{"id":249,"date":"2015-02-06T23:15:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T23:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/ospsych\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=249"},"modified":"2017-05-23T01:13:30","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T01:13:30","slug":"what-is-lifespan-development","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-intropsych\/chapter\/what-is-lifespan-development\/","title":{"raw":"What Is Lifespan Development?","rendered":"What Is Lifespan Development?"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>What you'll learn to do: compare and contrast theories lifespan development theories<\/h2>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/03\/08143807\/6782624795_81cabe31c3_z.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3899\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/03\/08143807\/6782624795_81cabe31c3_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"493\" height=\"329\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nLifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-idm81386384\" class=\"summary\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm1051792\">There are many theories regarding how babies and children grow and develop into happy, healthy adults. Sigmund Freud suggested that we pass through a series of psychosexual stages in which our energy is focused on certain erogenous zones on the body. Eric Erikson modified Freud\u2019s ideas and suggested a theory of psychosocial development. Erikson said that our social interactions and successful completion of social tasks shape our sense of self. Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that explains how children think and reason as they move through various stages. Finally, Lawrence Kohlberg turned his attention to moral development. He said that we pass through three levels of moral thinking that build on our cognitive development. You'll learn about each of these theories in this section.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe\u00a0the three major issues in development: continuity and discontinuity, one common course of development or many unique courses of development, and nature versus nurture<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">My heart leaps up when I behold\r\nA rainbow in the sky:\r\nSo was it when my life began;\r\nSo is it now I am a man;\r\nSo be it when I shall grow old,\r\nOr let me die!\r\nThe Child is father of the Man;\r\nAnd I could wish my days to be\r\nBound each to each by natural piety. (Wordsworth, 1802)<\/p>\r\nIn this poem, William Wordsworth writes, \u201cthe child is father of the man.\u201d What does this seemingly incongruous statement mean, and what does it have to do with lifespan development? Wordsworth might be suggesting that the person he is as an adult depends largely on the experiences he had in childhood. Consider the following questions: To what extent is the adult you are today influenced by the child you once were? To what extent is a child fundamentally different from the adult he grows up to be?\r\n\r\nThese are the types of questions developmental psychologists try to answer, by studying how humans change and grow from conception through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains\u2014physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships. We refer to these domains throughout the module.\r\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Connect the Concepts\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Connect the Concepts: Research Methods in Developmental Psychology<\/h3>\r\nYou\u2019ve learned about a variety of research methods used by psychologists. Developmental psychologists use many of these approaches in order to better understand how individuals change mentally and physically over time. These methods include naturalistic observations, case studies, surveys, and experiments, among others.\r\n\r\nNaturalistic observations involve observing behavior in its natural context. A developmental psychologist might observe how children behave on a playground, at a daycare center, or in the child\u2019s own home. While this research approach provides a glimpse into how children behave in their natural settings, researchers have very little control over the types and\/or frequencies of displayed behavior.\r\n\r\nIn a case study, developmental psychologists collect a great deal of information from one individual in order to better understand physical and psychological changes over the lifespan. This particular approach is an excellent way to better understand individuals, who are exceptional in some way, but it is especially prone to researcher bias in interpretation, and it is difficult to generalize conclusions to the larger population.\r\n\r\nIn one classic example of this research method being applied to a study of lifespan development Sigmund Freud analyzed the development of a child known as \u201cLittle Hans\u201d (Freud, 1909\/1949). Freud\u2019s findings helped inform his theories of psychosexual development in children, which you will learn about later in this module. Little Genie, the subject of a case study discussed in the module\u00a0on thinking and intelligence, provides another example of how psychologists examine developmental milestones through detailed research on a single individual. In Genie\u2019s case, her neglectful and abusive upbringing led to her being unable to speak until, at age 13, she was removed from that harmful environment. As she learned to use language, psychologists were able to compare how her language acquisition abilities differed when occurring in her late-stage development compared to the typical acquisition of those skills during the ages of infancy through early childhood (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, &amp; Rigler, 1974; Curtiss, 1981).\r\n\r\nThe survey method asks individuals to self-report important information about their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs. This particular method can provide large amounts of information in relatively short amounts of time; however, validity of data collected in this way relies on honest self-reporting, and the data is relatively shallow when compared to the depth of information collected in a case study.\r\n\r\nExperiments involve significant control over extraneous variables and manipulation of the independent variable. As such, experimental research allows developmental psychologists to make causal statements about certain variables that are important for the developmental process. Because experimental research must occur in a controlled environment, researchers must be cautious about whether behaviors observed in the laboratory translate to an individual\u2019s natural environment.