Learning Objectives: Lifespan Perspective
• Explain the lifespan perspective and its assumptions about development.
• Differentiate periods of human development.
• Explain the issues underlying lifespan development
• Identify the historical and contemporary theories impacting lifespan development
Lifespan Perspective
Paul Baltes identified several underlying principles of the lifespan perspective (Baltes, 1987;
Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006).
Development is lifelong. Lifespan theorists believe that development is life-long, and change is
apparent across the lifespan. No single age period is more crucial, characterizes, or dominates
human development. Consequently, the term lifespan development will be used throughout the
textbook.
Development is multidirectional. Humans change in many directions. We may show gains in
some areas of development, while showing losses in other areas. Every change, whether it is
finishing high school, getting married, or becoming a parent, entails both growth and loss.
Development is multidimensional. We change across three general domains/dimensions;
physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. The physical domain includes changes in height and
weight, sensory capabilities, the nervous system, as well as the propensity for disease and illness.
The cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence, wisdom, perception, problem-
solving, memory, and language. The psychosocial domain focuses on changes in emotion, self-
perception and interpersonal relationships with families, peers, and friends. All three domains
influence each other. It is also important to note that a change in one domain may cascade and
prompt changes in the other domains. For instance, an infant who has started to crawl or walk
will encounter more objects and people, thus fostering developmental change in the child’s
understanding of the physical and social world.
Development is multidisciplinary. As mentioned at the start of the chapter, human
development is such a vast topic of study that it requires the theories, research methods, and
knowledge base of many academic disciplines.
Development is characterized by plasticity. Plasticity is all about our ability to change and
that many of our characteristics are malleable. For instance, plasticity is illustrated in the
brain’s ability to learn from experience and how it can recover from injury.
Development is multicontextual. Development occurs in many contexts. Baltes (1987)
identified three specific contextual influences.
10
• Normative age-graded influences: An age-grade is a specific age group, such as
toddler, adolescent, or senior. Humans in a specific age-grade share particular
experiences and developmental changes.
• Normative history-graded Table 1.1 Which generation (cohort) are you?
influences: The time period in
which you are born (see Table 1.1) Generation Born between …
shapes your experiences. A cohort Silent Generation 1928 and 1945
is a group of people who are born Baby Boomers 1946 and 1964
at roughly the same period in a Generation X 1965 and 1980
particular society. These people Millennials 1981-1996
travel through life often Generation Z 1997-Present
experiencing similar circumstances. Source
• Non-normative life influences: Despite sharing an age and history with our peers,
each of us also has unique experiences that may shape our development. A child who
loses his/her parent at a young age has experienced a life event that is not typical of
the age group.
Another context that influences our lives is our social standing, socioeconomic status, or social
class. Socioeconomic status (SES) is a way to identify families and households based on their
shared levels of education, income, and occupation. While there is certainly individual variation,
members of a social class tend to share similar lifestyles, patterns of consumption, parenting
styles, stressors, religious preferences, and other aspects of daily life. All of us born into a class
system are socially located, and we may move up or down depending on a combination of both
socially and individually created limits and opportunities.
Families with higher socioeconomic status usually are in occupations (e.g., attorneys, physicians,
executives) that not only pay better, but also grant them a certain degree of freedom and control
over their job. Having a sense of autonomy or control is a key factor in experiencing job
satisfaction, personal happiness, and ultimately health and well-being (Weitz, 2007). Those
families with lower socioeconomic status are typically in occupations that are more routine, more
heavily supervised, and require less formal education. These occupations are also more subject
to job disruptions, including lay-offs and lower wages.
Poverty level is an income amount established by the federal government that is based on a set
of income thresholds that vary by family size (United States Census Bureau, 2016). If a family’s
income is less than the government threshold, that family is considered in poverty. Those living
at or near poverty level may find it extremely difficult to sustain a household with this amount of
income. Poverty is associated with poorer health and a lower life expectancy due to poorer diet,
less healthcare, greater stress, working in more dangerous occupations, higher infant mortality
rates, poorer prenatal care, greater iron deficiencies, greater difficulty in school, and many other
problems. Members of higher income status may fear losing that status, but the poor may have
greater concerns over losing housing.
