Week 8 Harris: Wrap it up

After reading through this whole book, we have been given many different insights and ideas from different people.  It’s safe to say that no one theory can explain every aspect of development from all angles and we need to share and connect others to find a better understanding (pg. 300). It’s nice to know that the growth potential for the field of lifespan development include different interests, such as political, social and economic parts. This shows that they are getting information from different areas to get a better understanding of development and how it happens.  The increase in technological development can lead to more programs and resources to develop to help expand broader scopes of development (pg. 303). But how could this cause problems?

            The expansion of lifespan development has shown some negative effects in schools. It gives these expectations for children for what is developmentally appropriate for the classroom. This relates to standardized testing and how much those results affect teachers teaching styles and subjects (pg. 303). I know when I was in high school and we were getting ready to take the ACT it was more about learning how to “beat the test” versus actually learning. I even know someone who turned away from education as their major because of the way that teaching was going. I hope that even with the standardized testing, we still get a chance to teach some things we feel is important and that everything isn’t so structured.

            Being a teacher, its important to have knowledge about typical development at different ages, but other professions also need to possess this knowledge to be successful as well. Businesses and other companies will need to understand lifespan development to provide an environment that that reflects care and consideration for the families (pg. 305). Also, understanding development from a technology standpoint, it can help with social networking and social interactions. There are also many ways that having a degree in lifespan development or psychology can lead you to many different career paths. Most jobs require a masters or doctorate degree. It shows that going that far, you really are in the field to help people. Being satisfied with your job, less stressed, and increased quality of life seems to increase with a job that you enjoy (pg. 306). Being in this kind of job, you are held to different levels of accountability to oneself and the public. This happens because the funding is from public confidence (pg. 308). If the public sees certain programs as helpful and important, then they will help fund, but getting enough people to agree can be challenging. Overall, when you choose a helping profession, you have a lot of people counting on you. It can be challenging, but definitely worth the reward in the end.

Week 7 Harris: May Death Do Us Part

It is amazing to hear that the mortality rate has declined and that the average life expectancy is at an all-time high of nearly 78 years (pg. 280). But what is death really? Did you know there are four types of death, because I didn’t?  When an individual stops breathing and heart rate has stopped is termed clinical death. This is an unreliable and even temporary state because of CPR (pg. 281). The second kind of death is brain death. This occurs when the brain fails to receive a sufficient amount of oxygen causing all electrical activity to stop. This is seen when a person is in a irreversible coma (pg. 282). Even though the brain is dead, the body can remain alive for a long time. This is a scary subject and I would hate to have to see anyone I know in this state because how can you decide what is best for that person. The third kind of death is biological death. This kind follows brain death and clinical death. It is termed biological death when it is no longer possible to discern an electrical charge to the tissues of the heart and lungs. If this is caught early enough, the person can be saved with little damage remaining (pg. 282). The fourth kind of death is social death. This is interesting being it’s the point at which an individual is treated as dead although the person is still biologically alive.

If death isn’t bad enough, the grief that is involved may be one of the worst things anyone has to go through. Grief is the emotional response to the loss of another person. Psychologist see grief as an essential aspect to a healthy encounter with death. I can agree with that, because if you don’t grieve, it will end up eating away at you until you can’t hold it in anymore. They also mention anticipatory grief, which is like an advanced warming of what is to come (pg. 284). This is a way for yourself to prepare for what is to come and how one is going to live a life without that dying person. Even though it is hard to grieve, it is resolved by most people, but sometimes it goes unresolved and result in either delayed reactions, distorted reactions, and complicated grief. A way to deal with any grief can come from the funeral. But, planning this can be very hard. I know when my best friend’s father died, she had to take matters into her own hands, at the age of 21 mind you, because her mom couldn’t do it herself. I couldn’t imagine having to conduct and plan a funeral for anyone, but it is an important stage in a crisis like this.

Suicide, named the rejection of life is something that is hard to swallow. Just that definition stated in the book gives me the shivers. Like I mentioned earlier about my friend planning her dad’s funeral, he actually committed suicide. It’s hard to understand how someone can really feel that their personal pain weighs out the ability to cope with the pain (pg. 291). It surprises me that it is the second leading cause of death among people 13-19. It’s so sad that someone that young, who hasn’t even lived yet is going through that much pain. For the elderly population, depression is the link to their choice of suicide. I guess you can never really understand what someone else is feeling and you should always try to understand and talk with those who are going through any struggle.

