Life Span Psychology (MPC 002)

Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA)

Course Code: MPC 002

Assignment Code: MPC 002/ASST/TMA/2020-21
Marks: 100

Note: All questions are compulsory.

SECTION-A

Answer the following questions in about 1000 words. 3 x 15=45 Marks

1. Describe the characteristics and periods in prenatal development.

2. Explain Piaget’s concepts of cognitive development during middle childhood.
3. Discuss the challenges faced during adolescence.

SECTION-B 5 x 5= 25 Marks

Answer the following questions in about 400 words.

4. Discuss the factors and areas involved in the growth and development of a child.
5. Explain the characteristics of early childhood. Discuss linguistic development in early
childhood.
6. Elucidate the role of peer group in social development during childhood.
7. Describe the characteristics and identification of learning disability.
8. Discuss the challenges of late adulthood.

SECTION-C 10 x 3= 30 Marks

Answer the following questions in about 50 words.

9. Research methods used in life span psychology

10. Identification of Intellectual disability (mental retardation)
11. Concept formation
12. Gifted and talented children
13. Foreclosure
14. Signs of negative self-concept in adolescence
15. Egocentrism
16. Reflective and relativistic thinking
17. Intimacy Vs Isolation
18. Dreams and mentors
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ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIAL (2020-21)

MPC-002
Life Span Psychology

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SECTION-A

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Answer the following questions in about 1000 words. 3 x 15=45 Marks

Q1. Describe the characteristics and periods in prenatal development.

a.
Ans. Characteristics of Prenatal Period: In spite of the fact that the first developmental period
in the life span is next to the shortest of all— the shortest is the period of the newborn or
infancy— it is in many respects one of the most, if not the most, important period of all. This
period, which begins at conception and ends at birth, is approximately 270 to 280 days in length,
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or nine calendar months. Although it is relatively short, the prenatal period has some important

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characteristics, each of which has a lasting effect on development during the life span. They are
as follows:

(1) The hereditary endowment, which serves as the foundation for later development, is
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fixed, once and for all, at this time. While favourable or unfavourable conditions both before and
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after birth probably will affect to some extent the physical and psychological traits that make up
this hereditary endowment, the changes will be quantitative not qualitative.
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(2) Favourable conditions in the mother’s body can foster the development of hereditary
potentials while unfavourable conditions can stunt their development, even to the point of
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distorting the pattern of future development.

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(3) The sex of the newly created individual is fixed at the time of conception and conditions
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within the mother’s body will not affect it, as is true of the hereditary endowment. Except when
surgery is used in sex transformation operations, the sex of the individual, determined at the time
of conception, will not change. Such operations are rare and only partially successful.
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(4) Proportionally greater growth and development take place during the prenatal period than
at any other time throughout the individual’s entire life. During the nine months before birth, the
individual grows from a microscopically small cell to an infant who measures approximately
twenty inches in length and weights, on the average, 7 pounds. It has been estimated that weight
during this time increases eleven million times. Development is likewise phenomenally rapid.
From a cell that is round in shape, all the bodily features, both external and internal, of the

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human being develop at this time. At birth, the newly born infant can be recognised as human
even though many of the external features are proportionally different from those of an older
child, an adolescent, or an adult.

(5) The prenatal period is a time of many hazards, both physical and psychological. While it
cannot be claimed that it is the most hazardous period in the entire life span–many believe that
infancy is more hazardous–it certainly is a time when environmental or psychological hazards
can have a marked effect on the pattern of later development or may even bring development to
an end.

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(6) The prenatal period is the time when significant people form attitudes towards newly
created individuals. These attitudes will have a marked influence on the way these individuals
are treated, especially during their early, formative years. If the attitudes are heavily emotionally

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weighted, they can and often do play havoc with the mother’s homeostasis and, by so doing,
upset the conditions in the mother’s body that are essential to the normal development of the
newly created individual.

