Lifespan Development and Area E

Summary

Professor Maureen Smith introduces the concept of Area E in the Engineering 10 course, focusing on human development and lifespan. She emphasizes the importance of understanding physiological, social, psychological, and cognitive aspects of development to foster personal growth. The course aims to help students recognize the interconnectedness of these elements, use social skills for positive relationships, and apply campus resources for academic and personal development. Smith outlines the scientific approach to human development, involving empirical evidence, critical thinking, and various research methods.

Takeaways

• 📘 Area E focuses on human development and aims to help students integrate physiological, social, psychological, cognitive, and emotional aspects of themselves.
• 🌟 The course's goal is for students to develop strategies for continuous personal growth and evolution throughout their lifespan.
• 🎯 Area E has four specific learning objectives: understanding well-being, recognizing the interconnection of development elements, utilizing social skills for positive relationships, and comprehending one's stage of human development.
• 🔍 Lifespan development is approached scientifically, seeking to separate facts from opinions through empirical evidence and data.
• 📊 Human development is multi-directional, with traits changing in various ways over time, such as increases, decreases, or remaining steady.
• 🌐 Development is multi-contextual, influenced by physical, social, and ecological systems, including microsystems, exo systems, macro systems, and meso systems.
• 🌟 The concept of 'plasticity' in human development means that traits can be molded and changed at almost any point in life.
• 🧬 The nature versus nurture debate acknowledges that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in human development.
• 👶 Critical and sensitive periods are times during development when certain experiences are crucial for normal development or when development occurs most easily.
• 🌈 Lifespan development considers a broad perspective, looking at people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, nations, and sexual orientations to understand both universal and specific aspects.
• 🔄 Dynamic systems theory in development recognizes that changes in one aspect of development can affect all other aspects, emphasizing the interconnectedness of development.

Q & A

What is the purpose of integrating physiological, social, and psychological aspects in the engineering course?

The purpose is to help students see themselves as integrated individuals and create strategies for personal growth and development throughout their lifespan, avoiding stagnation.

What does Area E focus on in terms of human development?

Area E focuses on lifespan development, aiming to understand why and how people change over time from a scientific perspective.

What are the four specific learning objectives of Area E?

The four learning objectives are: recognizing the interconnected influences on well-being, understanding the impact of development across the lifespan, using social skills to build positive relationships, and recognizing one's current stage of human development and how it is affected by the context.

How does the engineering course incorporate the learning objectives?

The course incorporates learning objectives through activities like term papers, robot projects, clicker assignments, journal write-ups, and self-reflections that connect to campus life and well-being.

What does empirical evidence mean in the context of lifespan development?

Empirical evidence in lifespan development refers to evidence based on data that allows for objective truth and is gathered through careful statistical analysis and critical thinking.

How is lifespan development described as multi-directional?

Lifespan development is multi-directional as human characteristics can increase, decrease, or remain steady, and development can follow various patterns such as linear, curvilinear, or zigzag.

What is meant by multi-contextual development?

Multi-contextual development refers to the various contexts in which development occurs, including physical, social, and cultural environments, as well as larger systems like the economy and political policies.

How does the concept of plasticity relate to human development?

Plasticity in human development means that human traits can be molded and altered at almost any point in the lifespan, indicating that development is not fixed and can be influenced by various factors.

What is the difference between a critical period and a sensitive period in development?

A critical period is a time when certain experiences must occur for normal development, while a sensitive period is a time when a particular development happens most easily, though it can still occur outside of this period.

Why is it important to study human development from a broad perspective?

Studying human development from a broad perspective helps to understand both universal and specific aspects of development, avoiding limited conclusions and recognizing alternative pathways.

How does the concept of dynamic systems apply to lifespan development?

