Transcript Objective 11-9

Reflections on Two Major
Developmental Issues
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Any survey of developmental psychology
must consider three points
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How development is controlled though
interactions of genes and experiences
Whether development is a gradual continuous
process or a series of distinct stages
Whether development is characterized more by
stability over time or by change
Continuity and Stages
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Researchers who emphasize experience and
learning see development as one slow, continuous
process
Those who emphasize biological maturation tend to
see development as a series of distinct steps
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Caterpillar -> Chrysalis -> Butterfly
Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Erik Erikson
propose that such stages do exist
However there are speculations that these stages
do not exist
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Some children have been found or attributed with
characteristics not found in their own respective stages but
of older stages
Stability and Change
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Another point theorizing on development
psychology is: Stability or change
Evidence have been found on both causes
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Personalities are usually constant and stabilizes
over time
And
Life is a process of change and of becoming
Researcher’s Agreement
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Researchers have though come to an agreement to the following points:
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The first two years provide a poor basis in predicting a person’s eventual traits.
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Characteristics such as temperament are more stable than others such as social
attitudes
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Delinquent children have been found to turn out to be successful adults regardless of their
past habits
As time goes on, personalities stabilize
Research on 1000 New Zealanders from age 3 to 26; have found out that there is a
consistency of temperament and emotionality across time. Thus coming to a conclusion
that there is stability within temperament and emotionality alike
In ways more than one, all people change with age
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Shy, fearful babies begin opening up at the age of 4
People become calmer, more self-disciplined, understandable, and confident after
adolescence
20 year old goof offs have turned into 40 year old business leaders or cultural leaders
A hard driving teenager’s determination may weaken as time goes by, yet later still be a
relatively hard driven elder