Q2. Explain Piaget’s concepts of cognitive development during middle childhood.

a.
Ans. Cognitive development between ages 6 and 11 is impressive, including improvements in
control processes and a growing foundation of knowledge. According to Piaget, between ages 6
and 11 children are in the stage of concrete operational thought. Although more recent research
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indicates that some logical thought appears before middle childhood, Piaget revealed that school-

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age children can use mental categories flexibly, inductively and simultaneously. Children gain
logic during the middle childhood. In the middle ages, the child was assigned adult status at age
7 when he was considered to be capable of being without his mother or his nanny (Aries, 1962).
Impressive changes in brain development set the stage of 5 to 7 shift (Fishbein, 1984). Cross-
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model zones (nerve networks that permit information flow from one part of the brain to another)
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are well developed between the ages 5 and 6. These interconnections tie together different
sensory events and modalities. Throughout the development, a reciprocal relationship forms
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between cognition and brain maturation. Brain maturation may support cognitive changes and
cognitive activity can also accelerate brain activity.
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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (Concrete Operation): The third stage of Piaget’s
cognitive theory is the concrete operation, lasts from 7 to about 11 years of age. During this
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stage, children are able to reason logically as long as the reasoning can be applied to concrete
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and specific examples. In this stage, they are also able to observe and understand the idea of
conservation. For example, if a specific amount of water is poured into a tall, skinny glass and
then poured into a short, wide glass, concrete operational thinkers are able to understand that the
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volume of the water did not change. Overall, logical reasoning is present in this stage, but cannot
be utilised unless applied to concrete examples.

Decentration: Decentration involves the ability to pay attention to multiple attributes of an

object or situation rather than being locked into attending to only a single attribute. When
children are asked to compare the volume of juice in two glasses, it is their ability to decentrate
that enables them to flexibly consider both the height and the width of the glasses in arriving at

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their decision. Younger children tend to get fixed on only one dimension or attribute of a
situation, such as the height of a container and to make their judgment of how much stuff can be
fit into that container based on that single dimension. Other dimensions simply are not attended
to. Through the development of decentration skills, older children start to be able to pay attention
to more than one thing at at time.

Q3. Discuss the challenges faced during adolescence.

Ans. Human life completes its journey through various stages and one of the most vital stages

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is adolescence. Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood and plays a
decisive role in the formation of pro-social/anti-social adult. All of us undergo this stage which
poses many challenges and is full of excitement. Adolescence is a period that extends over a
substantial part of a person’s life. However, each adolescent experiences individual changes and

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growth at differing rates, with some moving through the adolescent phase quicker and more
smoothly than others. Some adolescents have supportive families, others face this daunting
period of their lives alone. Some adolescents may remain at home with their families, but their
families are emotionally distant so the adolescent can feel as if they are “alone in a crowd.”

a.
No-one can deny that for any one person facing changes in their lives in the biological, cognitive,
psychological, social, moral and spiritual sense, could find this time both exciting and daunting.
With the increase in independence comes increases in freedom, but with that freedom, comes
responsibilities. Attitudes and perspectives change and close family members often feel they are
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suddenly living with a stranger.

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Some important challenges of adolescents are as follows:

(1) Biological Challenges: Adolescence begins with the first well-defined maturation event
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called puberty. Included in the biological challenges are the changes that occur due to the release
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of the sexual hormones that affect emotions. Mood changes can increase, which can impact on
relationships both at home with parents and siblings and socially or at school.
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(2) Cognitive Challenges: Piaget, in his theory of social development believed that
adolescence is the time when young people develop cognitively from “concrete operations” to
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“formal operations”. So they are able to deal with ideas, concepts and abstract theories.
However, it takes time for confidence to build with using these newly acquired skills and they
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may make mistakes in judgement. Learning through success and failure is part of the challenge
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of the learning process for the adolescent.