Dynamic systems in lifespan development refer to the continuous changes and interactions between different aspects of development, where change in one aspect can affect all others, emphasizing the interconnectedness of development.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Lifespan Development in Engineering Education

Professor Maureen Smith introduces the concept of Area E, which focuses on human development and its integration with physiological, social, psychological, and cognitive aspects. The aim is to encourage personal growth and development throughout one's lifespan. The course objectives include understanding how well-being is shaped by interconnected developmental elements, recognizing the impact of these elements across the lifespan, using social skills to build positive relationships, and understanding one's current stage of human development and how it is influenced by the context of San Jose State University. The professor outlines various activities and projects designed to help students meet these objectives, such as writing a term paper and engaging in robot projects that explore lifespan development issues.

05:02

🔬 The Scientific Approach to Lifespan Development

The script explains the scientific method used in studying lifespan development, emphasizing the importance of empirical evidence and objective truth. It discusses how data is collected and analyzed to understand human development, and the use of theory to drive research questions. The scientific method involves careful statistical analysis, critical thinking, and sound methodology in designing experiments and choosing measures. The paragraph also touches on the multi-directional nature of human development, where traits can increase, decrease, or remain steady, and how development can be linear, curvilinear, or zigzag. It also introduces the concept of multi-contextual development, which considers various contexts such as physical, social, and ecological systems.

10:03

🌐 Multi-Contextual and Multidisciplinary Nature of Lifespan Development

This section delves into the multi-contextual aspect of development, discussing how human development occurs in various contexts such as physical, social, and ecological systems. It introduces the ecological systems theory, which includes microsystems (immediate surroundings), exosystems (local institutions), macro systems (larger societal context), and meso systems (connections between different systems). The paragraph also discusses the chrono system, which considers historical conditions and how they shape development. The concept of multicultural development is introduced, emphasizing the importance of understanding development within the context of different cultures and groups. Lastly, it highlights the multidisciplinary approach to lifespan development, drawing from various academic disciplines such as psychology, sociology, biology, and urban planning.

15:04

🌱 Key Themes in Lifespan Development

The script outlines key themes in lifespan development, including the nature versus nurture debate, critical and sensitive periods, and the importance of considering development from a broad perspective. It discusses how traits and characteristics are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, and how the understanding of these influences has evolved. The concept of critical periods, where certain experiences are necessary for normal development, and sensitive periods, where development occurs most easily, are explained. The paragraph also emphasizes the importance of looking at development across the lifespan, considering both universal and specific aspects, and recognizing that differences in development do not necessarily indicate a deficit but can be alternative pathways.

20:05

🔄 Dynamic Systems and Changes Over Time

This section focuses on the dynamic nature of development, where changes in one aspect of the system can affect all other aspects. It discusses the importance of understanding development as a series of continuous and discontinuous changes, with both consistency and transformation occurring throughout the lifespan. The role of age in understanding what is normative and appropriate at different stages of development is highlighted. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the interconnectedness and mutual influence of all aspects of development, which is why it is referred to as a dynamic system.

Keywords

💡Lifespan Development

Lifespan Development refers to the scientific study of how humans change and grow throughout their lives. It encompasses physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development from conception to death. In the video, Professor Maureen Smith emphasizes the importance of understanding lifespan development to create strategies for personal growth and to utilize campus resources effectively.

💡Area E

Area E is a category within general education that focuses on human development. The video explains that Area E courses aim to help students integrate various aspects of their physiological, social, and psychological development. It also highlights four specific learning objectives for Area E courses, which include understanding how well-being is shaped by different types of development.

💡Interconnectedness

Interconnectedness in the context of the video refers to the idea that different aspects of human development—physiological, social, cultural, and psychological—are linked and influence each other. The script mentions that these elements impact a person's development from before birth until death, illustrating how interconnected development is across the lifespan.

💡Well-being

Well-being, as discussed in the video, is influenced by the integration of physiological, social, cultural, and psychological development. The script suggests that understanding these influences can help students create strategies for personal growth and use campus resources to support their academic and personal development.

💡Empirical Evidence

Empirical evidence is data-based evidence that forms the foundation of scientific research in human development. The video explains that empirical evidence is crucial for separating facts from opinions in the study of human development, ensuring that conclusions are objective and can be replicated in other studies.

