Instructions Final Paper You will need to find 4 articles located in scholarly j
ID: 3484736 • Letter: I
Question
Instructions Final Paper You will need to find 4 articles located in scholarly journals. Scholarly journal articles are also referred as primary source peer reviewed articles. A scholarly journal article can be found in the South University Online Library. To find more information regarding utilizing the South University Library and accessing scholarly journal articles click on Library Guide. What cannot be used for this assignment are web pages, magazines, newspapers, text books, and other books. Finally, current research for our purposes is an article that was published within the last 5 to 6 years. Remember this is a course on human development so when looking for articles make sure they are related to the subject matter covered in the course. To help in your search here are some of the major areas we covered in this course (these are meant as a guide, not specific topics to find). Major developmental theories across the lifespan Nature of geographic, gender, social, cognitive, emotional, and developmental factors during each period of development Developmental factors that impact one another. Historical and current trends in development Current trends which may differentially impact the future development of populations in the United States Social, and diversity issues related to developmental psychology With the major areas above in mind, focus on at least two of the following age groups: Childhood Adolescence Adulthood Older Adults First, give an overview of each article, including: Write a 2-paragraph summary for each article. Write a 1-2 paragraph analysis and evaluation for each article found. Make sure to integrate course material in that analysis Then, write a summary (1-2 pages) integrating what was leaned from the articles reviewed on the chosen age groups as seen from the life-span perspective. Cover the following in that summary: What similarities did you find in the types of research and what was being studied? What differences did you find? Based on your course readings, what developmental theories did you find that were applicable? Explain how the life-span perspective may provide a way of better understanding the research reviewed.
Explanation / Answer
Various theories in developmental psychology describe the course of changes that occur in individuals while they grow up. These theories take into account a wide variety of domains. For instance, the psychosexual stages of development by Frued take into the account the unconscious impulses of an individual and how the developmental focus of each stage keeps changing as the child moves over to the next stage. Similarly, the cognitive development of the child is taken into consideration in Piaget's theory of development. Vygotksy's theory on the contrary focuses on the role of sociocultural factors. Emotional aspect of development has been talked about by Bowlby in his theory of attachment. According to this, a child's early experiences in terms of the interaction with caregivers & their responsiveness inculcates either a sense of trust/belief in the world or a fear or sense of inconsistency in its operation. The various theories of development that have been talked about, if integrated give us a sense that each domain of development is likely to impact the other. This means that development of different domains does not occur in isolation and that they are all inter-dependent. For instance, the emotional development of a child will impact the cognition and may also develop the sense of self (which further relates to Freud's psychodynamic theory). All experiences therefore have elements of these domains and the collective experiences together decipher the nature of development taking place. A study by Lee at al. 2015 states how cherished children flourish in domains of their lives as adults versus the children who were harshly treated by parents or other caregivers during childhood and adolescence.
Historical and current trends in developmental psychology show a decline in terms of the emotional health & well-being of children in the United States. The reasons can be attributed to the fact that a remarkable decline in the number of children growing up with both the parents has been observed. With the increase in the number of broken families and the divorce rates become higher, children's development in various domains has seen a decline. This includes cognitive, emotional and social well-being. Poor social skills as a result of lack of environmental stimulation (exposure to poor handling of relationships & lack of conflict resolution) has led to emotional & social dissatisfaction not only in children, but across age groups. This can be linked to the fact that social learning (Bandura's theory) plays an indespensable role in the life of a child. And so lack of stimulation & exposure can lead to development of poor skills. Another study reveals how the excessive use of smartphones and addiction to instant gratification has led to poor social interactions, thereby hampering the emotional well-being of children, adolescents and adults. Being more engrossed in technology has led to a major drift in focus due to which interpersonal skills have suffered like no other domain. In the process, it has also managed to impact the cognitive development by impacting memory (reliance on devices for all information), attention (shifting of attention & lack of focus on a task at a time). A simple example is how employees are not fully present in the meeting, but on the lookout for a text in their phone. This takes away the time to build relationships & takes away the E factor (empathy) from social interactions. The ability to connect suffers, thereby leading to lack of satisfaction in both personal and professional relationships. Most theories are applicable while reviewing studies in developmental psychology since all domains go hand in hand. Also developmental frameworks and previous studies (established by pioneers in the field) are applicable in most scenarios while looking at a child's life from a developmental perspective/lens.