Week Two-Card-Life Span Development Chapter 2

Sigmund Freud has laid the foundation for psychoanalysis as we know it today. He developed the theory of how significant the early years were and are to human development. Throughout the years, other psychoanalysts came along with their theories either building upon Freud's theories or straying away from them. Freud's theories were interpreted as being very carnal, as he used references to sex and pleasure when describing the development of children, and many were not comfortable with the correlations. Despite the sexual references, psychoanalysts were "influenced by Freud, but searching for a different perspective" (Fiore p. 32). They began to look at other factors that they felt did and could significantly affect human development like environment, genetics, social experiences, and culture amongst other factors. Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst who built on Freud's theory, but from a social perspective. He conducted many studies around the world to gather information to explain human development. Erikson's theories showed how humans have crisis at each stage of development, and in order to move to the next stage, the crisis must be resolved first. Other theorists like Jean Piaget was intrigued by how children developed intelligence and focused his studies of human development on cognition. Another influential psychologist was Lev Vygotsky, who based his theories of human development on "children's interaction with the adults around them" (Fiore p. 36). He felt that children development was based on the acts of the influential adults they interacted with often. Another behavioral theorist, Ivan Pavlov, created the theory of classical conditioning just by observing a dog that salivated when it ate food. He opened the doors for others like John Watson and B. F. Skinner, who tied conditioning to human development and "the use of consequences to modify or shape voluntary behavior or actions" (Fiore p. 39).
With the history of the theories of human development, it seems as though there will be plenty more discoveries of how humans develop as time and technology continue to evolve. From my perspective as a parent with three children, I see some similarities and some differences amongst each of them. Each child responds differently to the morals, values, rules, routines, affection, and boundaries set in our household. Being a stay at home mom gave me the advantage to observe my children from the day they were born until the present time and compare characteristics at different ages and stages in early childhood. Some characteristics of theories developed from some of the aforementioned psychoanalysts are accurate. I have witnessed how genetics, culture, social influence, and the basic needs all play a role in their development.  I have also realized that what may work for one child may not work for the other, and sometimes it really depends on the day of the week, the amount of rest they had, time of day (lunch, dinner, etc.), the weather, and many other factors. There is no human development theory mentioned that is specific to any individual.  These theorists have provided the world with resources to refer to for basic understanding.  I believe, "Physical, cognitive, and social factors interact in ways that we are only beginning to comprehend" (Fiore p. 42). As the world turns there will be future generations with similarities and differences from those of yesterday and today. It will be very exciting to see if the future psychoanalysts will revert to build upon Freud's theory again. I wonder if they will discover whether he was appropriate or inappropriate when describing human development in the manner he did. I really think that in Freud's days, the public was very sexually conservative and completely misinterpreted his ideas; he wanted to be clear and specific when he described the stages to prevent any misconception of his findings.

Week One-Card- Life Span Development Chapter 1

Just when I thought that I was starting another class to ultimately fulfill class requirements to successfully enter Trinity's nursing program in the fall of 2017, bam! I am hit with this awesome course Psychology 123 titled, Life Span Development. What a way to start a class, with a very eyeopening video like the Möbius Strip. This zen-based explanation of human development, as told using a two-sided strip of paper, is totally breathtaking.  One side of the strip is a white color, representing a person's soul, usually witnessed by the humans themselves. The other side is shown green or pink. This side represents a human being's outside appearance. This appearance consists of a mixture of physical, mental, and emotional 'prettied' displays seen usually by others in the outer world. Mr. Parker J. Palmer gracefully describes how at birth humans are born with their souls exposed to the world. As the human gets older, developing physically, mentally, and emotionally, the strip comes full circle, separating the inside soul from the outside display. As described in the short film, as a human being matures, instead of the two sides becoming a divisive circle, it instead can become a Möbius; a Möbius is a shape  that connects similar to a circle, but is manipulated so that both the soul and public display are seen from either side or angle. The mixture of body and soul (not Anita Baker's song) is interpreted as for the human to be itself at all times displaying outside and inside qualities together; there should not be a separate display of who a human being is on the outside compared to who they are on the inside. Until both sides are equally displayed, one will not be truly content. There were approximately 20 pages to read in chapter 1 of LIFE SMART and this video summed the chapter up in about 6 minutes. Both the reading and video describe how a human develops from birth to late adulthood and how they are distinguished using different characteristics. The reading include how some traits and characteristics vary between periods and are not necessarily connected to one specific period of development. This resonates with me because I have been told often that I look much younger than my actual  age. I attend a college designed mostly with students of a specific age group and lifestyle in mind (18-early 20's, no kids, and single). It is and was often assumed that I fit the traditional college student model, and not that of a 37 year old, wife, and mother of three. People said I look to be in my early 20's at the oldest and my weight does not reflect that of someone who has had 3 children. Here I am, what seems to be an example of why one should not generalize looks and age. In LIFE SMART it states, "As is true for all periods of the lifespan, the physical maturation of human development initiates the process, but social and emotional adolescent experiences strongly shape the nature and direction of behavior" (Fiore p. 10). From this type of experience, I have learned not to use age to determine the knowledge or lifestyle of others. I usually let the person tell and show me who they are.  I also pick friends and acquaintances using common experiences and not if I think they are age-appropriate adults or not. So far, I have learned that a person's age, race, religion, social, or economic status does not interpret who they are as an individual. People can be at different levels in life based on beliefs, culture, experiences (both good and bad), physical features, and education amongst many others factors. Research has been developed by leading psychologists that reflect these findings; what may be true for a specific group of people may not be true for another group and how environmental factors, diet, genetics, culture, sanitation, etc., play roles in these differences.  We are unable to label people and place them in boxes. It is now understood that "...development reaches across the entire life course, and developmental changes involve lifelong adaptive processes unique for each phase of the life course, including adulthood" (Fiore p. 11).