Adolescents are egocentric, they can become self-conscious; thinking they are being watched by
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others and at other times want to behave as if they were on a centre stage and perform for a non-
existent audience. For example, acting like a music idol, singing their favourites songs in their
room, with all the accompanying dance steps.

SECTION-B

Answer the following questions in about 400 words.

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Q4. Discuss the factors and areas involved in the growth and development of a child.

Ans. Generally, people think that the two terms “growth” and “development” are the same.
And so they use them interchangeably. However, in the field of physical education it is not so.
They are both different terms with different meanings.

Growth is the growth of the organs of an individual. It can be in form of size, height or weight.

People who study children have created theories to explain how children develop. While these

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theorists realise that every child is special and grow in his or her unique way, they also have
recognised that there are general patterns that children tend to follow as they grow up, and these
patterns have been documented by the theorists. Also following are the four areas which define
children’s growth and development:

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(1) Physical: Physical growth refers to an increase in body size (length or height and weight)
and in the size of organs. From birth to about age 1 or 2 years, children grow rapidly. Two-year-
old children can have very erratic eating habits that sometimes make parents anxious. Some
children may seem to eat virtually nothing yet continue to grow and thrive. Actually, they eat

a.
little one day and then make up for it by eating more the next day. Children also develop certain
physical abilities during their progression towards adulthood, including crawling, walking,
running and writing.
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(2) Psychological and cognitive: As children’s brains absorb more information and they

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learn how to use that information, they also develop psychologically and cognitively. Children
have to learn how to think on purpose and to process or organise all the information that comes
to them from the environment. They must learn how to solve problems, to talk and to complete
mental tasks such as remembering telephone numbers or using computers.
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Q5. Explain the characteristics of early childhood. Discuss linguistic development in early
childhood.
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Ans:- Characteristics of the Early-Childhood: Following are the characteristics of the early-
childhood:
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(1) This is the age of foundations of social behaviour. They are more organised social life
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they will be required to adjust to when they enter first grade.

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(2) It is a toy age because most of the time children are engaged with their toys. These toys
are also helpful to educate the children. Toys are important element of their play activities.
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(3) Some parents feel that behavioural problems of childhood period are more troublesome
then physical care of infants.

(4) Develop physical, cognitive, emotional and social development.

LINGUSTIC DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

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Proper language development is the main concern in the early childhood. Language is the only
powerful tool to enhance the ability of cognitive development. As we have already read that
unclear communication may create the hazards for the development of a child. A good language
always allows the child to communicate or interact with others persons and solve their problems.
At the end of age seven, children are able to demonstrate some basic understanding of less
concrete concepts, including time and money. However, the eight-year old still reasons in
concrete ways and has difficulty understanding abstract ideas.

Q6. Elucidate the role of peer group in social development during childhood.

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Ans. As children start school, their social world becomes much larger. Where most of their
previous social interactions were primarily with family, the introduction of school opens up a
whole new world of relationships with other people. Following are some relationships which

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play a crucial role in forming child personality:

(1) Relations with Parents and Siblings: Children want to spend more time with their
friends and less time with their family as they grow through the school years. Adults other than
family (teachers) are more important. Children want to make more and more of their decisions.

a.
Children experience fewer failures and recover more quickly when they do fail if they know that
their parents are proud of them and have faith in their competence and resilience. Children whose
parents belittle them and communicate doubt on their abilities usually experience more failures
and less achievement in school and a greater loss of self-esteem than with more supportive
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parents (Grolnick and Ryan 1989).

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Both at home and outside, school age children are ready for more responsibility. Parents can help
children take responsibility for some household chores and personal items. Research shows that
children with household responsibilities behave in more nurturing, helpful and mature ways than
those who have no such demands upon them (Baumrind 1971).
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Parents’ behaviour affects the value development throughout child rearing years. During middle
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years, children have the opportunity to apply these values in making independent decisions. They
also test them against other alternatives. When parents and peer values conflict in matters like
truth telling, school age children often side with their peers. The values are more resistant to
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change when children know the reasons for the beliefs.