\r\n\r\nLater in this module, you will learn about several experiments in which toddlers and young children observe scenes or actions so that researchers can determine at what age specific cognitive abilities develop. For example, children may observe a quantity of liquid poured from a short, fat glass into a tall, skinny glass. As the experimenters question the children about what occurred, the subjects\u2019 answers help psychologists understand at what age a child begins to comprehend that the volume of liquid remained the same although the shapes of the containers differs.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAcross these three domains\u2014physical, cognitive, and psychosocial\u2014the <strong>normative approach<\/strong> to development is also discussed. This approach asks, \u201cWhat is normal development?\u201d In the early decades of the 20th century, normative psychologists studied large numbers of children at various ages to determine norms (i.e., average ages) of when most children reach specific developmental milestones in each of the three domains (Gesell, 1933, 1939, 1940; Gesell &amp; Ilg, 1946; Hall, 1904). Although children develop at slightly different rates, we can use these age-related averages as general guidelines to compare children with same-age peers to determine the approximate ages they should reach specific normative events called <strong>developmental milestones<\/strong> (e.g., crawling, walking, writing, dressing, naming colors, speaking in sentences, and starting puberty).\r\n\r\nNot all normative events are universal, meaning they are not experienced by all individuals across all cultures. Biological milestones, such as puberty, tend to be universal, but social milestones, such as the age when children begin formal schooling, are not necessarily universal; instead, they affect most individuals in a particular <strong>culture<\/strong> (Gesell &amp; Ilg, 1946). For example, in developed countries children begin school around 5 or 6 years old, but in developing countries, like Nigeria, children often enter school at an advanced age, if at all (Huebler, 2005; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2013).\r\n\r\nTo better understand the normative approach, imagine two new mothers, Louisa and Kimberly, who are close friends and have children around the same age. Louisa\u2019s daughter is 14 months old, and Kimberly\u2019s son is 12 months old. According to the normative approach, the average age a child starts to walk is 12 months. However, at 14 months Louisa\u2019s daughter still isn\u2019t walking. She tells Kimberly she is worried that something might be wrong with her baby. Kimberly is surprised because her son started walking when he was only 10 months old. Should Louisa be worried? Should she be concerned if her daughter is not walking by 15 months or 18 months?\r\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Link to Learning\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\r\n<h3>Link to Learning<\/h3>\r\nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes the developmental milestones for children from 2 months through 5 years old. After reviewing the information, take this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/actearly\/milestones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quiz<\/a> to see how well you recall what you\u2019ve learned. If you are a parent with concerns about your child\u2019s development, contact your pediatrician.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4466\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Issues in Developmental Psychology<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<section data-depth=\"1\">There are many different theoretical approaches regarding human development. As we evaluate them in this module, recall that developmental psychology focuses on how people change, and keep in mind that all the approaches that we present in this module\u00a0address questions of change: Is the change smooth or uneven (continuous versus discontinuous)? Is this pattern of change the same for everyone, or are there many different patterns of change (one course of development versus many courses)? How do genetics and environment interact to influence development (nature versus nurture)?<section data-depth=\"2\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?<\/h2>\r\n<strong>Continuous development<\/strong> views development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills (Figure 1). With this type of development, there is gradual change. Consider, for example, a child\u2019s physical growth: adding inches to her height year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as <strong>discontinuous<\/strong> believe that development takes place in unique stages: It occurs at specific times or ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant\u2019s ability to conceive object permanence.\r\n<figure>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"975\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/902\/2015\/02\/23224916\/CNX_Psych_09_01_DevelopR.jpg\" alt=\"Continuous and Discontinuous development are shown side by side using two separate pictures. The first picture is a triangle labeled \u201cContinuous Development\u201d which slopes upward from Infancy to Adulthood in a straight line. The second picture is 4 bars side by side labeled \u201cDiscontinuous Development\u201d which get higher from Infancy to Adulthood. These bars resemble a staircase.\" width=\"975\" height=\"266\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> Figure 1. The concept of continuous development can be visualized as a smooth slope of progression, whereas discontinuous development sees growth in more discrete stages.[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\n<\/section><section data-depth=\"2\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Is There One Course of Development or Many?<\/h2>\r\nIs development essentially the same, or universal, for all children (i.e., there is one course of development) or does development follow a different course for each child, depending on the child\u2019s specific genetics and environment (i.e., there are many courses of development)? Do people across the world share more similarities or more differences in their development? How much do culture and genetics influence a child\u2019s behavior?