A chance for a life do over is an interesting questions. In the book, it stated that most elderly people who were asked this question would have pursued education and worry less about work if they could start fresh (pg. 295). I think that’s interesting that that is the main thing said by them. I think some people wouldn’t and are happy with how things ended out, or if they change one thing they might not have met someone, but I guess you never really know. Being only 24, I know I would want to go back and change some things, but again would I be who I am today, with the people I am with, loving who I love? It’s a very hard question to answer once you actually sit down and think about it. Maybe everything does happen for a reason, but honestly that is something we will never truly know. 

Week 6 Harris: Remember who you are...

Being a young adult, I can relate to a lot of things that were talked about in these chapters. Young adults are in their peak condition and should be able to do strenuous work and activities without limitations or worry about chronic illness (pg. 210). The way that this is possible is based on the lifestyle you choose to live. I surprise myself on how I function with working full time being a personal trainer and go to school after that. It’s a miracle what your body can do. Having a proper diet is so important, especially being at the age of a young adult. It will help prevent the risk of heart disease or cancer, that are the two most prevalent diseases seen in America (pg. 210). Middle adults have more concerns about health and should get tested for preventative reasons (pg. 232). Physical fitness is obviously very important, and needs to go hand in hand with proper nutrition. Studies show that for women, by increasing physical activity by only two and a half hours per week can add months to their lives (pg. 211). Moderate exercise, such as walking, can help reduce the risk of stroke, osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes. Being a personal trainer, it blows my mind how many people I know who don’t see the benefits of exercise. I see so many people younger than me who are obese and have over 50% body fat. There are so many easy tasks people can do to get away from these risks, but some people don’t understand how easy it really can be. Middle adults also have to worry about their physical appearance, such as skin tone, hair, fingernails and teeth (pg. 232). Being healthy can affect the outside appearance as well.

 Alcohol and tobacco use is very prevalent for young adults. On a personal level, I’d say 90% of my friends smoke. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in America (pg. 212). Smoking can lead to cancer, lung disease, and heart disease, but people still justify a reason to pay for that. Binge drinking is commonly seen in middle aged adults as well. From stress from work and life, we need to find better outlets to deal with them. Honestly, being healthy is easy, you just have to want to do it.

            Cognitive development as a young adult in important as well. We have life experiences, find our interests, and have the urge to want to research more (pg. 214). Piaget says young adults generally possess more knowledge than adolescents, especially in areas of interest. Middle adults have more life experiences and acquire more knowledge and are able to transfer that into novel situations (pg. 241). Experience can be helpful to solve more problems readily. Daniel Levinson explains how individuation plays an important role in young adults. We develop a separate and special personality derived less and less form our parents and more from our own behavior (pg. 218). I can see that so much now and it shocks me how much me and my mom are not alike and have completely different interests and outlooks on certain things. I think It’s very interesting how we all get our own personality, and really become our special individual.

With the personality we find, we use that to build friendships. Friends are important because they provide a source of support and we actually get to pick who we want to be around (pg. 220). Good friendships tend to be formed in adult ages, but may trickle away as we get into middle adulthood. Friendships become fewer, but more precious and we have less intereaction with them and more with our spouse and siblings (pg. 246). It is sad to see this, but we get caught up in our own lives and families. I hope to always keep my friends I have now, and make it part of my life to not let distance come between us. 

Week 5 Harris: Who Am I?

I always would look back at old pictures of me from 7^th grade when I had glasses, braces, and terrible hair and say “Thank God for Puberty!” I never really thought about all the steps and phases that I went through to get to where I am today though. This chapter was very interesting and made me laugh at some of the things I know I did.

            The obvious, puberty is the start of adolescence. To my surprise, the sequence of puberty is constant and happens between ages 11 and 12 (pg. 187). Growth and development happens in this period and usually isn’t the most enjoyable times of our lives. Surprisingly, the age to start puberty has decreased throughout the years, and in the US, it has decreased from age 17 to age 12 (pg. 189). The cause of this could be childhood obesity, no father presence, or bad relationships with parents. These reasons were shocking to me, but I can understand how it happens. Girls tend to have a tougher time when going through puberty, mainly because of their self- confidence and unwanted sexual attention they begin to get.

