Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Understanding Life-Span
Human Development
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1

Three broad domains
Physical
Development
Cognitive
Psychosocial
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1

Growth
 Physical changes that occur from conception to maturity

Biological aging
 Deterioration of organisms that leads to death
 Gain-stability-loss

Aging
 Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, positive and n
egative, in the mature organism
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1


Age Grade: Socially defined age groups
Statuses, roles, privileges, responsibilities
Rite of passage
 Ritual that marks a person’s “passage” from
one status to another
 Body painting
 Bar or bat mitzvahs (Jewish)
 Quinceañera (Hispanic American girls)

Age Norms: Behavioral expectations by age

Social Clock: When things should be done

“Off time” vs. “On time” experiences
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1


Ethnicity
 People’s classification or affiliation with a group
based on common heritage or traditions
Socioeconomic status (SES)
 Standing in society based on occupational
prestige, education, and income
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1

Poverty can be damaging to human development
 2010 - 22% of children in US lived below the
poverty line
 Lower academic achievement, poorer mental he
alth and wellbeing
 Increased stress
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Maturation: (nature) The biological unfolding of
the individual genetic plan
Learning: (nurture) Relatively permanent changes
due to environmental experiences

Developmental changes are the products of a
complex interplay between nature and nurture
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1



Description
Normal development, individual differences
Explanation
Typical and individually different development
Optimization
Positive development, enhancing human
capacities
Prevention and overcoming difficulties
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Development is
A lifelong process
 Involves both gain and loss
 Characterized by lifelong plasticity
 Shaped by its historical-cultural context
 Multiply influenced

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
objective, systematic, and testable
Report, revise,
replicate
Draw conclusions
Test
3
Hypothesize (based on
theory)
Perceive
1
2
5
4
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Figure 1.2
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Sampling
Population
Unrepresentative
sample
Sampling procedure
Representative
sample
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Population – all the cases in a group
Random Sampling
if each member has an equal
chance of inclusion into a
sample, we call that a
random sample (unbiased).
The fastest way to know about
the marble color ratio is to
blindly transfer a few into a
smaller jar and count them.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
INFERENCE
POPULATION
SAMPLE
16
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1

Verbal reports - involve asking people
questions about themselves or others
 Interviews
 Written questionnaires or surveys
 Ability and achievement tests
 Personality scales
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes,
opinions or behaviors of people
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org
18
A) Naturalistic Observation:
Observing subjects in natural environments
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
B) Structured observations
 Achieve greater control over the conditions
 Create special stimuli, tasks, or situations
designed to elicit the behavior of interest
 Will research participants behave naturally?
 Will behavior generalize to behavior in the
real world?
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
 Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
 Measures increase in blood flow to an area of the
brain that occurs when that brain area is active
 Hard to fake
 Useful in the study of infants
 Not always clear exactly about what is being
assessed
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Case Study
Phineas Gage
Is language uniquely human?
1.22
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
When one trait or behavior accompanies
another, we say the two correlate.
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)
Correlation
coefficient
Correlation Coefficient is a statistic
al measure of relationship between
two variables.
r = + 0.37
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
23
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
or
25
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Coefficient
Range
Strength of
Relationship
0.00 - 0.20
Very Low
0.20 - 0.40
Low
0.40 - 0.60
Moderate
0.60 - 0.80
High Moderate
0.80 - 0.90
High
0.90 - 1.00
Very High
26
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1



Operational definition - definition of a
variable of interest that allows it to be
directly measured.
Independent variable (IV) - variable in an
experiment that is manipulated by the
experimenter.
Dependent variable (DV) - variable in an
experiment that represents the
measurable response or behavior of the
subjects in the experiment.
Definition:
Hitting while
playing
IV:
Violent
TV
DV:
Aggressive
play
27
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Random Assignment
Assigning participants to experimental (Breast-fed)
and control (formula-fed) conditions by random
assignment minimizes pre-existing differences
between the two groups.
28
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
LO 1.11 Experimental approach andChapter
terms1
Experimental Group
SAMPLE
Test for Differences
Control Group
29
Menu
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
LO 1.11 Experimental approach andChapter
terms1
Effect of violent tv on aggression
Experimental Group
SAMPLE
Are differences due to manipulation
or confounding variable (mood)?
Control Group
30
Menu
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
LO 1.11 Experimental approach andChapter
terms1
Effect of violent tv on aggression
Experimental Group
SAMPLE
Differences due to manipulation,
not an extraneous variable because
mood randomly determined.
Control Group
31
Menu
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
 Placebo effect
 Single-blind
 Experimenter bias
& “double blinding”
 Quasi-experimental designs
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Getty Images
Psychological Research
Chapter 1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Below is a comparison of different research
methods.
35
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
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
Cross-Sectional Designs
1 cohort (same generation) or age-groups studied
1 time of testing
Studying age differences at any one time
Longitudinal Designs
1 cohort (same generation)
1 time of testing
Study changes across time in one cohort
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Figure 1.4
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1

Age effects: Changes which occur due to age

Cohort Effects: Born in one historical context
Changes due to differences in society
Disadvantage of cross-sectional design

Time of measurement effects: Historical
Take place at time of data collection
Disadvantage of longitudinal design
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1



A combination of cross-sectional and
longitudinal designs
Advantages of both designs
Gives information about
Which age-related trends are age effects?
Which age-related trends are truly cohort
effects?
Which age-related trends are a result of
historical events?
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
Figure 1.6
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
© 2015. Cengage Learning. All
rights reserved.
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 1
1

Protection of rights and well-being of participants
2

Informed consent
3

Justification when deception is used
4

Right of participants to withdraw at any time
5

Protection of participants from harm
6

Confidentiality
7

Debriefing participants at the end of the study
8

Correcting any undesirable consequences that may result