\r\n\r\nStage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal. For example, in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman &amp; Newport, 1995). Infants in all cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter their first word around 12 months old. Yet we live in diverse contexts that have a unique effect on each of us. For example, researchers once believed that motor development follows one course for all children regardless of culture. However, child care practices vary by culture, and different practices have been found to accelerate or inhibit achievement of developmental milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking (Karasik, Adolph, Tamis-LeMonda, &amp; Bornstein, 2010).\r\n\r\nFor instance, let\u2019s look at the Ach\u00e9 society in Paraguay. They spend a significant amount of time foraging in forests. While foraging, Ach\u00e9 mothers carry their young children, rarely putting them down in order to protect them from getting hurt in the forest. Consequently, their children walk much later: They walk around 23\u201325 months old, in comparison to infants in Western cultures who begin to walk around 12 months old. However, as Ach\u00e9 children become older, they are allowed more freedom to move about, and by about age 9, their motor skills surpass those of U.S. children of the same age: Ach\u00e9 children are able to climb trees up to 25 feet tall and use machetes to chop their way through the forest (Kaplan &amp; Dove, 1987). As you can see, our development is influenced by multiple contexts, so the timing of basic motor functions may vary across cultures. However, the functions themselves are present in all societies (Figure 2).\r\n<figure>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"649\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/902\/2015\/02\/23224918\/CNX_Psych_09_01_Play.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph A shows two children wearing inner tubes playing in the shallow water at the beach. Photograph B shows two children playing in the sand at a beach.\" width=\"649\" height=\"238\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> Figure 2. All children across the world love to play. Whether in (a) Florida or (b) South Africa, children enjoy exploring sand, sunshine, and the sea. (credit a: modification of work by \u201cVisit St. Pete\/Clearwater\u201d\/Flickr; credit b: modification of work by \"stringer_bel\"\/Flickr)[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4460\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4461\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4464\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section data-depth=\"2\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?<\/h2>\r\nAre we who we are because of nature (biology and genetics), or are we who we are because of nurture (our environment and culture)? This longstanding question is known in psychology as the nature versus nurture debate. It seeks to understand how our personalities and traits are the product of our genetic makeup and biological factors, and how they are shaped by our environment, including our parents, peers, and culture. For instance, why do biological children sometimes act like their parents\u2014is it because of genetics or because of early childhood environment and what the child has learned from the parents? What about children who are adopted\u2014are they more like their biological families or more like their adoptive families? And how can siblings from the same family be so different?\r\n\r\nWe are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height, and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction between our genes and our environment: Our unique experiences in our environment influence whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). This module\u00a0will show that there is a reciprocal interaction between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become, but the debate continues as to the relative contributions of each.\r\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Dig Deeper\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Dig Deeper: The Achievement Gap: How Does Socioeconomic Status Affect Development?<\/h3>\r\nThe achievement gap refers to the persistent difference in grades, test scores, and graduation rates that exist among students of different ethnicities, races, and\u2014in certain subjects\u2014sexes (Winerman, 2011). Research suggests that these achievement gaps are strongly influenced by differences in socioeconomic factors that exist among the families of these children. While the researchers acknowledge that programs aimed at reducing such socioeconomic discrepancies would likely aid in equalizing the aptitude and performance of children from different backgrounds, they recognize that such large-scale interventions would be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is recommended that programs aimed at fostering aptitude and achievement among disadvantaged children may be the best option for dealing with issues related to academic achievement gaps (Duncan &amp; Magnuson, 2005).\r\n\r\nLow-income children perform significantly more poorly than their middle- and high-income peers on a number of educational variables: They have significantly lower standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college entrance rates, and they have much higher school dropout rates. There have been attempts to correct the achievement gap through state and federal legislation, but what if the problems start before the children even enter school?\r\n\r\nPsychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley (2006) spent their careers looking at early language ability and progression of children in various income levels. In one longitudinal study, they found that although all the parents in the study engaged and interacted with their children, middle- and high-income parents interacted with their children differently than low-income parents. After analyzing 1,300 hours of parent-child interactions, the researchers found that middle- and high-income parents talk to their children significantly more, starting when the children are infants. By 3 years old, high-income children knew almost double the number of words known by their low-income counterparts, and they had heard an estimated total of 30 million more words than the low-income counterparts (Hart &amp; Risley, 2003). And the gaps only become more pronounced. Before entering kindergarten, high-income children score 60% higher on achievement tests than their low-income peers (Lee &amp; Burkam, 2002).