The Five Life-Span Perspectives

Chapter 1 covers the scientific method, the many different theories of psychology as well as the five life-span perspectives. Berger writes the five steps of the scientific method are curiousity (posing a question), forming a hypothesis to test, testing the hypothesis, forming a conclusion and reporting the findings (p 4). Once the conclusion has been made and evidence has been collected to either support or refute the hypothesis, replication, including peer review, can begin. In regards to the controversies with nature vs nurture, our textbook suggest that it is not which one affects human development, rather how much of each (Berger p 5). The life-span perspective is the study of development for all phases of life. “This perspective leads

For example, an elderly man who retires may become more creative (Berger p 8). The “speed and timing of impairments or improvement vary” (Berger p 8). During the critical period, the development must happen at a certain time or it won’t happen at all such as the development of limbs during the embryonic period (Berger p 8). The sensitive period is more relaxed and the development is most likely to happen (or is easier), but can still happen at a later time (Berger p 8). An example of development that has a sensitive period and not a critical one is the learning of language; more specifically, speech. Mulitcontextual perspective means the development flourishes or is hindered due to context; the physical surroundings or family configuration (Berger p 9). Historical context includes a cohort, or a group of people with a shared age (Berger p 10). Socioeconomic context simply refers to the SES, or social status. Multicultural perspective focuses on culture or the shared beliefs, norms, behaviors of a group of people (Berger p 12). The difference equal deficit error refers to the mindset that anyone unlike us, are inferior (Berger p

Each gamete, both sperm and ova, has 23 pairs of chromosomes that match up creating a zygote. A man and a woman can produce more than 8 million versions of their chromosomes to create an astronomical number of offspring, each unique (Berger p 49). Small variations or repetitions, called alleles, can make a notable difference the different characteristics of a person (Berger p 49). The 23rd pair of chromosomes is significant in all zygotes because it’s the gene that determines whether a person will be male or female. The female is designated as XX, while the male is designated as Xy. “Alleles interact in a dominant-recessive pattern, in which one allele, the dominant gene, is far more influential than the other, the recessive gene” (Berger p 54). A carrier is a person who inherits a recessive gene that is not expressed in the phenotype, or the observable characteristics (Berger p 54). The prenatal development is divided into three main periods; germinal (the first two weeks), embryonic (week 3 through 8) and the fetal period (week 9 up to birth). The germinal period involves the first two weeks after conception and is characterized by rapid cell division and the beginning of cell differentiation (Berger p 57). The embryonic period includes the growth of crucial