Class Notes for Development Across the Life Span, 8th Edition

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Instructor’s Manual
Alan Swinkels
St. Edward's University
DEVELOPMENT
ACROSS THE
LIFE SPAN
Eighth Edition
Robert S. Feldman
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

2
CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE
Chapter Outline Instructor’s Resources Professor Notes
An Orientation to Lifespan
Development
Characterizing Lifespan
Development
The Scope of the Field of
Lifespan Development
Influences on Lifespan
Development
Key Issues and Questions:
Determining the Nature—and
Nurture—of Lifespan
Development
Learning Objectives 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
1.4
Lecture Launcher 1.1
Student Activity 1.1
MyDevelopmentLab Video:
Evolutionary Psychology
Theoretical Perspectives on
Lifespan Development
The Psychodynamic Perspective:
Focusing on the Inner Person
The Behavioral Perspective:
Focusing on Observable Behavior
The Cognitive Perspective:
Examining the Roots of
Understanding
The Humanistic Perspective:
Concentrating on the Unique
Qualities of Human Beings
The Contextual Perspective:
Taking a Broad Approach to
Development
Evolutionary Perspectives: Our
Ancestors’ Contributions to
Behavior
Why “Which Approach Is
Right?” Is the Wrong Question
Learning Objectives 1.5, 1.6, 1.7,
1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11
Lecture Launchers 1.2, 1.3, 1.4,
1.5
Student Activities 1.7, 1.8
Research Methods
Theories and Hypotheses: Posing
Developmental Questions
Choosing a Research Strategy:
Answering Questions
Correlational Studies
Experiments: Determining Cause
and Effect
Theoretical and Applied
Research: Complementary
Approaches
Measuring Developmental
Change
Ethics and Research
Learning Objectives 1.12, 1.13,
1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18
Student Activities 1.2, 1.3, 1.4,
1.5, 1.6
MyDevelopmentLab Video:
Research Methods
MyDevelopmentLab Video:
Ethics and Psychological
Research
< Return to Contents

3
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO 1.1: Define the field of lifespan development and describe what it encompasses.
LO 1.2: Describe the areas that lifespan development specialists cover.
LO 1.3: Describe some of the basic influences on human development.
LO 1.4: Summarize four key issues in the field of lifespan development.
LO 1.5: Describe how the psychodynamic perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.6: Describe how the behavioral perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.7: Describe how the cognitive perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.8: Describe how the humanistic perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.9: Describe how the contextual perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.10: Describe how the evolutionary perspective explains lifespan development.
LO 1.11: Discuss the value of applying multiple perspectives to lifespan development.
LO 1.12: Describe the role that theories and hypotheses play in the study of development.
LO 1.13: Compare the two major categories of lifespan development research.
LO 1.14: Identify different types of correlational studies and their relationship to cause and effect.
LO 1.15: Explain the main features of an experiment.
LO 1.16: Distinguish between theoretical research and applied research.
LO 1.17: Compare longitudinal research, cross-sectional research, and sequential research.
LO 1.18: Describe some ethical issues that affect psychological research.
< Return to Contents

4
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Prologue: New Conceptions
A. Louise Brown, the first “test tube baby,” was born by IVF 28 years ago.
B. Lifespan development research interests related to Louise Brown’s story:
1. Lifespan development researchers who investigate behavior at the level of biological processes
might determine if Louise’s functioning prior to birth was affected by her conception outside the
womb.
2. Specialists in lifespan development who study genetics might examine how the genetic
endowment from Louise’s parents affects her later behavior.
3. For lifespan development specialists who investigate the ways thinking changes over the course
of life, Louise’s life might be examined in terms of how her understanding of the nature of her
conception changed as she grew older.
4. Researchers in lifespan development who focus on physical growth might consider whether her
growth rate differed from children conceived more traditionally.
5. Lifespan development experts who specialize in the social world and social relationships might
look at the ways that Louise interacted with others and the kinds of friendships she developed.
II. An Orientation to Lifespan Development
Learning Objectives 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4
Lecture Launcher 1.1
Student Activity 1.1
MyDevelopmentLab Video: Evolutionary Psychology
A. LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT is the field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and
stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire lifespan.
1. Developmental psychologists test their assumptions about the nature and course of human
development by applying scientific methods.
2. Lifespan development focuses on human development.
a) Universal principles of development
b) Cultural, racial, ethnic differences
c) Individual traits and characteristics
3. Lifespan developmentalists view development as a lifelong, continuing process.
4. Lifespan developmentalists focus on change and growth in addition to stability, consistency, and
continuity in people’s lives.
5. Lifespan developmentalists are interested in people’s lives from the moment of conception until
death.
B. The Scope of the Field
1. Topical Areas
a) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT involves the body’s physical makeup, including the brain,
nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep as a
determinant of behavior.
b) COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT involves the ways that growth and change in learning,
memory, problem solving, and intelligence influence a person’s behavior.
c) PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT involves the ways that the enduring characteristics
that differentiate one person from another change over the lifespan.
d) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is the way in which individuals’ interactions with others and
their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life.
2. Age Ranges and Individual Differences
a) The lifespan is usually divided into broad age ranges.
(1) Prenatal period (conception to birth)

