Life-Span Human Development

Product Information

One experiment designed by Röder and colleagues (1999) compared the auditory localization skills of people who are blind with people who are sighted by having participants locate sounds presented either centrally or peripherally (lateral) to them. Each chapter focuses on a domain of development (such as physical growth, cognition, or personality) and includes information on four life Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood. Currently, brain-imaging studies have revealed that the sensory cortices in the brain are reorganized after visual deprivation. Another name you are probably familiar with who was influential in the study of human development is Sigmund Freud.

g. epigenetics--the new understanding that our genes change {flip off and on} in response to everything the individual does and experiences). All of the major structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Particularly oft-disputed is the role of early experiences on later development in opposition to current behavior reflecting present experiences–namely the passive versus active issue.

In the table below, we’ll review some of the major theories that you learned about in your introductory course and others that we will cover throughout this text. In his view, children “construct” their knowledge through processes of “assimilation,” in which they evaluate and try to understand new information, based on their existing knowledge of the world, and “accommodation,” in which they expand and modify their cognitive structures based on new experiences. Not pictured is the chronosystem, or the historical context and timeframe which provides the context for all the other systems. Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. Similarly, Elder showed that the Great Depression was a setting that significantly affected the development of adolescents and their corresponding adult personalities, by showing a similar common personality development across age groups.

The kinds of traditions and values that evolve in a particular culture serve to help members function in their own society and to value their own society. In this section, we’ll learn about development through the lifespan perspective, which emphasizes the multidimensional, interconnected, and ever-changing influences on development. The first two areas, health and education, significantly affect adolescent development because healthy children who are educated effectively will tend to develop a higher level of intelligence. Written in a clear, straightforward style, LIFE-SPAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT provides the comprehensive coverage that you need to do well in this course.

Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty; timing may vary by gender, cohort, and culture.

It describes cognitive development through four distinct stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal. Likewise, whether or not development is best viewed as occurring in stages or rather as a gradual and cumulative process of change has traditionally been up for debate – a question of continuity versus discontinuity. His interest lay in children’s knowledge, their thinking, and the qualitative differences in their thinking as it develops. In this course, we will strive to learn about each phase of human development and the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, all the while making cross-cultural and historical comparisons and connections to the world around us.Interactions with primary caregivers (and others) undergo changes influenced by possible separation anxiety and the development of attachment styles. The areas of influence that Baltes thought most important to the development of intelligence were health, education, and work.