            The biggest thing that stood out to me in this chapter was how attitudes and behaviors of adolescents begin to change. This is called adolescent egocentrism (pg. 192), and this is where we exaggerate importance and severity of social and emotional experiences. Our love and pain are the biggest issue in the whole world and we can’t understand why no one thinks that. We think we are the center of attention and we must look 100% perfect always. I remember to this day begging my mom to let me buy eyeline because I HAD TO WEAR MAKEUP! Or, when getting ready to go out took hours because I had to pick out the perfect outfit and it had to be from Abercrombie or American Eagle. I was a typical ridiculous adolescent and I still laugh about it today. Also, another thing that adolescents tend to go through in this stage of their life is risk taking, drugs, and sexual behavior. I know in high school every one was drinking and to my surprise later in high school, smoking. It was the time to be a risk taker and experiment with new things.

            Going through these changes, what are we really trying to accomplish? According to Erikson, we were searching for our identity (pg. 194). We start hanging out with other people and changing our views to fit in with different groups of people. We may dress differently or talk a different way. Marcia says we must go through the crisis to find the commitment we choose to continue with (pg. 194). College experiences gives great strides to identify development, and I can agree with that. I always say that I feel like I grew up so much going away to college and I really found out who I was and what I wanted to be as a person. I’d encourage anyone to take the risk and go far away to school to just find yourself. If you don’t give yourself the opportunity to be on your own and experience new things, you will never find who you are meant to be, and the full potential you can be. Going through these stages of adolescence may not have been the most enjoyable, but it is important to get out of it on a high note.

Week 4 Harris: Don't grow up, it's a trap

I am sure we have all wished we could go back to when we were little kids when nothing mattered and life was easy. When we would pretend to be firefighters saving lives and would play make believe for hours. This is called the magical thought, and for children it can be used positively and negatively (pg. 130). The positive is obviously playing pretend and being whatever you want to be. On the negative side, children can take blame for things that wasn’t necessarily their fault because they don’t understand there are other aspects to the situation that could have caused the problem. This could be an example of blaming themselves for a parents’ divorce. Being a kid definitely had its benefits, but it took a lot of processes to get through that stage of our life.

                As we grow up as a child, our hand eye coordination increases, increase focus of attention,  and determine if we are going to be right or left hand dominant (pg. 132).  We even go through big accomplishments that we may look at now and not think of as a big deal. For example, kicking, cutting, throwing, zipping and tying shoes are major accomplishments at the age of six (pg. 132). I remember the first time I tied my shoes and how hard it was to learn and the focus it took to get it right. Now, we just do it without even thinking about it. I know when my shoe laces come loose when I’m running on a treadmill I can easily jump to the sides of it and tie them and jump right back on like I never stopped. These are tasks we take for granted, but are motor skills that are very important for the age of six.

                Not only does our motor development begin to increase, so does our physical development.  Because we are growing so much from infantry to childhood, nutrition is very important. Without proper nutrition, disease can result as well. Going to Mc Donald’s for happy meals don’t result in being happy. This is something parents really need to understand.  When then get older, their physical development slows, so nutrition becomes even more important. The obesity in children number is rising, so to avoid this we need to be smart about what we feed our children (pg 158). It’s also very important to be aware for your child’s psychological issues that can be a result of stress or anxiety (pg. 132). It is very important to talk to your child and make sure they aren’t put into stressful situations at a young age. With excess stress, that can hurt the cognitive development that is also rapidly happening during this time period. On the cognitive side, as children reach the age of 4 and 5, they are more aware of symbols, reading and understanding. They are learning exploring through play, which is the best way since the world is still so innocent to them.  Piaget states that they still can’t take two things into consideration and the same time, but their cognitive development is still growing (pg. 132). These are major reasons why the health of our children is important to be aware of.

                To talk about another theorist, Vygotsky’s thought is something that makes a lot of sense to me.  Children don’t develop in isolation. The social interaction and learning context is the key to success (pg. 126). Social influence is very important at home and at school. It is so important to give children attention and talk to them and learn with them. They won’t be able to get by on their own, and need to feel the love and support at home and at school. Basically, children have a lot of developing to do and can’t do it all alone. It is important to let them learn and play on their own, but they need motivation and support along the way to develop cognitively, emotionally and socially (pg 149).

