Several Different Changes From Our Birth to our Death

For example, we go through physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes. These changes also help us develop as individuals. These developments come from the study of the seven-key assumption of the Modern Life-span perspective created by Paul Baltes. The Modern Life-span perspective will help you understand human development. The first theme in the Modern Life-span perspective is development is a lifelong process. Early adulthood is not the end of development. We change throughout our life span, and there is no age dominates development.

The second theme is development is multidirectional, which shows different patterns of change over time. Dimensions shrink and grow at different points in a person’s life.

The third theme is development involves both gain and loss. In every phase of the life span there are both gains and losses. When you gain something, it comes with loss of some kind. When you lose something, it brings gain. Gain and loss happen together. The fourth theme is development is characterized by lifelong plasticity.

Plasticity is the capacity to change in response to an experience whether positive or negative. The fifth theme is development is shaped by its historical-cultural. This theme is about how major historical events affect development. The sixth theme is development is multiply influenced. Human development is the result of nature and nurture, both inside and outside of the person, both biological and environmental. The seventh and final theme is development must be studied by multiple disciplines.

Human development is impacted by all things from biochemical reactions to historical events, it is impossible for one discipline to have all the answers.

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Balte believes the modern life-span perspective development happens throughout the lifespan, it is multidirectional, includes gains and losses at every age, is defined by plasticity, is pretentious by history and culture, it is impacted by interacting causes, and is studied by the top multiple disciplines. Age grades, age norms, and social clock are cultural differences that try to tell us how to live our lives.

These cultures become part of us and effect how we live our lives. Age grade are socially defined age group in a society. Age grade are assigned different roles, responsibilities, statuses, and privileges. For example, separating children into grades in school based on age is age grading. Another example of age grade is, adults granted voting privileges at 18 years. The right to drink alcohol at age 21, and we can define 65+ as old age are all examples of age grading. Age norms are society’s way of telling people how to act their age. For example, we believe that people should be thinking about marriage at age 25, and should retire at age 65. Age norms influence people’s decisions about how to lead their lives. Social clock is a person’s sense of when things should be done and when he or she is ahead of or behind the schedule dictated by age norms.

For example, unmarried 30-year-old man feels he should propose to his girlfriend before she leaves him. Another example of social clock is over the age of 65 still works, and feels they should plan for retirement. This is how the cultural difference of age grades, age norms, and social clock effect how we live our lives. Throughout our lives, we will go through many gains and losses that are lifelong development that involves multidimensional. Gains (increase/improvement) and losses (decrease/decline) occur jointly. When people gain, it comes with a loss, and when people have a loss it comes with a gain. Any developmental process requires aspects of gains and losses. When you have losses in your childhood it could lead to gains in your adulthood.

For example, if someone did not have a good childhood it would make them want to work hard to successful adulthood which is a gain. Another example of gains and losses is, when you are in your adulthood part of life your health is usually in good shape which is a gain, as you get older your health decreases which is a loss. When kids go from pre-school to elementary school they gain knowledge, but they lose their skills in getting lost in play time. From young adulthood till old age people have declining physical skills and increasing responsibility. There will always be gains in improvements in performances which is a gain, and decline in performance which is a loss. Gains and losses balance each other out, and change over time