Lifespan Development

Lifespan Development

Human lifespan development is the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues throughout the life span. Studying lifespan development is extremely beneficial to understanding who we are, how we came to be this way, and where our future will take us. Knowledge of the study of development can be obtained through five theoretical approaches. These approaches include psychoanalytic theories, cognitive theories, behavioral and social cognitive theories, the ethological theory, and the ecological theory. The two main psychoanalytic theories were proposed by Freud and Erickson. According to psychoanalytic theories, development primarily depends on the unconscious mind and is heavily contained
in emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists believe that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that early experiences with parents shape development. Freud said that the personality is made up of the id, ego, and superego. The conflicting demands of these structures produce anxiety. He also argued that individuals go through five psychosexual stages. Erikson’s theory emphasizes eight psychosocial stages of development: trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame and doubt, initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus identity confusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity versus despair. Contributions of psychoanalytic theories include an emphasis on a developmental framework, family relationships, and unconscious aspects of the mind. Criticisms of this school of thought include a lack of scientific support, too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings, and an image of people that is too negative. The three main cognitive theories are Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s, and information processing.
Cognitive theories emphasize thinking, reasoning, language, and other cognitive processes. Piaget proposed a cognitive developmental theory in which children use their cognition to adapt to their world. In his theory, children go through four cognitive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development. The information processing approach stresses that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it. Contributions of cognitive theories include and emphasis on the active construction of understanding and developmental changes in thinking. Criticisms include giving too little attention to individual variations and underrating the unconscious aspects of
thought. The three main behavioral and social cognitive theories are Pavlov’s classical conditioning, Skinner’s operant conditioning, and social cognitive theory.
In Pavlov’s classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another stimulus. In Skinner’s operant conditioning, the consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence. In social cognitive theory, observational learning is a key aspect of life span development. Contributions made by these theories include an importance on scientific research, a focus on environmental factors, and the importance person and cognitive factors in social cognitive theory. Criticisms consist of inadequate attention to developmental changes, too much emphasis on environmental determinants, and in Skinner’s view, too little attention to cognition. Ethology stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods. Contributions of this theory are a focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of development, the use of careful observations in naturalistic settings, and the emphasis on sensitive periods of development. Criticisms are a belief that the concepts of critical and sensitive periods may be too rigid, too much emphasis is placed on biological foundations, and that the theory has been better at generating research with animals than with
humans. The ecological theory stresses environmental contexts. Bronfenbrenner’s environmental systems view of development proposes five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The contributions of this theory include a systematic examination of the macro and microdimensions of environmental systems and consideration of sociohistorical influences. Some of the criticisms of the ecological theory are inadequate attention to biological factors, and a lack of emphasis on cognitive factors. No single theory can entirely explain the life span development. However, each theory has made important contributions to the understanding of development. It is best to view these theories as helpful guides instead of relying too heavily on one over another to explain development. An eclectic orientation does not follow one approach, but selects and uses what is considered to be the best in each theory.