: Lifespan Characteristics and Development - Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography: Lifespan Characteristics and Development Annotated Bibliography: Lifespan Characteristics and Development Hoppmann, C. A., & Riediger, M. (2009). Ambulatory assessment in lifespan psychology: An overview of current status and new trends. European Psychologist, 14(2), 98-108. In their article, Hoppmann and Riediger, note that the observation of human developmental phenomena as they gradually unfold in people’s daily lives and natural environment has for long been a central interest of developmental psychologists ever since the early days of the discipline. The researchers observe that a number of lifespan assessment techniques have been developed over the years. These include ambulatory assessment, beeper studies, diary method and time-situated methods. This article will be used in the paper to provide a general overview of lifespan psychology as well as the different assessment methods that are used to assess developmental processes within the natural context by using micro-longitudinal designs. Laidlaw, K., & Pachana, N. A. (2009). Aging, mental health, and demographic change: Challenges for psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(6), 601. Laidlaw and Pachana point out that the world is currently experiencing an irreversible and highly profound shift in demographics that is expected to impact the current structure in most societies. The changes that are being experienced in respect to the average life expectancy of people has bene observed to be affecting both the developing and the developed world alike and this is argued to be a positive development as people are now living considerably healthier and longer lives. The authors argue that within a time span ranging over the next 50 years, the global population of people who are aged 60 years and above will triple from the low of 673 million that was recorded in 2005 to an estimated over 2 billion people by the year 2050. Population ageing is not primarily determined by the rapidly increasing number of older people. Other factors such as fertility rates can also come into play. Currently, the fertility rates for the developed world are observed to be well below replacement level and this has played a major role in accelerating the rate of population aging in these regions. This paper will be used to demonstrate the importance of lifespan characteristics and development studies and especially so the role that is played by the results of these studies in the development of effective health policies that are able to promote better lifespan health choices, control and independence. The results of this study will be used to provide statistical support to the overview that will be provided by the research by Hoppmann & Riediger. Martin, M., Jäncke, L., & Röcke, C. (2015). Functional approaches to lifespan development. GeroPsych. According to this article, theoretical approaches to lifespan development typically attempt to try to explain and predict the twin factors of age-related stability and age-related changes. However, most of the current research on lifespan development is usually focused on plasticity and age-related changes. This is done either via the examination of the performance improvements that can be achieved via training interventions or via the searching for predictors and markers of decline. It is as a result of this factor that the authors argue that the current research on aging can characterized simply as the science of change. This article will be used in the paper to highlight the need for research on lifespan development to be more diversified and additional research to be conducted in respect to the study of age-related stability. The article will help in stressing the possibilities of age-related stabilization in a number of complex functions such as motor and cognitive functioning, identity, quality of relationships, health and the impact of control belief on the brain. Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, A., Riediger, M., Schmiedek, F., von Oertzen, T., Li, S. C., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Dyadic drumming across the lifespan reveals a zone of proximal development in children. Developmental psychology, 47(3), 632. The article starts off by pointing out that the desire by people to try and coordinate their individual behavior with that of others is a common characteristic that is observe to pervade into nearly all the different aspects of social life. Some salient examples of this characteristic include participation in team sports, the playing of music and dancing. Everyday communication, collective play and bonding behaviors all tend to heavily rely on intentional or explicit forms of coordinated behavior. In the paper, the researchers observe that even in the event of largely antagonistic activities such as soccer or boxing, individuals are generally required to coordinate with each other so as for them to be able to compete in an effective manner. Based on this evidence, it can be concluded that a fundamental dimension of socially coordinated behavior is the ability of individuals to synchronize the timing of their own behavior to that of the actions of other people. This article will be used in the paper to demonstrate the importance of the lifespan developmental characteristic of individuals synchronizing their actions with those of the individuals around them in a wide range of different situations. Grühn, D., Gilet, A. L., Studer, J., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (2011). Age-relevance of person characteristics: Persons beliefs about developmental change across the lifespan. Developmental psychology, 47(2), 376. This article argues that the study of lifespan developmental psychology essentially focuses on the various developmental trajectories that are