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(2) Infancy and toddlerhood (birth to age 3)
(3) Preschool period (ages 3 to 6)
(4) Middle childhood (ages 6 to 12)
(5) Adolescence (ages 12 to 20)
(6) Young adulthood (ages 20 to 40)
(7) Middle adulthood (ages 40 to 60)
(8) Late adulthood (age 60 to death)
b) It is important to remember that people mature at different rates and reach developmental
milestones at different points.
(1) These broad periods of development are social constructions. A social construction is a
shared notion of reality, one that is widely accepted but is a function of society and
culture at a given time.
c) Environmental factors, such as one’s culture, can play a significant role in determining the
age at which a particular event is likely to occur.
d) In addition, age ranges are averages and some people will show substantial deviation.
C. Influences on Development
1. One’s COHORT is the group of people born around the same time and same place.
2. HISTORY-GRADED INFLUENCES are the biological and environmental influences
associated with a particular historical moment.
3. AGE-GRADED INFLUENCES are biological and environmental influences that are similar
for individuals in a particular age group, regardless of when or where they are raised.
4. SOCIOCULTURAL-GRADED INFLUENCES include the impact of social and cultural
factors present at a particular time for a particular individual, depending on such variables as
ethnicity, social class, and subcultural membership.
5. NON-NORMATIVE LIFE EVENTS are specific, atypical events that occur in a particular
person’s life at a time when they do not happen to most people.
6. Developmental Diversity and Your Life: How Culture, Ethnicity, and Race Influence
Development
a) Developmentalists must take into consideration broad cultural factors and ethnic, racial,
socioeconomic, and gender differences if they are to achieve an understanding of how people
change and grow throughout the lifespan.
b) Progress concerning issues of human diversity has been slow in the field of lifespan
development.
c) Members of the research community have sometimes used terms such as race and ethnic
group in inappropriate ways.
(1) Race is a biological concept referring to classifications based on physical and structural
characteristics.
(2) Ethnic group and ethnicity are broader terms, referring to cultural background,
nationality, religion, and language.
d) There is little agreement about which names best reflect different races and ethnic groups
(i.e., African American or black).
e) Race is not independent of environmental and cultural contexts.
D. Key Issues and Questions: Determining the Nature—and Nurture—of Lifespan Development
1. Continuous Change versus Discontinuous Change
a) CONTINUOUS CHANGE involves gradual development in which achievements at one
level build on those of previous levels.
b) DISCONTINUOUS CHANGE is development that occurs in distinct steps or stages, with
each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from
behavior at earlier stages.
2. Critical and Sensitive Periods: Gauging the Impact of Environmental Events

