span is the time of conception till the day a person takes their last breathe. So many situations take place in a person’s life like reaching other developmental periods within life. A child grows from an infant and becomes of age to go to school for the first time or simply graduating from high school and entering the next phase of life when responsibility becomes everything. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Span Perspective Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Each phase of life means that a person is developing whether they are transitioning from a young adult to being a middle aged adult there are developmental stages that take place until the final transition which is death. In order to better understand human development the process of studying takes place which in turn means moving from one stage to the next within a lifespan. Through the years observation, predictions and evolving technologies have opened up doors to the way individuals develop and reach stages by pinpointing differences and predictions that prove to be inaccurate or simply that have not risen to the occasion over the years of change. There are considered to be five characteristics of development; multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary and plasticity. Multidirectional is the study of change within human development. Multicontextual is dealing with contexts such as an individual’s surroundings or environment that can affect development. Multicultural is when individuals do not notice cultural differences because they have become so used to their own surroundings. Multidisciplinary which pertains to multiple academic fields which all deliver the same insight as to how data and insight are contributed. Plasticity is when change occurs sometime during the lifespan of an individual. A person could be fine and then experience the lost of a parent and become altered forever. These five characteristics all intertwine with one another in order to explain in detail how people transition and develop through multi stages within life. There are also three domains of human development; biosocial development, cognitive development and psychosocial development. (Boyd and Bee, 2006). Two theories of lifespan development are grand theories and emergent theories. Grand theories are a combination of behaviorism, cognitive theory and psychoanalytic theory which refer to child development through comprehensive theories of psychology in a detailed manner. Emergent theories are not as detailed but it does incorporate the interpretations of development but touches on preconceived comprehensive and systematic instances. Behaviorism studies observable behavior and is sometimes referred to as the learning theory because behavior is learned in a number of ways. Cognitive theory focuses on how the thought process develops and is ultimately configured. Psychoanalytic theory is when a child has inner drives and motives such as obtaining the cookie from the cookie jar after their parent has told them not until after dinner. Boyd and Bee, 2006). Heredity is when your skin tone or height is passed down through the generations within a family. Your genes and DNA that make you who you are as far as features and sometimes personality and reactions to a situation. Environment is where a person lives, is raised or chooses to reside. A person can come from a family that has never been to college but allows a positive environment to flourish newer ways of learning to achieve a major goal within their life. No one can change their DNA or even their genes but allowing positive versus negative environments to influence their future thought process can really provide a lot of good. On the other hand a person can have the makeup of having an addictive personality that can ultimately be very negative outcome as a person that has two alcoholic parents and paternal and maternal grandparents that have issues with drugs and alcohol. If the individual takes a drink of alcohol and the addictive traits get waken up then the individual could really cause harm to themselves by subduing to alcohol and drugs. An environment can truly have an effect on the development of an individual. A person can be raised in a tense environment and exude a negative temperament as a result of being in non nurturing situation. In conclusion everyone in the world has reached some stage within the lifespan developmental stage and in order for these stages to have been identified research, observation and scientific experiments have taken place. There is such a wide array of characteristics of development that pinpoint the differences that are faced within the entire life of an individual. Grand theories are three incorporated theories that are detailed and well observed in order to showcase development of the years as everyone is very different. Emergent theories are theories that are not detailed and can change at any given moment because they are predicted theories that might not be proven to be true. Heredity and environment play such pivotal roles in development because people mimic behaviors and influences that are around them whether negative or positive. ? Reference Boyd, D. , Bee, H. (2006). Lifespan Development (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. How to cite Life Span Perspective Paper, Essays Life Span Perspective Paper Free Essays Life Span Perspective Paper Mihaela Ciobanu-Osborne PSY/375 12/09/11 Instructor: Dr. Lisa Holbert Life Span Perspective Paper In order to get a good perspective of the life span of a human being, a person first needs to understand changes that take place. The life span perspective is mostly about knowing the different stages in life and when they occur. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Span Perspective Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now These changes should be viewed as the outcome of culture and the specific situations that are in play at the time of the change. There are several traits that describe what life span perspective is in the human development process. First, life span perspective is an ongoing process that is not controlled by any one age period. Second, the life span perspective consists of three different domains. The three domains are physical, cognitive, and social. The three domains illustrate smooth strokes not rigid edges of the life span perspective. The three domains are used to organize the research of human development. The physical domain of life span perspective looks at the psychological changes that take place over a lifetime. These changes include, but are not limited to, puberty, menopause, and bone loss. The cognitive domain of life span perspective is researched the mental changes that occur throughout an individual’s lifetime. These changes include thinking, problem solving, and memory. The cognitive domain has to do with many things starting with how children learn to read to memory loss that comes with old age. The social domain of life span perspective analyzes cultural and environmental development throughout an individual’s life. Third, some aspects of life span perspective increase while other aspects seem to decrease (Stantrock, 2003). This particular perspective is called plastic. Finally, life span perspective is contextual. This means that the person consistently responds to and acts on context that includes several different context. These contexts include an individual’s biological makeup, physical environments, and social, historical, and cultural contexts (Stantrock, 2003). There have been many theories that have generated over time on the life span development of a human. Some of these theories were just theories that were built on top of other theories. Charles Darwin brought about the theory of evolutionary stages. With that already in place, during the 19th century, G. Stanley Hall from Clark University was able to form his theory of norms. This theory hypothesizes that human development can be separated into specific phases. This theory led Arnold Gesell to his theory of maturation. This theory basically depended on genetic predisposition (Berger, 2008). Just as there are different domains in life span perspective, there are also different periods in life that people experience that are all their own. When people are talking about specific areas or times in their lives they generally refer to it as a stage. There are eight different developmental stages that are discussed in the life span perspective (Berger, 2008). The first stage is the trust vs. mistrust which is the birth to one year stage. The stage of trust vs. mistrust can be a very critical point in an individual’s life. This concept suggests that there could be specific periods in development where a person is especially sensitive to a kind of presence of an experience of a specific kind (Berger, 2008). The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt for children one to three years of age (childhood). This is where the individual develops more physical skills and the ability to make more choices on their own. This growth will lead to giving the child a will of his/her own. The third stage is initiative vs. guilt stage for children that are age three to six (middle childhood). This stage teaches goal orientation through the putting together of activities. Stage four is industry vs. inferiority age six to 12 (late childhood). During this stage the individual is learning the normality’s in cultural differences. The fifth stage is identity vs. role confusion age 12 to 18 (adolescence). During this stage individuals begin to experience puberty changes, which generally lead to a more mature outlook on life. The sixth stage is intimacy verses isolation age 18 to 30 (early adulthood). During this stage the individual decides to marry and settle down or live on their own. The seventh stage is generatively versus stagnation age 30-55 or 65 (middle to late adulthood). This is the stage where individuals are more focused on caring for their children and loved ones than anything. The eighth stage is integrity verses despair age 50 or 60-death (late adulthood). This is the stage where individuals become accepting of them and are wise with experiences they have lived through. Change is a continuous process and a large part of everyday life changes. Comprehending the changes through interpretation of a person’s life and cultural background is getting a handle on life span perspective of human development. With everything that has been discussed, one can begin to understand human development. References: Berger, K. (2008). The Developing Person Through the Life Span (7th ed. ). New York: Worth Publishers. Stantrock, J. (2003). Life Span Psychology: Theory and Application to Intellectual Functioning. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 471. How to cite Life Span Perspective Paper, Essay examples