Lifespan

Some theories purport that development is a continuous process taking place throughout our lives. Others said there were key periods (or stages) when certain aspects of development are more apt to occur. Some theories suggest a single course of development that everyone will follow, while others suggest development will be unique to each person based on factors such as family or environment. Finally, some argue development is based on genetics, while others argue the environment will ultimately determine our development.

Each of these dichotomies have merit, which is where the Lifespan Perspective comes into play. Lifespan Developmental Theories are based on four key assumptions.

1. Development is lifelong.

Development doesn't magically stop when we become adolescents, or when we graduate from high school, or even when we reach the legal drinking age in the US. Instead Lifespan Development understand development is an ongoing process. Research from the Dutch Famine Studies (we will delve into this later in the semester) provide evidence that our development started long before we were even conceived and that our health and actions will have consequences for your offspring for generations to follow.

2. Development is multi-dimensional (a blend of biological, psychological, and social focus) and multi-directional (a joint expression of growth and decline).

Over the course of this term we will focus on four specific domains or dimensions of human development.

1. Physical (Our health and the bodily functioning)
2. Cognition (The way we think and why we think that way)
3. Social (How we interact with others & our environment)
4. Emotion (Our mental health and well-being)

To say that development is multi-directional, suggests that throughout the lifespan we see both growth and decline. We typically associate childhood with growth and later life with decline, but children experience declines, too. Sally may have learned to play the recorder in second grade, but unless she continued to practice and grow that skill, it regressed or was replaced with growth in other areas, such as language or cognitive development in mathematics or other areas. The elderly may experience changes in memory. While we might commonly characterize these changes as losses, that would be a misnomer. Older adults may just require more time for memory retrieval and their years of life experience contributes to a growth in wisdom in their later years.

3. Development is highly plastic (it happens throughout our lives, but it does gradually decrease).

Development plasticity has sometimes been referred to as the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Development is a series of changes that occur. Change is often dependent upon capacity and opportunity, both of which we experience in various levels throughout our lives.

4. Development is affected by multiple, interacting sources, such as age-graded influences, history-graded influences, and non-normative influences.

Age-graded influences suggest that certain development is more apt to occur, or occur more easily, at particular times in our lives. For example, we know that the ideal age for walking tends to be around a year of age, but if a child in restrained in captivity (a non-normative influence, remember Genie Wiley) that trauma will delay or deter her development in that area at the time-frames we have come to expect. Similarly, history-graded influences can also impact our development. Imagine the different educational development of a child that entered grade school at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to a senior in high school.

Let's consider the social work perspective on human development next.