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a) A CRITICAL PERIOD is a specific time during development when a particular event has
its greatest consequences.
b) Because individuals are now considered more malleable than was first thought,
developmentalists are more likely to speak of SENSITIVE PERIODS as a point in
development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their
environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible
consequences.
3. Lifespan Approaches versus a Focus on Particular Periods
a) Early developmentalists focused on “infancy” and “adolescence.”
b) Today, the entire lifespan is seen as important for several reasons.
(1) Growth and change continue throughout life.
(2) An important part of every person’s environment is the other people around him or her,
the person’s social environment.
4. The Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture on Development
a) Nature refers to traits, abilities, and capacities that are inherited from one’s parents.
(1) It encompasses MATURATION, any factor that is produced by the predetermined
unfolding of genetic information.
b) Nurture refers to the environmental influences that shape behavior.
5. The Later Action of Nature and Nurture
a) Developmental psychologists reject the notion that behavior is the result solely of either
nature or nurture.
b) It is useful to think of the nature-nurture controversy as opposite ends of a continuum, with
particular behaviors falling somewhere between the two ends.
III. Theoretical Perspectives on Lifespan Development
Learning Objectives 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11
Lecture Launchers 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Student Activities 1.7, 1.8
A. THEORIES are explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest, providing a
framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of facts or principles.
B. The PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE is the approach that states behavior is motivated by
inner forces, memories, and conflicts of which a person has little awareness or control.
1. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
a) PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY suggests that unconscious forces act to determine
personality and behavior.
b) According to Freud (1856–1939):
(1) The unconscious is a part of the personality about which a person is unaware and is
responsible for much of our everyday behavior.
(2) One’s personality has three aspects:
(a) ID: the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality present at birth that represents
primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses.

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(ii) Learned from parents, teachers, and other significant figures.
(3) Freud suggested that PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT is a series of stages that
children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification, is focused on a particular
biological function and body part.
(a) Oral (birth to 12–18 months)
(b) Anal (12–18 months to 3 years)
(c) Phallic (3 to 5–6 years)
(d) Latency (5–6 years to adolescence)
(e) Genital (adolescence to adulthood)
(4) If children are unable to gratify themselves sufficiently or receive too much gratification,
a FIXATION, behavior reflecting an earlier stage of development, may occur.
2. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
a) PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is the approach that encompasses changes in our
understanding of individuals, their interactions with others, and their standing as members
of society.
b) Erikson (1902–1994) suggested that developmental change occurs throughout our lives in
eight distinct stages.
(1) Trust vs. mistrust (birth to 12–18 months)
(2) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (12–18 months to 3 years)
(3) Initiative vs. guilt (3 to 5–6 years)
(4) Industry vs. inferiority (5–6 years to adolescence)
(5) Identity vs. role diffusion (adolescence to adulthood)
(6) Intimacy vs. isolation (early adulthood)
(7) Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood)
(8) Ego integrity vs. despair (late adulthood)
c) Each stage emerges in a fixed pattern and is similar for all people.
d) Each stage presents a crisis or conflict that each individual must address sufficiently at a
particular age.
e) No crisis is ever fully resolved, which makes life increasingly complicated.
f) Unlike Freud, Erikson believed that development continued throughout the lifespan.
3. Assessing the Psychodynamic Perspective
a) Contemporary psychological research supports the idea that unconscious memories have an
influence on our behavior.
b)

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particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response.
a) John B. Watson (1878–1958) argued that by effectively controlling a person’s environment,
it was possible to produce virtually any behavior.
5. OPERANT CONDITIONING is a form of learning in which a voluntary response is
strengthened or weakened, depending on its association with positive or negative consequences.
a) B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) claimed that people operate on their environments to bring about
a desired state of affairs.
b) Reinforcement is the process by which a stimulus is provided that increases the probability
that a preceding behavior will be repeated.
c) Punishment is the introduction of an unpleasant or painful stimulus or the removal of a
desirable stimulus; it will decrease the probability that a behavior will occur in the future.
d) When behavior receives no reinforcement, it is likely to be discontinued or extinguished.
e) Principles of operant conditioning are used in BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, a formal
technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence
of unwanted ones.
6. Albert Bandura suggests that a certain amount of learning occurs in the form of SOCIAL-
COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY, which is learning by observing the behavior of another
person, called a model.
a) Observer must pay attention to model’s behavior.
b) Observer must successfully recall the behavior.
c) Behavior must be reproduced accurately.
d) Observer must be motivated to learn and carry out behavior.
7. Assessing the Behavioral Perspective
a) According to classical and operant conditioning, people and organisms are black boxes in
which nothing that occurs inside is understood or even cared about.
b) Social-cognitive learning theory argues that what makes people different from rats and
pigeons is mental activity, which must be taken into account.
c) Social-cognitive learning theory has come to predominate over classical and operant
conditioning.
D. The COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand,
and think about the world.
1. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
a) Jean Piaget (1896–1980) proposed that all people pass in a fixed sequence through a series of
universal stages of cognitive development.
b) In each stage, the quantity of information increases; the quality of knowledge and
understanding changes as well.
c) Piaget suggested that human thinking is arranged into schemes, organized mental patterns
that represent behaviors and actions.
d) Piaget suggested that the growth of children’s understanding of the world can be explained
by two principles:
(1) ASSIMILATION is the process in which people understand an experience in terms of
their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking.
(2) ACCOMMODATION is the process that changes existing ways of thinking in response
to encounters with new stimuli or events.
e) Assessing Piaget’s Theory

