Human Development

This paper is an overview of the lifespan perspective of human development, explaining what is lifespan development and lifespan perspective of development, three summarized theories of human development, aspects of the lifespan perspective and it also explain how heredity and the environment influence human development.

The lifespan of a person begins from the moment of conception until death. There are many stages that a person passes through as he/she develops or grows. This is called lifespan development. “The perspective of lifespan is a view of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood” (Baltes, 1987). There are different theories of lifespan development. But before I continue a “theory is a set of ideas used to explain some phenomenon” (Shelley 2012). For example, Piaget's theory of lifespan development covers, cognitive development whereas Freud’s theory of lifespan development attempted to explain individual differences in personality.

Nature and Nurture are also perspective in lifespan development that influence how and whom a person will be. The perspective in relationship to human development is lifelong. There are many theories of lifespan development, but covers in this paper are Piaget, Freud and Pavlov while the influences of a person life is the nature and nurture.

What is Lifespan Development?

As stated earlier a person’s lifespan begins as a fetus. As it develops and grows in the womb, becoming a person either a male or female, it will continue to experience different stages of his/her life. “The study of human development is a science seeking to understand how and why people of all kinds, everywhere, of every age- change over time” (Berger 2010). A person go through changes as he/she grows which can either be linear-gradual, predictable, steady but lifespan development shows that it is none of these (Shelley, 2012). Actually the common stages that people goes through are birth,...