💡Multidirectional

Multidirectional development indicates that human characteristics can change in various ways over time, including increases, decreases, or remaining steady. The video provides examples such as the loss of stepping reflex in infants and the narrowing of language abilities as children develop their first words, illustrating how multidirectional development occurs.

💡Multicontextual

Multicontextual development acknowledges that development occurs in various contexts such as physical, social, and cultural environments. The video mentions the ecological system theory, which includes microsystems, exosystems, macro systems, and meso systems, to explain how different contexts influence development.

💡Plasticity

Plasticity in human development refers to the ability of human traits to be molded and changed at any point in the lifespan. The video suggests that while there is a core part of a person that remains stable, other traits and characteristics can be altered, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

💡Scientific Method

The scientific method in the study of lifespan development involves a systematic approach to understanding human behavior and growth. The video outlines the process of developing hypotheses, testing them, and reporting findings, which is essential for generating reliable knowledge about human development.

💡Dynamic Systems

Dynamic systems in the context of the video refers to the concept that all aspects of development are interconnected and influence each other. Change in one aspect can lead to changes in other aspects. The video uses the example of age-appropriate behaviors to illustrate how dynamic systems operate in human development.

💡Nature vs. Nurture

The nature versus nurture debate is a classic discussion in the field of human development that explores the relative contributions of genetic inheritance (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) to a person's characteristics. The video suggests that the debate is shifting towards understanding the proportion of each factor in different traits.

Highlights

Introduction to Area E and Lifespan Development

Goal of Area E: Integrated personal growth

Importance of using SJSU resources for academic and personal development

Area E's four specific learning objectives

Interconnection of physiological, social, and psychological development

Using social skills to build positive relationships

Understanding the stage of human development in emerging adulthood

Designed activities to demonstrate understanding of learning objectives

Writing a term paper on physiological, social, cultural, and psychological influences

