Lifespan perspective developed by Baltes
A key concept to this class is the lifespan perspective developed by Baltes. How would you explain the seven principles of lifespan perspective to your friends and family? (Be specific, use course material. I want to see your explanation of the principles in your own words.) Which principle are you most interested in learning more about during this class? Why?
· Complete the “How Satisfied Am I With My Life” activity in Figure 4 of Chapter 1 on Page 15 (You can find a link to Chapter 1 in the Week 1 Learning Activities.) How do the reading sections “Four Types of Aging”, “Developmental Patterns of Aging”, and “Age and Happiness” explain or contradict your score?
Compare and Contrast Descriptive Research and Experimental Research. Why might one type of research be a better choice to answer a research question than the other? Have you ever been part of a psychological research study? If so, how did your experiences compare with the information in the readings?
Explain Figure 6 in Chapter 2. (Be specific. I want to see your explanation – in your own words – of the graphics.) Give an example from life for each of the graphics? Why?
Part 2
Explain Figure 2 in Chapter 4 “The Development of Self-Recognition in Infancy”. Based on your reading in Chapter 4, what aspects of socioemotional development would explain the findings in Figure 2? (Be sure to provide sufficient information for someone who has not seen Figure 2 to understand.)
Explain Figure 5 in Chapter 4 “Interaction between Children and Their Parents”. What factors did you read about this week impact each of the 6 arrows? (Be sure to provide sufficient information for someone who has not seen Figure 5 to understand.)
Choose Milestone 060 or Milestone 061video in Chapter 6. What types of play, as discussed in the section Types of Play, are presented in the video you chose? What other aspects of socioemotional development might be necessary for the child in the video to progress to a more developed type of play? (Remember that not everyone in discussion may have watched the video so be sure to provide sufficient detail.)
Choose Milestone 051 or Milestone 058 video in Chapter 5. What gross motor skills milestones has the child achieved based on the actions shown in the video. Be sure to use information from the section Gross Motor Skills in Chapter 5. (Remember that not everyone in discussion may have watched the video so be sure to provide sufficient detail.)
Sample Solution
The lifespan perspective is a central concept to this class developed by the psychologists Paul Baltes and Ursula Staudinger. This theory proposes that development can be seen as an ongoing, lifelong process in which individuals are constantly adapting to their physical and social environments (Baltes et al., 2006). The seven key principles of the lifespan perspective include:
1) Continuity – Development occurs throughout life rather than just during childhood;
2) Multi-directionality – Development can occur in both positive and negative directions over time;
3) Context Specificity – Development is influenced by a variety of contextual factors such as culture, family, etc.;
4) Plasticity – Individuals have the capacity to change and adapt over time in response to changing contexts;
5) Selectivity – Different aspects of development are differentially affected by varying environmental conditions;
6) Relativity – There is no universal standard for ‘normal’ development but instead it must be understood within its own context;
7) Accumulation – Accumulated experiences over time will influence future behaviors (Baldwin & Baldwin, 2011).
I am most interested in learning more about the principle of selectivity during this class because I believe it has important implications for our understanding of how different aspects of development can be impacted differently depending on environmental factors. For example, I wonder what kind of impact changes in home or school environment might have on cognitive versus emotional/social growth? We know that children develop at different rates due to individual differences so does this also hold true for how their environment influences them? Learning more about selectivity could help us better understand these kinds of questions.
