Essay Questions


1		At a family gathering one evening, one of your uncles says he has heard you are taking a course in life-span development. He scoffs at this course saying, “What a waste of time! Everyone knows that children are basically mindless creatures until they get to be around six years old. Then they change into monsters as they become teenagers, but once they’re adults they become human and nothing changes until they get old and senile. So, why bother studying life-span development?” Bring your uncle up to date on today’s life-span perspective, being sure to include in your response Baltes’ seven factors of development (and any others you consider relevant).



2		The “nature-nurture controversy” has been around for a long time. At coffee in the cafeteria, you get into a discussion about this with two of your friends. One of them stubbornly states that nature is the only thing that matters; the other one just as stubbornly argues that nurture is the only thing that is important in terms of who we are, how we develop, and what our lives will be like. Knowing you are taking this class in life-span development, they turn to you to tell them who is right. Discuss this issue with them, being sure to incorporate into your answer all you know about the biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes.

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