Robot projects to explore lifespan development

Self-reflections to understand campus impact on well-being

Lifespan development as a scientific perspective

Importance of empirical evidence in human development studies

Multidirectional nature of human characteristics change

Multicontextual development across various settings

Ecological systems theory and its components

Chrono system and historical conditions' impact on development

Plasticity in human development

Scientific method in lifespan psychology

Observational and experimental research methods

Cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches in data collection

Nature versus nurture debate in development

Critical and sensitive periods in development

Broad perspective on lifespan development

Dynamic systems and changes over time

Transcripts

good morning by the time you are

listening to this you will be in week 9

of your engineering 10 introduction to

engineering course my name is professor

maureen smith i am a professor of child

and adolescent development in the lori

college of education on the opposite

side of campus from where your

engineering building is

i am the person that's been asked to

help turn your engineering 10 course

into

a course that meets the requirements for

general education in area e less than

development so i thought i'd start out

by introducing you to what area e is and

what lifespan development is so that you

have a basic grounding and basic

understanding of the kinds of things

that we're going to be focusing on

during this week in engineering

so as an area e course which is human

development and

what we really want you to do is sort of

see yourself as a person who has

integrated their physiological their

social and they're psychological

cognitive emotional basically

aspects of themselves we also want to

make sure that you can sort of create

strategies that will allow you to

continue to grow as a person and develop

and evolve as a person for the rest of

your lifespan so that you don't just

stagnate at age 25. then finally one of

the sort of overall goals is that you'll

be able to use the resources here at san

jose state in a way that they support

your academic growth and your personal

personal development

now area e also has four very specific

learning objectives so they are quite

similar in some ways the content goals

in the sense that we again want you to

recognize that your well-being is shaped

by

the way that the your physiological

development your social cultural as well

as your psychological development comes

together and then that influences and

shapes your well-being

we also want you to recognize that those

elements of your development

physiological social cultural

psychological are interconnected and

they're going to

impact your development all the way

across the span it started before birth

and it will continue all the way up

until you die

and then of course

we also want you to be able to use

social skills in ways that will allow

you to get positive relationships with

people on campus get along well with and

work with a wide range of people and

individuals

and then the last one is that we

definitely want you to understand that

you are a person going through a

particular stage of human development in

your case it will be emerging adulthood

and that your well-being at this stage

is will be affected by the context that

you're in specifically here at san jose

state the academic and social systems

and then we want you to understand how

they can help you actually

succeed in this particular stage and

move forward to the next one now we have

designed a series of activities

and

opportunities so that you can

demonstrate that you've understood and

mastered these learning objectives

pretty soon you'll be writing a term

paper that will get you to

understanding this first one recognizing

the physiological social cultural

psychological influences on your

well-being when you get to the robot

projects towards the end of the semester

we'll be looking at um you know sort of

lifespan development issues in the

context of physiological social cultural

psychological factors you've already

done some clicker assignments that have

looked at social skills some journal

write-ups and of course your

self-reflections have really been taking

you across campus and around campus to

help you see

how campus can improve your well-being

or relate to your well-being over

time okay so area e is a lifespan human

development course

and

the bottom line of human development

lifespan development is that we want to

understand

why people change over time and how

that change happens

and we take it from a very specific

scientific perspective so everybody of

everybody in your class everybody in

your family everybody on this campus has

opinions about human development we all

have opinions about how to best feed an

infant how to discipline children how to

structure adolescents time how to deal

with stress how to cope with an empty

nest when your kids leave home and how

to care for the elderly as they progress

closer and closer towards their final

days

but what science does from the

psychological science the social science

perspective

is really seek to separate out facts

from opinions and we do this by

gathering evidence

and so we rely on empirical evidence and

that means evidence that's based on data

and this ensures that there's a degree

of object truth objective truth to what

it is that we're talking about human

development so that we look at um group

averages and of course always there's

exceptions but we really look at what

does the data say about the vast

majority of people in this particular

setting

and

when we do this objective um as best as

objective as we can get scientific

method we're allowed to then make

conclusions

that are accepted by the scientific

community because

these empirical findings are such that

they can be later replicated with other

groups of subjects and other people in

other labs so our goal is really

replication and empirical

data objectivity and so

we use data we get numbers we are able

to collect data about people numbers we

are theory driven theory drives

the questions we ask and how we think

about human development we do very

careful statistical analysis of the data

that we've collected

we engage in critical thinking as we

think about what is this data means what

is it showing us and of course we use

very sound methodology and choose our

experiments and our ms and on our

measures and our design very very

carefully

now lifespan device development really

when you think about it as a science has

many different components to it so one

of the things is that it's

multi-directional

and what that really means is that human

characteristics change in many different

ways over time

you know traits and human

characteristics can increase they can

decrease they can hold steady you could

develop you know development could look

like a straight line it could look

curvilinear which is like an upside down

umbrella or a right side up umbrella or

it can zigzag like a z only horizontal

changes can be in stages

so development follows after development

so first you babble then you have first

words and you have two word sentences

and you have full sentences

and sometimes it's much more gradual so

for example when children are gaining

vocabulary between the ages of six and

ten the development is gradual and slow

and they just ever more

increase the number of words they have

and what's happening this gets bigger

but it's a slow gradual development

we also know that in terms of

multi-directional that

human development can have gains and

losses that occur simultaneously

sometimes loss leads to gain sometimes

gain leads to loss one perfect example

of this is that when infants are first

born

they can

wiggle their legs

when they're lying on their backs in

such a way that they mimic stepping and

when you hold them up over a table or a

flat surface

they mimic the act of stepping and

walking even though they're only about a

month old

now by the time infants are about four

months old they're really no longer

capable of doing this they've lost that

ability

but they have gained the ability to have

motor control

greater muscular strength so gain lead

to loss

similarly

when babies are first born

they can babble in the sound of every

language on the known every known

language on the planet they can make

sound in swahili in russian in puerto

rican in english and scottish in german

and japanese all the different sounds of

those languages

by the time they develop their first

words which is around one years of age

they are limited to the sound of their

cultural community so again a gain and

ability to speak is associated with a

loss of that wider range of

linguist sounds

and then we also want to look at not

only averages but variations

now secondly

microphone development is

multi-contextual

that is it happens in a lot of different

contexts such as the physical context

the climate you're in noise population

density

the social context of family school work

neighbors peers classmates

[Music]

