West Coast University Life Span Psychology Discussion
Discussion Prompt 1Life Span PsychologyThe concept of "life span" development is relatively new. For many years, "child" psychology was studied, but it was understood that by the beginning of early adulthood most, if not all, of one's important development had occurred. In other words, the idea was that the important changes that come with age were completed by the end of adolescence. Why do you believe that psychologists now study the whole life span? What impact does realizing that important developments occur throughout our whole lives have on the field of psychology and our lives in general? Next, describe the scientific methodology and typical research designs used in lifespan psychology (refer to your text, ch 1). Which methodology and research design do you think produces the best results in the study of lifespan development? Why? Comment 1Life span development or Life span psychology, the moment I heard it is more synonymous with developmental psychology. Based from my knowledge about psychology and its branches, the conception of this new interest of study was made from different theories. One of the most controversial one was the psychosexual stages that was proposed by Sigmund Freud where our energies at different points in our lives are concentrated to such. This view on developmental psychology is only one, out of those vast. I believe that one of the most important insights that we can gain from the study of the subject matter is how an individual’s set of beliefs and values develop or even change over time depending on his interaction with his environment on social, emotional and physiological levels. For me, it’s one of the purposes why I want to learn the subject matter in depth.As for the scientific methodologies, it’s more of the case studies if one wishes to study an individual’s development at different periods of his life. The primary method of data acquisition is by observation. Case studies are not heavily reliant on key metrics that are based on numbers but rather, straightforward, qualitative data are collected.Comment 2I believe that psychologists study the whole life span so that they are able to learn about people at certain stages of life. This gives them a better understanding of what people are going through and why they may act and think they way they do at specific stages of life.Realizing that important developments occur throughout our lives is impactful on the field of psychology because psychologists are constantly learning about human development. In order to learn and study these important developments, psychologists need to realize that these developments occur. Some examples of scientific methodology are observation, survey and interview, standardized tests, case studies, and physiological measures. The research designs used are descriptive research, correlational research, experimental research, independent and dependent variables, and experimental and control groups.All of the methodologies and research designs are important for file span development; they all work together to help psychologist study life span development. In my opinion, observation probably produces the best results. With simple observation, psychologists can learn a lot about people in their natural environment. In my opinion, experimental and control groups produce the best results in the study of lifespan psychology. Psychologists are able to compare the results of a manipulated situation verses a baseline situation (control group). This will help them learn about how people react and interact in controlled and experimental environments at different stages of life.Santrock, J. W. (2017). Life Span Development. New York: McGraw Hill Education.Discussion Prompt 2Generation Labels and the Nature Nurture DebateCross-sectional developmental research has discovered that various generations have been labeled by popular culture to describe trends in behavior commonly seen among individuals born to each generation. Study the chart below, and discuss whether or not you agree with the labels given and the rationales provided. Explain your answers.Next, given the knowledge you have gained in this section about the influence of nature and nurture (biological and contextual influences), are there other reasons besides those listed in the chart that could influence general trends in behavior across generations? Support your reasoning with information from the text and other course materials.Attached picture is for this discussionComment 1I'll send 2 comment for this one, when I get it.