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f) Some developmentalists believe cognitive thought does not develop discontinuously, but
slowly, steadily, and continuously.
2. INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACHES provide the model that seeks to identify the
ways individuals take in, use, and store information.
a) The theory grew out of the computer age.
b) Theorists assume that even complex behaviors such as learning, remembering, categorizing,
and thinking can be broken down into a series of individual steps.
c) They assume cognitive growth is more quantitative than qualitative.
d) They suggest that as people age, they are better able to control their mental processing and
change the strategies they choose to process information.
e) Assessing Information Processing Approaches:
(1) Pay little attention to behavior such as creativity.
(2) Do not take into account the social context in which development takes place.
3. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE APPROACHES look at cognitive development through the
lens of brain processes.
a) Cognitive neuroscientists seek to identify actual locations and functions within the brain that
are related to different types of cognitive activity; for example, by using brain scans.
b) This innovative research has identified specific genes associated with some physical and
psychological disorders.
c) Brains of children diagnosed with the disorder autism show explosive, dramatic growth in
the first year of life.
d) Assessing the Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
(1) Definitely a new frontier
(2) Results of investigations are often more descriptive than explanatory
E. The HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE contends that people have a natural capacity to make
decisions about their lives and control their behavior.
1. According to this approach, each individual has the ability and motivation to reach more
advanced levels of maturity, and people naturally seek to reach their full potential.
2. This perspective emphasizes free will, the ability of humans to make choices and come to
decisions about their lives.
3. Carl Rogers suggests that all people have a need for positive regard that results from an
underlying wish to be loved and respected.
4. Abraham Maslow suggests that self-actualization, a state of self-fulfillment in which people
achieve their highest potential in their own unique way, is a primary goal in life.
5. Assessing the Humanistic Perspective
a) The humanistic perspective has not had a major impact on the field of lifespan development.
b) It has not identified any sort of broad developmental change that is the result of age or
experience.
c) Some criticize the theory’s assumption that people are basically good, which is unverifiable.
F. The Contextual Perspective: Taking a Broad Approach to Development
1. The BIOECOLOGICAL APPROACH (Bronfenbrenner) is the perspective suggesting that
different levels of environment simultaneously influence individuals.
a) The microsystem is the everyday, immediate environment such as homes, caregivers, friends,
and teachers.
b) The mesosystem connects various aspects of the microsystem, linking children to parents,
students to teachers, employees to bosses, and friends to friends.
c) The exosystem represents such broad influences as local government, the community,
schools, places of worship, and the local media.