the ecological system is is really one

of the great theories and it really

looks at sort of um different processes

um including you know the built

environment and the social context so

you have

microsystems which are your immediate

surroundings

like your parents like your dorm mates

we have exo systems which are local

institutions

like the csu system

work institutions religious

organizations

you have a macro system which is the

larger context it's the values of the

culture on the political system the

economic policies of the united states

or whatever country you live in

and then the meso system is really

connections between work and home like

family leave policy or between

school and parents when they have

parent-teacher conference nights etc

and then brian from brenner's theory

also takes into account the chrono

system where you look at historical

conditions

so people born in different times of

different experiences that really shaped

their lives

an example of this is relevant for today

is that you know youth today know more

gay people and are more accepting of gay

marriage than their grandparents

because um

for their grandparents nobody was out

nobody was open about homosexuality when

their grandparents were forming their

opinions similarly youth in the 50s were

much more accepting of war than youth in

the 1970s

youth in the 1950s observed the the

heroism of world war ii

and the need to stop atrocities whereas

the years of 1970s saw the disaster of

the vietnam war and so

that you know time period that you're

born in makes a difference so that's all

under multi-contextual

multicultural really means that you know

meaning and information systems are

shared by a group they're transmitted

across several generations everything

that you know matters for happiness in

life everything affects every action

and so it involves a nation an ethnic

group a regional area the neighborhood

the members of any group that you happen

to belong to

and then finally it's multidisciplinary

we draw in many different academic

disciplines so in my field i'm a

psychologist but we also look at

sociology biology anthropology urban

planning medicine you get the idea

and

here

it's important to note

that there are three very

clear domains of development

biological

cognitive psychological

and social

we also have age divisions infancy early

childhood middle childhood

adolescence emerging adulthood adulthood

and late adulthood

and then everything that happens in one

domain influences every other domain

everything that happens in one age

influences

the following ages to come

and then finally we are very careful to

know that human development is what we

call plastic

that is human traits can be molded um

there's there's a certain sort of core

part of us that stays

but that any traitor characteristic that

we have truly can be altered almost at

any point in the lifespan sometimes for

the better sometimes for the worse

all right so

when we look at the scientific method

we're really involving you know

curiosity i want to know why babies do

this i want to know why young adults

actually take more risks than

adolescents and so you develop a

hypothesis

you test the hypothesis you brought

inclusion and you report the findings

this is what lifespan psychologists do

to figure out how human develop human

beings work

now

our scientific methods involve

observation so i could come over and sit

in morris daily hall up in the balcony

and i could observe your class and i

could take notes on behavioral trends

and i could observe to see which one of

you is paying attention

when um your professor is up on the

stage asking questions to which one of

you is busy looking out the window or

looking down at your notes and i could

see if there were gender differences or

height differences in people who did

this i could also conduct an experiment

where i randomly assign people to a

treatment group and a control group

i could do a correlational study i study

imagination and i can't randomly assign

people to have imaginary friends but i

can go out and i can compare kids with

imaginary friends to kids without and i

can see if there's differences that's a

correlational study or i can do a survey

i can hand out a survey instrument and

have people return that so there's many

different ways that i can collect data

about human development

i can also do it cross-sectionally so i

can look at a group of different aged

people all at once so i could gather 10

year olds 20 year olds 30 year olds 40

year olds and 50 year olds and look to

see if there are differences

i could do it longitudinally where i

could study one group of people over

time so i could study somebody starting

when they were 10 and follow them all

the way till they were 60

or i could do the complicated one

where i look at it sequentially where i

might have a group of 10 year olds and i

would study them at age 10 and again at

age 20 and when i am studying them at

age 20 i'm also getting a new set of 10

year olds who i study at age 20 again so

i can sort of

stagger my different age groups of

people it's kind of a mix of

cross-sectional with longitudinal these

are all the tools that lifespan

researchers use to come up with answers

about human development and they're the

basis of the research that you'll be

reading this week

so lifestyle development does have some

important themes

one of them is the big debate although