11
Today we are more aware of the
variations in development and the impact Figure 1.2
that culture and the environment have on
shaping our lives. Culture is the totality
of our shared language, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior. It
includes ideas about what is right and
wrong, what to strive for, what to eat,
how to speak, what is valued, as well as
what kinds of emotions are called for in
certain situations. Culture teaches us
how to live in a society and allows us to
advance because each new generation
can benefit from the solutions found and
Source
passed down from previous
generations. Culture is learned from Think of other ways culture may have affected your
parents, schools, houses of worship, development. How might cultural differences influence
interactions between teachers and students, nurses and patients,
media, friends and others throughout a or other relationships?
lifetime. The kinds of traditions and
values that evolve in a particular culture serve to help members function and value their own
society. We tend to believe that our own culture’s practices and expectations are the right
ones. This belief that our own culture is superior is called ethnocentrism and is a normal by-
product of growing up in a culture. It becomes a roadblock, however, when it inhibits
understanding of cultural practices from other societies. Cultural relativity is an appreciation
for cultural differences and the understanding that cultural practices are best understood from
the standpoint of that particular culture.
Culture is an extremely important context for human development and understanding
development requires being able to identify which features of development are culturally
based. This understanding is somewhat new and still being explored. Much of what
developmental theorists have described in the past has been culturally bound and difficult to
apply to various cultural contexts. The reader should keep this in mind and realize that there is
still much that is unknown when comparing development across cultures.
Lifespan vs. Life expectancy: At this point you must be wondering what the difference between
lifespan and life expectancy is, according to developmentalists. Lifespan, or longevity, refers to
the length of time a species can exist under the most optimal conditions. For instance, the grey
wolf can live up to 20 years in captivity, the bald eagle up to 50 years, and the Galapagos tortoise
over 150 years (Smithsonian National Zoo, 2016). The longest recorded lifespan for a human
was Jean Calment who died in 1994 at the age of 122 years, 5 months, and 14 days (Guinness
World Records, 2016). Life expectancy is the predicted number of years a person born in a
particular time period can reasonably expect to live (Vogt & Johnson, 2016).
12
Conceptions of Age
How old are you? Chances are you would answer that question based on the number of years
since your birth, or what is called your chronological age. Ever felt older than your
chronological age? Some days we might “feel” like we are older, especially if we are not feeling
well, are tired, or are stressed out. We might notice that a peer seems more emotionally mature
than we are, or that they are physically more capable. So years since birth is not the only way we
can conceptualize age.
Biological age: Another way developmental researchers can think about the concept of age is to
examine how quickly the body is aging, this is your biological age. Several factors determine the
rate at which our body ages. Our nutrition, level of physical activity, sleeping habits, smoking,
alcohol consumption, how we mentally handle stress, and the genetic history of our ancestors, to
name but a few.
Figure 1.3 You are as young as you feel! Psychological age: Our psychologically
adaptive capacity compared to others of our
chronological age is our psychological age.
This includes our cognitive capacity along
with our emotional beliefs about how old we
are. An individual who has cognitive
impairments might be 20 years of age, yet
has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old. A
70- year-old might be travelling to new
countries, taking courses at college, or
starting a new business. Compared to others
of our age group, we may be more or less
adaptive and excited to meet new challenges.
Source Remember you are as young or old as you
feel.
Social age: Our social age is based on the social norms of our culture and the expectations our
culture has for people of our age group. Our culture often reminds us whether we are “on target”
or “off target” for reaching certain social milestones, such as completing our education, moving
away from home, having children, or retiring from work. However, there have been arguments
that social age is becoming less relevant in the 21st century (Neugarten, 1979; 1996). If you look
around at your fellow students in your courses at college you might notice more people who are
older than the more traditional aged college students, those 18 to 25. Similarly, the age at which
people are moving away from the home of their parents, starting their careers, getting married or
having children, or even whether they get married or have children at all, is changing.
Those who study lifespan development recognize that chronological age does not completely
capture a person’s age. Our age profile is much more complex than this. A person may be
physically more competent than others in their age group, while being psychologically immature.
So, how old are you?
13
Periods of Development
Table 1.2 Age Periods of Development
Age Period Description
Prenatal Starts at conception, continues through implantation in the uterine
wall by the embryo, and ends at birth.
