Is the Life-Span Approach Essential to Human Development Free Essays

Human development has been a subject of interest among modern researchers. The most prominent theory in human development is the life-span approach which is made up of various concepts. This essay aims to show the importance of the life-span approach by analysing some of the concepts that make up this approach, such as multi-directionality historical location and contexualism among others. We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Life-Span Approach Essential to Human Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now This essay will critically analyse some of the assumptions of the life-span approach. It will also examine arguments against the lifespan approach as well as other theories of human development such as Freud’s psychoanalytic theory with the aim of showing that this approach is essential for understanding human development. One of the major assumptions of the life-span approach as suggested by Baites, (1987) is that development is a ‘life-long process’ by this he meant that developmental changes occur throughout a person’s life, from the point of conception till death (Sugarman, 1986). Baltes, (1987) went on to state that development as a life-long process assumes that, no point in a person’s developmental life is more important than the other, every period of a person’s life is equally important weather it is childhood or aging, they are all important periods of development though this assumption is in direct contradiction to other theorists of human development such as Freud who believed that development ends at childhood and that adulthood is an extended version of childhood and that aging is more of â€Å"loss in adaptive capacity† hence does not qualify to be put in the paradigms of development . This has constituted the gain and loss argument (Baltes, 1987). Research on intelligence has shown that other forms of intelligence which involving reviewing of one’s life and wisdom emerge in old age and these forms of intelligence are not ‘genetically wired from birth† as suggested by Freud and (Baltes, 1987). This goes to show that development is not restricted to certain periods of a person’s life but happens up until death; hence the life-span approach is essential in understanding human development. With the desire to proove the importance of the life-span approach in human development This essay will look at another assumption put forward by life-span theorists which state that development is malti-directional, (Baltes, 1987). This means that human development has different forms and differs in the routes that it takes thoughout the developmental process for example the presents of degenerative and growth abilities in a person (Stenberg, Bornstein, Yandell, Rook, 011). It has also been noted by Li Freund, (2005) that development as viewed by the life-span theory is not a one way procces of accumulation but that some developmental aspect increase while others decline (Li Freund, 2005). Research by (cattel and horn, 1982 ) shows that a person consits of two types of intelligance mamely fluid and crystalized intelligance. According to this research fluid intelligance showed a declining function as compared to cristalized which showed accumulation tendancies (Baltes, 1987) This evidence shows that development is not a one way procces but takes different directions and that includes both childhood development and aiging, reafirming the point made above that aiging also qualifies to be considered as being part of development. Also in southafrica it has been noted that due to the inaccesibility of adiquate health care by children during the apartheid some children were born with birth defects while others suffered from malnutrition and became disabled showing the different varyng trajectories that human development can take (Youth hearings, 1997). Therefore the presence of malti-directionality as a life-span concept helps us to understand the various dimentions and directions taken by development throghout a person’s life hence it earns its importance in understanding human development. The life-span approach again plays a very important role in understanding human development when looking at the assumption that ‘development is historically embeded’ (Elder, 1998). This concept cannot be separated from the concept of contexualism hence Elder, (1998)’s work is to be viewed in light of the two concepts. According to Baites, (1987) the idea behind this assumption is that the historical location of a person together with the socio, economic and caltural experiences the individual encounter during that time has an impact on how he developes. He went on to say that this assumption brings in history as an important factor that facilitates one’s nature of deverlopment To support this assumption it was discovered that children who faced economic hardships during the time of the great depression looked far much older than their normal age but tended to recover when the conditions got better showing again that development is a continous procces (Elder, 1998). To further support this line of thinking it must be clarified that Elder, (1998) is stressing the fact that there is continous interplay between factors such as history, timing of life transitions such as early pregnancy, shared elationships and a person’s unique ability to execise agency which has been defined by Baites, (1987) as plasticity These factors greatly influence the developmental trajectories of a person (Sugarman, 1986). To support this he turns his attention to the oakland and berkely studies done on children who experiences the second world wa r, the great depression and the korean war. As shown by this research children born during the economic meltdown of the great depression probably laked proper parenting and this affected maturation. He went on to mention that children who lived during the second world war and the korean war had different experienes as compared to the oakland study and their developmental gains and losses were different. In southafrica research shows that black children who lived during the apatheid era ended up in sqatter