\r\n\r\nThere are solutions to this problem. At the University of Chicago, experts are working with low-income families, visiting them at their homes, and encouraging them to speak more to their children on a daily and hourly basis. Other experts are designing preschools in which students from diverse economic backgrounds are placed in the same classroom. In this research, low-income children made significant gains in their language development, likely as a result of attending the specialized preschool (Schechter &amp; Byeb, 2007). What other methods or interventions could be used to decrease the achievement gap? What types of activities could be implemented to help the children of your community or a neighboring community?\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4462\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4463\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/4465\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/section><section data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\r\n<section data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<div data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<div data-type=\"problem\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>How are you different today from the person you were at 6 years old? What about at 16 years old? How are you the same as the person you were at those ages?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Your 3-year-old daughter is not yet potty trained. Based on what you know about the normative approach, should you be concerned? Why or why not?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div><section>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\r\n<div data-type=\"glossary\">\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>cognitive development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>continuous development:\u00a0<\/strong>view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>developmental milestone:\u00a0<\/strong>approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>discontinuous development:<\/strong>view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>nature:\u00a0<\/strong>genes and biology<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>normative approach:\u00a0<\/strong>study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>nurture:\u00a0<\/strong>environment and culture<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>physical development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness<\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>psychosocial development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines emotions, personality, and social relationships<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<\/section>","rendered":"<h2>What you&#8217;ll learn to do: compare and contrast theories lifespan development theories<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/03\/08143807\/6782624795_81cabe31c3_z.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3899\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/03\/08143807\/6782624795_81cabe31c3_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"493\" height=\"329\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.<\/p>\n<section id=\"fs-idm81386384\" class=\"summary\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<p id=\"fs-idm1051792\">There are many theories regarding how babies and children grow and develop into happy, healthy adults. Sigmund Freud suggested that we pass through a series of psychosexual stages in which our energy is focused on certain erogenous zones on the body. Eric Erikson modified Freud\u2019s ideas and suggested a theory of psychosocial development. Erikson said that our social interactions and successful completion of social tasks shape our sense of self. Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that explains how children think and reason as they move through various stages. Finally, Lawrence Kohlberg turned his attention to moral development. He said that we pass through three levels of moral thinking that build on our cognitive development. You&#8217;ll learn about each of these theories in this section.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe\u00a0the three major issues in development: continuity and discontinuity, one common course of development or many unique courses of development, and nature versus nurture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">My heart leaps up when I behold<br \/>\nA rainbow in the sky:<br \/>\nSo was it when my life began;<br \/>\nSo is it now I am a man;<br \/>\nSo be it when I shall grow old,<br \/>\nOr let me die!<br \/>\nThe Child is father of the Man;<br \/>\nAnd I could wish my days to be<br \/>\nBound each to each by natural piety. (Wordsworth, 1802)<\/p>\n<p>In this poem, William Wordsworth writes, \u201cthe child is father of the man.\u201d What does this seemingly incongruous statement mean, and what does it have to do with lifespan development? Wordsworth might be suggesting that the person he is as an adult depends largely on the experiences he had in childhood. Consider the following questions: To what extent is the adult you are today influenced by the child you once were? To what extent is a child fundamentally different from the adult he grows up to be?<\/p>\n<p>These are the types of questions developmental psychologists try to answer, by studying how humans change and grow from conception through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains\u2014physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships. We refer to these domains throughout the module.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Connect the Concepts\">\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Connect the Concepts: Research Methods in Developmental Psychology<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ve learned about a variety of research methods used by psychologists. Developmental psychologists use many of these approaches in order to better understand how individuals change mentally and physically over time. These methods include naturalistic observations, case studies, surveys, and experiments, among others.<\/p>\n<p>Naturalistic observations involve observing behavior in its natural context. A developmental psychologist might observe how children behave on a playground, at a daycare center, or in the child\u2019s own home. While this research approach provides a glimpse into how children behave in their natural settings, researchers have very little control over the types and\/or frequencies of displayed behavior.