Infancy and Starts at birth and continues to two years of age
Toddlerhood
Early Childhood Starts at two years of age until six years of age
Middle and Late Starts at six years of age and continues until the onset of puberty
Childhood
Adolescence Starts at the onset of puberty until 18
Emerging Starts at 18 until 25
Adulthood
Early Adulthood Starts at 25 until 40-45
Middle Adulthood Starts at 40-45 until 65
Late Adulthood Starts at 65 onward
Table 1.2 reflects unique aspects of the various stages of childhood and adulthood that will be
explored in this book. So, while both an 8-month old and an 8-year-old are considered children,
they have very different motor abilities, social relationships, and cognitive skills. Their
nutritional needs are different and their primary psychological concerns are also distinctive. The
same is true of an 18-year-old and an 80-year-old, as both are considered adults.
Prenatal Development: Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures
of the body are forming, and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding
nutrition, teratogens, or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects, and labor and
delivery are primary concerns.
Figure 1.4 Infancy and Toddlerhood: The first two years of life are ones of
dramatic growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of
hearing but very poor vision, is transformed into a walking, talking
toddler within a relatively short period of time. Caregivers are also
transformed from someone who manages feeding and sleep
schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a
mobile, energetic child.
Source
Early Childhood: This period is also referred to as the preschool years and consists of the years
which follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling. As a two to six-year-old, the child is
14
Stability versus Change: How similar are you to how you were as a child? Were you always as
out-going or reserved as you are now? Some theorists argue that the personality traits of adults
are rooted in the behavioral and emotional tendencies of the infant and young child. Others
disagree, and believe that these initial tendencies are modified by social and cultural forces over
time.
Historical Theories on Development
Preformationist View: Well into the 18th century, children Figure 1.7
were merely thought of as little adults. Preformationism, or
the belief that a tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the
sperm or egg at conception and then grows in size until birth,
was the predominant early theory. Children were believed to
possess all their sensory capabilities, emotions, and mental
aptitude at birth, and as they developed these abilities unfolded
on a predetermined schedule (Thomas, 1979). The environment
was thought to play no role in determining development.
John Locke (1632-1704): Locke, a British philosopher, refuted
the idea of innate knowledge and instead proposed that children
are largely shaped by their social environments, especially their Source: A tiny person inside a sperm.
education as adults teach them important knowledge. He
believed that through education a child learns socialization, or what is needed to be an
appropriate member of society. Locke advocated thinking of a child’s mind as a tabula rasa or
blank slate, and whatever comes into the child’s mind comes from the environment. Locke
emphasized that the environment is especially powerful in the child’s early life because he
considered the mind the most pliable then. Locke indicated that the environment exerts its
effects through associations between thoughts and feelings, behavioral repetition, imitation, and
rewards and punishments (Crain, 2005). Locke’s ideas laid the groundwork for the behavioral
perspective and subsequent learning theories of Pavlov, Skinner and Bandura.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): Like Locke, Rousseau also believed that children were
not just little adults. However, he did not believe they were blank slates, but instead developed
according to a natural plan which unfolded in different stages (Crain, 2005). He did not believe
in teaching them the correct way to think, but believed children should be allowed to think by
themselves according to their own ways and an inner, biological timetable. This focus on
biological maturation resulted in Rousseau being considered the father of developmental
psychology. Followers of Rousseau’s developmental perspective include Gesell, Montessori,
and Piaget.
Arnold Gesell (1880-1961): Gesell spent 50 years at the Yale Clinic of Child Development, and
with his colleagues he studied the neuromotor development of children. Gesell believed that the
child’s development was activated by genes and he called this process maturation (Crain, 2005).
Further, he believed that development unfolded in fixed sequences, and he opposed efforts to
teach children ahead of schedule as he believed they will engage in behaviors when their nervous
systems had sufficiently matured.
17
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Freud was a very influential
Figure 1.8 figure in the area of development. Freud emphasized the
importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our
personality and behavior. In our natural state, we are biological
beings and are driven primarily by instincts. During childhood,
however, we begin to become social beings as we learn how to
manage our instincts and transform them into socially
acceptable behaviors. His assumptions were that personality
formed during the first few years of life. The ways in which
parents or other caregivers interacted with children were
assumed to have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional
states. His beliefs formed the psychodynamic perspective and
his theories of psychosexual development and psychopathology
Sigmund Freud from Wikimedia dominated the field of psychiatry until the growth of
behaviorism in the 1950s.
However, Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very
difficult to test scientifically (Crews, 1998). Freud suggested that much of what determines our
actions were unknown to us, and as scientists we cannot measure these unconscious concepts. A
second criticism is that Freud’s case studies were not validated and cannot be used as evidence
for his theories. Many later theories, particularly behaviorism and humanism, came about as
challenges to Freud’s views.
Contemporary Theories on Development
Erikson (1902-1994) and Psychosocial Theory: Now, let's turn to a
Figure 1.9 less controversial psychodynamic theorist, Erik Erikson. Erikson
presents eight developmental stages that encompass the entire
lifespan. For that reason, Erikson’s psychosocial theory forms the
foundation for much of our discussion of psychosocial development.
Erikson (1950) proposed a model of lifespan development that
provides a useful guideline for thinking about the changes we
experience throughout life. Erikson broke with Freud’s emphasis on
sexuality as the cornerstone of social-emotional development and
instead suggested that social relationships fostered development.
Erikson proposed that each period of life has a unique challenge or
crisis that the person who reaches it must face, referred to as
psychosocial crises. According to Erikson, successful development
Erik Erikson
involves dealing with and resolving the goals and demands of each of
these psychosocial crises in a positive way. These crises are usually
called stages, although that is not the term Erikson used. If a person does not resolve a stage
successfully, it may hinder their ability to deal with later stages. For example, the person who
does not develop a sense of trust (Erikson’s first stage) may find it challenging as an adult to
form a positive intimate relationship (Erikson’s sixth stage). Or an individual who does not
develop a clear sense of purpose and identity (Erikson’s fifth stage) may become self-absorbed
and stagnate rather than work toward the betterment of others (Erikson’s seventh stage).
18
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Freud was a very influential
Figure 1.8 figure in the area of development. Freud emphasized the
importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our
personality and behavior. In our natural state, we are biological
beings and are driven primarily by instincts. During childhood,
however, we begin to become social beings as we learn how to
manage our instincts and transform them into socially
acceptable behaviors. His assumptions were that personality
formed during the first few years of life. The ways in which
parents or other caregivers interacted with children were
assumed to have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional
states. His beliefs formed the psychodynamic perspective and
his theories of psychosexual development and psychopathology
Sigmund Freud from Wikimedia dominated the field of psychiatry until the growth of
behaviorism in the 1950s.
However, Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very
difficult to test scientifically (Crews, 1998). Freud suggested that much of what determines our
actions were unknown to us, and as scientists we cannot measure these unconscious concepts. A
second criticism is that Freud’s case studies were not validated and cannot be used as evidence
for his theories. Many later theories, particularly behaviorism and humanism, came about as
challenges to Freud’s views.
Contemporary Theories on Development
Erikson (1902-1994) and Psychosocial Theory: Now, let's turn to a
Figure 1.9 less controversial psychodynamic theorist, Erik Erikson. Erikson
presents eight developmental stages that encompass the entire
lifespan. For that reason, Erikson’s psychosocial theory forms the
foundation for much of our discussion of psychosocial development.
Erikson (1950) proposed a model of lifespan development that
provides a useful guideline for thinking about the changes we
experience throughout life. Erikson broke with Freud’s emphasis on
sexuality as the cornerstone of social-emotional development and
instead suggested that social relationships fostered development.
Erikson proposed that each period of life has a unique challenge or
crisis that the person who reaches it must face, referred to as
psychosocial crises. According to Erikson, successful development
Erik Erikson
involves dealing with and resolving the goals and demands of each of
these psychosocial crises in a positive way. These crises are usually
called stages, although that is not the term Erikson used. If a person does not resolve a stage
successfully, it may hinder their ability to deal with later stages. For example, the person who
does not develop a sense of trust (Erikson’s first stage) may find it challenging as an adult to
form a positive intimate relationship (Erikson’s sixth stage). Or an individual who does not
develop a clear sense of purpose and identity (Erikson’s fifth stage) may become self-absorbed
and stagnate rather than work toward the betterment of others (Erikson’s seventh stage).