camps without any aducation, with poor sanitation no recreation facilities and high health risks, this forced some to join ganges. Removal from their land also caused identity confusion which is a very important developmental task according to Erikson. showng that historcal context brings with it a unique experience that individuals are exposed to and this has a great impact on one’s developmet reafirming the claim tht the life-span approach is important in understanding human development. It has also been brought to attention that the research methods used by life-span researchers are to some extent unreliable and may produce inaccurate information. As critics of this approach have noted life-span researchers mainly use introspection, questioning and obsarvation for example Elder, (1998) on his study of children of the great depression admits that they would ask the subjects on how they thought the great depression influenced their lives, Havighurst also used the same technique in his study of developmental tasks and this is problematic since subjects are most likely unware of their developmental tasks and deficits (Sugarman, 1986). He went on to say researcher bias is also a broblem for example theorists like Erikson may have been influenced to research by their background and the results they produce may bear similarities to what they personaly feel, not the actual facts on the ground. Pllasticity is another life-span concept that t can help us understand human development. Though it has been mentioned above we now look at it in more detail. According to (Li Freund, 2005) it is the campacity of the individual to influence his own developmen meaning a person may counciously or uconciously influence heir own developme. Biological research on cortical plasticity across the life-span by (Li Freund, 2005) has shown that the brain of adults can change its stractural and functional organisation due to its developmental history. The research also showed the reorganisation of functions of the cortex in old age such as the use of both hemspheres to compansate for decline and this shows the importance of pasticity in h uman develoment. The last charecteristic of the life-span approach to be discussed is the fact that human development is multi-disciplinary meaning that it encompasses other fields such as bbiology, sociology and anthropology (Baltes, 1987). This assumption is further supported by Huvighurst (1972) who also suggest that developmental tasks arise from ‘physical maturation, caltural presure and individual aspirations (Sugarman, 1986). He gives the example that learning to read may be as a result caltural influence, one’s willingness to read and your mental or cognitive capability hence these three fields may simaltenously influence development. Though this essay aims to assert the importants of the life-span approach to development we cannot turn a blind eye on some of the weaknesses and critisisms brought forward agains this approach therefore we will start with the last concept which stated that human development is is malti-desciplinary. Schoolars like Sugarman, (1986) have argued that much of the work presented to support the assumption remains in doupt since research done in german society may not be applicable on a Southafrican context and therefore this particular concept does not fully expain human development of all people across the world since developmental tasks such as choosing a job are calture specific (Havighurst, 1972). Another critisism of the life-span approach is that it that some of its ideas are incontradiction with its principles for example Sugarman, (1986) notes that life-span developmental theorists offer a road map of development, Erikson’s eight stages and Havighurst’s assumption that failare to overcome a particular stage would result in unhappyness. This is in direct contradiction to the notion that development is malti-directional and does not follow a particular pattern of developmen which bergs the question as to weather this approach is really essential in understanding human development. After closely examining the assumptions of the life-span approach and the arguments presented against it, it is evident that the approach has a lot of inconsistancies and that the research methods used to some extend are inconclusive. After aknowledging these facts it is however iumportant to note that not all of the life-span approach’s research is obtained by quationable means and that it is the only theory of human development which better explains human development in Southafrica. The life-span approach is also to be credited for being the only thery of human development which is malti-disciplinary and it is also not deterministc in that there is always hope to overcome life;s challenges Also its methods are easily applicable therefore in conclusion it remains beyond reasonable doupt that development is a life-long procces and that the life-span approach is vital in understanding human development. ? References Baites, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 611-623. Boyd, D. , Bee, H. (2006). Life span development (4th ed. ). Boston: MA Pearson Education. Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course a developmental theory. Child development. BF431 . M374 1972. Havisghurst, R. (1972). Developmental tasks and education. (3rd ed. ). New York : D. McKay Co. BF701 . H37 1972. evelopmental theory. Child development, 69, 1-12. Leo, B. , Kloep, H. , Kloep, M. (2002). Lifespan Development Resources, Challenges and Risks. Oxford: Thomson Learning. Li, S. C. Freund, A. M. (2005). Advances in lifespan psychology;A Forcus on biocaltural and personal influences. Research in human development, 1-23. Salkind, N. J. (2004). Intoduction to Theories of Human Development. Califonia: Sage Publications. Stenberg, L. , Bornstein, M. H. , Yandell, D. L. , Rook, K. S. (2011). Life-Span development;Infancy through chidhood. Belmont: WAadsworth Cengage Learning. Sugarman, L. (1986). New essential psychology:Life-Span development, concepts th eories and interventions. New York: Methen Inc. How to cite Is the Life-Span Approach Essential to Human Development, Essay examples