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(2) Relations with Peer Group: During middle childhood, friendships and peer relations
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become very important, as children begin to spend a significant amount of time with their peers.
It is important that they find a place within their social group. By the time children are in fifth or
sixth grade, their groups have become more structured, more formalised, more exclusive and
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more cohesive. School age children expect each other to follow social norms that promote
courtesy, fair play and respect for others (Hartup, 1963). Co-operation is a frequently chosen
conflict resolution strategy among girls, while boys favour competition (Crick and Ladd, 1990).

Q7. Describe the characteristics and identification of learning disability.

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Ans. Characteristics of Learning Disability: Following are the characteristics of learning

disabled children:

(1) LD children are normal in intellectual functioning. LD mainly lies in their way of
learning and in their perceptual systems.

(2) LD may range from mild to severe. Some student may be passive or inactive and other
may show higher level of physical activity than other students.

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(3) LD is a mixed group of disorders.

(4) Learning disability may transcend the school setting and persist in adulthood.

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(5) Delay in developmental milestones.

(6) Behavioural problems are not initial components of their behaviour, they may feel
frustrated due to the gap in learning but they might show emotional problems.

a.
(7) Boys are more likely to be characterised as LD than girls.

(8) Students may show problem in one area not in the other.
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Identification Process of Learning Disability: Early-detection or screening is dependent on

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early-observation of behavioural and learning characteristics by class teacher who should possess
the knowledge of the symptoms and characteristics of specific learning problems. A
multidisciplinary team including class teacher, school psychologist and other clinical personnel
must determine the degree of disability. Measurements of achievement by teacher made tests,
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curriculum-based measurement and standardised test is highly recommended. The following
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tests are used for the assessment and identification of LD:

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(1) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) for the assessment of cognitive
abilities.
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(2) Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-III) for the assessment of

achievement in reading, writing and mathematics by age and grade level.
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(3) Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills for the assessment of a variety of skill
sequences in readiness, reading, language arts and math.
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Remedial Programmes for Learning Disability: The programme of individualised teaching is

required so that the child may get specific instruction in the areas of specific need, like reading,
writing or math. Following methods are used as special techniques to teach the children with
special needs:

Q8. Discuss the challenges of late adulthood.

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Ans. Late adulthood is the final stage of adult development, from mid-60s to death and is
characterised by adjustment to changing health, income and social roles. Late-adulthood is often
called the ‘golden years’ of a person’s life. But it’s not always a positive experience. Older
people are likely to encounter ageism-negative attitudes and treatment. In spite of the changes to
the rest of the body, a lot of people focus primarily on changes to their appearance as they age.
These include:

(1) Wrinkles: The skin tends to become thinner, less elastic, drier and finely wrinkled. The skin
changes partly because the aging body produces less collagen. As a result, the skin tears more

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easily. The fat layer under the skin thins. This layer acts as a cushion for the skin, helping protect
and support it. The fat layer also helps conserve body heat. When the layer thins, wrinkles are
more likely to develop and tolerance for cold decreases.

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(2) Dry skin: Older people produce less sweat and oil, causing their skin to be drier. Excessively
dry skin can emphasise the appearance of wrinkles.

(3) Age spots: Dark spots on the skin, particularly the arms, hands, face and feet stem from
cumulative exposure to the sun. These spots stem from overproduction of the pigment melanin in

a.
areas of the skin that have experienced the most exposure to the sun.

(4) Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: This is about three-fourths of adults aged 60 and older are
overweight or obese. Obesity is related to type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast and
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colon cancer, gall bladder disease and high blood pressure. More than 40 per cent of adults 60

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and older have a combination of risk factors known as metabolic syndrome, which puts people at
increased risk for developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.

