Chapter 6: Lifespan Development

Introduction

Under normal circumstances, we basically follow the same developmental path across years. We produce our first words around 12 months of age, we increasingly explore the environment around 2 years of age, we start to acquire abstract thinking around the beginning of puberty, we have an increased need for affiliation with social agents around adulthood, and if we are lucky to live enough, we experience the physical, cognitive and emotional changes of aging in the final phase. This broader perspective might be called “developmental perspective’’ throughout the lifespan.

Perspectives on Lifespan Development

Paul Baltes described development from a lifespan perspective as “lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and as a process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss’’. According to this view, human development is based on the interaction between biological, socio-cultural and individual factors together, and it includes different components throughout lifespan.

• Lifelong component: According to this view, human development does not end with the beginning of adulthood, but it continues throughout years.
• Multidimensional component: Human development is multidimensional; that is, it includes many different aspects which can influence one another. Thinking patterns, emotional states, perception on relationships, etc., might change with age, and any change in one area might affect another change in another area.
• Multidirectional component: During the development, an increase in one dimension or component might be associated with a decrease in another dimension
• Multidisciplinary component: Human development is a very unique and special area of science in which various types of disciplines can work together.
• Plastic component: Plasticity, one of the main aspects in developmental studies, is described as the ability to change, to be shaped, and to be developed.
• Contextual component: Examining human development without a certain context would be the same thing as examining fish without water. Human development comes into existence within a certain context: family, school, work, social groups, political groups, neighborhood, ethnic groups, countries, etc., and each context is affected by different economic, socio-cultural and historical factors.
• Growth, maintenance , and regulation of loss: According to Baltes and his associates; the lifespan development of a human being usually consists of conflicts and competition between growth, maintenance and regulation of loss. During the transition from early adulthood to middle and late adulthood, individuals put more emphasis on the maintenance and regulation of loss.
• Biological, culture, and individual factors: These three factors construct the human development together in an interactive way. Similarly, early life experiences might change our genes, and in turn, affect the individual factors in the long run.

Developmental Processes and Periods

In order to understand the development of human beings, a comprehensive framework regarding the developmental processes and periods is needed. Human development results from biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes, and the interaction among these three processes:

• Biological Processes: Biological processes arise from physiological structures and they influence the change of human beings in terms of their biological nature.
• Cognitive Processes: Cognitive processes arise from the mental state of an individual, such as thought, memory, attention, language acquisition, etc., Whatever an individual does during mental processing can affect the change in cognitive processes, and, in turn, human development.
• Socio-emotional Processes: Socioemotional processes arise from the interactions in the social world of an individual (such as romantic relationships, friends, social groups) and emotional and personal state of an individual.

Developmental periods result from these above mentioned processes and the interaction among these three. A developmental period has been described as a time zone with a certain beginning and end depending on certain age-groups. The most common frame for developmental periods for human beings consists of eight time-periods, and each period is affected by biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes.

The prenatal period refers to the process in the womb, which approximately takes 37-40 weeks in order to complete its full term. A single cell gradually evolves into embryo, fetus, and baby. Infancy is the period from birth to 18-24 months of age. This is the time when the main caregiver is needed for almost everything and every time. Toddlerhood is the period from 18-24 months to 36 months of age. This is the time for toddlers to explore the environment both physically and psychologically. They discover themselves and others in this period, which includes a dramatic increase in terms of different aspects of development. Early childhood is the period that has been described usually as preschool time. During this period, children typically follow a certain developmental path in terms of different aspects of development. Middle and late childhood is the period from 6 years to 10-11 years of age. During this period, children begin to put more complex tasks into practice regarding the different aspects of development. Adolescence is the period from 10-12 years to 18-21 years of age and starts with the signs of puberty. In this period dramatic changes in hormones and physiology take place. Early adulthood is the period from 20s to late 30s. Individuals in this period go through the following phases: becoming a member of the ‘adult world’ by having a job, making money and becoming economically independent, having romantic relationships to form a family, and have kids, etc., Middle adulthood is the period from 40s to 60s and is about maintaining and improving what is gained from early years. This is the time for generativity and becoming attached to the family, groups, and the social world. Late adulthood is the longest period which begins in 60s and goes until death. This is the time for revising the entire life and settling down in many aspects. Since this period can be the longest, there are lots of variations among individuals.

