Human Growth
and
Development
Chapter 1
Introduction
PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont College
Revised by Jenni Fauchier, Metropolitan Community College
Studying the Life Span:
Five Characteristics
• The study of human development is the
science that seeks to understand
– how and why all kinds of people change over time
– how and why they remain the same
– the generalities and the specifics
• Focus is on all kinds of people
- age, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity,
sexuality, background, culture, and nationality
Studying the Life Span:
Five Characteristics, cont.
• Change from conception to death—the
five characteristics
– A Life-Span Perspective
• multidirectional—nonlinear progression (1)
• multicontextual—a number of contexts (2)
• multicultural—many cultural settings (3)
• multidisciplinary—many academic disciplines
contribute data (4)
• plasticity—change through the life span (5)
Multidirectional (1)
• Each aspect of life is multidirectional
– physical health, intellectual growth, and social
interaction
– up, down, stable or erratic
• Dynamic Systems
– process of continual change within a person or
group, in which each change is connected
systematically to every other development in
each individual and every society
Physical Growth
• Growth in height and weight is not
linear
• Fluctuations in body weight are
affected by many other changes
– appetite, nutrition, family, stress, exercise,
culture, food supply, and climate
– historical changes can have powerful effects
• “obesity epidemic” in the U.S. today
Effects, Large and Small
• Butterfly effect—the idea that a small
action or event may set off a series of
changes culminating in a major event
• Opposite Idea
– a large change may have little or no effect
• Family Dynamics
– influence vulnerability or resiliency
– strong bond with loving caregiver can protect against
adversity of many kinds
Multicontextual (2)
• Humans develop in many contexts
that influence development
– physical and family
– focus on three facets of social context
• historical, socioeconomic, and cultural
Three Broad Contexts Within the Social
Context
Historical Context
• Historical context involves
cohorts, social constructions
– impact of historical context varies with
age
The Socioeconomic Context
• Socioeconomic includes
– socioeconomic status (ses),
• education, income, neighborhood,
occupation of household head
Families and Neighborhoods
• Economics
– poverty
• Collective Efficacy—neighbors that
create a functioning, informal network of
people who show concern for each other
and their block
• Supportive Family Relationships
– quality of parenting
– family support best predictor of health and
happiness
The Cultural Context
• Cultural—set of values, assumptions,
and customs as well as physical
objects such as clothing, housing,
etc.
– includes all decisions people make
– is dynamic, supportive
Who Sleeps with Whom?
• Example from Figure 1.2 showing
configuration of sleeping
arrangements
– in Western cultures, husband and wife
sleep together
– not all cultures have the same ideas
about sleeping arrangements
Multicultural (3)
• Two examples of various
practices provide insights into
culture—(1) Too Rich to Marry?
And (2) The Children’s House
Too Rich to Marry?
• Worldwide, the richer the man, the more likely
he is to marry
• Is a woman a less desirable mate if she earns
more income and therefore would be less
dependent on the male?
– higher income for women
• reduced marriage prospects in Japan
• increased marriage prospects slightly in U.S.
• increased marriage prospects significantly in Sweden
• findings reflective of a country’s gender equality
The Children’s House
• Kibbutz Sleeping Arrangements
– different sleeping practices, with some
children sleeping in Children’s House,
while others slept at home
– children who slept away ended up having
negative consequences
• difficulty talking about, relating to
family members
Ethnicity, Race, and Income
• Ethnic group—collection of people
who share certain attributes,
almost always including ancestral
heritage and often including
national origin, religion, customs,
and language
• People can belong to more than
one culture
Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.
• Race—a social construction by
which biological traits are used to
differentiate people whose
ancestors came from various
regions of the world
– a distorted concept
• SES variations tend to follow
ethnic variations
Ethnicity, Race, and Income, cont.
• The Person Within the
System
– divergent directions, contextual
influences, cohort effect
Multidisciplinary (4)
• Body, Mind, and Spirit
• Three domains
– biosocial
– cognitive
– psychosocial
• Williams Family Example
• Combination of Nature vs. Nurture
Plasticity (5)
• Plasticity—capacity to change
• Characteristics can be molded into
different forms and shapes or a
durability can be maintained
• Provides hope and realism
– change is possible
– people must build on what came before (raw
materials = genes, families, cultures,
experiences)
The Person Within the
Context
• Person is guided in divergent directions
by many contextual influences
• No one is “average”— each person unique
– each person has unique genes and experiences
– Paul Baltes (Founder of lifespan developmental study)
• “We need to keep in mind that the future is not
something we simply enter, the future is also
something we help create.”
Developmental Study as a
Science
• Based on objective evidence
(objective)
• Laden with personal implications
and applications (subjective)
Scientific Method
• Scientific method—general way to
seek evidence to answer question,
involving four basic steps and
sometimes a fifth.
1. formulate a research question
2. develop a hypothesis
hypothesis—a specific prediction that is
stated in such a way it can be tested and
either confirmed or refuted
Scientific Method, cont.
3. test the hypothesis
4. draw conclusions
5. make findings available
• replication—the repetition of a
scientific study using the same
procedures on another group of
participants to verify or refute
the original study’s conclusion
Research Methods
• Four Methods of Testing
Hypotheses
– observations
– experiments
– surveys
– case studies
Observation
• Scientific observation—observing and
recording (unbiased) in a systematic
way what people do
– Limitation: it does not indicate
what causes behavior we observe
– Types
• Unobtrusive or naturalistic
• Participant
• Simulated
Observation, cont.
• Correlation and Causation
– Naturalistic observation provides no
definitive answers about causes
– Correlation exists between two variables
if one variable is more (or less) likely to
occur when the other occurs
– correlation indicates a connection, but
does not specify reason (cause) for it
The Experiment
• Experiment—investigation designed to untangle
cause from effect
– independent variable—imposed treatment or special
condition
– dependent variable —specific behavior being studied
– experimental group —participants who are given
particular treatment
– comparison (control) group —participants who are not
given special treatment but are similar to experimental
group in other relevant ways
How to Conduct an Experiment
The Survey
• Survey—information collected
from personal interview,
questionnaire, etc.
The Case Study
• Case study—intensive study
of one individual or situation
Studying Changes over Time
• Developmental research must be
able to deal with changes that
continue over time
– research design allows researchers to
include time, or age, as a factor
– three basic designs:
• cross-sectional, longitudinal, crosssequential
Cross-sectional Research
• Cross-sectional researchresearch that studies groups
differing in age but sharing other
important characteristics
(education, SES, ethnicity)
Longitudinal Research
• Longitudinal research—research
that studies individuals over a long
period; valuable developmental
information from longitudinal
studies includes
– adjustment to divorce
– role of fathers in child development
– prevention of teenage delinquency
Cross-Sequential Research
• Cross-sequential research—
research that studies several
groups of people of different
ages, then follows those groups
longitudinally
Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and CrossSequential Research: Which is Best?
Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and CrossSequential Research: Which is Best?, cont.
The Ecological-Systems
Approach: A Synthesis
• Ecological-systems approach—
research that takes into
consideration the relationship
between the individual and the
environment
– Uri Bronfrenbrenner
Ethics and Science
• General principles of code of ethics
– never harm participants either physically or
psychologically
– explain purposes and procedures of study
– secure informed consent
– keep data on participants private
– allow participants to stop at any time
Implications of Research
• Deliberate or accidental
deception?
• Misinterpretation?
• Replicable?
What Should We Study?
• Are scientists studying issues that
are crucial to human development?
– human sexual urges and actions to prevent
STDs, pregnancy, and sexual abuse and to
cure infertility
– stress, poverty, and prejudice
– children’s anger
– retirement