Developmental Psychology

Achieve Test Prep: Developmental Psychology

financial status: It encompasses education level, income, geographic residence, and employment. These components affect the other components, as they influence how a person grows and develops. The opportunities for an individual from a lower status may be different than the opportunities for someone from a higher class. As such, an individual from a lower socioeconomic status may have more health problems and difficulty finding a well-paying job. There is, also, an extreme prejudice against individuals from a lower class. 3. Cultural and ethnic contexts : Culture includes the values, attitudes, customs, and beliefs which have been passed down and maintained in their society over time. Ethnicity is closely tied to culture and includes a shared belief system, ancestry, and religion. Generally speaking, individuals of various ethnic groups can share a single culture while maintaining their own culture within a larger context. This perspective seeks to address a myriad of issues and concerns through the lens of cultural understanding. 4. Individual and social context: This context looks at how society affects the individual and vice versa. There are two factors which affect development, internal and external factors. Internal factors include: genetics, physical development, and thought. External factors include: society, developmental context, or the events occurring during a particular period of development. Internal versus external factors center on the debate of nature (internal factors) and nurture (external factors). Approaches to Development : There are three main approaches researchers take when thinking about development: 1. Continuous Development: used by behavioral theorists. Examines how change depends entirely on the environment, is slow, and constant. Change is due largely to rewards and punishments. 2. Overlapping Stages: used by psychosocial theorists. There are stages of distinct change between Continuous and Discrete Development, which are dependent on environmental, genetic, and inherited factors. 3. Discrete Stage: used by psychoanalytic and cognitive theorists. Examines how change is entirely dependent on a person’s age and is the result of genetic forces which are affected by the environment (predisposition). These theorists also believe change only occurs at particular times.

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