Developmental Issues

The three developmental issues: a) nature vs nurture, b) stability vs change, c) continuity vs discontinuity

• Nature vs Nurture: This topic of debate might be the oldest issue of developmental psychology. It is concerned with whether human development is affected by nature (genetic makeup) or nurture (environment), and with the extent to which aspects of development are affected by nature and by nurture. According to nature part of the debate, humans’ genetic background determines a kind of biological program for each human being. In contrast with the nature part, nurture part of the debate emphasizes the importance of environmental experiences and influences on human development. From this perspective, human beings are born with tabula rasa (a blank state) and gain developmental aspects through exposure to environment across years.
• Stability vs Change: Stability part highlights the importance of heredity and exposure to environmental in early life. Change part emphasis the importance of experiences later in life might also influence the outcome of human being. Thus, who you were does not necessarily affect who you will be.
• Continuity vs Discontinuity: This topic of debate concentrates on whether or not human development consists of cumulative or specific stages. Continuity principle emphasizes the gradual and cumulative development, while discontinuity takes development in hand as sequences of certain stages, which indicate qualitative change.

Developmental Theories

Scientific methods should be followed by researchers. These scientific methods are rooted in different theoretical backgrounds each of which can be a topic of a whole book in its own right. Within the scope of this section, three main theoretical orientations are summarized: psychoanalytic, cognitive, and behavioral.

Psychoanalytic Theories: According to this theoretical orientation, human development is basically shaped by early childhood experiences through the interaction with parents. It is also highly influenced by unconscious processes and hidden emotional states of a person. The main psychoanalytic theory was developed by Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Theory. Freud thought that negative experiences in early childhood lead to problems later. He suggested that in psychosexual development, sexual impulses and pleasure transfer from mouth to anus and genitals throughout years in five stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Freud’s theory has been criticized since it pays great attention to sexual instincts and since it does not mention the potential effects of culture.

Another psychoanalytic theory is Psychosocial Theory developed by Erik Erikson. Erikson proposed that human development follows a process based on psychosocial stages rather than psychosexual stages. Contrary to Freud’s theory, Erikson suggested that the basic motivation of humans is being social and associating with other human beings, beyond sexual instincts. Freud considers early life experiences as the main determinants. On the other hand, Erikson evaluates the human development as the process throughout lifespan and he claims that there are eight stages of psychosocial development: trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs identity confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, integrity vs despair.

Cognitive Theories: In contrast with psychoanalytic theories, Cognitive theories put an emphasis on processes on conscious level. Important cognitive theories are Cognitive Developmental Theory developed by Jean Piaget Socio-Cultural Cognitive Theory developed by Lev Vygotsky. According to Piaget’s theory, children follow four developmental stages: the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. During these stages; two processes help children to construct their mind: and shape their way of thinking about the world as they go through these stages: organization and adaptation. Each stage represents a distinct way of thinking, and a child adopts a different way of thinking in each stage. Cognitive development takes place through learning social and cultural tools, such as language and memory strategies. One of the important concepts in Vygotsky’s theory is the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky define the zone of proximal development as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.”

Behavioral Theories: According to the behavioral perspective, human development is understood by only looking at observable and quantitative behaviors. These theories suggested that a human baby is born with a tabula rasa and s/he learns and develops through behavioral experience. From this perspective, that is why human learning processes should be examined.