18
However, most individuals are able to successfully complete the eight stages of his theory (See
Table 1.3).
Table 1.3 Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
Age range Psychosocial crisis Positive resolution of crisis
Birth to 12 to Trust versus Mistrust The child develops a feeling of trust in caregivers.
18 months
18 months to Autonomy versus The child learns what can and cannot b e controlled and
3 years Shame/Doubt develops a sense of free will.
3 to 6 years Initiative versus Guilt The child learns to become independent by exploring,
manipulating, and taking action.
6 to 12 years Industry versus Inferiority The child learns to do things well or correctly according to
standards set by others, particularly in school.
12 to 18 years Identity versus Role The adolescent develops a well-defined and positive sense of
Confusion self in relationship to others.
19 to 40 years Intimacy versus Isolation The person develops the ability to give and receive love and to
make long-term commitments.
40 to 65 years Generativity versus The person develops an interest in guiding the development
Stagnation of the next generation, often by becoming a parent.
65 to death Ego Integrity versus The person develops acceptance of how one has lived.
Despair
Erikson’s theory has been criticized for focusing so heavily on crises and assuming that the
completion of one crisis is a prerequisite for the next crisis of development. His theory also
focused on the social expectations that are found in certain cultures, but not in all. For instance,
the idea that adolescence is a time of searching for identity might translate well in the middle-
class culture of the United States, but not as well in cultures where the transition into adulthood
coincides with puberty through rites of passage and where adult roles offer fewer choices.
Learning Theory: Also known as Behaviorism, is based on the premise that it is not possible to
objectively study the mind, and therefore psychologists should limit their attention to the study of
behavior itself. The most famous behaviorist was Burrhus Frederick (B. F.) Skinner (1904–
1990), who expanded the principles of behaviorism and also brought them to the attention of the
public at large. Skinner used the ideas of stimulus and response, along with the application of
rewards or reinforcements, to train pigeons and other animals. In addition, he used the general
principles of behaviorism to develop theories about how best to teach children and how to create
societies that were peaceful and productive (Skinner, 1957, 1968, 1972).
The behaviorists made substantial contributions to psychology by identifying the principles of
learning. Although the behaviorists were incorrect in their beliefs that it was not possible to
measure thoughts and feelings, their ideas provided new insights that helped further our
understanding regarding the nature-nurture debate as well as the question of free will. The ideas
of behaviorism are fundamental to psychology and have been developed to help us better
understand the role of prior experiences in a variety of areas of psychology.
19
Social Learning Theory, or learning by watching others, was developed by Albert Bandura
(1977). His theory calls our attention to the ways in which many of our actions are not learned
through conditioning, as suggested by Skinner. Young children frequently learn behaviors
through imitation. Especially when children do not know what else to do, they learn by modeling
or copying the behavior of others.
Bandura (1986) suggests that there is interplay between the environment and the individual. We
are not just the product of our surroundings, rather we influence our surroundings. There is
interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they influence us.
This concept is called reciprocal determinism. An example of this might be the interplay
between parents and children. Parents not only influence their child's environment, perhaps
intentionally through the use of reinforcement, etc., but children influence parents as
well. Parents may respond differently with their first child than with their fourth. Perhaps they
try to be the perfect parents with their firstborn, but by the time their last child comes along they
have very different expectations, both of themselves and their child. Our environment creates us
and we create our environment.
Other social influences: TV or not TV? Bandura, Ross and Ross (1963) Figure 1.10
began a series of studies to look at the impact of television on the behavior The Bobo Doll
of children. Bandura began by conducting an experiment in which he
showed children a film of a woman hitting an inflatable clown or “bobo”
doll. Then the children were allowed in the room, where they found the doll
and during their play they began to hit it. The children also demonstrated
novel ways of being aggressive toward the doll that were not demonstrated
by those children who did not see the aggressive model. Bandura’s
research raised concerns about the impact of violence on young children.
Since then, considerable research has been conducted on the impact of
violent media on children’s aggression including playing video games.