<\/p>\n<p>In a case study, developmental psychologists collect a great deal of information from one individual in order to better understand physical and psychological changes over the lifespan. This particular approach is an excellent way to better understand individuals, who are exceptional in some way, but it is especially prone to researcher bias in interpretation, and it is difficult to generalize conclusions to the larger population.<\/p>\n<p>In one classic example of this research method being applied to a study of lifespan development Sigmund Freud analyzed the development of a child known as \u201cLittle Hans\u201d (Freud, 1909\/1949). Freud\u2019s findings helped inform his theories of psychosexual development in children, which you will learn about later in this module. Little Genie, the subject of a case study discussed in the module\u00a0on thinking and intelligence, provides another example of how psychologists examine developmental milestones through detailed research on a single individual. In Genie\u2019s case, her neglectful and abusive upbringing led to her being unable to speak until, at age 13, she was removed from that harmful environment. As she learned to use language, psychologists were able to compare how her language acquisition abilities differed when occurring in her late-stage development compared to the typical acquisition of those skills during the ages of infancy through early childhood (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, &amp; Rigler, 1974; Curtiss, 1981).<\/p>\n<p>The survey method asks individuals to self-report important information about their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs. This particular method can provide large amounts of information in relatively short amounts of time; however, validity of data collected in this way relies on honest self-reporting, and the data is relatively shallow when compared to the depth of information collected in a case study.<\/p>\n<p>Experiments involve significant control over extraneous variables and manipulation of the independent variable. As such, experimental research allows developmental psychologists to make causal statements about certain variables that are important for the developmental process. Because experimental research must occur in a controlled environment, researchers must be cautious about whether behaviors observed in the laboratory translate to an individual\u2019s natural environment.<\/p>\n<p>Later in this module, you will learn about several experiments in which toddlers and young children observe scenes or actions so that researchers can determine at what age specific cognitive abilities develop. For example, children may observe a quantity of liquid poured from a short, fat glass into a tall, skinny glass. As the experimenters question the children about what occurred, the subjects\u2019 answers help psychologists understand at what age a child begins to comprehend that the volume of liquid remained the same although the shapes of the containers differs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Across these three domains\u2014physical, cognitive, and psychosocial\u2014the <strong>normative approach<\/strong> to development is also discussed. This approach asks, \u201cWhat is normal development?\u201d In the early decades of the 20th century, normative psychologists studied large numbers of children at various ages to determine norms (i.e., average ages) of when most children reach specific developmental milestones in each of the three domains (Gesell, 1933, 1939, 1940; Gesell &amp; Ilg, 1946; Hall, 1904). Although children develop at slightly different rates, we can use these age-related averages as general guidelines to compare children with same-age peers to determine the approximate ages they should reach specific normative events called <strong>developmental milestones<\/strong> (e.g., crawling, walking, writing, dressing, naming colors, speaking in sentences, and starting puberty).<\/p>\n<p>Not all normative events are universal, meaning they are not experienced by all individuals across all cultures. Biological milestones, such as puberty, tend to be universal, but social milestones, such as the age when children begin formal schooling, are not necessarily universal; instead, they affect most individuals in a particular <strong>culture<\/strong> (Gesell &amp; Ilg, 1946). For example, in developed countries children begin school around 5 or 6 years old, but in developing countries, like Nigeria, children often enter school at an advanced age, if at all (Huebler, 2005; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2013).<\/p>\n<p>To better understand the normative approach, imagine two new mothers, Louisa and Kimberly, who are close friends and have children around the same age. Louisa\u2019s daughter is 14 months old, and Kimberly\u2019s son is 12 months old. According to the normative approach, the average age a child starts to walk is 12 months. However, at 14 months Louisa\u2019s daughter still isn\u2019t walking. She tells Kimberly she is worried that something might be wrong with her baby. Kimberly is surprised because her son started walking when he was only 10 months old. Should Louisa be worried? Should she be concerned if her daughter is not walking by 15 months or 18 months?<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Link to Learning\">\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\n<h3>Link to Learning<\/h3>\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes the developmental milestones for children from 2 months through 5 years old. After reviewing the information, take this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/actearly\/milestones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quiz<\/a> to see how well you recall what you\u2019ve learned. If you are a parent with concerns about your child\u2019s development, contact your pediatrician.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4466\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4466&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4466\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Issues in Developmental Psychology<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<section data-depth=\"1\">There are many different theoretical approaches regarding human development. As we evaluate them in this module, recall that developmental psychology focuses on how people change, and keep in mind that all the approaches that we present in this module\u00a0address questions of change: Is the change smooth or uneven (continuous versus discontinuous)? Is this pattern of change the same for everyone, or are there many different patterns of change (one course of development versus many courses)? How do genetics and environment interact to influence development (nature versus nurture)?