present across the entire span of an individual’s life. One of the most interesting domains for researchers in this field relates to the development of personal characteristics. The research on domain attempts to answer questions such as whether systematic developmental changes really do exist, when to some of the main person characteristics tend to develop or gain a significant degree of importance during an individual’s life course, and when do these characteristics eventually lose their significance or vanish during the said life course. While being young may that gradually lose its significance to a given individual as the individual gradually moves from adulthood to middle adulthood, this significance may that completely vanish during old age. The research in this article will be used to demonstrate the evolution and importance of normative beliefs in lifespan development. The results of this research will be used in this paper to show that although an individual’s beliefs might not reflect the individual’s actual development, these beliefs are nevertheless important in the determination of the manner in which the different age groups can be approached. Riediger, M., Voelkle, M. C., Schaefer, S., & Lindenberger, U. (2014). Charting the life course: Age differences and validity of beliefs about lifespan development. Psychology and aging, 29(3), 503. In this research study, the authors are keen to examine just how individuals from the different age-groups are able to chart out cognitive and social functioning age gradients form childhood to old age. During the study, the respondents were expected to rate what they expect to be the typical performance levels of individuals in different life phases in respect to a total of 10 aspects of social and cognitive functioning. The results of the study revealed that as compared to the older participants children generally expected significantly lower performance levels and higher temporal stability and especially so during old age and adulthood. The older adults charted their cognitive development in the middle and earlier late adulthood in a more positive manner as compared to the participants in the other age groups. This results of this study will be used in the paper to support the results of of the study that was conducted by Grühn. The results of study by Riediger et al., reveal that older people generally tend to exhibit a partial externalization of their own positive self-views as well as a self-enhancing bias. In addition to this, these results will also be used to support the postulation that the beliefs pertaining to the normative social and cognitive aspects of an individual’s lifespan development generally emerge in the late middle childhood stage of development, they then solidify to conform to the various culturally shaped scripts by the mid-adolescence stage of development, and then remain highly subjective to additional changes during the individual’s old age. Kandler, C., Kornadt, A. E., Hagemeyer, B., & Neyer, F. J. (2014). Patterns and Sources of Personality Development in Old Age. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109 (1), 175-191 In their article, Kandler et al., examine a number of previous findings on the development of personality in both old age and adulthood with a special focus on rank-order continuity, mean-level trends as well as establishing the sources of personality development. This article will be used in the paper to support the suggestion that continuity and changes in personality differences that are mentioned in the research by Reidiger et al., can be attributed to both environmental and genetic sources. Mayser, S., Scheibe, S., & Riediger, M. (2008). (Un) Reachable: An Empirical Differentiation of Goals and Life Longings. European Psychologist, 13(2), 126-140. In this research study, the authors define goals as the internal representation of some desired states. The researchers go on to point out that in that developmental psychology, goals are generally ascribed a highly important developmental-regulatory function. It can be debated that the selection and subsequent pursuit of goals by individuals can have the effect of actively shaping and influencing the individual’s own life course. This paper will be used to show that while the goals that an individual happens to set for himself has a major impact on the lifespan development of the said individual. The goals that an individual sets and the attainment of these goals can impact an individual’s overall success. Schmitt-Rodermund, E., Silbereisen, R. K., & Obschonka, M. (2011). Successful Entrepreneurship as Developmental Outcome. European Psychologist, 16(3), 174-186. In their research paper, Schmitt-Rodermund et al., point out that in-light of the current occupational risk that are frequently related to rapid economic and social changes, social scientists and policy makers now tend to greatly emphasize on the role that is played by entrepreneurship for future careers. However, there has been a raging debate among experts pertaining as to how to predict and foster and individual’s successful entrepreneurship and determine exactly why some people are able to easily become successful entrepreneurs while others fail to achieve a considerable degree of entrepreneurial success. In their research study the authors attempt to try and use lifespan developing pattern of dispositional traits to determine the attainment of successful entrepreneurship. The results of this study will be linked to the results of the study by Mayser et al., and be used to illustrate that an individual’s lifespan developmental goals can affect the dispositional traits that the individual develops and this can subsequently impact the ability of the individual to obtain entrepreneurial success. Riediger, M., Wrzus, C., Schmiedek, F., Wagner, G. G., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Is