Development in Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence and Adulthood

Physical Development in Infancy

Infants’ physical growth basically follow two patterns: cephalocaudal pattern and proximodistal pattern. Cephalocaudal pattern is the pattern of development that begins at the top of the body, which is the head in our case, and gradually follows a path from top to down, which can be shoulders, arms, etc. The proximodistal pattern is the physical developmental path from the center of the body to the extremities. For example, an infant is able to gain mastery on muscles in the torso before controlling the muscles in the hands and fingers. Brain development is one of the most important aspects in physical development during infancy.

Motor Development

Infants’ motor development consists of basically three skills: reflexes, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills. Reflexes Infants are born with basic reflexes, which are uncontrolled- automatic reactions to external stimuli. All reflexes have a survival value. Rooting and sucking reflexes are probably the first visible ones encountered in newborns. Another one is moro reflex, which can be seen when an infant is exposed to a sudden noise or movement.

Gross Motor Skills When you talk to someone who has a baby, you would probably hear all about how the baby starts to crawl, sit alone, take his/ her first steps and so on. All these are the signs of gross motor skills, which include activities that result from large-muscle development. In order to develop gross motor skills, an infant needs to develop skills to control his/her posture. Fine Motor Skills: In contrast to gross motor skills, fine motor skills are involved in small muscle movements and activities, that occur in the hands and fingers. Grasping the mother’s finger, holding up a milk bottle, using a spoon, or playing with toys requiring hand-eye coordination are all examples of activities involving fine motor skills. Infants first get in contact with the environment and become a participant of an active interaction. When they learn to reach and grasp an object, they have a control on moving their wrists, hands and fingers, and are able to coordinate these together. As is the case with gross motor skills, fine motor skills, such as grasping, also need to be practiced to be more fluent. Infants develop grasping skills by following two different types of grasping path. The first one is palmar grasping, which is grasping something with the whole hand. The second one is pincer grasping, which is the ability to grasp even small things by using thumb and forefinger.

Sensory and Perceptual Development How do infants develop the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and sense of touch? The answer to this question relies on the development of sensation and perception. Sensation results from the interaction between the external stimuli and sensory receptors. Perception is the analysis and understanding of sensation.

Cognitive Processes based on Piaget’s Theory According to Piaget, in order to understand the world, children’s brain build schemes, which involve actions or mental representations that help to systematize the information. There are two types of schemes: behavioral schemes and mental schemes. According to the theory; while behavioral schemes evolve during infancy, mental schemes evolve during childhood. Therefore, a baby’s schemes include simple actions such as sucking and grasping. As the baby gets older, his/her schemes start to consist of more complex tasks, such as problem solving and developing strategies. Considering the question of how children can adapt their schemes to the world, we need two concepts: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is a process in which a child encountering with new information gets to use his/her already existing schemes to handle this new incoming information. Accommodation is a process in which a child adjusts the schemes to match new information. Through the above mentioned processes, Piaget mentioned that children become able to make groups and systematize actions and thoughts in a higher order functioning, which is organization. While they go through this process, they also make shifts from one mental stage to another, which is equilibration.

Development in Early Childhood

Motor and Perceptual Development Gross and fine motor skills are improved dramatically during early childhood with the help of high level of exploration and practice. Cognitive Alteration based on Piaget’s Theory According to Piaget’s theory, this is the time for preoperational stage, which is from 2 years of age to 7 years of age. As one can get from the name of this term, this is the era before children start to perform mental operations. During this period, children start to use their words, reflect their mental world to their drawings. Generally, this stage has two substages: the symbolic function substage and the intuitive thought substage. The symbolic function substage comes before the other substage and occurs between the ages of 2-4. At this stage, children have a mental representation of an object which is not actually present. They still have limitations here: egocentrism and animism. Egocentrism refers to not being able to differentiate between child’s own perspective and other’s perspective. Animism is thinking that objects that are not alive have qualities like things that are alive, and thus, thinking that these objects can move or act like alive things.

