PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

Children are a valuable population in society that scientists research and observe. When conducting research on a vulnerable population like children and minors, investigators will need to include additional steps to ensure the safety and protection of the children (Society for Research in Child Development [SRCD], 2012). Standard ethical principles must still be followed based on the APA Code of Ethics (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010).

A child or minor’s guardian will be required to offer consent as children are often assumed to be unable to understand the context to which they are consenting (Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012). However, according to the SRCD (2012), if a child is old enough to understand and comprehend what is being asked, they should also give their consent to participate. Additionally, when obtaining consent from a child, investigators should ensure that the language being used is comprehensible to the child based on age, perceived cognitive abilities, and developmental level (Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012).

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In addition to consent, scientists should also ensure that there is a developed sense of honesty and trustworthiness throughout the study to ensure the safety and protection of the child and minors (SRCD, 2012). If scientists find any potential risks or potential harm to the participants in the study, scientists are required to find alternative and safer ways to obtain the information (APA, 2010; SRCD, 2012) PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development.

References

American Psychological Association. (2017, January 1). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.

https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index

Fisher, C. B., & Vacanti-Shova, K. (2012). The responsible conduct of psychological research: An overview of ethical principles, APA

Ethics Code standards, and federal regulations. In APA handbook of ethics in psychology, Vol 2: Practice, teaching, and research. (pp.    335–369). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13272-016

Society for Research in Child Development. (2021, March). Ethical principles and standards for developmental scientists.

https://www.srcd.org/about-us/ethical-principles-and-standards-developmental-scientists

Week 1: Introduction to Human Development and Research

Life is simply a matter of concentration: you are what you set out to be. You are a composite of things you say, the books you read, the thoughts you think, the company you keep, and the things you desire to become.

—B.C. Forbes (1880–1954)

Scottish journalist

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Learning Resources

Required Readings

Berk, L. E. (2018). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

• Chapter 1, “History, Theory, and Research Strategies” (beginning of chapter to “Scientific Beginnings”; and “Studying Development” to end of chapter)

American Psychological Association. (2020). Scholarly writing and publishing principles. In Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

• Read only (p. 10–23)

Document: Final Project Assignment Overview document (PDF)

Document: Example of Discussion Post and Response (PDF)

American Psychological Association. (2016b). Developmental psychology. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/division/div7.aspx

American Psychological Association. (2010a). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct with the 2010 amendments. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

As you review this website, focus your reading on the Introduction and Applicability section, the Preamble section, and the General Principles section.

Society for Research in Child Development. (2012a). Retrieved from http://www.srcd.org/

Society for Research in Child Development. (2012b). Ethical standards in research. Retrieved from http://www.srcd.org/about-us/ethical-standards-research

Walden Writing Center. (2015). Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/home

Required Media

Harris, N. B. (Producer). (2014). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime [Video file]. Retrieved August 26, 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 16 minutes.

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Discussion: Research and Ethics in Psychology

By Day 4

By Day 6

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 1 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 1 Discussion

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Assignment: Final Project Overview

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Week in Review

To end this week, your Instructor may provide a brief summary. Be sure to access the Faculty Corner to review your Instructor’s summary, which will help you focus on the important aspects of this week’s learning.

 

To go to the next week:

Week 2: Processes of Development

 

Human behavior is varied and complex. So how does one organize the research findings into a framework that can be applied across the lifespan? One technique used when examining lifespan development is to describe the findings in terms of developmental processes: cognitive, physical, social, and emotional. The latter two developmental processes align closely; therefore, they are sometimes combined and described as social-emotional. Each developmental process, in turn, can be discussed within each major age range/stage.

 

An individual’s age, however, is not the only variable that determines his or her development. Diversity is another important aspect that influences human development. Except for rare instances, individuals do not develop in isolation—environmental context and culture, along with biology, contribute to development. In your own development, you have probably interacted with parents, caregivers, children, teachers, peers, and other adults. Most likely, you had exposure to television programs and commercials, print media, and music. Even your gender has had an impact on how you behave and, in turn, how others respond to you. Cultural and social environments influence your interactions and experiences. This week, and throughout this course, it is important to consider how diversity impacts cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development.

This week, you will examine cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes. You also will determine the impact of diversity on those developmental processes. For your Final Project, you will provide a brief summary of the individual and the biography you selected.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes
• Evaluate the impact of diversity on developmental processes
• Analyze developmental concepts as applied to the life of an individual (assessed in Week 10)

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Learning Resources

Required Readings

Bailey, R. (2005). Physical development and growth. In Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human development (pp. 1001–1007).

Harris, Y. R. (2005). In Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human development (pp. 275–280).

Susskind, J. (2005). Social development. In Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Development (pp. 1191–1197).

Jensen, L. A. (2012). Bridging universal and cultural perspectives: A vision for developmental psychology in a global world. Child Development Perspectives, 6(1), 98–104. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00213.x PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

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Discussion 1: How Processes Affect Your Development

Consider the role each process—cognitive, physical, and social-emotional—plays on the development of an individual. The cognitive developmental process involves the ability to think, remember, reason, problem-solve, and communicate. The physical developmental process entails not only changes in height and weight, but also fine and gross muscle control, balance, strength, reproductive ability, and appearance. Finally, the social-emotional developmental process involves beliefs about oneself in relation to others, including self-identity, self-concept, morality, and relationships.

Cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes influence and interact with one another. For example, a child’s ability to consider another person’s perspective will, in part, determine the quality of friendships and how long they are maintained. An adult who is physically mature has the cognitive capacity to weigh the pros and cons of becoming sexually active. Keep in mind that the relative importance of cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes may vary depending upon the age of the individual (e.g., infant, adolescent, young adult, older adult) and any physical or developmental challenges that may arise.

For this Discussion, you will examine cognitive, physical, and social-emotional processes at a specific period of a character’s life.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Select a fictional human character (i.e., cartoon character, film/TV character, virtual character) and consider an important event or period of time in the life of the character and the developmental processes during this event/period of time.
• Select two of the three developmental processes (i.e., cognitive, physical, and social-emotional) to describe PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development.

By Day 3

Post a brief description of the fictional human character (i.e., cartoon character, film/TV character, virtual character) and the event/period of time you selected. Describe two of the three developmental processes—cognitive, physical, and social-emotional—and explain whether they were affected and/or changed in relation to the event/period of time. Be specific in your post and provide examples. Use your Learning Resources to support your post. Use proper APA format and citations to support your explanation.

By Day 5

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ posts and describe the developmental process that was not included in your colleagues’ posts. Explain whether that process was affected in relation to the event/period of time. Use your Learning Resources to support your response.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting and respond to any questions. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 2 Discussion 1 Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 2 Discussion 1PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

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Discussion 2: The Impact of Diversity

Understanding the impact of diversity on an individual’s cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes requires an examination of a multitude of characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. In addition, behavior within a group is important to examine, along with the similarities and differences of behaviors and attitudes across groups. The goal of understanding the impact of diversity is not to determine whether one group is inferior to another, but to gain an appreciation of the breadth and depth of variability in human behavior. Cross-cultural investigation allows for the testing of theoretical concepts and predictions to evaluate their generalizability (Jensen, 2012). Another outcome of studying the results of cross-cultural research is that, as a psychology professional, you will be better equipped to empathize with and advocate for those you will be serving.

For this Discussion, you will explore how diversity shapes and influences cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review and consider the same fictional human character from your Discussion 1 for this week.
• Also, consider only the cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes and how diversity* shapes and influences these processes.*Diversity includes but is not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. It is not the same as adversity, which refers to a difficulty or tragedy in one’s life.
• Think about the kinds of attitudes and behaviors that might be generated from someone who grew up in a collectivist society, which is common in Asian cultures, compared to the attitudes of someone who grew up in an individualistic society, such as that found in the United States.

By Day 4

Post a 1- to 2-sentence description of the fictional human character (i.e., cartoon character, film/TV character, virtual character) you selected. Then, explain how diversity might shape and influence his/her cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes. Be specific in your post and provide examples. Use your Learning Resources and/or other scholarly sources to support your post. Use proper APA format and citations to support your post.

By Day 6

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ posts and search the Internet or the Walden library to locate an article related to how diversity might shape and influence their fictional human character’s cognitive or social-emotional developmental processes. Referring to the article you found, explain how an aspect of diversity could impact the fictional character’s development.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting and respond to any questions. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 2 Discussion 2 Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 2 Discussion 2

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Assignment: Final Project Summary

For this part of your Final Project Assignment, you are to provide a brief summary of the individual and the biography you selected for your Final Project Assignment.

To prepare for this Summary of your Final Project Assignment:

• Review the Final Project Assignment Overview and consider the criteria for your biography selection.
• Select the individual and the biography you want to learn about for this Final Project Assignment.

For this Assignment:

Write a 100- to 200-word summary that includes:

• The name of the person you selected
• At least one developmental theory that you believe is appropriate to include in your final project
• The appropriate APA reference of the biographyPSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

Note: This Assignment will not be graded, but is required for the course.

By Day 7

Submit your Final Project Summary Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 2 Assignment link.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 2 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:

Week 2 Assignment

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Week in Review

This week, you evaluated cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes based on a fictional human character and a period of time in their life. You also evaluated the impact of diversity on those developmental processes. Finally, you submitted a brief summary of the individual and the biography you selected for your Final Project Assignment.

 

To end this week, your Instructor may provide a brief summary. Be sure to access the Faculty Corner to review your Instructor’s summary, which will help you focus on the important aspects of this week’s learning.

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Next week, you will contrast developmental theories as well as the strengths and limitations of each theory.PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

To go to the next week:

Week 3: Theories of Development

 

Most people who have a passing knowledge of human development will recognize Jean Piaget as being a major contributor to the field. But did you know Sigmund Freud also proposed a theory of human development? As you familiarize yourself with the major theories in developmental psychology this week, you see how the constructs you learned in Week 1 and the processes you learned in Week 2 come together to form theories. This week, you compare and contrast the earlier theories, such as those developed by Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Watson, and Bandura with more contemporary theories, such as those developed by Vygotsky, Langer, Case, Demetriou, and Fischer. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory is considered a contemporary theory by some because, while it was originally proposed in the 1930s, it was not translated into English and widely accepted as a developmental theory until decades later. As you compare and contrast, think about the implications of each theory in terms of research and its practical applications (e.g., therapy, intervention, education, childcare, career development, relationships, and life satisfaction).