seeking bad mood cognitively demanding? Contra-hedonic orientation and working-memory capacity in everyday life. Emotion, 11(3), 656. In this article, the authors argue that hedonism, which is described as the longing to feel good, is a common characteristic that is largely central to human motivation. However, people at times seek to try and enhance or maintain negative affect or even dampen any positive affect that they might experience. This tendency can ultimately affect the later attainment of the goals that they might happen to have set for themselves. The results of this research study will be used in the paper to collaborate the results of the study conducted by Mayser et al. It will be useful in highlighting some of the factors that can negatively affect the attainment of the goals that have been set by an individual. Blanchard-Fields, F., & Coats, A. H. (2008). The experience of anger and sadness in everyday problems impacts age differences in emotion regulation. Developmental psychology, 44(6), 1547. In their research study Blanchard-Fields and Coats sought to establish an answer to the interesting question as to whether everyday problems have the effect of eliciting different emotions and different emotion-regulation strategies across the entire adult lifespan. in the study, the researchers established that older adults generally tend to report experiencing more positive affect and less negative affect in respect to emotions over the years. The results of this study will be used to demonstrate that as people grow older, they tend to experience less anger and in the event that they do experience some anger, this anger is usually rated as having a significantly low intensity. The results of this study will be tied-in to the results of the study by Rideiger et al., to illustrate the link between age and anger. Meier, B. (2003). Review of Lifespan development of human memory. Swiss Journal of Psychology 62(3), 196-197. In this article, Meier observes that the study of memory development across an individual’s lifespan is highly essential today based on the fact that intact memory functions are generally health for autonomous ageing, as well as the fact that medicinal advances now allow for people to live longer than ever before. This article will be referenced in the paper and used to highlight the importance of the study of lifespan memory development. The article will provide useful information pertaining to the development of working memory, the development of prospective memory, the development of an individual’s episodic memory, as well as the abnormal and normal development of that episodic memory of an individual during the adulthood stage of development. Kliegel, M., Mackinlay, R., & Jäger, T. (2008). Complex prospective memory: development across the lifespan and the role of task interruption. Developmental psychology, 44(2), 612. In their article, Kliegel et al., are keen to point out that a pervasive cognitive function is essentially prospective memory and it denotes the ability of an individual to remember to conduct intended tasks or activities in the future. The ability to successfully master everyday prospective memory tasks such as handing a message to a colleague, remembering to do home, take medication or even pay bills is an essential requirement for an individual’s independent living. This article will be used to show that the attainment of critical prospective memory skills during the early childhood stage of development and the successful preservation of these skills into old age is that vital developmental task for all individuals. Ram, N., Gerstorf, D., Lindenberger, U., & Smith, J. (2011). Developmental change and intraindividual variability: relating cognitive aging to cognitive plasticity, cardiovascular lability, and emotional diversity. Psychology and aging, 26(2), 363. The results of numerous studies conducted over the years have all shown that the subtle changes in behavior that occur at various timescales during an individual’s lifespan are indicative of and can be used in the measurement of a number of different constructs. The developmental changes that occur during the adulthood and old age stages of development are often observed to be characterized by a general decline and this found to be especially so when they are measured using the various indicators of processing speed. The results of this study will be used to demonstrate the fact that cognitive abilities generally tend to reduce as an individual moves the different stages in life. Sander, M. C., Werkle-Bergner, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Binding and strategic selection in working memory: A lifespan dissociation. Psychology and aging, 26(3), 612. This article argues that the visual working memory is primarily tasked with the role of maintaining information concerning perpetual input from the environment surrounding a person and then maintaining this information for a relatively short time period to allow for the information to be used for direct goal-oriented behavior. A key critical feature of this memory is that it has a very limited capacity and is estimated to be only able to include a total of only about three or four different items. As a result of the fact that the visual working memory has been proven to be highly predictive of a large number of different cognitive functions, the determination of individual virtual working memory has increasingly grown to become of great scientific interest. The information in this article will be used in this paper to demonstrate that across a person’s lifespan, the different regions of the brain that serve to contribute to memory performance generally tend to undergo a series of differential changes and are highly prone to the effects of learning, maturation and senescence. Schmiedek, F., Oberauer, K., Wilhelm, O., Süß, H. M., & Wittmann, W. W. (2007). Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(3), 414. According to the authors of this article, the intensive study of reaction time (RT) distribution has had a relatively long tradition in psychology. This is primarily because repeated characteristics of that reaction time distributions have been hypothesized, and shown to capture some of the more important aspects of human cognition. The material in this article will be used to complement that which has been presented in the research by Sander et al., and further illustrate the effect of lifespan development on cognitive memory and reaction. Ghisletta, P., McArdle, J. J., & Lindenberger, U. (2006). Longitudinal cognition-survival relations in old and very old age: 13-year data from the Berlin Aging Study. European Psychologist, 11(3), 204-223. In the research study conducted by Ghisletta et al., the researchers aimed to use survival and longitudinal analyses to estimate the overall influence and changes in cognition levels of old and very old individuals at death. The results of this study suggested that survival is related to cognitive development in old and very old age. Theresults of this study will be used to further highlight the impact of aging on an individual’s cognitive ability. In addition to this, this study will also be used to link age-related reduction in an individual’s cognitive ability with increased probability of imminent death. Kavé, G., Knafo, A., & Gilboa, A. (2010). The rise and fall of word retrieval across the lifespan. Psychology and Aging, 25(3), 719. In their study, Kavé et al., sought to try and investigate the rise and fall of word retrieval starting from the age of 5 through to the age of 86 years. The study aimed to elucidate some of the underlying processes that typically serve to determine some of the common age differences as applied to this cognitive skill. The results of this study will be used in the paper to demonstrate that although word retrieval abilities are generally present from the very start of language acquisition, people generally tend to gradually improve on this ability over the years before they start experiencing a gradual reduction in word retrieval abilities as they age. Westerhausen, R., Bless, J. J., Passow, S., Kompus, K., & Hugdahl, K. (2015). Cognitive control of speech perception across the lifespan: A large-scale cross-sectional dichotic listening study. Developmental psychology, 51(6), 806. In their article Westerhausen et al., note that under optimal conditions, speech perception is a generally more or less automatized process, that is that generally characterized by a rather rapid mapping of the representation of a given auditory input to a conceptual representation. The successful cognitive control of speech perception is thought be of vital importance in the mastery of developmental challenges across the lifespan, ranging from language learning during the childhood stage of development to the compensation for sensory loss during old age. The results of this study will be used to show that other than word retrieval abilities, an individual’s ability to exert cognitive control also undergoes a series of systematic changes throughout the course of an individual’s lifespan. Riedier, M., Wrzus, C., & Wagner, G. G. (2014). Happiness is pleasant, or is it? Implicit representations of affect valence are associated with contrahedonic motivation and mixed affect in daily life. Emotion, 14(5), 950. In the study by Riediger et al., the researchers point out that whereas people generally want to always feel good, they nevertheless at times ty to either dampen positive affect or enhance the negative affect that they might happen to be experiencing. In their study, the researchers sought to try and investigate the role that is played by implicit mental representations of affect valence. The results of this study were able to demonstrate that the older the individual study participants were, the more they were likely to implicitly associate unhappiness with unpleasantness and/or happiness with pleasantness. The results of this study will be used to demonstrate that contrahedonic tendencies of desiring to enhance or maintain negative affect or dampen positive affect can be associated with frequent episodes of mixed affect. An example of this is the simultaneous experiencing of some of the affective states of opposing valence, such as pride and embarrassment or sadness and enjoyment. The results of this study will be linked to the results of the study conducted by Rideiger, Wrzus, Schmiedek, Wagern and Lindenberger as evidence that younger people are more prone to want to enhance negative affect or dampen positive affect as compared to older people. Bibliography Blanchard-Fields, F., & Coats, A. H. (2008). The experience of anger and sadness in everyday problems impacts age differences in emotion regulation. Developmental psychology, 44(6), 1547. Ghisletta, P., McArdle, J. J., & Lindenberger, U. (2006). Longitudinal cognition-survival relations in old and very old age: 13-year data from the Berlin Aging Study. European Psychologist, 11(3), 204-223. Grühn, D., Gilet, A. L., Studer, J., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (2011). Age-relevance of person characteristics: Persons beliefs about developmental change across the lifespan. Developmental psychology, 47(2), 376. Hoppmann, C. A., & Riediger, M. (2009). Ambulatory assessment in lifespan psychology: An overview of current status and new trends. European Psychologist, 14(2), 98-108. Kandler, C., Kornadt, A. E., Hagemeyer, B., & Neyer, F. J. (2014). Patterns and Sources of Personality Development in Old Age. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109 (1), 175-191 Kavé, G., Knafo, A., & Gilboa, A. (2010). The rise and fall of word retrieval across the lifespan. Psychology and Aging, 25(3), 719. Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, A., Riediger, M., Schmiedek, F., von Oertzen, T., Li, S. C., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Dyadic drumming across the lifespan reveals a zone of proximal development in children. Developmental psychology, 47(3), 632. Kliegel, M., Mackinlay, R., & Jäger, T. (2008). Complex prospective memory: development across the lifespan and the role of task interruption. Developmental psychology, 44(2), 612. Laidlaw, K., & Pachana, N. A. (2009). Aging, mental health, and demographic change: Challenges for psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(6), 601. Martin, M., Jäncke, L., & Röcke, C. (2015). Functional approaches to lifespan development. GeroPsych. Mayser, S., Scheibe, S., & Riediger, M. (2008). (Un) Reachable: An Empirical Differentiation of Goals and Life Longings. European Psychologist, 13(2), 126-140. Meier, B. (2003). Review of Lifespan development of human memory. Swiss Journal of Psychology 62(3), 196-197. Ram, N., Gerstorf, D., Lindenberger, U., & Smith, J. (2011). Developmental change and intraindividual variability: relating cognitive aging to cognitive plasticity, cardiovascular lability, and emotional diversity. Psychology and aging, 26(2), 363. Riediger, M., Voelkle, M. C., Schaefer, S., & Lindenberger, U. (2014). Charting the life course: Age differences and validity of beliefs about lifespan development. Psychology and aging, 29(3), 503. Riediger, M., Wrzus, C., & Wagner, G. G. (2014). Happiness is pleasant, or is it? Implicit representations of affect valence are associated with contrahedonic motivation and mixed affect in daily life. Emotion, 14(5), 950. Riediger, M., Wrzus, C., Schmiedek, F., Wagner, G. G., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Is seeking bad mood cognitively demanding? Contra-hedonic orientation and working-memory capacity in everyday life. Emotion, 11(3), 656. Sander, M. C., Werkle-Bergner, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Binding and strategic selection in working memory: A lifespan dissociation. Psychology and aging, 26(3), 612. Schmiedek, F., Oberauer, K., Wilhelm, O., Süß, H. M., & Wittmann, W. W. (2007). Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(3), 414. Schmitt-Rodermund, E., Silbereisen, R. K., & Obschonka, M. (2011). Successful Entrepreneurship as Developmental Outcome. European Psychologist, 16(3), 174-186. Westerhausen, R., Bless, J. J., Passow, S., Kompus, K., & Hugdahl, K. (2015). Cognitive control of speech perception across the lifespan: A large-scale cross-sectional dichotic listening study. Developmental psychology, 51(6), 806. Summary: Lifespan Characteristics and Development The observation of human developmental phenomena as it gradually unfolds in the course of daily life has for years been of interest to developmental psychologists since the founding of the discipline. As the world’s population continues to undergo a shift that is causing the older demographic to rapidly increase, it is important for additional research to be conducted on lifespan characteristics and development so as for the society to be able to better promote positive health choices, control and independence (Hoppmann & Riediger et al., 2009, Laidlaw & Pachana, 2009). The current research that has been conducted on lifespan development has primarily focused on plasticity and age-related changes, however it is essential for research studies in this discipline to become more diversified and work to focus on age-related stability as this has an impact on important factors such as health and the quality of relationships that people are able to enjoy (Martin et al., 2015). One of the most important developments that has been made in the study of lifespan development is the extensive amount of research that has been made examining important factors such as cognitive ability, memory, and the effects of factors such as happiness and anger not in the well-being of individuals, but also in the attainment of their goals. Research on this subjects has shown that as people go older, they tend to experience significant changes in respect to these areas (Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, et al., 2011, Blanchard-Fields & Coats, 2008, Kavé et al., 2010ö Riediger et al., 2014). By continuing to study these areas of developments, it will be possible for developmental psychologists to better understand the psychology of the different age demographics and this will aid them in in not only designing better counseling approaches but also in making more informed government policy recommendations affecting the different age demographics. References Blanchard-Fields, F., & Coats, A. H. (2008). The experience of anger and sadness in everyday problems impacts age differences in emotion regulation. Developmental psychology, 44(6), 1547. Hoppmann, C. A., & Riediger, M. (2009). Ambulatory assessment in lifespan psychology: An overview of current status and new trends. European Psychologist, 14(2), 98-108. Kavé, G., Knafo, A., & Gilboa, A. (2010). The rise and fall of word retrieval across the lifespan. Psychology and Aging, 25(3), 719. Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, A., Riediger, M., Schmiedek, F., von Oertzen, T., Li, S. C., & Lindenberger, U. (2011). Dyadic drumming across the lifespan reveals a zone of proximal development in children. Developmental psychology, 47(3), 632. Laidlaw, K., & Pachana, N. A. (2009). Aging, mental health, and demographic change: Challenges for psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(6), 601. Martin, M., Jäncke, L., & Röcke, C. (2015). Functional approaches to lifespan development. GeroPsych. Riediger, M., Wrzus, C., & Wagner, G. G. (2014). Happiness is pleasant, or is it? Implicit representations of affect valence are associated with contrahedonic motivation and mixed affect in daily life. Emotion, 14(5), 950. Read More