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Individual Assignment

Tracy

January 23, 2025

Individual Assignment

Question 1: Describe human development and its three domains; physical, cognitive,

and psychosocial development.

Human development explains how people grow and undergo changes in their life

span. A person grows in three important areas, which are physical, cognitive, and

psychosocial development. Physically growing bodies develop motor skills and age properly.

Cognitive development studies how individuals process mental information, such as

understanding and solving problems along with memorizing new knowledge (Newman &

Newman, 2022). Psychosocial development helps us understand the emotional impact of how

individuals develop their personalities and learn about their place in society. The different

parts of development connect with and affect one another while people grow.

Question 2: Explain key human development issues about the nature of change;

continuous/discontinuous, one course/ multiple courses, and nature/ nature

One central topic in studying human development examines whether development

happens slowly over time or happens in specific stages. Continuous development develops in

small, consistent steps, whereas discontinuous development takes place through clearly

defined phases. People undergo development either as part of one standard process for

everyone (one course) or through multiple courses shaped by their individual backgrounds

and environments (Newman & Newman, 2022). Researchers wrestle with whether genetic

elements or environmental influences dominate human development practices. The

understanding of how people grow changes as we explore and discuss development's many

details.

Question 3: Describe the basic periods of human development.

Human development is often divided into key life stages. Human lives follow stages

like prenatal through infancy early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence early adulthood

middle adulthood and late adulthood. Before birth, the fetus develops into a baby inside the

mother's body (Newman & Newman, 2022). During infancy, the body grows fast and the

brain learns new movement abilities. Early childhood helps children learn simple movements

and social behavior, though they grow their thinking power and friendships during middle

childhood. During adolescence, teens experience puberty while finding their identity and

learning new ways to think. During early adulthood, everyone builds their jobs and loves

relationships, while middle adulthood brings aging awareness and adaptation (Newman &

Newman, 2022). During late adulthood, people experience physical failures alongside

changes to their social commitments.

Question 4: Describe Baltes’ lifespan perspective with its key principles about

development.

Baltes believes human development happens every day in multiple ways based on the

places where people live. He proposed several key principles: Every aspect of development

remains active as we age and shows progress and regression in different areas together while

remaining responsive to our experiences (Newman & Newman, 2022). According to Baltes,

human development constantly adapts to the influences of historical epochs, societal

contexts, and cultural backgrounds throughout one's entire lifespan.

Question 5: Explain what is meant by development being lifelong, multidimensional,

and multidirectional.

People develop continuously in all stages of their life beyond their childhood years.

Development takes place in multiple domains simultaneously, including body functions,

mental processes, and social abilities (Newman & Newman, 2022). A person's cognitive

skills may decrease while their social competencies grow in multiple directions when

development is multidirectional. People change in many directions as they grow across

multiple areas of their life.

Question 6: Explain contextual influences on development.

Development responds to important background environmental, social, and cultural

conditions. Development reacts to family interactions and community standing alongside

education systems and cultural beliefs taken from our past. When kids live in supportive

homes, they achieve better brain and emotion development than kids from less caring settings

(Newman & Newman, 2022). The environment where someone lives helps people learn new

skills and develop their behavior patterns, which shows that biology is not the only force

behind human development.

Question 7: Explain how the scientific method is used in research development.

Scientists use a structured method to research human development. Researchers start

their work by watching human actions before creating predictions and running experiments to

validate them. Scientists study information to make accurate discoveries (Walliman, 2021).

Researchers use this method to produce trustworthy results in their developmental studies.

Research methods with controlled studies and experiments let scientists examine what affects

how people grow and develop by giving them solid facts.

Question 8: Compare various types and objectives of developmental research.

Research methods help us study human development. Descriptive research examines

behavior patterns, and correlational research reveals linkage patterns among variables.
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Scientific trials adjust factors to learn how elements directly impact one another (Walliman,

2021). Research methods that follow a single group of participants across multiple time

periods show their developmental change, while methods that compare different age groups

at one moment deliver valuable insight (Newman & Newman, 2022). Researchers use several

research methods to understand growth processes and identify how development occurs.

Question 9: Describe methods for collecting research data (including observation,

survey, case study, content analysis and secondary content analysis).

Science studies make use of various ways to gather research data. Researchers record

and document observable actions during both real-life and simulation environments. Surveys

ask participants to share what they think about specific subjects and how they behave in real-

life scenarios. Case studies take an extensive examination of a single person or limited group

members (Walliman, 2021). Research that studies media or text helps researchers discover

social trends. Researchers use secondary content analysis to explore fresh research questions

while working with established datasets. These research approaches produce multiple views

of human growth while permitting scientists to obtain data from multiple settings.

Question 10: Explain correlational research.

Correlational research matches levels of two or more variables to reveal if these

measures consistently appear together. When researchers simply study relationships without

making changes, they cannot find if one thing creates another effect. Correlational analysis

shows if two things go together yet cannot find their cause-effect connections (Walliman,

2021). Research typically analyzes if people with greater financial resources reach higher

education results. Research through correlation finds relationships yet cannot show which

factor produces results.

Question 11: Describe the value of experimental research.

Researchers perform experiments to analyze how changes in one thing lead to

changes in another. Scientists adjust their controlled independent variables to see what

happens to the dependent variable. When researchers experiment, they view if changes in

teaching methods influence student learning success. Scientists study relationships in

controlled spaces by controlling all factors that could have outside influences (Walliman,

2021). Experimental groups receive participants through random distribution to maintain

fairness in test results. Research experiments show definite relationships between variables

and help us discover how development progresses.

Question 12: Describe the challenges associated with conducting research in lifespan

development.

Research about lifespan development experiences specific problems. We have to

respect both the privacy of our participants and need their open agreement before we study

children or seniors. The separate growth paths of individuals make it hard to transfer research

findings between groups (Walliman, 2021). Using a method that tracks changes over time

takes long periods to complete and costs a lot because study participants may decide to quit.

Researchers need to take culture and setting into account because these factors change how

well their results may work everywhere. Lifespan development research helps us understand

how individuals progress throughout their lives despite its complex nature.
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References

Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2022). Theories of human development. Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003014980/theories-human-

development-barbara-newman-philip-newman

Walliman, N. (2021). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003141693/research-

methods-nicholas-walliman