Essay Quiz


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 lunch 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. The argument escalates into a discussion of whether development builds in a continuous fashion on each individual's experience or if there are drastic discontinuities that make us look like caterpillars who change into butterflies. Overhearing this discussion, another friend drops by and interjects, "I've been watching people I know for a long time and have really noticed that over time some of them seem to change so much, but others seem to be the same people I know when I was a kid." Knowing you are taking this class in life-span development, they turn to you to tell them what the "real story" is about nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity, and stability/change. Discuss these issues with them, being sure to incorporate into your answer all you know about the biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes.



3		One of your good friends works at a day care center and, knowing you are taking a class in life-span development, he has asked you to talk to the parents about the types of behaviors they might expect from their children as they develop. He told you the parents have many questions and concerns about Sigmund Freud's theories and his emphasis on sexuality, but they have heard good things about Jean Piaget's theories. Your friend has also recently learned about the Russian educator, Lev Vygotsky, and would like you to cover all three of these, plus any others you think are important. How would you inform these parents about these theories and what they can expect from their children?

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