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e) The chronosystem involves the way the passage of time, including historical events, affects
children’s development.
2. There are several advantages to taking a bioecological approach to development.
a) It emphasizes the interconnectedness of the influences on development.
b) It illustrates that influences are multidirectional.
c) It stresses the importance of broad cultural factors that affect development.
(1) The dominant Western philosophy is individualism, emphasizing personal identity,
uniqueness, freedom, and the worth of the individual.
(2) Collectivism is the notion that the well-being of the group is more important than that of
the individual.
3. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
a) Vygotsky (1896–1934), a Russian child developmentalist, developed SOCIOCULTURAL
THEORY, an approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of
social interactions between members of a culture.
b) Vygotsky argued that children’s understanding of the world is acquired through their
problem-solving interactions with adults and other children.
c) He also argued that to understand the course of development, we must consider what is
meaningful to members of a given culture.
d) Sociocultural theory emphasizes that development is the result of recurring reciprocal
transactions between people in the child’s environment and the child.
e) Assessing Vygotsky’s Theory:
(1) Some suggest the strong emphasis on culture and social experience ignores biological
factors.
(2) Vygostky minimizes the role individuals can play in shaping their own environment.
G. Evolutionary Perspectives: Our Ancestors’ Contributions to Behavior
1. EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES seek to identify behavior in today’s humans that is the
result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors.
a) Evolutionary perspectives grew out of the work of Charles Darwin, who argued in The
Origin of Species that a process of natural selection creates traits in a species that are
adaptive to their environment.
b) The evolutionary perspectives argue that our genetic inheritance determines not only such
physical traits as skin and eye color, but also certain personality traits and social behaviors.
c) The evolutionary perspective draws on the field of ethology (Konrad Lorenz, 1903–1989),
which examines the ways in which our biological makeup influences our behavior.
d) The evolutionary perspective encompasses one of the fastest growing areas within the field
of lifespan development: behavioral genetics, which studies the effects of heredity on
behavior.
2. Assessing the Evolutionary Perspectives
a) Some developmentalists criticize the evolutionary perspective for paying insufficient
attention to the environment and social factors.
b) Others argue that there is no good experimental way to support theories derived from
evolution.
H. Why “Which Approach Is Right?” Is the Wrong Question
1. Each emphasizes different aspects of development.

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Learning Objectives 1.12, 1.13, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18
Student Activities 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6
MyDevelopmentLab Video: Research Methods
MyDevelopmentLab Video: Ethics and Psychological Research
A. Theories and Hypotheses: Posing Developmental Questions
1. The SCIENTIFIC METHOD is the process of posing and answering questions using careful,
controlled techniques that include systematic, orderly observation and the collection of data.
a) The scientific method involves the formulation of theories, broad explanations, and
predictions about phenomena.
b) Theories are used to develop HYPOTHESES, predictions stated in a way that permit
testing.
B. Choosing a Research Strategy: Answering Questions
1. CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH seeks to identify whether an association or relationship
between two factors exists.
a) The strength and direction of a relationship between two factors is represented by a
mathematical score, called a correlational coefficient, which ranges from +1.0 (positive) to
–1.0 (negative).
(1) A positive correlation indicates that as the value of one factor increases, it can be
predicted that the value of the other will also increase.
(2) A negative correlation informs us that as the value of one factor increases, the value of
the other factor declines.
b) Finding that two variables are correlated with one another proves nothing about causality.
2. Types of Correlational Studies
a) NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION is the observation of a naturally occurring behavior
without intervention in the situation.
(1) This research has the advantage of seeing people [children] in their natural habitats.
(2) Critiques
(a) Researchers cannot control factors of interest and may be unable to see enough
behavior to draw any conclusions.
(b) Children may know they are being watched and modify their behavior.
(3) Ethnography is a method borrowed from the field of anthropology and used to
investigate cultural questions.
(a) Researchers act as participant observers, living for a period of weeks, months, or
even years in another culture or environment.
(b) Ethnography has the same drawbacks as other naturalistic observation, in addition to
the problems of generalizing from one culture to another or misinterpreting what is
observed.
(4) In qualitative research, researchers select particular settings and seek to describe, in
narrative fashion, what is occurring, and why.
b) CASE STUDIES involve extensive, in-depth interviews with a particular individual or a
small group of individuals.
(1) Case studies are designed to derive broader principles or draw tentative conclusions that
might apply to others.
(2) Diaries may be used in that participants are asked to record specific behaviors.
c) SURVEY RESEARCH, where people are chosen to represent some larger population and
are asked questions about their attitudes, behavior, or thinking on a given topic.
d) PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL METHODS focus on the relationship