Source
Cognitive Theory: The cognitive theories focus on how our mental
processes or cognitions change over time. Three important theories are Jean Piaget’s, Lev
Vygotsky’s, and Information-processing.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential cognitive theorists in development. He
was inspired to explore children’s ability to think and reason by watching his own children’s
development. He was one of the first to recognize and map out the ways in which children's
intelligence differs from that of adults (Piaget, 1929). He became interested in this area when he
was asked to test the IQ of children and began to notice that there was a pattern in their wrong
answers. He believed that children's intellectual skills change over time and that maturation,
rather than training, brings about that change. Children of differing ages interpret the world
differently. Piaget theorized that children progressed through four stages of cognitive
development (see Table 1.4).
20
Table 1.4 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage Approximate Characteristics Stage attainments
age range
Sensorimotor Birth to about Children experience the world through their Object permanence
2 years fundamental senses of seeing, hearing,
touching, and tasting.
Preoperational 2 to 7 years Children acquire the ability to internally Theory of mind;
represent the world through language and rapid increase in
mental imagery. They also start to see the language ability
world from other people’s perspectives.
Concrete 7 to 11 years Children become able to think logically. They Conservation
operational can increasingly perform operations on objects
that are real.
Formal 11 years to Adolescents can think systematically, can Abstract logic
operational adulthood reason about abstract concepts, and can
understand ethics and scientific reasoning.
Piaget has been criticized for overemphasizing the role that physical maturation plays in
cognitive development and in underestimating the role that culture and experience plays.
Looking across cultures reveals considerable variation in what children are able to do at various
ages. Research has shown considerable overlap among the four stages and that development is
more continuous.
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who wrote in the early 1900s, but whose
work was not discovered by researchers in the United States until the 1960s and became more
widely known in the 1980s (Crain, 2005). His sociocultural theory emphasizes the importance
of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities. Vygotsky differed with
Piaget in that he believed that a person not only has a set of abilities, but also a set of potential
abilities that can be realized if given the proper guidance from others. Vygotsky developed
theories on teaching that have been adopted by educators today.
Information Processing is not the work of a single theorist, but based on the ideas and research
of several cognitive scientists studying how individuals perceive, analyze, manipulate, use, and
remember information. This approach assumes that humans gradually improve in their
processing skills; that is, cognitive development is continuous rather than stage-like. The more
complex mental skills of adults are built from the primitive abilities of children. We are born
with the ability to notice stimuli, store, and retrieve information. Brain maturation enables
advancements in our information processing system. At the same time, interactions with the
environment also aid in our development of more effective strategies for processing information.
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the Ecological Systems Theory, which provides
a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on human development
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Bronfenbrenner recognized that human interaction is influenced by
21
larger social forces and that an understanding of these forces is essential for understanding an
individual. The individual is impacted by several systems including:
o Microsystem includes the individual’s setting and those who have direct, significant
contact with the person, such as parents or siblings. The input of those is modified by the
cognitive and biological state of the individual as well. These influence the person’s
actions, which in turn influence systems operating on him or her.
o Mesosystem includes the larger organizational structures, such as school, the family, or
religion. These institutions impact the microsystems just described. The philosophy of
the school system, daily routine, assessment methods, and other characteristics can affect
the child’s self-image, growth, sense of accomplishment, and schedule thereby impacting
the child, physically, cognitively, and emotionally.
o Exosystem includes the larger contexts of community. A community’s values, history,
and economy can impact the organizational structures it houses. Mesosystems both
influence and are influenced by the exosystem.
o Macrosystem includes the cultural elements, such as global economic conditions, war,
technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global
community.
o Chronosystem is the historical context in which these experiences occur. This relates to
the different generational time periods previously discussed, such as the baby boomers
and millennials.
In sum, a child’s experiences are shaped by larger forces, such as the family, schools, religion,
culture, and time period. Bronfenbrenner’s model helps us understand all of the different
environments that impact each one of us simultaneously. Despite its comprehensiveness,
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system’s theory is not easy to use. Taking into consideration all the
different influences makes it difficult to research and determine the impact of all the different
variables (Dixon, 2003). Consequently, psychologists have not fully adopted this approach,
although they recognize the importance of the ecology of the individual. Figure 1.11 is a model
of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory.
22
Figure 1.11
Source
23
