Overview
This lecture introduces lifespan development, a field in psychology focused on human growth and change across all stages of life, emphasizing multidimensional, multidirectional, and plastic aspects of development.
Lifespan Development: Definition and Domains
- Lifespan development studies how humans grow and change from birth to death.
- It covers three primary domains: physical (body growth and motor skills), cognitive (thinking, reasoning, memory), and psychosocial (personality, emotions, relationships).
- Development is a lifelong process involving continual change, not ending at adulthood.
Key Principles of Lifespan Development
- Development is multidimensional: changes occur simultaneously in biological, cognitive, and socioemotional areas.
- These domains interact; a change in one can trigger changes in others (e.g., physical decline affecting emotions).
- Development is multidirectional: some abilities grow while others decline, often at the same time (e.g., wisdom increases as reflexes slow with age).
Context and Disciplines in Development
- Development is multicontextual: shaped by factors like family, culture, history, education, and life experiences.
- It is multidisciplinary: understanding development requires insights from biology, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and more.
Plasticity in Lifespan Development
- Plasticity refers to the human capacity to change and adapt across the lifespan.
- People can learn new skills and behaviors at any age, contrary to the belief that change is limited to childhood.
- Plasticity enables recovery from disability or the development of new abilities later in life.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Lifespan development — the scientific study of growth and change from birth to death.
- Physical domain — body growth, motor skills, and health.
- Cognitive domain — mental processes such as thinking, reasoning, and learning.
- Psychosocial domain — aspects involving emotions, personality, and relationships.
- Multidimensional — development occurs across multiple, interacting domains.
- Multidirectional — growth and decline happen together in different areas.
- Multicontextual — development varies depending on context and environment.
- Multidisciplinary — multiple academic fields contribute to understanding development.
- Plasticity — the capacity for change and adaptability at any age.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review examples illustrating multidimensional, multidirectional, and plastic development.
- Prepare to identify real-life cases showing these principles.
- Read about major lifespan theories (e.g., Erikson, Piaget) for further context.