Chapter 1

I always find interest in reading about  major life milestones and growing up, after all we humans are constantly changing and growing each and every day. I believe that major life stages such as adolescence and old age are where we are most likely to grow and change a lot in a short period of time. I also believe that we all change and grow up in our own special ways. Some mature faster while others grow to be 6 foot tall faster. Of course genetics has to do with some of these “changes,” but as the Biopsychosocial framework explains, there are many other factors as to how human development may be different amongst people.

In chapter one of the textbook, it states that scientists usually consider four interactive forces in human development. Biological forces, which include all genetic and health related factors that affect development. Biological factors can include maturation, wrinkling, puberty, and many more which can be determined by our genetic code but can also change depending on the effects of lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise. Psychological forces, which include all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development. Psychological forces can include how we see the world and our self-esteem which relate to our beliefs thus influencing our behaviors and personalities. Sociocultural forces which include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors. People develop in all sorts of different environments, growing up with certain crowds and being involved in institutions that influences development such as school or watching television. “All of these people and institutions fit together to form a person's culture.” (Pg. 8) Life-cycle forces which reflect differences in how the same event affects people of different ages. Life-cycle forces combine all three of the first forces which can happen at different points in the life span.  For example, a particular event such as pregnancy may occur at different points in life, but how a person deals with it depends on their experience. Age, financial situation, and the social support systems change depending on your age. Combining all four of these developmental forces gives a view of human development.

Childhood has definitely changed since I was a kid. When comparing my childhood to my grandparents or even my older siblings, The world is continuously undergoing changes. I came to America when I was 8 years old, starting school here and learning English around the same time as other children did in America. I had to skip a few grades, of course this was a little more tough. As for my grandparents, by the time they were 12-14 years old, they were already cooking or learning how to sew. Both of my grandparents and my older siblings matured faster than me because of the environment in which they were growing up in. While I grew up going to school and watching cartoons, my grandparents were working with their parents trying to earn money. Sociocultural forces, I believe, are one of the greatest impacts on human development because we grow up depending on the people around us raising us, what they are doing, and what we think we should be doing. The reason my childhood was different from my grandparents is not only because I was in a different country where the rules and culture were different but because our financial situation was better, there were things such as media (television, music, computers), and I had other types of people around me.  As a child you grow up around these surroundings, making “growing up” take longer.

The Psychodynamic Theory, (Pg. 11) which proposes that development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages makes the most sense to me. It traces back to Sigmund Freud’s theory that personality emerges from conflicts that children experience between what they want to do and what society wants them to do. Erik Erikson proposed his psychosocial theory which consists of eight stages and that the order of the stages are biologically fixed. When challenges are met successfully at a certain stage, people are well prepared to meet the challenge of the next stage. This theory makes sense to me personally because I do believe that growing up has certain challenges that we need to overcome before moving onto the next stage. For example you can’t commit to another in a loving relationship if you don’t have a sense of self and who you are or what it is that you want. Until that goal is met, is when you can grow up into the next stage of life. This theory combined with the learning theory would make human experience a “holistic” perspective. The learning theory is based on the role of experience which in turn influences whether a persons goal is met in the stages of life.