Human Development

1
Human Development

• Study of change

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Characteristics of this area of study

• Study of change over time
• Realistic because of impermanent nature of life
• Difficult because of dynamic and impermanent
  nature of life
• Inclusive of various methods
• Cross-sectional designs
• Longitudinal designs
• Combination designs

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Goals of this area of study

• Change
• Change of multiple sub-areas (physiological,
  sensory, perception, emotion, cognition, social,
  gender, moral, emotional, meta-awareness,
  intelligence, and on, and on)
• Change among interactions of sub-areas
• Change in all of this as it occurs within culture

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Theoretical Frameworks that address CHANGE
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Psychoanalytic approaches

• Freud
• Erikson

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Cognitive-Developmental Approaches

• Jean Piaget
• Lev Vygotsky (you already know this!)
• Sandra Bem
• L. Kohlberg
• Information-Processing

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Learning approaches

• Classical conditioning (not on this exam)
• Operant conditioning (not on this exam)
• Observational learning new material
• How is information portrayed with or without
  consequences
• Characteristics of person being copied
• Cultural variations in how media is used
• Implications for gender behaviors

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Ethological frameworks

• Biology and evolution survivability and
  reproductive success
• Humans are relatively altricial at birth
• Adaptive value of human infant behaviors and
  characteristics
• Newborn human sensory and perceptual abilities
  not just a blooming, buzzing confusion
• Physical abilities reflexes
• Communicative abilities

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Ethological frameworks - continued

• Parental investment depends on how dependent
  off-spring are at birth
• Konrad Lorenz imprinting and babyness
  features
• Attachment characteristics, measures, cultural
  variations

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Ethological frameworks - continued

• Sociobiology
• Extension of evolutionary perspectives into
  adolescence and adulthood (particular focus)
• Especially focus on behaviors linked to mate
  selection, mating behaviors, reproduction

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Systems theories

• Some general characteristics
• Human behavior as a complex system works like
  other complex systems (weather, mold, ice
  crystals)
• Behavior is a function of multiple factors and
  interactions among factors
• Factors may be highly inter-related
• Changes in important factors causes changes
  throughout the system

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Systems theories - continued

• Dynamical Systems Theory
• Ecological Systems Theory
• Lev Vygotsky (again!)
• Paul Baltes lifespan theory