Introduction to Life-Span Developmental Psychology

Life span refers to the ongoing process that we go through while growing up. It is the period of time from conception extending to death.

Life-span developmental psychology is the field of psychology which involves the examination of both constancy and change in human behaviour across the entire life span, that is, from conception to death (Baltes, 1987).

Development refers to the biological and psychological changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescent, as the individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy.

Developmetal psychology refers to development throughout the lifespan, and pediatrics, the branch of medicine relating to the care of children.

Growth refers to the development of children from birth to adolescence.

Four areas in which children’s growth and development take place:

a)    Physical

b)   Psychological and cognitive

c)    Social and emotional

d)   Sexuality and gender identity

A) Understanding Life Span Development 

a)   Biological forces

b)   Psychological forces

c)    Socio-cultural forces

d)   Life cycle forces

 B)  Issues in Life Span Development

a)      Continuity and Discontinuity

b)      Stability and Change

c)      Nature vs. Nurture

C) Developmental periods of a human being

i) Childhood and adolescence {birth to age 20 (early childhood transition by age 03)}

ii) Early adulthood (age 17 to 45)

iii) Middle adulthood (age 40 to 65)

iv)          Late adulthood (over 60 years of age) (Tennat and Pogson, 1995)

D) Characteristics of Life Span Psychology

According to Baltes positive characteristics of growing old such as learning ways to compensate and overcome (Boyd and Bee, 2006) are considered important characteristics of old age.

a)   Lifelong development

b)   Development is Multidimensional

c)    Development is Multidirectional

d)   Development is Plastic

e)    Development is Contextual

f)     Development is Multidisciplinary

g)    Development involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation

h)   Development is embedded in History

i)     Normative Age Graded Influences

a)   Normative History Graded Influences

b)   Non-normative Events

E) Facts of Development

a)   Early foundations are critical

b)   Role of maturation and learning in development

c)    Development follows a definite and predictable pattern

d)   All individuals are different

e)    Each Phase of development has characteristic behavior

f)     Hazards in each phase

g)    Development is aided by stimulation

h)   Cultural changes affect the development

i)     Every stage has social expectation

j)     Traditional beliefs

 F) Research Methods in Life Span Psychology

a)   Longitudinal method

b)   Cross-section method

c)    Sequential method

d)   Time lag method