                As they age even more, their motor coordination increases, more brain development, and memory and problem solving progresses. Knowing all of these changes are happening, parents need to encourage participation in the world to their kids. They need to interact with others and make friends because their moral development can be affected if this isn’t done. Moral development, thinking, feeling, and behaving, helps children make judgment on right and wrong (pg. 168). If they aren’t interacting with others or talking with people, their cognitive growth will suffer. We want the best for our children and want them to succeed in life, so it is important to pay attention to all aspects of their life and notice warning signs of anything that seems unfamiliar or odd.

                In school aged children, 10% have a learning disability such as ADHD or ADD (pg. 160). Identifying impulse control and poor focus can help solve the problem early on so they don’t suffer more in school or daily life. Identifying your child has self-esteem issues early on can prevent stress and as a parent, you can motivate them to do better and be the best they can be. Children around this age can understand desirable and undesirable qualities, so talking through those with them can be positive in their development (pg. 173). The last thing you ever want is your child to not be comfortable to talk to you about problems they may be having. Building a strong relationship from the beginning is so important in all aspects of their life, and I hope to have an amazing relationship with my kids one day. I know how hard it is when you don’t, so knowing all of these reasons why should only push you to do better. 

Week 3 Harris: Happy Healthy Babies

Finding out you are pregnant, I assume, can be one of the greatest joys of your life. After the shock and realization that you are going to be a parent, a lot of other topics can come into your mind. There is no other quick way to bring excitement down than to think of all the possible issues your baby could have before it is even born. Mutations, which is a heredity abnormality that can happen at the chromosome or gene level, can affect the entire genetic process (pg. 57). These mutations happen by chance or by damage during the development. A risk factor the stood out to me the most was being over the age of 40 puts you at a higher chance of one of these mutations. I know when my mom was pregnant with my younger brother, she was 37 and had to take all of these tests to make sure the baby had no signs of any mutations. Luckily, he was born healthy and still is to this day. Another reason the age factor hits home is because another person I know got pregnant in her 40's and after taking the screening, her baby was at high risk for spina bifida. It was a very emotional and hard time for all of us, because we know how problematic that could be growing up. Again, luckily the baby was born healthy.

            Genetic mutation is not the only thing that can cause uneasiness when trying to get pregnant. Out of the 6.1 million reproductive people in the US, 10% have infertility (pg.63). That number is scary, but there are now many other outlets people can turn to. In vitro is something that two people I personally know used, and worked for them. Both women were in their 40's and it was very hard for them to get pregnant, but it worked out for them in the end. When you try for years to get pregnant, then get turned down for adoption because of age, it is very depressing thinking you will never be a parent. Being a part of that experience with them and being there when they finally get pregnant is something I will never forget. It is so amazing all of the science and technology there is today that helps with the process.

            Once the baby is born, they go through stages of development. Surprising to me, vision is the least developed at birth and takes a few months for the actual eye muscles to form (pg. 91). Smell is well developed and is most evident when presented with breast milk. Infants prefer the smell of their mother and can identify unpleasant odors. This can show why infants prefer to be with their mothers and cry until they are held by her. Next, taste is a strong sense developed at birth, and furthers the truth of infants wanting to be close to their mom. The infant remains close to the caregiver by liking their breast milk. Infants can hear and perceive direction of sound at birth as well. They can respond to tones, such as soft which can soothe them. They can associate that tone with comfort and care and associate with good and bad. Last, touch is gained through interaction with people and shows how important care giving infants can be. It is a way they gain information about the world. Being aware of these senses and how aware infants are of them can help when caring for your child and to be aware that they actually do have an idea of the world around them, so it is important to care of your child in a healthy environment from the start.

            Parents should always want the very best for their baby and should always look into research on what is the healthiest. There has been controversy on breast feeding and formula feeding for years. It has been shown that breastfeeding results in less allergies, stronger bones, increase cognitive development, easy food transition, and decrease risk of obesity (pg. 104). I think that breastfeeding should always be done because your body will produce what your child needs. The only reason that a baby needs to be given formula is if the mother isn’t capable of producing enough or if they have AIDS, infectious disease, or on medications that will affect the baby. There are formulas that have all the proper nutrients that breast milk provides, but I feel that all natural for the growth of an infant will be more beneficial.