The Beauty of Figurative Language free essay sample

Nobody wants to read a boring story. Figurative language is used to make sentences more interesting. William Wordsworth uses figurative language to allow his words to be more imaginative and vivid. William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in the scenic area of Great Brittain. He was a major English Romantic Poet (wikipedia). In the poem [I wandered lonely as a cloud] by William Wordsworth, he takes readers on a journey reflecting visions of nature. Figurative language is used to clarify the poets response to nature. Wordsworth shares his experience in nature through an emotional response. [I wandered lonely as a cloud] has many poetic devices. Three examples are similes, personification and hyperboles. One of the most obvious poetic devices in figurative language are similes. Similes are one way Wordsworth describes how he wanders alone as part of the landscape. I wandered lonely as a cloud (line 1) is the first distinct simile in the poem. We will write a custom essay sample on The Beauty of Figurative Language or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By using the ord as the author helps the reader understand how he wanders alone by comparing it to a cloud. The author goes on to mention how long he wanders by using similes. Continuous as the stars that shine (7) expresses how long he wanders. Wordsworth uses the word as to assist the reader in understanding the steady and continuous length he travels. Personification is often used to give a non-human object human traits. Wordsworth uses personification to describe a cluster of golden daffodils. An evident use of personification in the poem is When all at once I saw a crowd (3). The daffofils are described as if they are a group of people. The author uses personification to describe how lively the daffodils move. Fluttering and dancing in the breeze (6) is an apparent use of personification. Wordsworth helps the reader visualize their movement by describing the daffodils as dancing. In figurative language hyperboles are exaggerations used for emphasis. In the poem, William Wordsworth uses hyperboles to magnify how far the golden daffodils spread. The first clear hyperbole is They stretched in never-ending line (9). Wordsworth exaggerates how far the daffodils are stretched along the side of the bay, by using never-ending. The author conveys how many daffodils there are by using hyperboles. Ten thousand saw I at a glance (11) states the large quanity of daffodils. Wordsworth uses an exaggerated number to express to the reader the amount of daffodils there are. Similes, personification and hyperboles are just three of the many poetic devices in the poem, [I wandered lonely as a cloud]. Wordsworth uses similes to put the reader in the his state of mind. The author describes the daffodils as if they are people by using personificaton. By using hyperboles, Wordsworth goes on to exaggerate the volume of daffodils. Stories can be made more interesting just by using figurative language.

Chile Political Parties And Organizations Essays -

Chile Political Parties And Organizations Taking a look at Chiles government and institutions it gives the idea that the average person is represented. Chilean people have a history of strong political ties and many private associations and organizations. This has been helpful in taking care that many interests and needs are expressed within the government. Perhaps even more helpful is the development of many different political parties, whom, for the most part represent many of these organizations and associations in the government. In order to evaluate these institutions a closer look must be taken at each to understand fully the amount of organization that is in place. In the 1990s Chile had a strong, ideological based multiparty system with a clear division between the parties of the right, center, and left. Traditionally the parties have national in scope penetrating into other more remote regions. Party affiliation had been had served as the organizing concept in many leadership contests in universities and private associations, such as labor unions and professional associations. Political tendencies are passed from generation to generation and constitute an important part of an individuals identity. By the middle of the twentieth century, each of Chiles political tendencies represented one-third of the electorate. The left was dominated by the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista) and the Communist Party of Chile (Partido Communista de Chile), the right by the Liberal Party (PartidoLiberal) and the Conservative Party (Partido Conservador), and the center by the anticlerical Radical Party (Partido Radical) which was replaced as Chiles dominant party by the Christian Democratic Party (Partido Democrata Cristiano) in the 1960s. The Communist Party of Chile (PPCh) is the oldest and largest communist party in Latin America and one of the most important in the West. Tracing its origins to 1912, the party was officially founded in1922 as the successor to the Socialist Workers Party. It achieved congressional representation shortly thereafter and played a leading role in the development of the Chilean labor movement. Concern over the partys success at building a strong electoral base, combined with the onset of the Cold War, led to its being outlawed in 1948, a status it had to endure for almost a decade. However by midcentury it had become a genuine political subculture with its own symbols and organizations and the support of prominent artists and intellectuals. The PPChs strong stand against registration of voters and participation in elections alienated many of its own supporters and long-time militants who understood that most of the citizens supported a peaceful return to democracy. The dramatic failure of the PCChs strategy seriously undermined its credibility and contributed to the growing withdrawal from its ranks. The party was also hurt by the vast structural changes in Chilean society, the decline of traditional manufacturing and extractive industries and the weakening of the labor movement in particular. The collapse of the Soviet Union and its East European allies represented the final blow. The Socialist Party (PS), formally organized in 1933, had its origins in the incipiant labor movement and working-class parties of the earlier twentieth century. The Socialist Party was far more mixed than the PCCh, drawing support from the blue-collar workers a well as intellectuals and members of the middle-class. Throughout most of its history, the Socialist Party suffered from a large number of factions. Resulting from rivalries and fundamental disagreements between leaders advocating revolution and those willing to work within the system. The Socialist Partys greatest moment was the election of Salvador Allende to the presidency in 1970. Allende represented the moderate wing of a party that had veered sharply to the left. The Socialist Partys radical orientation contributed to continuous political tension as the president and the PCCh argues for a more gradual approach to change and the Socialists sought to press for immediate conquests for the middle class. Prior to the 1988 election, the Socialists launched the Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia--PPD) in an effort to provide a broad base of opposition to Pinochet. Led by Lagos, an economist and former university administrator, the PPD was supposed to be an instrumental party that would disappear after the defeat of Pinochet. But the party's success in capturing the imagination of many Chileans led Socialist and PPD leaders

