Human Development:Chapters 2 & 3

Interpreting memories through development theory

Taking a walk

• Take a walk through your old neighborhood at three different points in your life as a child: – about ages 3-4; 11-12; and as a high

school senior.

• What do you remember? Describe one particular memory from each of those times in as much detail as you can use.

Taking a walk

• Now, analyze your memories for the following categories.– People– Objects– Places– Events

• How do your memories compare with respect to how each category has been represented in your descriptions?

• Do you notice any changes as you grow older?– What are they? – Why do you think they’ve occurred?

Using human development to interpret your memories

• Try to categorize each of your memories by “type” of developmental growth and change most clearly represented (physical; cognitive; affective; personal; social; linguistic; moral).

• Next, using one of the theoretical models described in Ch. 2 (Piaget; Vygotsky; IP…or some combination of these if you want), theoretically interpret one of your memories.

• How would one of these theorists explain the contents of your memory at that particular age?

Using human development to interpret your memories• Next, using any of the theoretical points-of-

view described in Ch. 3 (effects of: parenting; culture; peers; Erikson; Marcia; Kohlberg; Gilligan … or some combination of these if you want), theoretically interpret one other memory.

• How does this theory help explain the contents of your memory at that particular age?

Human Development: Chps 2, 3, 4 & 5

• What is human development?• An Introduction to Human

Development – From: Laura E. Berk / Chapter 10:

Trends in Human Development; http://teachpsych.lemoyne.edu/teachpsych/faces/text/Ch10.htm)

What is human development?

• Introduction to Human Development (Chps. 2, 3, 4 & 5)

• [From: Laura E. Berk / Chapter 10: Trends in Human Development; http://teachpsych.lemoyne.edu/teachpsych/faces/text/Ch10.htm)

What is human development?

• During moments of reflection about our own lives and those of people we know well, virtually all of us ponder questions that are of great interest to researchers of human development.

• Perhaps you have wondered about one or more of the following questions of concerns:

What is human development?

Have you wondered about :• What determines the attributes we share with our

parents and siblings and those that make each of us unique--in physical traits, mental capacities, interests, and behaviors?

• What is the infant and young child's understanding of the world like, and how does it change over time?

What is human development?

Have you wondered about :• Why do some of us retain the temperamental

styles that characterized us as children (such as shyness, sociability, excitability, or high activity), whereas others change in essential ways?

• How do homes, schools, neighborhoods, and contemporary realities--employed mothers, day care, divorce, smaller families, and new technologies--contribute to our characteristics and skills?

What is human development?• Answer: • Human development is a field of study devoted to

– understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan.

– scientific roots date back to early 20th century observational and interview studies of children and adolescents

– Initially descriptive• charting age-related milestones, such as when a child

first walked, spoke in sentences, formed a best friendship, and reached (see Murchison, 1933)

– little attention to process--the how and why of human change

What is human development?• By the 1960s: a distinct subdivision within psychology • Sophisticated empirical work flourished, more in methodology and

focusing more directly on explanation• Grand theories held sway (behavioral, psychoanalytic, and

Piagetian cognitive development theory) (Cairns, 1983, 1998). • Each was closely tied to a specific domain, or aspect, of human

functioning. • Together, the grand theories brought tension and debate to the

field, offering powerfully opposing perspectives on the course and processes of change.

• A passive child continuously shaped by environmental inputs was pitted against an active, sense-making being undergoing a series of stagewise shifts rooted in human biology.

Some interpretations from various sources:

• General/Biological– http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=521m8ptenjgma?

method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Human+development&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc02a&linktext=Human%20development

• Child Development– http://www.answers.com/topic/child

• Medical– http://www.medicalglossary.org/

behavior_and_behavior_mechanisms_human_development_definitions.html

• Social-cultural / Political – http://hdr.undp.org/hd/default.cfm

• General / Psychological– http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Human+development

What is human development?

• Process/es of change unfolding over time

• Relatively stable sequence of change that follow general, predictable patterns (all things being “equal”)