            We read about Piaget before, and he says that the first few years of life are for extraordinary mental growth and influence the entire course of development. I agree with him completely after reading these chapters (pg. 112). “Everything centers on them, and they see the world from their own point of view.” Children have an initial relationship of the world where as adults know other viewpoints exist. There is nothing to influence the children and they are just living in the most innocent way possible. This stage of life is very important because it sets up the script of what kind of person they are going to be.

The development of children’s language is such an extraordinary process. It is basically made by age five. This is such an amazing process because they don’t have any formal training, but just learn words and meanings on their own. Children start with cooing, babbling, single words, then two word sentences (pg. 115). This shows how important it is to work with your child and to encourage them to talk and learn. Development of children has a huge impact on the caregivers, and how important touch and communication is to build a relationship with them. This relationship needs to be made from the very beginning so the child has healthy emotional development and has someone, such as the mother, to rely on for relief and satisfaction (pg.118).

Week 2 Harris: Piaget VS Vygotsky

Immediately when reading chapter two, all the names and terms all started to sound familiar to me. The term theory, stood out and as explained in the book, is the basis for psychology. "They are essential for constructing meaning out of facts and are explanations for phenomena" (pg.28). Theories help organize all the different information there is out there to one body of information to help learn the facts and view similarities. With this information, it can help find all the possibilities for conclusions and compare all the scholars that have done work in certain subjects. With this chapters gives multiple examples and ideas that scholars had on development and how or why we do the things we do. 

One person I want to focus on is Jean Piaget and his fascination with thought process. On page 34, it discussed Piaget’s thoughts on child development and their thought process when answering questions, test scores, and the process of why they do things certain ways. He believed that children investigate their own hypotheses as they make sense of the world. A great example, which I have experienced as well, is a child continually dropping a toy on the floor for the mere fact that they know someone else will pick it up. This example gave Piaget the opportunity to define object permanence, which is the realization of objects continue to exist even when not seen. This made me think of examples of when a child doesn’t reach this stage yet. Peek-a-boo is a perfect example, because when you cover your face, the child doesn’t understand you are still there and gets excited when you reveal your face again. He says that this develops at the age of two and that there are four distinct stages of development as well.

Another philosopher, Lev Vygotsky, has his own theory, but his was on social processes. He felt that "the clues for understanding mental development lie in children's social process" (pg. 36). This means that children development truly relies on their interaction with the adults around them. In contrast to Piaget’s thought, he focused on social interactions to explain children's cognitive development. I agree with him in the sense that we could greatly benefit learning something from someone who has experiences with it. For example, we go to school to learn about certain subjects from people who have mastered the topic, we don’t just read a book and understand it completely. 

Now to show the main differences between these two philosophers will help give more understanding to what they felt and why. Like previously stated, Piaget’s perspective on children was that they were little scientist who construct their own view of the world, while Vygotsky's perspective is from social interactions. Piaget believed basic psychological mechanism is base off equilibrium between external stimuli and current level of cognitive structure. Again, Vygotsky says social interaction encourages this development through guidance from others and not through their own cognitive. Next, language only emerges as cognitive structure develops in Piglets theory, while Vygotsky says children are born with pre-intellectual speech development and cognitive development continues. Learning relies on assimilation and accommodation, meaning incorporating new information to fit our existing mental structures. Again, Vygotsky still has the same mindset that interaction and sociocultural interacts are the key to language development. Last, Piaget's thoughts on problem solving is based off children’s independence and their independent search to find the solution. Vygotsky’s reasoning for problem solving is with efforts from others, children will be able to guide themselves to find the solution (pg. 38).

After reading and understanding both sides of Piaget and Vislosky, it is easy to see that they both had one idea and didn’t veer out of their mindset. They are too one dimensional and focus on only one aspect of development (pg.44). It is now known that you can’t just focus on one thing and we must pay attention to changes that will occur throughout someone’s lifetime. We need to not only look at children, but look at different stages of life and look at different influences and changes in society. Being able to interact at different levels of development will help better future developmental research and the process of why we develop the way we do.