Give the difference between life-span development approach and traditional development approach.

Life-Span development approach emphasizes developmental change throughout adulthood as well as

childhood, wherein development takes place gradually in which no age period controls growth, for
development is life-long, and adulthood is not the endpoint of progress. The life-span approach
highlights that throughout life, the developmental changes still continue and does not end. At which
point we can’t say that we are too old for something because development is still possible. In this
approach, the development consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions, and it also
involves growth, maintenance, and regulation. The development is also contextual in the life-span
approach wherein individuals continually respond and act on contexts where changing beings in a
changing world. On the other hand, the traditional development usually has a turning point wherein it
highlights a wide-ranging change from birth to adolescence especially during infancy wherein change is
unceasing yet during adulthood, little or no changes appear and decline in old age. Like in the case of the
mothers, usually, they witness how their children grow from infancy through childhood. They generally
observed that their children developed mostly in childhood, but they haven’t seen much changes after
that. One also of the best example of traditional development approach is the beauty of the physical
appearance of an individual that mainly develop in childhood, improved or stay pretty much the same
during adulthood, and then begin to diminish or decline in old age. Therefore, the traditional approach
has a beginning and an end wherein it commonly has a boundary or limitation when it reaches its
highest peak.

Life-Span development approach emphasizes developmental change throughout adulthood as well as

childhood, wherein development takes place gradually in which no age period controls growth, for
development is life-long and adulthood is not the endpoint of development. The life-span approach
highlights that throughout life, the developmental change still continue and does not end, at which point
we can’t say that we are too old for something because development is still possible. In this approach,
development consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions and it also involves
growth, maintenance, and regulation. The development is also contextual in life-span approach wherein
individuals continually responds to and acts on contexts and are changing beings in a changing world.

- Development involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation: The mastery of life often involves

conflicts and competition among three goals of human development: growth, maintenance, and

regulation. As individuals age into middle and late adulthood, the maintenance and regulation of

their capacities take center stage away from growth. Thus, for many individuals, the goal is not to

seek growth in intellectual capacities (such as memory) or physical capacities (such as physical

strength), but to maintain those skills or minimize their deterioration.

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 1. Traditional

Shows extensive change from birth to adolescent, little or no change in adulthood and decline

in the late old age.

2. Life-span Development:

Characteristics (Santrock, 2002):

 Development is Lifelong- development does not end, but will continue in adulthood.

 Development is Plastic- plasticity refers to the potential for change. Development is

possible throughout the life-span. No one is too old, there is no such thing as “I am too

old for that…” aging is associated with declines in certain intellectual abilit ies. These

decline can be prevented or reduced.

 Development is Multidimensional- development consists of biological, cognitive, and

socio-emotional dimensions.

 Development is Relatively Orderly- learning to sit; crawl then walk before they can

run. The muscular control of the trunk and the arms comes earlier as compared to the

hands and fingers (proximodistal pattern). During infancy, the greatest growth always

occurs at the topthe head with physical growth in size, weight, and future

differentiation gradually working its way down from top to bottom (cephalo-caudal

pattern).

Development Takes Place Gradually- no one will develop into pimply teenagers

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 overnight. It takes years before they become one. While some changes occur in a flash of

insight, more often it takes weeks, months, years for a person to undergo changes that

result in the display of developmental characteristics.

 Development is Contextual- individuals are changing beings in a changing world. They

respond to and act on contexts (e.g. biological make-up, physical environment, cognitive

processes, historical, social and cultural contexts).

 Development Involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation- growth, maintenance,

and regulations are the 3 goals of human development. The goals of individuals vary

among developmental stages.

Traditional approach , customs,beliefs, or methods are ones that have existed for a long time without
changing. Dealing with something with those long existing methods is called a traditional approach

Traditional

-Approach to development emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in
adulthood and decline in old age

-infancy is though to be a time of considerable change in the traditional approach

Lifespan

-Emphasizes developmental change during adulthood as well as childhood

Life-long

-No age period dominates growth

The traditional approach emphasizes extensive change from birth to adolescence, little to no change in
adulthood, and decline in old age. The life-span approach emphasizes developmental change throughout
life.

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 Overview of Lifespan Development

""The point where change occurs throughout the life cycle is critical. Traditional approaches to human
development have emphasized change from birth to adolescence, stability in adulthood, and decline in
old age. Sears and Feldman have captured the flavor of some of the most important adult changes. The
changes in body, personality, and abilities may be great during these later decades. Strong
developmental tasks are imposed by marriage and parenthood, by the waxing and waning of physical
prowess and of some intellectual capacities, by the children’s exit from the nest, by the achievement of
an occupational plateau, and by retirement and the prospect of death.

A number of stage-crisis theories have been developed to explain the change adults undergo, the best
known being Erikson’s theory and, in the popular literature, Gail Sheehy’s Passages. Many theorists and
researchers, however, have not been satisfied with the stage-crisis approaches to adult development. To
obtain a more accurate view of adult development, many experts believe that the study of life events
adds valuable information. Hultsch and Deutsch point out that our lives are punctuated by transitions
defined by various events. Particular emphasis is placed on the stressful nature of these events. Events
typically thought of as positive (marriage or being promoted at work), as well as events usually perceived
as negative (death of spouse, being fired from work), are potentially stressful. Factors that can mediate
such stressful life events include internal resources (physical health, intellectual abilities) and external
resources (income, social supports). Adaptation involves the use of coping strategies that result in
behavioral change.

Broadly speaking, there are two theoretical approaches to the study of personality development, one
focusing on similarities and the other on differences. The stage theories all attempt to describe the
universals—not the individual variation—in development.

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