How to Create Your Own DVD essays

How to Create Your Own DVD essays Having good quality home video movies is important to many individuals. For me not only quality is important, but also knowing that my precious videos will not fade or distort over the time. That is why I choose to store my videos in the durable, digital format on the DVD (digital versatile disc or digital video disc). Creating DVD might be very tricky and time consuming. I do not want to discourage anybody; there are several one-click or do-it-all computer programs, but those will not produce a high quality images. The best solution is to use several computer programs because each program is usually good for only one production phase. The first step is to shoot video with your digital video camcorder. There are several standards of camcorders available: Digital 8, MiniDV and HD-DVD. Most popular, and not that expensive, is MiniDV. Camcorders costing about $300, can record acceptable quality footage. The amount of light is very important when recording a movie. Poorly illuminated areas can cause unfocused and not sharp images. The video is recorded on a tape and stored in the digital format. The next step is to transfer your video on tape from camera to a computer. Special Firewire input on the computer is required. The easiest and free program I found for this task is WinDV. In addition, big hard drives are useful because video files are uncompressed and take a lot of space. Once a raw film is transferred, it is time to edit it. I used to use Sonic Foundry Vegas, but now I prefer Adobe Premiere or Ulead Media Studio as my video editing software. Adjusting camera angles, contrast, brightness, changing a sequence of the shots and adding nice transitions between scenes is fun and not that hard to accomplish even for the amateurs. Every software package comes with an extensive instruction on how to use it, and even more information or specific guides can be found on the each producer website. At this point your video, with all t...

Audit of a Workplace as a Learning Environment Essay

Audit of a Workplace as a Learning Environment - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that learning in this organization is a continuous process as many employees do not possess the required skills for effective work performance and those who are experienced need reinforcement. The assignment will be evaluate and discuss this learning in three ways. First the audit will evaluate the understandings, knowledge as well as dispositions required for employees to perform their tasks effectively. Secondly, the contribution of the workplace towards enhancing or hindering learning will be discussed after which the strengths and weaknesses of the workplace as a learning environment will be evaluated and summarized.As the discussion highlights  learning in workplace refers to the skills and knowledge gained through interactions and leads to change in behavior, attitudes and understandings. It increases employees’ innovative capacity and efficiency hence increasing company’s competitiveness. Workplace learning takes various forms which can be intentional or unintentional, formal or informal.  Formal learning occurs when programs are created to offer training to staff so that they can acquire skills such as a training department established to train tailors how to make garments. Informal learning occurs through daily experiences and through educational influences and environmental factors such as knowledge on how to cut, iron. Trim and pack garments. Intentional learning involves moving towards a set objective by the learner such as a tailor assistant willingness to become a tailor.

