CHAPTER 4: FROM BIRTH TO DEATH: LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT



CHAPTER 4: FROM BIRTH TO DEATH: LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT

I. The Cycle of Life

A. Development Across a Life Span

1. life stages – wisely recognized periods of life corresponding to broad phases of development.

2. developmental tasks – any skill that must be mastered, or personal change that must take place for optimal development.

3. development milestone – significant turning point or marker in personal development.

4. life-span perspective – study of continuity and change in behavior over a lifetime.

5. psychosocial dilemma – conflict between personal impulses and the social world that affects development.

B. Erickson’s Psychosocial Dilemmas

1. Stage 1 – Trust vs. Mistrust (0 – 1yr.) – conflict early in life centered on learning to trust others and the world.

2. Stage 2 – Autonomy vs. Shame/Guilt (1 – 3yrs.) – conflict created when growing self-control (autonomy) is pitted against feelings of shame and doubt. Parents who ridicule/overprotect children’s “first efforts” may cause them to doubt their abilities and feel ashamed about their actions.

3. Stage 3 – Initiative vs. Guilt (3 – 5yrs.) – conflict centered around learning to take initiative while at the same time overcoming feelings of guilt about doing so. Parents reinforce initiative (make plans/carry out tasks) by giving children freedom to play, ask questions, etc., feelings of guilt about initiating activities are formed by severe criticisms and discouragement.

4. Stage 4 – Industry vs. Inferiority (6 – 12 yrs.) – conflict in middle childhood centered around lack of support for industrious behavior, which can result in feelings of inferiority. Develop sense of industry if praised for productive activities or inferiority if given negative comments.

5. Stage 5 – Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence) – major conflict of adolescence involving the need to establish a consistent personal identity.

6. Stage 6 – Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood) – challenge in early adulthood of establishing intimacy with friends, family, a lover, or a spouse vs. experiencing a sense of isolation.

7. Stage 7 – Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood) – conflict of middle adulthood in which stagnant concern for oneself is countered by interest in guiding the next generation/others.

8. Stage 8 – Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood) – conflict in old age between feelings of personal integrity and the despair that occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret.

II. Problems of Childhood

A. Normal Childhood Problems

1. overprotection – excessively guarding/shielding a child from possible stress.

2. typical difficulties (p. 141)

3. rivalry and rebellion

a. sibling rivalry – competition among brothers/sisters for attention, dominance, status within the family, etc.

b. childhood rebellion – open resistance, or defiance of, adult authority.

B. Serious childhood problems

1. toilet-training disturbances

a. enuresis – inability to control urination, i.e., bed-wetting.

b. encopresis – lack of bowel control, soiling.

2. feeding disturbance

a. overeating – eating in excess of one’s daily caloric needs.

b. anorexia nervosa – active self-starvation or a sustained loss of appetite that has psychological origins.

c. pica – eating/chewing on inedible objects or substances such as chalk, ashes, etc.

3. speech disturbances

a. delayed speech – speech that begins well after the normal age for language development has passed.

b. Stuttering – chronic hesitation/stumbling in speech.

4. learning disorders – any problem with thinking, perception, language, attention, or activity that tends to impair learning abilities.

a. dyslexia – an inability to read with understanding, often caused by a tendency to misread letters.

5. attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder – behavioral (AND COGNITIVE) problem characterized by short attention span, restless movement, and impaired learning capacity.

a. behavior modification – applying principles of learning to change/eliminate maladaptive/abnormal behavior.

b. Medication

6. conduct disorder – pattern in which children consistently violate rules and behave aggressively and destructively.

7. autism – severe disorder involving mutism, sensory spinouts, sensory blocking, tantrums, unresponsiveness to others, and other difficulties.

a. echolalia – compulsion, sometimes observed in autistic children, to repeat everything that is said.

III. Child Abuse – physical and/or emotional (psychological) harm caused by violence, mistreatment, or neglect. (Also sexual abuse)

A. Characteristics of Abusive Parents – elevated distress (personal adjustment issues, high levels of depression, anxiety, & loss of emotional/behavioral control); levels of rigidity in beliefs about raising children; and unhappiness.

B. Abuse Cycle – generational; need for support and role of therapy.

C. Preventing Child Abuse

1. Helpful Strategies

2. Dangerous Attitudes

IV. Adolescence – culturally defined period between childhood and adulthood.

A. Puberty – biologically defined period during which a person matures sexually and becomes capable of reproduction.

1. growth spurt – often dramatic acceleration in physical growth that coincides with puberty.

B. Early and Late Maturation

1. Timing

2. Hurried into Adulthood

a. social markers – visible or tangible signs that indicate a person’s social status or role.

C. Search for Identity

1. Parents and Teens – what effects do parents have on identity formation?

2. imaginary audiences – group of people a person imagines is watching (or will watch) his/her actions.

