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115 PSYCHOLOGY IN HSC
Task 1
1.1 Lifespan Development Psychological Theories
Lifespan development refers to the changes and development from the time a person is
conceived to the period that they die (Hendry and Marion, 7). While some of the changes that
people undergo are due to personal choices and chance incidents, the large majority of life stages
and change are often due to the psychological and biological heritage as human beings.
Psychology refers to a study of mental process and human behavior. This scientific study helps
investigate the sense of learning, cognition, perception and motivation and their related
interactions with the surrounding. The psychological theories such as Erickson, Maslow, Rogers,
Freud, and Piaget learning theory have an impact on lifespan development.
The psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud argues that the behavior of humans is due to
the interaction of the id, ego, and the superego. The principle expresses that the behavior of the
life of a person is often motivated by internal and unconscious force (Martin, Richard and
Richard 133). It is usually associated with a single individual. The psychosocial theory by
Erikson focuses on one’s social interactions with others and the environment. Erickson theory
states that both the culture and the society shapes and challenges an individual. Abraham
Maslow through this theory maintained that the behavior of a person is chosen as a result of free
will and motivated by the inherent capability to try and achieve full potential. This theory is
found from a humanistic point of view. According to the theory of Charles Darwin genetic
inheritance leads to behaviors which are adaptable and promotes the species survival. This from
an evolutionary point of view. The cognitive theory by Piaget highlights the way that individuals
represents internally and think about the globe.
The various psychological theories can help explain an example of an obese young person.
The psychodynamic perspective by Sigmund Freud can explain that the obese condition might be
as a result of the oral development stage. From a behavioral point of view, and it can be
attributed to lack of exercise or nutrition. Piaget theory might explain that the condition has been
as a result of lack of knowledge on proper nutrition and information about a healthy weight. The
condition might also be attributed to factors such as social, personality, cognitive and physical as
per the contextual perspective. Damon (242) notes that numerous psychological lifespan
development theory can help explain the condition by applying different findings
1.2 Psychological Theories Relation to Life Stages Concepts
The cognitive development model by Piaget is found on the cognitive perspective which
emphasizes on the process which allows people comprehend and contemplate about the
environment. This is named as the development stage theory. This can help explain the
qualitative differences between the adult and child logical abilities. It can also explain the
differences in the varying knowledge, cognition, understanding and the answer cleverness. Piaget
stated that the human gradually improves due to the environmental experiences and biological
maturation in various stages of life. The evolution theory by Charles Darwin maintained that in
the child earlier stage, they might show similar traits with their non-human ancestry and through
looking at each child development stage can provide information on the human species
evolutionary history. Sigmund Feud argued that the emotions that people learn from their earlier
experience/stages will lead to the development and human nature. Erikson adds more to the
theory by Fed through focusing on the social influence on the enter stages. Watson highlighted
that the development of human requires being based on past behavior observation. John Watson
maintained the observation approach is an enhanced way instead of Piaget cognitive and
unobservable approach. The four stage of lifespan development includes
a. Sensor motor Stage: the stage occurs from birth to when a child is two years. In this
stage, the children often learn people and objects that surround them. In this stage, they have
limited knowledge, and it is found in experiences and physical interaction. The children learn by
using a trial and error method.
b. Preoperational stage– Occurs between 2-7 years. The child can use symbols for the
purpose of presenting various objects. They can classify, count and understand similar concepts.
c. Concrete operational stage– the age of the children is seven to eleven. The child can
understand concepts from various views. They child can utilize systematic and logical symbol
manipulation.
d. Formal Operational Stage– it occurs in adolescents and the teens can think in numerous
ways.
Task 2
2.1 Biological and Social Features that Impact the Human Behavior.
Human development is defined as the physical, mental and social capacity in all the lifespan
development stages (Greene 112). Two main factors influence the human factors:
a. Social factors
Socialization is one of the factors which impacts the behavior in human beings. Social
factors refer to the process which an individual obtain the skills in knowledge and language by
interacting with the society. The family has a significant influence on the human behavior based
on the view that the majority of children learn and acquire some of the skills from their family.
Education helps in changing the human behavior. For instance, vastly educated caregivers can
utilize the position to help encourage the development of their kids. A well cohesive social
system of educated persons socializes the child in expected they to attain high academic success
level. Besides, there are societal expectations and standards of behavior to a well-educated
individual. The human behavior can be premeditated by a person to occur due to coercion,
pressure, and nudges. For instances, adolescents are influenced to dress, speak, act and think in a
specific way by their role models. Their peers and mentors can negatively or positively affect
their behavior. Greene (57) notes that the media, environment, and culture affect human
behavior. For an individual to safely interact with others and the environment, they require