<\/p>\n<section data-depth=\"2\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Continuous development<\/strong> views development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills (Figure 1). With this type of development, there is gradual change. Consider, for example, a child\u2019s physical growth: adding inches to her height year by year. In contrast, theorists who view development as <strong>discontinuous<\/strong> believe that development takes place in unique stages: It occurs at specific times or ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant\u2019s ability to conceive object permanence.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div style=\"width: 985px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/902\/2015\/02\/23224916\/CNX_Psych_09_01_DevelopR.jpg\" alt=\"Continuous and Discontinuous development are shown side by side using two separate pictures. The first picture is a triangle labeled \u201cContinuous Development\u201d which slopes upward from Infancy to Adulthood in a straight line. The second picture is 4 bars side by side labeled \u201cDiscontinuous Development\u201d which get higher from Infancy to Adulthood. These bars resemble a staircase.\" width=\"975\" height=\"266\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. The concept of continuous development can be visualized as a smooth slope of progression, whereas discontinuous development sees growth in more discrete stages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/section>\n<section data-depth=\"2\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Is There One Course of Development or Many?<\/h2>\n<p>Is development essentially the same, or universal, for all children (i.e., there is one course of development) or does development follow a different course for each child, depending on the child\u2019s specific genetics and environment (i.e., there are many courses of development)? Do people across the world share more similarities or more differences in their development? How much do culture and genetics influence a child\u2019s behavior?<\/p>\n<p>Stage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal. For example, in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman &amp; Newport, 1995). Infants in all cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter their first word around 12 months old. Yet we live in diverse contexts that have a unique effect on each of us. For example, researchers once believed that motor development follows one course for all children regardless of culture. However, child care practices vary by culture, and different practices have been found to accelerate or inhibit achievement of developmental milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking (Karasik, Adolph, Tamis-LeMonda, &amp; Bornstein, 2010).<\/p>\n<p>For instance, let\u2019s look at the Ach\u00e9 society in Paraguay. They spend a significant amount of time foraging in forests. While foraging, Ach\u00e9 mothers carry their young children, rarely putting them down in order to protect them from getting hurt in the forest. Consequently, their children walk much later: They walk around 23\u201325 months old, in comparison to infants in Western cultures who begin to walk around 12 months old. However, as Ach\u00e9 children become older, they are allowed more freedom to move about, and by about age 9, their motor skills surpass those of U.S. children of the same age: Ach\u00e9 children are able to climb trees up to 25 feet tall and use machetes to chop their way through the forest (Kaplan &amp; Dove, 1987). As you can see, our development is influenced by multiple contexts, so the timing of basic motor functions may vary across cultures. However, the functions themselves are present in all societies (Figure 2).<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div style=\"width: 659px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/902\/2015\/02\/23224918\/CNX_Psych_09_01_Play.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph A shows two children wearing inner tubes playing in the shallow water at the beach. Photograph B shows two children playing in the sand at a beach.\" width=\"649\" height=\"238\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 2. All children across the world love to play. Whether in (a) Florida or (b) South Africa, children enjoy exploring sand, sunshine, and the sea. (credit a: modification of work by \u201cVisit St. Pete\/Clearwater\u201d\/Flickr; credit b: modification of work by &#8220;stringer_bel&#8221;\/Flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4460\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4460&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4460\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4461\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4461&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4461\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4464\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4464&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4464\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section data-depth=\"2\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?<\/h2>\n<p>Are we who we are because of nature (biology and genetics), or are we who we are because of nurture (our environment and culture)? This longstanding question is known in psychology as the nature versus nurture debate. It seeks to understand how our personalities and traits are the product of our genetic makeup and biological factors, and how they are shaped by our environment, including our parents, peers, and culture. For instance, why do biological children sometimes act like their parents\u2014is it because of genetics or because of early childhood environment and what the child has learned from the parents? What about children who are adopted\u2014are they more like their biological families or more like their adoptive families? And how can siblings from the same family be so different?<\/p>\n<p>We are all born with specific genetic traits inherited from our parents, such as eye color, height, and certain personality traits. Beyond our basic genotype, however, there is a deep interaction between our genes and our environment: Our unique experiences in our environment influence whether and how particular traits are expressed, and at the same time, our genes influence how we interact with our environment (Diamond, 2009; Lobo, 2008). This module\u00a0will show that there is a reciprocal interaction between nature and nurture as they both shape who we become, but the debate continues as to the relative contributions of each.