we've begun to finally settle it which

is the nature versus nurture debate

so nature really is asking how much of

your

traits and your characteristics and who

you are as a person is due to genes that

you've inherited so genetic influence

the nurture question

is really what are the environmental

influences on your development

and that can range from the diet that

you have as an infant

to your family practices to the school

you go to to the culture you come from

to the society you live in

and so really how much of any

characteristic any behavior any emotion

is due to genetic inheritance and how

much of it is due to environment and

that has really been the debate over

time

really truthfully now we've come to

discover that it's not an either or the

question really now is

how much is nurture and how much is

nature and almost everything you can

think of has a little bit of both

eye color you tend to think of as being

purely genetic you inherit the genes to

have a certain eye color but with the

invention of modern science you can now

buy contacts that change the color of

your eyes so there's an element of

nurture in there as well so we've now

come to the conclusion of it's what

proportion is genetic and what

proportion is environmental

another big and important theme is the

idea of critical insensitive periods and

this is really the idea that in a

critical period

something must happen to ensure normal

development

it's fairly rare in humans

prenatal is one time where certain

things have to happen or normal

development will not occur

one example i can give you

is that it was done years and years and

years ago

some researchers got a hold of some

brand new infant kittens who had just

been born

and kittens are born with their eyes

shut and so for the first couple of

weeks of the kittens life they have the

kittens wearing blindfolds

and they after about three weeks four

weeks i think of the kittens lives they

un blindfolded the kittens and what had

happened was the kittens who had been

born with all of the proper rods and

cones and nerve cells for them to be

able to see

were functionally blind because they

lacked that environmental input so

that's kind of an example of a critical

period

a sensitive period is when a particular

development happens most easily and this

is really common so it happens most

easily that you learn to walk at age one

but clearly you could learn to walk at

any particular age after age one

language is another

and if any of you are trying to take a

foreign language for the first time in

college you know that it is often a

struggle and it's much harder to learn

so the sensitive period for learning

language particularly a second language

is really early childhood rather than

after puberty when the

brain areas for language is sort of

finalized and set themselves up so

there's critical and sensitive periods

there's

also the idea of just looking at

lifespan development from a very broad

perspective and

you know we look at people of all ages

of all ethnicities of all genders of all

nations of all sexual orientations

and we want to really avoid drawing

conclusions from a very limited group so

we try to have a very broad picture of

people

we look at what's common to humanity and

then we also look at what is unique to

each person so we're interested in both

universal and specific aspects of

development

and

you know we really are very you know

want to kind of point out and i want to

emphasize that just because something is

different from the norm

doesn't mean it's a deficit it merely

means it's an alternative pathway for

development

and then the last couple of things to

think about is that we want to look at

changes over time dynamic systems

so

individuals are constantly changing

there's continuity in their development

there's discontinuity there's

consistency something that's consistent

all the way across and there's

transformations

that occur at all points across the

lifespan

and age is a really key part of

understanding this these changes over

time this development

so for example it's very normal for a

girl to have a temper tantrum if she

does not get to go to the restaurant she

likes if she's two years old

but it is not normal for her to have a

temper tantrum if she's 14.

similarly

it's very normal for a man to have a

sexual relationship with a committed

partner if he's 25

but that's not normal if he's 13. so age

is a big way to help us understand

what's normative and what's appropriate

for each particular period

and then finally it's really important

and this is why we call it dynamic to

remember that every aspect of

development interacts with every other

aspect that's why we call it the dynamic

systems so change in one aspect of the

system is going to change

all other aspects of the system so if

one person changes an entire family

changes

if members groups of the

society change the whole society is

going to be affected so all aspects of

development are very strongly

interconnected and mutually influence

each other

all right so that was just a very very

brief overview of sort of what lifespan

development is as a science

this is sort of what's going to guide

your thinking for the next week about um

lifespan development in your own

particular development as a college

student this is also the underpinnings

of the term paper that you will write

where you explore college student

development in greater depth