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2. These are called TREATMENTS, procedures applied by an investigator based on two different
experiences devised for participants.
3. The group receiving the treatment is known as the TREATMENT GROUP or
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP.
4. The CONTROL GROUP is the group that receives either no treatment or alternative treatment.
5. The formation of treatment and control groups represents the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE,
the variable that researchers manipulate in an experiment.
6. In contrast, the DEPENDENT VARIABLE is the variable that researchers measure in an
experiment and expect to change as a result of the experimental manipulation.
7. A critical step in the design of an experiment is to assign participants to different treatment
groups on the basis of chance alone, called random assignment, allowing the researcher, through
laws of statistics, to draw conclusions with confidence.
8. Choosing a Research Setting
a) First, researchers choose a SAMPLE, a group of participants chosen for the experiment.
b) FIELD STUDY is a research investigation carried out in a naturally occurring setting.
c) LABORATORY STUDY is a research investigation conducted in a controlled setting
explicitly designed to hold events constant.
D. Theoretical and Applied Research
1. THEORETICAL RESEARCH is research designed specifically to test some developmental
explanation and expand scientific knowledge.
2. APPLIED RESEARCH is research meant to provide practical solutions to immediate
problems.
E. Measuring Developmental Change
1. In LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH, the behavior of one or more individuals is measured as the
subjects age.
a) They require a tremendous investment of time.
b) There is the possibility of participant attrition, or loss.
c) Participants may become “test-wise.”
2. From Research to Practice: Developmental Research to Improve Public Policy
a) Research on the benefits of foster care encouraged legislation, extending eligibility for foster
care to older children (Peters et al., 2008).
3. In CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH, people of different ages are compared at the same
point in time.
a) Differences may be due to cohort effects.
b) Selective dropout, where participants in some age groups are more likely to quit participating
in the study than others.
c) Changes in individuals or groups are unable to be explained.
4. In CROSS-SEQUENTIAL STUDIES,

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS
Lecture Launcher 1.1: Activities for the First Day of Class
Humanity: Individually and Collectively
Present the following quotation to your students (on a PowerPoint slide, handout, or simply written on the
blackboard):
Every person is like every other person.
Every person is like some other person.
Every person is like no other person.
(Adapted from Kluckhohn & Murray, 1948, p. 35)
Read the quotation and ask students to write three examples of each statement in their notebooks. Ask
students to volunteer their answers. Explain to the class that during the semester you will be discussing how
developmental psychologists attempt to discover:
1. Universal human qualities over the course of the lifespan (the first statement);
2. How membership in social groups (gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, age, etc.) affects human
development (the second statement); and
3. That researchers cannot know the answer to the third statement because all humans are individuals with
unique qualities. Psychologists call this human variation.
I Once Was Blind…
Table 1-4 in the textbook offers a fine summary of the major perspectives on lifespan development. Share that
table with your students (through Revel, MyPsychLab, or simply on a projection screen) as you distribute
Handout 1-1, which reprints Saxe’s The Blind Men and the Elephant.
This poem is a good introduction to why there are so many theoretical perspectives in developmental
psychology. As Feldman states in the text, “…each perspective emphasizes somewhat different aspects of
development…the same developmental phenomenon can be looked at from a number of perspectives
simultaneously. In fact, some lifespan developmentalists use an eclectic approach, drawing on several
perspectives simultaneously.”
Although the textbook briefly introduces the major theories of development (Psychodynamic, Behavioral,
Cognitive, Humanistic, and Evolutionary) in Chapter 1, later chapters to go into greater depth on each. You
may want to introduce these theories in depth in the beginning of the semester. Some students may be
confused by the various theories and an early, in-depth introduction provides more opportunities for your
students to understand the similarities and differences among the theories.
Lecture Launcher 1.2: Biographies of the Theorists
Students often find theories more meaningful and understandable when they understand how each theorist’s
life influenced the development of theory. You may want to supplement your introduction to the various
theories by relating germane points from each theorist’s life. Some useful readings are referenced below and
in greater detail in the Supplemental Reading section later in this chapter.

