1
CHAPTER 1
HISTORY, THEORY, AND RESEARCH STRATEGIES
CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE
Chapter Outline Instruction Ideas Supplements
A Scientific, Applied, and Interdisciplinary
Field p. 5
Learning Objective 1.1 Test Bank Items 1–3
(Please contact your Pearson sales
representative for a wide range of video
offerings available to adopters.)
Basic Issues pp. 5–7
Continuous or Discontinuous Development? •
One Course of Development or Many? •
Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture?
Learning Objective 1.2
Learning Activity 1.1
Test Bank Items 4–12, 126
The Lifespan Perspective: A Balanced
Point of View pp. 7–12
Development Is Lifelong • Development Is
Multidimensional and Multidirectional •
Development Is Plastic • Development Is
Influenced by Multiple, Interacting Forces
Learning Objective 1.3
Lecture Enhancement 1.1
Learning Activities 1.2, 1.3
Ask Yourself p. 12
Test Bank Items 13–23
Scientific Beginnings pp. 12–14
Darwin: Forefather of Scientific Child Study •
The Normative Period • The Mental Testing
Movement
Learning Objective 1.4
Learning Activity 1.2
Test Bank Items 24–29, 127
Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories pp. 14–19
The Psychoanalytic Perspective • Behaviorism
and Social Learning Theory • Piaget’s
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Learning Objective 1.5
Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4
Ask Yourself p. 19
Test Bank Items 30–51, 128
Recent Theoretical Perspectives pp. 19–26
Information Processing • Developmental
Neuroscience • Ethology and Evolutionary
Developmental Psychology • Vygotsky’s
Sociocultural Theory • Ecological Systems
Theory
Learning Objective 1.6
Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4, 1.5
Ask Yourself p. 26
Test Bank Items 52–72, 129
Comparing and Evaluating Theories p. 26 Learning Objective 1.7
Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4
Test Bank Items 73, 75
Studying Development pp. 26–37
Common Research Methods • General
Research Designs • Designs for Studying
Development
Learning Objectives 1.8–1.10
Lecture Enhancement 1.2
Learning Activities 1.6, 1.7
Ask Yourself pp. 31, 37
Test Bank Items 74, 76–121, 130–131
Ethics in Lifespan Research pp. 37–39 Learning Objective 1.11
Ask Yourself p. 39
Test Bank Items 122–125
BRIEF CHAPTER SUMMARY
Developmental science is an interdisciplinary field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the
lifespan. All investigators who study development share a single goal: to identify those factors that influence consistencies and
transformations in people from conception to death.
Theories of human development take a stance on three basic issues: (1) Is the course of development continuous or
discontinuous? (2) Does one course of development characterize all people, or are there many possible courses? (3) What are
the roles of nature and nurture in development? The lifespan perspective assumes that development is (1) lifelong,
(2) multidimensional and multidirectional, (3) highly plastic, and (4) affected by multiple, interacting forces.

Instructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Development Through the Lifespan, 7e
2
Scientific study of human development dates back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution emphasized the adaptive value of physical characteristics and behavior. Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual
theory and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory both viewed development as discontinuous (occurring in stages), but Erikson
added three adult stages to Freud’s five stages of childhood.
In contrast to the psychoanalytic perspective, behaviorism focused on directly observable events: stimuli and responses.
Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, which emphasized modeling as a powerful source of development, remains influential.
Jean Piaget, disagreeing with the behaviorists, developed a cognitive-developmental theory, based on the idea that children
actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.
Recent theoretical perspectives include information processing, which views the human mind as a symbol-manipulating
system; developmental neuroscience, which studies the relationship between changes in the brain and cognitive and emotional
development; ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology, which are concerned with the adaptive value of behavior;
Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which focuses on how culture is transmitted through social interaction; and Urie
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which examines development in the context of a complex system of relationships.
Research in human development, like all scientific research, begins with a hypothesis. Research methods used to study
development include systematic observation; self-reports; the clinical, or case study, method, which focuses on a single
individual; and ethnography, the study of a culture or social group.
Investigators of human development can choose either a correlational research design, which cannot determine causality,
or an experimental design, which uses dependent and independent variables to determine cause and effect. Experiments may be
carried out in the field, or natural settings, or in the laboratory. To study how individuals change over time, investigators use
longitudinal, cross-sectional, and sequential designs, each of which has both strengths and limitations.
Conducting research with human subjects poses special ethical dilemmas, particularly for children and for older adults who
are ill or cognitively impaired.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following:
1.1 What is developmental science, and what factors stimulated expansion of the field? (p. 5)
1.2 Identify three basic issues on which theories of human development take a stand. (pp. 5–7)
1.3 Describe the lifespan perspective on development. (pp. 7–12)
1.4 Describe major early influences on the scientific study of development. (pp. 12–14)
1.5 What theories influenced human development research in the mid-twentieth century? (pp. 14–19)
1.6 Describe recent theoretical perspectives on human development. (pp. 19–26)
1.7 Identify the stand taken by each major theory on the three basic issues of human development. (p. 27)
1.8 Describe methods commonly used in research on human development. (pp. 28–31)
1.9 Distinguish between correlational and experimental research designs, noting the strengths and limitations of each.
(pp. 31–34)
1.10 Describe designs for studying development, noting the strengths and limitations of each. (pp. 35–37)
1.11 What special ethical concerns arise in research on human development? (pp. 37–39)

Loading page 4...

Loading page 5...

Loading page 6...

Loading page 7...

Loading page 8...

Loading page 9...

Loading page 10...

Loading page 11...

Loading page 12...

Loading page 13...

Loading page 14...

Loading page 15...

Loading page 16...

Loading page 17...

Loading page 18...

Loading page 19...

Loading page 20...

Loading page 21...

Loading page 22...

Loading page 23...

Loading page 24...

Loading page 25...

Loading page 26...

Loading page 27...

Loading page 28...

Loading page 29...

Loading page 30...

Loading page 31...

Development Through the Lifespan, 7th Edition Class Notes

Study Now!

Document Details

Related Documents

Test Bank For Death and Dying, Life and Living , 8th Edition

Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, 3rd Edition Test Bank

Test Bank For Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages in Development, 6th Edition

Test Bank For Developing Helping Skills: A Step-by-Step Approach to Competency, 3rd Edition

Test Bank For Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement, 7th Edition

Test Bank For The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View 4th Edition Test Bank

Psychology Applied To Modern Life: Adjustment In The 21st Century , 11th Edition Test Bank

Test Bank for Behavior Modification: What It Is and How To Do It, 11th Edition (Chapters 1-30)

Test Bank For Psychology and Work Today, 10th Edition

Test Bank For A Guide to Crisis Intervention, 6th Edition