Development in Middle&Late Childhood

Motor Development Children in this period are much able to sit for long hours, control their bodies and body parts, and sustain the attention for a longer time. Cognitive Alterations based on Piaget’s Theory: According to the theory, this is the time for Concrete operational stage, which includes the ages from 7 to 11. During this period, children can think logically, make logical conclusions when they are provided with concrete examples, which, in turn, shows that they are able to perform concrete operations. Socioemotional Development During this period; children’s self-concept and self-understanding develop to include various aspects of social and psychological development. Children in this period start to compare themselves with others, especially peers, in social context. Since school concept comes to the place, selfesteem related with success, self-efficacy, selfunderstanding and self-concept are common themes that are mostly studied during this period. Self-esteem is a feeling satisfied, being confident with and respect to one’s own self. Self-efficacy is one’s belief in his/her own capability and ability to accomplish something.

Development in Adolescence

Adolescence is the period that includes lots of changes in different areas of the body: brain, hormones, physical appearance, emotions and so on. Puberty which is a process that starts in early adolescence, results from the changes in brain neuroendocrine system and triggers rapid physical changes. Puberty is not a one-time thing, it is a process. Important signs of puberty include increase in height and weight and changes in body parts related to sexual maturation.

According to adolescents’ cognitive development based on Piaget’s theory, this is the time for the formal operational stage in which adolescents become more abstract thinkers and logical, more strategical thinkers and decision makers, and more idealistic than they were at the previous stage. Adolescents propose a hypothesis, think about its implications, and plan the steps to test that hypothesis. This process is called hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Another important concept about adolescents’ mental world is adolescent egocentrism, which is a high level of self-consciousness of adolescents. According to Elkind, adolescent egocentrism has two aspects: the imaginary audience and personal fable. Imaginary audience is a non-realistic belief that everyone else is interested in the adolescent as well as what s/he does in the same way as the adolescent is interested in herself/himself. Another concept is personal fable, which is a part of egocentrism of adolescents that consists of the feeling of uniqueness and invulnerability of adolescents.

Socioemotional Development Since there are lots of physical, cognitive and behavioral changes based on hormonal changes during this period, social and emotional changes are also expected. One of the most important concepts in adolescence is identity.

According to Marcia, an adolescent solves his/her crisis based on a four status identity: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, identity achievement.

Development in Adulthood

Early period of adulthood is a kind of transition from adolescence to adult life. This is the term for becoming an adult and it usually refers to the ages from 18 to 25. Since this is a transition period, young adults tend to explore and search experiences in order to find the right way to follow for the rest of their lives. Two important concepts of this time are: gaining economic independence and taking responsibility for what has been done. In terms of physical development, the most rapid change within the adulthood period takes place in early adulthood, especially between 19-25. After 25- 26 years of age, metabolism, physical performance and power start to decline and this slowdown can be felt by individuals and also observed by others. When it comes to cognitive stages; according to Piaget, young adults and adolescents mostly think in the same way based on a qualitative content. However, in a quantitative manner, young adults have an advantage since they have more experience and more knowledge. Even though Piaget’s theory includes “formal operations’’ as the last stage, some contemporary theorists propose a new qualitative phase for later ages and call this stage “postformal thought’’.

Middle adulthood starts around 40-45 years of age and continues until 60-65 years of age. During this period, people are usually aware that their physical strength gradually declines and they need to search and find a meaning in their lives in order to transfer to the next generation. Socioemotional changes in middle adulthood can be examined through Erikson’s stage of Generativity vs Stagnation. Generativity means that adults are motivated to transfer legacies of their own to the next generation. Stagnation occurs if an adult feels empty in terms of leaving nothing to the next generation. One of the most important changes during late adulthood takes place in the brain, which can be called “the aging brain’’. During this period, the brain loses weight and volume. Functioning in central nervous system gets slower in middle adulthood and increases in late adulthood. In terms of socioemotional development, this is the time for the stage of integrity vs despair. An adult either looks back on the past and integrate his/her past with the present in a positive way or feels that his/her life was not spent well.