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when she is three, and whose father single-handedly raises her to adolescence? (c) a girl raised
from birth by two lesbian parents? What if the cognitive-developmental perspective is correct?
What would you then expect...?” (p. 51).
Bond, L. A. (1988). Teaching developmental psychology. In Bronstein, P. & Quina, K. (Eds.), Teaching a psychology of people:
Resources for gender and sociocultural awareness. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Student Activity 1.5: How to Think Like a Psychologist
Donald McBurney has examined some fundamental principles, vocabulary, and common misconceptions
about psychology. Here are a few critical thinking exercises adapted from his book that relate to Chapter 1.
1. Name several theories of science (or, in particular, developmental psychology) that are “facts” in the
everyday sense because they are universally accepted as true.
2. How might considering child development as a puzzle to figure out, rather than a mystery to wonder
about, lead one to take a different approach to working with children?
3. How would defining violent incidents operationally help one to study the amount of violence on different
TV programs? How would that reduce the subjectivity involved in comparing different programs?
4. If you asked one of your grandparents how child-rearing practices have changed in her or his lifetime,
how might she or he explain the changes? What do you think your grandparents would think of them?
5. How does psychology relate to other sciences, such as biology, chemistry, and physics?
McBurney, D. H. (2001). How to think like a psychologist: Critical thinking in psychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
Student Activity 1.6: Reading Professional Journals
The following assignment (see Handouts 1-4 and 1-5) is designed to acquaint students with research
published in the field of developmental psychology. This assignment also familiarizes students with the
scientific method and the tone of professional writing. Students can learn to use computer databases to select
topics of interest and find various journals.
It’s even better to have a selection of journals on hand for the students to browse through. This is a good
opportunity to have students check out the methods section and determine whether experimental research or
correlational research was used. An alternative way of using this assignment is to have students find two
research reports on the same topic and compare how each study was conducted. Which study was their
favorite? Why?
Finally, you might want to incorporate Handouts 1-6 and 1-7 into this exercise. These handouts ask students
to think critically about research methods, and they can be applied to this or other activities relevant to this
chapter.
Student Activity 1.7: Reflective Journals
Keeping a journal throughout the course is a good way for students to integrate material learned in class with
their own lives. Determine ahead of time how often students will hand in their journals for comment (handing
in journals on quiz dates makes it easy to remember). Keep in mind that if students are graded on their

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reflections, they will make a greater effort to give you better quality work. Realize also that it may take a few
weeks for students to feel comfortable sharing their lives with you. Stress that any journal material is strictly
confidential and will only be read by the instructor. Note: You might want to assign a particular type of
notebook or binder so that you can carry all the journals on the day students turn them in. Use Handout 1-6 to
guide the first reflective journal assignment.
Student Activity 1.8: Magazine Articles and Cartoons
Ann Ewing assigns what she calls a “Psychology in the Real World” assignment. Students bring in articles or
cartoons pertaining to themes and issues in human development and write a short essay on how their article or
cartoon illustrates some principle in developmental psychology. You might consider incorporating these into
students’ journals (see below) and assign extra credit for the effort.
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SUPPLEMENTAL READING
American Psychological Association. (2013). Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC. (Internet Access: American Psychological Association Style)
Students should become familiar with the “bible” of psychological writing. Bring a copy to class. You might
want to pass out copies of Chapter 1 when you introduce the scientific method. You can explain to them that
all professional psychological journals follow this particular format. You also might like to refer to Appendix
C: Ethical Standards for the Reporting and Publishing of Scientific Information on pages 387–396.
American Psychological Association. (1992). American Psychologist, 47 (11), 1261.
This special issue is dedicated to the contribution made by B. F. Skinner to psychology. In particular, you
might like to read articles by Schlinger (pp. 1396–1410) and Gewirtz & Pelaez-Nogueras (pp. 1411–1422) on
Skinner’s views on developmental psychology.
Blake, T. (1995). How does psychological development occur? Enduring issues in psychology. San Diego,
CA: Greenhaven Press.
This book is one in a series called Opposing Viewpoints. This particular reference (Chapter 3) reprints short
excerpts from the writings of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Kohlberg, and Bandura. It’s a good resource for students
and could be the basis of a panel or a group discussion.
Flavell, J. H. (1965). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand.
This definitive work is not easy reading; however, Chapter 1 introduces Piaget’s theory in an easier style than
the rest of the book, and Part III presents a good critique of the theory.
Halpern D. F., & Riggio, H. R. (2013). Thinking critically about critical thinking (4th ed.). New York:
Taylor and Francis.
The authors present principles of critical thinking and an array of case studies for application. Although the
book is geared toward an introductory psychology course, several sections apply to developmental
psychology.
Olson, M. H., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2011). An introduction to theories of personality (8th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Good chapters on Freud, Erikson, Skinner, and Bandura.
Kagan, J. (1989). Unstable ideas: Temperament, cognition, and self. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Chapter 2 is a good essay on how societal trends affect how psychology researchers study human
development.
Kluckhohn, C. & Murray, H. A. (1948). Personality: In nature, society, and culture. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf.