Women in perimenopause and menopause tend to accumulate fat around the waist and hips and
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men get the gut. The best way to fight it is with increasing exercise, reducing alcohol intake –
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because a lot of alcohol calories go right to the gut – and reducing calorie intake. Also, increase
healthy fat intake–omega-3 fatty acids and unsaturated fats. And eliminate trans fats completely
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because there’s no safe amount of those.

(5) Arthritis: Arthritis is probably the number one condition that people 65 or older contend
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with. It affects 49.7 per cent of all adults over 65 and can lead to pain and lower quality of life
for some seniors. Although arthritis can discourage old adults from being active, it’s important to
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work with doctor to develop a personalised activity plan that, along with other treatment, can
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help maintain senior health.

SECTION-C
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Answer the following questions in about 50 words.

Q9. Research methods used in life span psychology

Ans. Research Methods for Life Span Development: Most developmental studies, regardless
of whether they employ the experimental, correlational, or case study method, can also be

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constructed using research designs. Research designs are logical frameworks used to make key
comparisons within research studies such as:

(1) Longitudinal method: In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes many individuals

born at or around the same time (a cohort) and carries out new observations as members of the
cohort age.

(2) Cross-section method: In a cross-sectional study, a researcher observes differences

between individuals of different ages at the same time. This generally requires less resources

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than the longitudinal method and because the individuals come from different cohorts, shared
historical events are not so much of a confounding factor.

Q10. Identification of Intellectual disability (mental retardation)

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Ans. Intellectual disability (ID), also called intellectual development disorder (IDD) or general
learning disability and formerly known as mental retardation (MR), is a generalised neuro-
developmental disorder characterised by significantly impaired intellectual and adaptive

a.
functioning. It is defined by an IQ score below 70 in addition to deficits in two or more adaptive
behaviours that affect everyday, general living. To measure a child’s adaptive behaviours, a
specialist will observe the child’s skills and compare them to other children of the same age.
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Things that may be observed include how well the child can feed or dress himself or herself; how
well the child is able to communicate with and understand others; and how the child interacts

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with family, friends and other children of the same age.

Q11. Concept formation

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b

Ans. Psychologists use the term concept formation, or concept learning, to refer to the
development of the ability to respond to common features of categories of objects or events.
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Concepts are mental categories for objects, events, or ideas that have a common set of features.
Concepts allow us to classify objects and events.
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(1) Number: Understanding of children of one-to-one correspondence is complete by the age

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6 or 7. For example, school age children realise that six remains six whether it is represented as
5+1, 9-3 or six stars.
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(2) Time: Children have difficulty placing events in their appropriate time sequence until age
8. Units of time (minutes, hours, years, etc.) have little meaning to them. After age 8, children
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have a more precise understanding of time passage. They are usually able to classify past and
future events according to how recently they occurred.

(3) Spatial Operations: During the middle childhood, children have difficulty understanding
distance before they reach school age because they don’t comprehend the basic units of
measurement (miles, feet, km, etc.).

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Q12. Gifted and talented children

Ans:- ‘Gifted and talented’ is a term used in schools to describe children who have the potential
to develop significantly beyond what is expected for their age. ‘Gifted’ refers to a child who has
abilities in one or more academic subjects, such as English or Mathematics. ‘Talented’ refers to a
child who has skills in a practical area such as music, sport or art.

Gifted children are those children who are quite above average in terms of intellectual growth
and development. Gifted children come from all levels of society, all races and all ethnic groups.

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Gifted children process information differently than non-gifted children. Options for educating
gifted children include early-admission to school, acceleration and enrichment. If the talent of
some gifted children is not nurtured and developed through guidance and enrichment, it will be a
great loss to society as well as the individual who might have a successful and happy life

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otherwise.

