Chapter 1

Introduction

This chapter defines the nature of development in terms of: (a) biological, cognitive, and social processes, and (b) periods or stages.

But before reading try to do the following:

1. answer and discuss the following questions:

1. Why is it important to study life-span development?

2. Compare and contrast the traditional and the life-span

views of development. Could you?

3. How is the life-span perspective beneficial to people?

2. explain the term “life-span” [laıf spæn] (продолжительность жизни) in English.

3. Find synonyms and antonyms to:

contemporary, assumption, perspective.

4. Guess the meaning of the following words and word combinations without using the dictionary:

Original, tabula rasa, Renaissance, philosophical perspective, characterized, physical, legal, special, contrast, traditional, plastic, historically, multidisciplinary, contextual, positions, contextualism, normative group, nonnormative, culture, genetic, homosexuality, ethnic, biological, cognitive, socioemotional processes, prenatal period, elementary, conception, stability, dialectical model, reaction, social and historical aspects, dominant roles.

e) do the following phonetic exercises:

Ex.1. Transcribe and pronounce the words given below.

Approach, abuse, parenting, diversity, nurturing.

Ex.2. Read the following clusters with assimilation.

Stressed that, allowed to, that developmental, contributed to, occurs throughout, argued that, geared toward treatment.

Ex.3. Pronounce the words from the text containing the sound [w] correctly.

We, way, where, were, which, would, without, whether, with.

Ex.4. Pronounce the words from the text containing the sound [r] correctly.

Reflected, children, inherently, constraints, necessary, experience, write, grow, naturally, parents, approach, contributed, multidirectional, different, careers, age-graded, generational, occurrences, interact, prominent, contemporary, research, preschool, refers, approximately, maturation, blueprints, current, responsible.

Ex.5. Pronounce the words from the text containing the nasal sound [ŋ] correctly.

During, increasing, aging, life-long, parenting.

Ex.6. Pronounce the words from the text containing the voiced sound [ð] correctly.

The, that, without, whether, with.

Ex.7. Pronounce the words from the text containing the voiceless sound [Ө] correctly.

Throughout, health, birth, through, thirties, death, third.

Ex.8. Pronounce the words from the text containing the sound [v] correctly.

Development, views, evil, salvation, conceived, valued, every, individuals, average, have, perspective, involve, normative, events, diversity, movement, cognitive, controversy, environment.

TEXT

Scan through the text. Use the active terminological vocabulary.

Key terms

adolescence – юность; подростковый возраст

adulthood – зрелость, взрослость

aging – старение, стареющий, престарелый

child abuse – жестокое обращение с детьми

ethnic diversity – этническое разнообразие

historically embedded – исторически сложившийся

infancy - младенчество

innate goodness – врожденная добродетель

life expectancy – продолжительность жизни

life-span approach – подход «развитие на протяжении жизни»

maturation – созревание, развитие

nurturing – воспитание, образование, обучение, тренировка; питание,

пища

original sin – первородный грех

parenting – воспитание

prenatal period – пренатальный (внутриутробный) период

tabula rasa – (филос.) «чистая, гладкая дощечка», нечто чистое, нетронутое, свободное от всяких влияний (напр., душа новорожденного)

The study of life-span development helps each of us understand who we are, how we came to be this way, and where our future may take us.

Three philosophical views about children were original sin, which appeared during the Middle Ages, and the tabula rasa and innate goodness views, which appeared during the Renaissance.

The original sin view reflected the philosophical perspective that children are inherently evil and that societal constraints and salvation are necessary for children to become mature adults.

Locke's tabula rasa view saw the child as a blank slate upon which experience would write.

Rousseau's innate goodness view conceived of children as basically good and stressed that children should be allowed to grow naturally, without constraints from parents or society.

Childhood is now conceived and valued as a unique period of life that creates an important foundation for the adult years.

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by physical, social, and legal identity. Every state has special laws for individuals between the ages of 16 and 21.

In contrast to a traditional approach, the life-span approach emphasizes that developmental change continues to occur throughout adulthood. Increasing average life expectancies have contributed to the developmental study of aging.

The life-span perspective indicates that development is life-long, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, historically embedded, multidisciplinary, and contextual. Many different careers include positions that involve an application of knowledge about life-span development.

Contextualism indicates that normative age-graded influences (influences that are similar in a particular age group), normative history-graded influences (generational influences), and nonnormative life events (unusual occurrences) all interact to determine paths of development.

Prominent contemporary concerns for our culture include genetic research, child abuse, homosexuality, parenting, intelligence, career changes, ethnic diversity, gender issues, stress and health, and aging.

Development is the pattern of movement or change that occurs throughout the life-span. Development is influenced by an interplay of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes.

The periods of childhood development are the prenatal period (conception to birth), infancy (birth to 18-24 months), early childhood (the preschool years), middle and late childhood (the elementary school years), and adolescence (puberty to 18-21 years). Early adulthood begins in the late teens and extends through the thirties. Middle adulthood refers to a period from approximately 35 to 45 years through the fifties. Late adulthood begins in the sixties and lasts until death.

Maturation is the orderly sequence of changes dictated by our individual genetic blueprints. One controversy concerns the issue of how much of development is explained by maturation (nature) and how much by the influence of the environment (nurture). The current view is that both nature and nurture are responsible for development.

A second controversy concerns the issue of whether development consists of gradual, cumulative change from conception onward (continuity) or whether development entails distinct stages and qualitative changes (discontinuity).

A third controversy concerns stability and how much an individual becomes different with age change. The dialectical model emphasizes continual change that results from an individual's action and reaction to social and historical conditions. One aspect of the stability/change issue concerns the extent to which experiences early or later in life play dominant roles.