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Levinson, D. L. (1996). The seasons of a woman’s life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Chapter 2 provides a nice overview of the history and current thinking on the entire lifespan and human
development.
Miller, P. H. (2009). Theories of developmental psychology (5th ed.). New York: Worth.
Miller’s book is an excellent and clearly written overview of the major theories in development. The strength
of her book is its organization and comparison of theories. Her introductory chapter is a good guide for first
lectures.
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MULTIMEDIA IDEAS
MyDevelopmentLab Video Series + Discussion Questions
The MyDevelopmentLab Video Series engages students and brings to life a wide range of topics spanning
prenatal development through the end of the lifespan. New international videos shot on location allow
students to observe similarities and differences in human development across various cultures.
Video: Evolutionary Psychology
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the main principles of the evolutionary perspective on psychology.
2. How does an evolutionary viewpoint help us to understand human development over the lifespan?
3. How do evolutionary principles such as mate selection or reproductive advantage inform our
understanding of daily human behavior?
Video: Scientific Research Methods
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the necessity of both an experimental and a control group for reaching conclusions from research
findings.
2. Distinguish between independent and dependent variables.
3. Using the example of trustworthiness discussed in the video, identify the key components of a research
design that need to be present.
Video: Ethics and Psychological Research
Discussion Questions
1. Summarize the basic ethical guidelines that all researchers must follow before conducting research with
human or animal subjects.
2. Give 2 or 3 examples of psychological research questions that would be interesting (and perhaps even
crucial) to answer, but that could not be ethically investigated using experimentation.
3. Imagine that you are a participant in a research study. What “mental checklist” would you follow to make
sure you were being treated in accordance with ethical guidelines?
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Handout 1-1
The Blind Men and the Elephant
By John Godfrey Saxe
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the elephant,
And, happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the elephant
Is nothing but a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ‘tis mighty clear
This wonder of an elephant
Is very like a spear!”
The Third approached the animal,
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain”, quoth he;
“‘Tis clear enough the elephant
Is very like a tree.”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an elephant
Not one of them has seen!

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Handout 1-3
Design a Research Study
Working with your group members, design a study related to human development. In doing so,
address the following issues:
1. What is your research problem or question?
2. Are you seeking to establish cause and effect (an experimental design) or looking for a
relationship between variables (a correlational design)?
3. What are your variables? Is there a need to identify one as the independent variable and one as
the dependent variable? If so, what are they? How are the variables operationally defined?
4. What is your hypothesis?
5. What major developmental design are you using? Note whether you are incorporating
longitudinal, cross-sectional, cross-sequential, or cross-cultural methods.
6. Who are the members of your population? How did you draw your sample? Will you have an
experimental and control group? If so, how are participants assigned to each group?
7. What data gathering strategies and/or “treatment” will you use?
8. Describe, diagram, or explain your research procedure.
9. What do you think your results will be?
10. How did you minimize bias in your study?

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Handout 1-8
Journal Exercise #1
Think of yourself at a particular time in your childhood (e.g., age 10). Using the model from Urie
Bronfenbrenner, reflect in your journal about the following:
microsystem
Describe:
your family.
your school and teacher.
your peer group.
the media–favorite TV shows, books, movies.
your surrounding community.
mesosystem
Describe:
how your parents interacted with your peers.
how your parents interacted with your school.
whether your parents helped with schoolwork.
how your community supported your school or activities (e.g., sports).
exosystem
Describe:
your parents’ jobs.
vacations you took.
whether there was a divorce in your family.
macrosystem
Describe:
your ethnic heritage.
your religious affiliations.
whether you lived in an urban (city) or rural (country) setting.
your social class (poor, working class, middle class, wealthy).
what was going on in the world at the time (e.g., Gulf war, who was president, etc.).
chronosystem
Describe:
how you were impacted by an historical event (such as the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001) or more gradual historical changes (the change in the number
of women who work outside of the home).

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