Q13. Foreclosure

Ans:- It is an identity status which Marcia claimed is an identity developed by an individual

a.
without much choice. “The foreclosure status is when a commitment is made without exploring
alternatives. Often these commitments are based on parental ideas and beliefs that are accepted
without question”. Identity foreclosure can attribute to identity crises in adolescents when the
“security blanket” of their assumed identity is removed. These “foreclosed individuals often go
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into crisis, not knowing what to do without being able to rely on the norms, rules, and situations

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to which they have been accustomed”. An example of this would be a son of a farmer who learns
that his father is selling the farm and whose identity as an heir to a farm and the lifestyle and
identity of a farmer has been shaken by that news.

Q14. Signs of negative self-concept in adolescence

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b

Ans:- Following are the signs which may indicate that an adolescence has a negative self-
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concept. These may include one or more of the following:

(1) Doing poorly in school;

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(2) Having few friends;

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(3) Putting down one self and others;

(4) Rejecting compliments;

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(5) Teasing others;

Strategies that can be used to improve an adolescent’s self-concept include providing praise for
accomplishments, praising efforts, working with the individual to encourage improvement in
areas where s/he feels deficient and refraining from using negative feedback.

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Q15. Egocentrism

Ans:- Egocentrism refers to a lack of differentiation between some aspect of self and other. The
paradigm case is the failure of perspective-taking that characterises young children who are
unable to infer what another person is thinking, feeling, or seeing. Unable to infer accurately the
perspective of others, the egocentric child attributes to them his/her own perspective instead. The
inability to decenter from one’s own perspective results in egocentric confusion of social
perspectives. Piaget’s classic test for egocentrism is the three mountains task (Piaget and

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Inhelder, 1956), which concrete operational thinkers can complete successfully. Children at this
stage can successfully solve the ‘Three Mountain Task’: when asked what a doll seated to the
left, right and front of the subjects might see, young school age children can occasionally select
the correct drawing, but the accuracy of perspective taking significantly improves by the time the

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child is 11 or 12. But once they have formed a hypothesis about how or why things work, they
tend to force contradictory facts into their hypothesis rather than changing the hypothesis to fit
the facts.

a.
Q16. Reflective and relativistic thinking

Ans:- William Perry (1970, 1999) also described changes in cognition that take place in early-
adulthood. He said that adolescents often view the world in terms of polarities—right/wrong,
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we/they, or good/bad. As youth age into adulthood, they gradually move away from this type of

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absolutist thinking as they become aware of the diverse opinions and multiple perspectives of
others. Thus, in Perry’s view, the absolutist, dualistic thinking of adolescence gives way to the
reflective, relativistic thinking of adulthood. 94
b

Expanding on Perry’s view, Gisela Labouvie-Vief (2006) recently proposed that the increasing
complexity of cultures in the past century has generated a greater need for more reflective,
complex thinking that takes into account the changing nature of knowledge and challenges. She
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also emphasises that the key aspects of cognitive development in emerging adulthood include
deciding on a specific worldview, recognising that the worldview is subjective and
understanding that diverse worldviews should be acknowledged.
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Q17. Intimacy Vs Isolation

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Ans:- During early-adulthood, people enter the intimacy–versus–isolation stage. Spanning the
period of early-adulthood (from post adolescence to the early-thirties), this stage focuses on
developing close relationships with others. Difficulties during this stage result in feelings of
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loneliness and a fear of such relationships, whereas successful resolution of the crises of the
stage results in the possibility of forming relationships that are intimate on a physical, intellectual
and emotional level. Such people are more competitive than cooperative. They get easily
threatened if any person gets too close and not accepting of another’s differences. If there is
successful resolution for this conflict, a person can go on to develop generativity which means
caring for the next generation and helping to improve society.

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Q18. Dreams and mentors

Ans:- This transition stage is characterised by an overlap of both the pre-adulthood stage and the
early-adulthood stage and typically occurs around age 17-22. In this age, most people construct a
dream, image of themselves in the adult world that will guide their decision-making. Men’s
dream are said to be more individualistic and often entail success in business and career. On the
other hand if they include women, their dreams are invariably related to their being supporters of
their goals.

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