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Chapter 4 Notes: From Birth to Death: Life-Span Development
-each life stage resents new developmental tasks that must be mastered for optimal development
Erik Erickson: psychosocial dilemma or crisis (conflict between personal impulses and social world)
Table 4.1
Stage 1: (1st year of life): Trust vs. Mistrust
-trust comes from care, touching
-mistrust comes from inadequate or unpredictable care
Stage 2: (1 to 3 years): Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
-child trying new things (autonomy)
-same and doubt from parents’ ridicule
Stage 3: ( 3 to 5 years) Initiative vs. Guilt
-take initiative carry out tasks
-guilt if parents criticize)
Stage 4: (6 to 12 years): Industry vs. Inferiority
-schools is “entrance into life” (experience success or failure
-teachers, peers, and other non-family shape attitude toward oneself
Stage 5: (Adolescence): Identity vs. Role Confusion
-“Who am I?”
-not child, not adult
-mental, physical, sexual maturation
Stage 6: (Young Adulthood): Intimacy vs. Isolation
-after establishing identity, share love
-intimacy: ability to care about others and to share experiences with them
Stage 7: (Middle Adulthood): Generativity vs. Stagnation
-guiding next generation, creative work, concerns turn outwards vs.
concern with own interests
Stage 8: (Late Adulthood): Integrity vs. Despair
-old age is time of reflection, look back with acceptance and satisfaction
Problems of childhood
Normal problems: sleep, specific fears, timidity, dissatisfaction, negativism, restlessness
Children and Divorce
-almost ½ of U.S. marriages
-60% of children born in 1990’s will be in single-parent families at some
point
-stepfamilies = 1/6 of two-parent families
-children of divorce are more distressed, have more behavior problems
-children of divorced and remarried families: more problems in school,
delinquency, drugs, lower self-esteem
-majority of children from divorce do not have serious problems
Serious Childhood Problems
-enuresis, encopresis
-eating disorders
-speech problems (delayed, stuttering)
-learning disorders
-ADHD
-conduct disorders
-autism (echolalia, self-stimulatory behavior, social immaturity)
-only 25% approach normality, only 2% can live alone
Child Abuse
-3 ½ to 14% of children are physically abused by their parents
-abusive parents have high levels of stress and frustration
-abusive mothers believe children intentionally annoy them
-1/3 of parents who were abused mistreat their children
Puberty
-biological
-ages 9 to 12 in girls, 11 to 14 in boys
-hormonal changes
-rapid physical growth
-sexual maturity (intellectual and social maturity may lag)
Early and Late Maturation
Timing: for boys, maturing early is beneficial (more mature, self-assured,
popular)
-also increased trouble with drugs, alcohol, truancy
-early-maturing girls: initially have poor self-image, decreased
prestige, which reverses in junior high
-date sooner, earlier sex, more independent
Children who look like adults may be treated like adults
Search for Identity
-ethnic ID
-formal operations; hypothesize “What if?”
-conflict with parents
Peer Groups
-adolescence: increased identification with peer groups
-share similar social status
Transition to Adulthood
-longer to commit to career, marriage
Moral Development
-questions of conscience
-starts in childhood and continues into young adulthood
-acquire values, beliefs that guide responsible behavior
Kohlberg
Preconventional: punishment orientation; pleasure-seeking;
own interests
Conventional:good boy/good girl orientation; brings approval;
authority orientation, following rules
Post-Conventional:social contract orientation; mutual agreement and
support of laws; morality of individual principles;
self-chosen ethics
Moral Dilemmas
-not everyone reaches the highest moral stage
-20% reach post-conventional
Gilligan said that Kohlberg’s system is concerned mainly with justice; he felt that caring should also be involved
Adult Development
Ages 16 to 18:Escape from Dominance
Ages 18 to 22:Leaving the family; forming new relationships
Ages 22 to 28:Building a workable life; career, marriage
Ages 29 to 34:Crisis of questions: “Is this it?”
Ages 35 to 43:Crisis of urgency; reality of death
Ages 44 to 50:Attaining stability; acceptance of one’s fate
Ages 50 and up:Mellowing; savor life; less emphasis on glamour, wealth
Midlife crisis: 23%
Middle Age
-menopause in females (mean age = 51)
-empty nest: depression when last child leaves home
-more likely for traditional women who primarily
defined themselves as wives and mothers
Well-Being at Midlife
-self-acceptance
-positive relations with others
-autonomy (personal freedom)
-environmental mastery
-purpose in life
-continual personal growth
Aging
-elderly are the fastest growing segment of society
-peak functioning 25 to 30 years old
-5% of those over 65 are in nursing homes
Mental Abilities
-little decrease in IQ with aging, especially crystallized IQ
Myths about Aging
-not isolated or rejected by their children
-not put in mental hospitals by uncaring children
-few show signs of senility
Kubler-Ross
-emotional reaction to impending death
-denial and isolation
-anger
-bargaining
-depression
-acceptance