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Dig Deeper\">\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Dig Deeper: The Achievement Gap: How Does Socioeconomic Status Affect Development?<\/h3>\n<p>The achievement gap refers to the persistent difference in grades, test scores, and graduation rates that exist among students of different ethnicities, races, and\u2014in certain subjects\u2014sexes (Winerman, 2011). Research suggests that these achievement gaps are strongly influenced by differences in socioeconomic factors that exist among the families of these children. While the researchers acknowledge that programs aimed at reducing such socioeconomic discrepancies would likely aid in equalizing the aptitude and performance of children from different backgrounds, they recognize that such large-scale interventions would be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is recommended that programs aimed at fostering aptitude and achievement among disadvantaged children may be the best option for dealing with issues related to academic achievement gaps (Duncan &amp; Magnuson, 2005).<\/p>\n<p>Low-income children perform significantly more poorly than their middle- and high-income peers on a number of educational variables: They have significantly lower standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college entrance rates, and they have much higher school dropout rates. There have been attempts to correct the achievement gap through state and federal legislation, but what if the problems start before the children even enter school?<\/p>\n<p>Psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley (2006) spent their careers looking at early language ability and progression of children in various income levels. In one longitudinal study, they found that although all the parents in the study engaged and interacted with their children, middle- and high-income parents interacted with their children differently than low-income parents. After analyzing 1,300 hours of parent-child interactions, the researchers found that middle- and high-income parents talk to their children significantly more, starting when the children are infants. By 3 years old, high-income children knew almost double the number of words known by their low-income counterparts, and they had heard an estimated total of 30 million more words than the low-income counterparts (Hart &amp; Risley, 2003). And the gaps only become more pronounced. Before entering kindergarten, high-income children score 60% higher on achievement tests than their low-income peers (Lee &amp; Burkam, 2002).<\/p>\n<p>There are solutions to this problem. At the University of Chicago, experts are working with low-income families, visiting them at their homes, and encouraging them to speak more to their children on a daily and hourly basis. Other experts are designing preschools in which students from diverse economic backgrounds are placed in the same classroom. In this research, low-income children made significant gains in their language development, likely as a result of attending the specialized preschool (Schechter &amp; Byeb, 2007). What other methods or interventions could be used to decrease the achievement gap? What types of activities could be implemented to help the children of your community or a neighboring community?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4462\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4462&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4462\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4463\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4463&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4463\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_4465\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=4465&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_4465\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section data-depth=\"1\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\n<section data-depth=\"1\">\n<div data-type=\"exercise\">\n<div data-type=\"problem\">\n<ul>\n<li>How are you different today from the person you were at 6 years old? What about at 16 years old? How are you the same as the person you were at those ages?<\/li>\n<li>Your 3-year-old daughter is not yet potty trained. Based on what you know about the normative approach, should you be concerned? Why or why not?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\n<div data-type=\"glossary\">\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>cognitive development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>continuous development:\u00a0<\/strong>view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>developmental milestone:\u00a0<\/strong>approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>discontinuous development:<\/strong>view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>nature:\u00a0<\/strong>genes and biology<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>normative approach:\u00a0<\/strong>study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>nurture:\u00a0<\/strong>environment and culture<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>physical development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"definition\"><strong>psychosocial development:\u00a0<\/strong>domain of lifespan development that examines emotions, personality, and social relationships<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-249\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Modification, adaptation, and original content. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>What is Lifespan Development?. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: OpenStax College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/Sr8Ev5Og@5.52:-4PGiivG@5\/What-Is-Lifespan-Development\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/Sr8Ev5Og@5.52:-4PGiivG@5\/What-Is-Lifespan-Development<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/content\/col11629\/latest\/.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":5797,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"What is Lifespan Development?\",\"author\":\"OpenStax College\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/Sr8Ev5Og@5.52:-4PGiivG@5\/What-Is-Lifespan-Development\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/content\/col11629\/latest\/.\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Modification, adaptation, and original content\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"67bff5f2-ec94-40b2-962e-5092ffcb5319, 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