Directions: In 150-200 words, for each question, answer the following questions

Question

Directions: In 150-200 words, for each question, answer the following questions regarding life-span perspectives and successful aging. You must use one resources beside your textbook. Include in-text citations in your responses, with proper APA formatted reference list at the end of the questions.

Explain the premises of the life-span perspectives; as well as the basic forces in human development.

Describe what successful aging is and the best method to study successful aging.

Explain the different types of research design used in the study of the life span.

Describe the main approaches used to measure behavior in adult development and aging research, include the strengths and weaknesses for each.

Explanation / Answer

1. Premises of life span perspective-

Development is a distinctive feature that largely varies from individual to individual. Life expectancy has been greatly boosted by progress made in nutrition, health and medical knowledge. Development is life-long and thus is not dominated by any age period, it is multi-dimensional. This is because it is concerned with the biological, cognitive, socio-emotional and spiritual aspects. Development can also be said to be multidirectional as some features of development increase while others are decreasing. Another characteristic of development is that it is plastic. It is able to assume different paths depending on the living conditions of an individual. It has the capacity to change. For example, the condition of a child experiencing intellectual retardation may be reversed by the administration of proper diet and positive experience.The other characteristic is that development is historically-embedded. This is to mean that historical conditions can influence development. Development is multidisciplinary. Professionals in the field of psychology, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience and medical research are all concerned with human development with a common goal of expanding their understanding of development in the course of the lifespan. It is contextual in the sense that a person incessantly responds to and acts on context.

Basic forces in human development-

Development domains are categories that are adopted by scientists. Three main domains have been defined and they appear to be related or they appear to affect each other. These domains are biological, cognitive and psychological. Biological domain is characterized by human growth and physical changes in human. This is normally centered on the course of childhood and adolescence. It is normally concerned with maturation and growth. Cognitive domain tends to address the manner by which learning takes place and the reasons for deterioration of memory in the course of old age. Cognitive domain is constituted by the mental processes of imaging, perceiving, way of thinking and problem solving. Psychological domain is concerned with emotions, individuality and social relations and expectations. All these domains appear to be operating jointly and affect each other.

Human development periods cover the lifetime from conception to death. In total there are eight major periods. These periods include infancy and toddler, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. As long as a person is alive, he/she will pass through each of these stages. In the course of growth of a newborn to a toddler, they portray a characteristic thinking ability, language and personality. In their middle years, great emphasis is laid on family, school, friends in addition to individuality and cognitive skills. When one moves from childhood to adulthood, sexual development is exhibited and the individual is subject to thinking about marriage and career.

2. Successful aging - refers to physical, mental and social well-being in older age. The concept of successful aging can be traced back to the 1950s, and was popularized in the 1980s. acknowledges the fact that there is a growing number of older adults functioning at a high level and contributing to the society.

Method to study successful aging- We performed a novel, hypothesis-free and quantitative analysis of citation networks exploring the literature on successful ageing that exists in the Web of Science Core Collection Database using the CitNetExplorer software. Outcomes were visualized using timeline-based citation patterns. The clusters and sub-clusters of citation networks identified were starting points for in-depth qualitative analysis.

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