Organizations of Similar Size and Similar Structures Essay

Organizations of Similar Size and Similar Structures - Essay Example The structure provides pointers to the old and new members, to the outsiders, stakeholders, shareholders and other concerned or interested parties. This therefore means that regardless of which organization, as long as it has clear rules of governance and operation, then anyone can understand what it is all about. This paper is going to analyze in details and with examples how even though organizations may vary in size, their structures are still similar. Will organizations of similar size have similar structures? One of the reasons all organizations have similar structures no matter their size is because the main aim of all organizational structures in all the organizations is to facilitate the coordination of the employees and the management in achieving the organizational goals and even objectives. This is so because the structures put forward by organizations have similarity in characteristics since all the organizations have a goal they want to achieve even though these goals ma y be unique depending on what the mission of the organization is. The other reason is based on the existence of the different organization structure types. These include: functional structure, structure based on division, structure based on geographical location, division of the structure depending on the process, on the product and on the customer (Daft, Murphy and Willmott, 2010, p. 107). All these provide the reasons as to why when it comes to the structure of the organization, the size of the organization does not matter. All organizations need to separate their employees according to the skills each possess in order for them to have easier time consulting each other. This is for example true in that the organizations structure their employees into management, accounting and sales among others. The advantages of this type of structure are that the organizations are able to create efficiency, allow rapid decision making and also promote labor specialization within the organizatio n. This system has its own downside in that there is minimum career development as there is no room for interacting with employees from other careers and seeing them at work. The other is that the employees always have low morale as they have no challenges and competition since they are secluded in their own functional areas (Daft, Murphy and Willmott, 2010, p. 108). The other type of organizational structure that is enforced by all organizations is the division of the structure based on the products (and even services for those organizations dealing with services and not products). When structuring an organization based on its products, it means that all the strategies or decisions that will be made by the management and even the employees will be considering the products or services they are dealing with and which enable them achieve their goals. This concentration on the products or services being rendered does not have size distinction. For example small businesses (that are fam ily owned for example) have very few products they deal with but they fully concentrate on them in order to get their livelihood and provide for the family. The same happens for the large business (even those with several branches globally) where they concentrate on their products in order to gain profit (or for the non-profit organizations, in order to provide the services or be able to achieve their goal). The disadvantage of this type of organization is that it requires a more skilled management which may prove to be too

Law of property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law of property - Essay Example For instance, Section 1 of the law identifies legal estates and equitable interests, while section 37 of the law identifies the rights of a husband and wife in regard to acquisition of properties (Clarke and Kohler, 2005). This paper focuses on analyzing the right of ownership of a real property, between cohabiting couples. On this basis, it is important to distinguish between real property and personal property. The following are the differences that exists between real and personal properties (Ferguson, Buck and Wright, 2004) , Real estate properties can be owned in a limited capacity, while there is no way an individual can own a personal property in a limited capacity. Upon the death of the owner of real property, the next owner is the heir of the property. In regard to personal property, the statute of distribution guards the manner in which property passes on to another individual. In entering a contract that involves real property, it must be in writing. This is because these contracts are governed by section 29 of the Statute of Frauds. Contracts involving personal property do not need to be in writing. Parties to the contract will only write the contractual agreement if the case falls under section 17 of the Statute of Frauds. Some provisions of the Mortmain act govern the transfer of real property, for purposes of protecting immediate family members from disinheritance. However, the Mortmain act does not regulate any activities of personal property, only if Chattels are involved. It is not a requirement to register mortgages under real property; however, mortgages under personal property must be registered. Basing on this background, there is extensive argument in the United Kingdom on the relevance of various property laws in the country that protects cohabiting couples. For instance on January 23RD, Lord Justice Toulson allowed Pamela Curran to appeal a decision by a county court in 2010 of stripping her rights of sharing the properties she accumula ted with Brian Collins. According to the judge, the property laws that regulate the sharing of properties by cohabiting couples in the United Kingdom were unfair to cohabiting couples (Ward, 2013). According to this case, Miss Curran had a relationship with Brian Collins from 1970s, to 2010 when the relationship came to an end. Miss Curran worked together with Brian in his business, and they lived together in his home. However, after the relationship ended, Mr. Collins threw her out of his house, leaving her penniless. However, Lord Judge Toulson denoted that the county court just applied the law (Ward, 2013). In 2007, the Law Commission in England made a recommendation for the government to change the cohabiting laws in England, so that couples cohabiting will have the same status as married couples. According to the commission, the government should create laws that provide for financial relief to cohabiting couples when they separate. According to the commission, these laws shoul d reflect the contributions of the couples in the relationship (Halsbury, 2011). They further recommend that the couples, who should benefit from the laws, are those who have lived together for a minimum period of time, and have children together. According to their recommendations, couples might gain relief from these laws, if they have a written agreement on how they will share their properties once they separate (Toler, 2012). In 2008, the government of UK said it had no intention of