Lifespan Developmentalist Perspective

Ever wonder why humans are the way they are? Why they react to certain situations differently than those around them or perhaps why a large group of people who seem completely different react the same way to a particular event? The amazing thing about humans is that why they behave a particular way or why they say and do certain things is open to interpretation by six different psychological perspectives that are continually studied and developed by lifespan developmentalists. Lifespan developmentalists are able to place people and their actions in each of these perspectives such as the humanistic perspective, which believes people are in control of themselves and in turn tie the same person to the psychodynamic perspective, which states that …show more content…
Contextual perspective views a person as a combination of physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds (20). The perspective states that ones development can only fully be understood if all environmental and social stimulus are taken into consideration. Bronfenbrenner acknowledged the problems with previous forms of lifespan development and sought out with the bioecological approach. This approach states that there are five levels of environment that influence development and that development cannot fully be understood until one knows how each level impacts a persons development (20). An important aspect of bioecological approach is that it “emphasizes the interconnectedness of the influences on development (21). Feldman says, “Because the various levels are related to one another, a change in one part of the system affects other parts” (21). They perspective considers all influences and uses them to come to a conclusion about life …show more content…
I would believe this perspective to be the one I am most understanding of. As a mother of 2 children who seem to be at two entirely different stages, I can see how my oldest daughter is capable of understanding things that mere months ago she seemed unable to grasp. This must be due to a change in her development that allowed her understanding of certain situations to expand. Events that she previously seemed to have little understanding or knowledge of, she can now reflect upon and retell the story and then explain how it makes her feel on a personal level. To me, that’s what cognitive development is all about. It’s an understanding of how one fits in the world. While I understand that other research shows that perhaps Piaget’s theory isn’t precise, I believe it does accurately portray most “western cultures” (17). With that being said, I hope to learn more in depth about cognitive perspective theories and approaches, such as the cognitive neuroscience approach. The cognitive perspective is increasingly interesting to me as I believe it to be an accurate representation of human