I.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of the week, the students can:

1. Describe and discuss the fundamental theories of developmental psychology and
how they relate to the real world context
2. To learn about how human development is studied and information is gathered
3. Compare and contrast theories lifespan development theories
II. COURSE CONTENT:

What is Life Span Development?

Life span development is an important field of Developmental Psychology which is concerned with
various developmental changes occurring in an individual from conception till death. It is a diversified
and a growing field concerned with application. It studies various aspects of human development
including physical, intellectual and social. Life span development is a field of study that takes a scientific
approach and examines patterns of growth, change and stability in behavior that occur throughout the
lifespan.

What Is Development?

Development refers to systematic continuities and changes in the individual that occur between
conception (when the father’s sperm penetrates the mother’s ovum, creating a new organism) and
death. By describing changes as “systematic” we imply that they are orderly, patterned, and relatively
enduring, so that temporary mood swings and other transitory changes in our appearances, thoughts,
and behaviors are therefore excluded.

We are also interested in “continuities” in development, or ways in which we remain the same or
continue to reflect our past. If development represents the continuities and changes an individual
experiences from “womb to tomb,” the developmental sciences refer to the study of these phenomena
and are a multidisciplinary enterprise.

What Causes Us to Develop?

To grasp the meaning of development, we must understand two important processes that underlie
developmental change: maturation and learning. Maturation refers to the biological unfolding of the
individual according to species-typical biological inheritance and an individual person’s biological
inheritance. The second critical developmental process is learning—the process through which our
experiences produce relatively permanent changes in our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.*

Life span development focuses on human development:

 It seeks to understand universal principles of development.

 To know how cultural, racial and ethnic differences affect development.
 To understand the traits and characteristics that differentiates one person from another.
It should be remembered that human development is a continuous process which lasts throughout
one‘s life. Developmental Psychologists are not only interested in changes that take place as we
develop, but they are also interested in stability. They are interested in knowing when and how human
behavior reveals consistency and continuity with prior behavior.

Scope of Life Span Development: Life span development covers several diverse areas. Some topical
areas in lifespan development are as follows:

a) Physical Development: Physical development includes how our brain, nervous system, muscles and
sense organs influence our development. Our biological needs such as the need for food, hunger, drink,
sleep, etc., influence and shape our behaviour. It also studies how malnutrition influence human growth,
how one‘s physical performance declines as one ages, etc.

b) Cognitive Development: It studies how growth and changes influence intellectual capabilities.
Cognitive developmentalists examine how learning, memory, problem solving and intelligence influence
our development. They also study how problem solving and intelligence influence our development.
They also study how problem –solving skills change over the course of one‘s life.

c) Personality and social development: Personality development is the study of stability and change in
the characteristics that differentiate one person from another over the life span. Social development is
concerned with the ways in which individuals interactions and relationships with others grow, change
and remain stable over the course of life. Developmental psychologists are interested in personality
development and are interested in studying stable, enduring personality traits throughout the life span.
Social developmental psychologists are interested in examining how racism or poverty or divorce
influences our development.

VI. REFERENCES:
Shaffer, D. R. (2008). By Dr. David R. Shaffer - Developmental Psychology: Childhood
and Adolescence (8th Edition) (8th Edition). Wadsworth Publishing.