3. peer groups – group of people who share similar social status.

a. foreclosed identity – premature end to the search of personal identity.

D. Transition to Adulthood

1. emerging adulthood – period from the late teens to the mid-twenties when young people actively explore love, work, and world values.

V. Moral Development – development of values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that act as a guide regarding what is acceptable behavior.

A. Moral Dilemmas - Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

1. Preconventional moral reasoning – moral thinking based on the consequences of one’s choices or actions (punishment, reward, or an exchange of favors).

2. Conventional moral reasoning – moral thinking based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values.

3. Postconventional moral reasoning – moral thinking based on carefully examined and self-chosen moral principals.

B. Justice or Caring?

VI. Challenges of Adulthood

A. Adult Development

1. Ages 16 to 18: Escape from Dominance

2. Ages 18 to 22: Leaving the Family

3. Ages 22 to 28: Building a Workable Life

4. Ages 29 to 34: Crises of Questions – is this it?

5. Ages 35 to 43: Crisis of Urgency – reality of death

6. Ages 43 to 50: Attaining Stability

7. Ages 50 and Up: Mellowing p.154, Fig 4.4

B. A Midlife Crisis?

1. Gould described two crisis points; 23% midlife crisis, look like?

2. Levinson described transition periods: time span during which a person leaves an existing life pattern behind and moves into a new pattern.

a. 1st study: 37-41 found most men went through a period of instability, anxiety and change (same with women); about ½ defined midlife period as “last chance” to achieve goals.

b. Serious midlife decline – dead-end job/lifestyle; others achieved financial success, but feelings of “pointless.”

c. “break out” of a seriously flawed life; “start over”.

3. women seek more changes in regards to personality issues; 2/3 said made major changes in lives between 37 – 43.

C. Middle Age

1. menopause – female “change of life” signaled by the end of regular monthly menstrual periods.

2. ****HRT – recent research found significant relationship between usage and risk of breast cancer, possible heart disease; use of Effexor (antidepressant) is now being considered to address side effects of menopause.

3. andropause – gradual decline in testosterone levels in older men.

4. climacteric – point during late middle-age when males experience a significant change in health, vigor, or appearance; seen as more psychological.

5. role of exercise, diet, and secondary aging.

6. empty nest syndrome – psychological disturbance experienced by some women after their last child leaves home.

D. Well-being at Midlife: 6 elements are important – self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, continued personal growth.

VII. Aging

A. The Course of Aging

1. Biological aging – physiological changes that accompany growing older.

2. maximum life span – biologically defined maximum number of years humans can live under optimal conditions.

3. life expectancy – average number of years a person of a given sex, race, and nationality can expect to live 73 vs. 81.

4. mental abilities

a. gerontologists – one who scientifically studies aging and its effects.

b. Fluid abilities – problem solving based upon innate, nonlearned abilities based on perceptual, motor, or intellectual speed and flexibility – although learning/teaching can certainly improve it.

c. Crystallized abilities – abilities that a person intentionally learned; accumulated knowledge and skills.

B. Successful Aging

1. disengagement theory of aging – theory stating that it is normal for older people to withdraw from society and from roles they held earlier – relief from roles and responsibilities because they are less able to fulfill them.

2. activity theory – theory stating that the best adjustment to aging occurs when people remain active mentally, socially, and physically; use it or lose it theory.

3. Best? Most studies support activity theory; however author suggests probably requires a combination of the two.

4. Compensation and Optimization – importance of being able to maintain control over lives.

C. Ageism – discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s age.

D. Countering Myths About Aging

1. Myth Vs. Fact

a. Neugarten study: most prefer to live apart; rarely placed in mental hospitals by uncaring children; not necessarily lonely living alone; few show signs of senility and mental illness.

b. Harvard Medical School Study: characteristics of happy/healthy older people – optimism; gratitude; empathy; connection.

VIII. Death and Dying

A. Reactions to Impending Death

1. thanatologist – a specialist who studies emotional and behavioral reactions to death and dying.

2. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: denial & isolation; anger; bargaining; depression; acceptance.

3. near-death experience – pattern of subjective experiences that may occur when a person is clinically dead and then resuscitated.

B. Bereavement and Grief

1. bereavement – period of emotional adjustment that follows the death of a loved one.

2. grief – intense emotional state that follows the death of a lover, friend, or relative. Follows a pattern.

3. shock – 1st period of grief; during grief, a period during which a person seems dazed or numb and shows little emotion.

4. pangs of grief – follows shock; episodes of intense and anguished yearning for a person who has died.

5. apathy – grief gives way to apathy; indifference, listlessness, and a loss of motivation.

6. dejection – follows grief, demoralization & discouragement.

7. depression – grief gives way to depression; state of deep despondency marked by emotional negativity and behavioral inhibition; can be call reactive depression.

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