A Study Of Life Span Development

Identity is who we are, even though it can be hard sometimes to find out exactly what that means. That is why our identities can be so easily changed and shaped by different things. This is especially true during our adolescent years, when we are vying for acceptance from others. Sometimes we are the ones who shape who we are. This can happen when we choose to ignore outside influences who would normally affect us. Nevertheless, most of the time we are shaped by other people. Human beings have a never ending want to be socially accepted. We are all insecure in our own way, leaving us prey to the influence of others. We are able to choose how we act and what we do, but even so we end up being changed by everyone who surrounds us. Although we have the freedom to make our own conscious decisions, ultimately the people around us shape who we are by the way they treat us.

Identity is the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. Each people have their own personality, being different and unique from other people. Even though it’s different, each people have some similarity with others that connected them together as a community or a group. However, these groups is not open for all people, some people have to sacrifice their aspects of identity in order to belong to the group that they want to join.

Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my

The sensorimotor stage infants develop their schemas through sensory and motor activities. Followed by the preoperational stage where children begin to think symbolically using words, to represent concepts. Next concrete operational stage children display many important thinking skills, like ability to think logically. Finally, formal operational stage young adolescences formulate their operations by abstract and hypothetical thinking. Piaget’s theory provides ample and insightful perspectives, so it remains the central factor of contemporary

Identity is anything that can provide us with a way of answering what we are. I believe that there is a core basis of

On October 13, 2017, our Life-Span Development class had the opportunity to observe the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of Levi, a seventeen-month-old male toddler. When he came to the observation with his mother, father, and sister. With the whole family coming to the observation, we were able to observe more interactions, and learn more from the parents. The observation was conducted at Dordt College in room 1309, and the infant’s parent consented to participate in the live observation.

Throughout this course Dr. Zeng has taught and explained many theories about human developments through a life span. Such has Erikson’s stage of Identity Vs. Identity confusion which is explained by how aging adolescents face deciding who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life. Identity is aided by psychosocial moratorium, its noted that society leaves adolescents free of responsibility, and allows them to try different identities throughout a lifespan. Another theory that Dr. Zeng taught and explained to us was the Ethic Identity development theory which was proposed and composed by Jean Phinney. Which can be explained by adolescent’s self-categorization in, and psychological attachment toward, an ethic group or groups. Ethic identity development can also be described as a process of the construction of identity over time, due to a combination of experience and actions of the individual and includes gaining knowledge and understanding of in-groups, as well as a sense of belonging to an ethic group or groups. These two theories intrigued me the most when Dr. Zeng explained to us in class, because I believe they translate the most to all humans going through life. So when Dr. Zeng assigned the class to write a life span term paper, and to choose two theories there was no doubt which theories I would be picking. Dr. Zeng wanted the class to conduct survey/interview in which we would spend four to six hours outside the class, interviewing an

Lifespan development is “the field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and the stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span” (Feldman, 2014, pg 5). The biological inheritance from my parents, the environments I have walked through, and my increase awareness of spirituality have molded me into a great person. Thus, “development requires that we look at the joint efforts of the interaction of heredity and environment, and how, in the end underlie human behavior” (Feldman, 2014, pg 5). Throughout this paper important aspects of each developmental stage- prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood, and spirituality will be discussed and I will include examples of my own development ultimately showing that I have been blessed with a great life.

to separate themselves from an undifferentiated unity with their mother”. (Source 4). Identity is the sense of who each person are as individuals and as a member of the social group. It grows in response to both internal and external factors. Different type of identities developed during different environmental, circumstances, and time.

The vast world in which we live in today inhabits people with different cultures, beliefs and faith. These uniqueness acts as a foundation to form their own identity that they are proud of. Each individuals have their own perspective on their beliefs and faith, which creates the structure of their own identity throughout their life. There are an abundant amount of novels, movies and plays that clearly demonstrate the uniqueness of identity for people to be inspired of.

How often have we attended baby showers where the theme, games and presents are either bathed in pink for an expected baby girl, bathed in blue for an expected baby boy or in the off chance the mothers doesn’t know the gender of the baby the party room is decorated in yellow? This is only one example of socially acceptable gender labeling, parents participate in even before their child is born. This essay answers the “How Would You” question found on page 170 of the Essentials of Life Span development, “As a human development and family studies professional, how would you describe the ways in which parents influence their children’s notions of gender roles?”

B. F. Skinner thought of personality in terms of the effects external stimuli have on behavior. This emphasized the mutual interaction of the person or "the organism" with its environment. An example of this is something a baby learns. If a baby cries and receives attention, it teaches the baby that in order to get attention they need to cry. Princess Diana learned that external stimuli have a huge effect on her behavior.

There are several key issues in Lifespan Psychology which are centered on these following factors which are; cultural factors, continuous vs discontinuous change, critical periods vs sensitive periods, lifespan approach vs particular periods approach, nature vs nurture.

After reviewing the two articles provided and studies of my proposed topic, there was no evidence of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks in six of my studies. However, there is one theoretical framework in my quantitative study that focuses on the individual and is grounded within the context of the life-span perspective of human development theory. Contextual influences include the types of changes in resources that occur in response to the individual's needs for resources throughout a changing life-span. Life-span development involves biological considerations, cultural considerations, and individual factors working together. The life-span perspective put emphasis on the development of the course of a lifetime, and all stages of the

The life-span perspective is a modern scientific approach to the study of human development that accounts for all phases of life including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and it breaks each phase into individual stages of development (Berger,2014). This perspective suggests that development is multidirectional, metacontextual, and all stages of development are important and play a crucial role in the individuals cognitive health (Berger,2014). The stages of development are categorized as infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, adulthood, and late adulthood. For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing on the infancy stage due to the importance of cognitive development before the age of two, middle childhood due to a child’s social structure becoming a defining factor in their lives, and emerging adulthood due to the stresses that an individual must endure while maturing into a young adult.