 

Discussion: Examining Developmental Theories

This week, you explore classical (i.e., seminal, important and older) and contemporary (i.e., more recent) developmental theories. Theories are vital to the psychology profession, as they inform practice, research, and trends. You must critically evaluate theories to determine which theories are applicable to certain developmental processes. For each theory, examine the construct (e.g., cognition, motivation, intelligence, etc.) that has been emphasized. Think about how this construct relates to developmental processes. For example, a toddler’s intelligence differs in quality from an adult’s intelligence. By examining developmental theories of intelligence, such as Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, you can gain an understanding of the basis for developmental differences in toddler and adult intelligence.

When examining theories, it is important to delineate the strengths and limitations of each theory. Think about how each theory accounts for atypical development or a developmental delay. If a specific construct is identified, ask yourself: Can the theory be extended to apply to other constructs, as well? Does the theory adequately predict future behavior? How would one apply a particular theory to help improve people’s lives? Keep these questions in mind as you examine classical and contemporary theories.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Contrast developmental theories
• Analyze strengths and limitations of developmental theories in terms of developmental processes

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Learning Resources

Required Readings

Berk, L. E. (2018). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

• Chapter 1, “History, Theory, and Research Strategies” (“Scientific Beginnings” through “Comparing and Evaluating Theories,” (pp. 12-26)

Aldwin, C. M. (2014). Rethinking developmental science. Research in Human Development, 11(4), 247–254. doi:10.1080/15427609.2014.967045

Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M. (2013). The impact of pretend play on children’s development: A review of the evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1–34. doi:10.1037/a0029321

Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 401–418. doi:10.1037/a0014726 PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

Required Media

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010a). Cognitive development theories [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 10 minutes.

 

ACCESSIBLE PLAYER –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Credit: Includes:[cgtoolbox]/[Vetta]/Getty Images

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Discussion: The Contribution of Classical Theorists to Contemporary Developmental Theorists

While all major developmental theories attempt to explain the growth of individuals, each theory has a slightly different perspective. Some theories emphasize environmental (nurture) more than biological (nature) influences. Some theories focus on a particular construct (e.g., cognition), while others emphasize the impact of age range in shaping development. Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory emphasizes fixed stages during which the mind’s capacities allow an individual to learn about the world. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, on the other hand, is not stage-based and describes growth as an interaction between the individual and his or her environment.

Contemporary theories (e.g., Langer’s theory of mindfulness) typically build upon the foundation generated by earlier theories. Langer’s theory of mindfulness contains similarities to classical theories, such as Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, in that they both agree that development is contextual and the organism is an active “mindful” participant. Langer took Vygotsky’s theory to a new level, focusing specifically on education and the learner. Other contemporary theories include neo-Piagetian cognitive developmental theories, which attempt to address the limitations found within Piaget’s classical theory. Robbie Case, Andreas Demetriou, and Kurt Fischer proposed theories that were extensions of Piaget’s theory. These theorists added concepts that expanded on cognitive functioning within the stages of development. Most developmental psychologists today do not believe that a single perspective or theory can sufficiently explain lifespan development; rather, an eclectic approach accounts for development better.

For this Discussion, you will examine classical and contemporary developmental theories as they relate to current applications in developmental psychology.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the course text and other Learning Resources related to mid-20th-century theories and recent theoretical perspectives
• Select two theories from the following list, one from each column (classical, contemporary), that examine the same developmental processes (i.e., cognitive, physical, and/or social-emotional).

 

Classical Theories	Contemporary Theories
Psychoanalytic/Psychosexual Psychosocial Behaviorism/Learning Social Learning Cognitive-Developmental	Information Processing Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Ethology/Evolutionary Developmental Sociocultural Systems Theory

 

By Day 4

Post a brief description of the two theories you selected (one classical and one contemporary). Contrast the theories you selected. Specifically, identify important similarities and differences, including an explanation of the strengths and limitations of each theory in explaining developmental processes (i.e., cognitive, physical, and social-emotional). Note: Your descriptions should be in paragraph form, not bullet points. Use your Learning Resources and/or other scholarly sources to support your post. Use proper APA format and citations.PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development

By Day 6

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ posts and search the Internet and/or the Walden Library and select a current article (within the last 5 years) that is related to the same developmental process (i.e., cognitive, physical, and social-emotional) that your colleague posted. Summarize the article and describe the theory identified within the article.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting and answer any questions. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

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Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 3 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 3 Discussion

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Week in Review

This week, you contrasted developmental theories as well as analyzed the strengths and limitations of each theory.

To end this week, your Instructor may provide a brief summary. Be sure to access the Faculty Corner to review your Instructor’s summary, which will help you focus on the important aspects of this week’s learning.

 

Next week, you will examine both genetic and environmental influences on fetal development PSYC 6215/ DPSY 8215: Lifespan Development.