Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter:

The student will be able to compare and contrast the organismic, mechanistic, and contextual models of
development.
The student will demonstrate knowledge of Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory, and be able to
apply these concepts.
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the most influential developmental stage theories and the
criticisms of the stage approach.
The student will be familiar with alternatives to the stage model, including Neugartens views of the
social
meanings of age, and McCrae and Costas Five-Factor Model of Personality.

Chapter Outline
I. Organismic, Mechanistic, and Contextual Models
A. The organismic model stresses a natural unfolding of behavior according to a genetic blueprint.
B. The mechanistic model views the individual as a passive recipient of environmental influence.
C. The contextual model views the development of the individual as the product of a complex
interaction between the individual biological/genetic nature and the various layers of the
environment during a particular historical period.
II. Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory
A. Uses the term ecology (the science of relationships between organisms and their environment) to
acknowledge the interaction between biogenetic background and environmental contexts.
B. Bridges the rigor-relevance gap.
C. Involves the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodations between an active,
growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate setting in which the
developing person lives that is known as the ecology of development.
D. The individual is seen as one element in a complex system of reciprocal relationships.
E. Stresses that reality as perceived by the individual is what is important phenomenology.
F. Conceptualizes the environment as a series of nested structures with the individual in the center.
1. The microsystem is the innermost level of the environment and includes the immediate

setting in which the developing person interacts.

a. Three main elements include the activities, roles and relationships in which the
person engages.
b. Dyads are the building blocks of the social structure and are reciprocal.
2. The mesosystem is composed of the relationships between settings in which the
individual participates, representing interactions between Microsystems.
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3. The exosystem is made up of settings in which individuals do not actively participate, but
that influence the microsystems such as the school board.
4. The macrosystem represents the widely shared beliefs and values that determine how
social groups are organized.
5. Individual differences in an environmental context.
a. An individuals social role is set at the macrosystem and defines the set of
activities and relationships expected of a person who occupies a particular social
position, and of others in relation to that person.
b. Structural lag occurs when social institutions fail to keep pace with changes in
individual lives during periods of rapid social and technological change.
III. Ages and Stages: The Psychoanalytic Tradition
A. Stage theory maintains that all of us, at about the same time in our lives, experience the same
events, problems, or challenges.
B. Early stage theory can be traced to the work of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson.
C. Erik Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development
1. Bridges the work of Freud and Jung.
2. Is based on the epigenetic principle that suggests that parts give rise to the whole.
3. The individual is viewed throughout the life span as a developing organism, with each
stage influenced by and based on specific experiences at earlier stages.
4. Each stage focuses on a psychosocial crisis.
5. Each stage is posited in terms of two alternative ways of dealing with the environmental
challenge, one adaptive, one maladaptive.
6. Eriksons eight stages
a. Trust v Mistrust (Birth to age 1)

b. Autonomy v Doubt (Age 1 to 3)

c. Initiative v Guilt (Age 3 to 6)
d. Industry v Inferiority (Age 6 to 11)
e. Identity v Role Confusion (Adolescence)
f. Intimacy v Isolation (Young Adulthood)
g. Generativity v Self-Absorption (Middle Adulthood)
h. Integrity v Despair (Late Adulthood to Death)
7. Robert Butler has described a process called life review by which older adults achieve
integration and acceptance of ones life (Eriksons integrity).
8. John Kotre extended Eriksons notion of generativity (having an interest in establishing
or guiding the next generation) by identifying four types of generativity.
a. Biological generativity involves child bearing.
b. Parental generativity involves parenting.
c. Technical generativity involves teaching skills to others.
d. Cultural generativity involves the explicit passing on of culture.
9. Stewart and Vandewater identify three different forms of generativity
a. Generative desires a longing to be productive and to make a contribution to
society.
b. Felt capacity for generativity a sense that one is able to carry out generative
behavior.
c. Generative accomplishment a sense of having achieved a generative goal.
D. Levinsons Seasons of a Mans Life
1. Divides the life cycle into developmental eras each having its own biopsychosocial
nature (Childhood and Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, and Late
Adulthood).
2. Cross-era transitions, lasting approximately 5 years, represent turning points (Early
Childhood Transition, Early Adult Transition, Midlife Transition, and Late Adult
Transition).
3. Midlife transition, the core of which is the experience of ones mortality, has received
the most attention.
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4. Each major era is composed of specific developmental periods with alternating stable
and transitional sub stages.
a. Stable periods involve making key choices.
b. During transitional periods reassessment of choices occurs.
c. Major areas of choice and commitment (and the social roles and activities that
go along with them) make up the life structure (the underlying design of a
persons life at a given time.
5. Levinsons theory has been both influential and controversial.
6. Methodology, age linkages and gender parochialism have been sources of criticism.
E. Havighurst divides adulthood into three major periods (Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, and
Later Life) each consisting of a series of major accomplishments referred to as developmental
tasks.
F. Stage theories have been criticized for overemphasizing chronological age, lacking clear markers,
idealizing normality, and downplaying sociohistorical context.
IV. Alternatives to Stage Theories
A. Bernice Neugartens Social Meaning of Age
1. Behavior is influenced by socially defined standards or expectations based on how old we
are, known as age norms.
2. The social age clock (learned from society) tells us when in our lives we should be doing
what.
3. Off-time events, those that occur either earlier or later than expected, seem to cause more
stress than on-time events.
4. The life cycle is seen as fluid rather than neat and tidy and we appear to be moving in the
direction of an age-irrelevant society.
5. Midcourse, an emerging stage midway between the career building years of early
adulthood and the frailties associated with later adulthood, is replacing the concept of
retirement.
B. Trait Models: McCrae and Costas Five Factor Model of Personality
1. Focuses on consistent differences, rather than similarities.
2. Defines psychological traits as dimensions of individual differences in tendencies to
show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

3. McCrae and Costa identified five major personality traits.

a. Neuroticism the likelihood of experiencing unpleasant, disturbing emotions
such as anxiety, hostility, insecurity and guilt
b. Extraversion preferences for social interaction
c. Openness an individuals receptiveness to new ideas and experiences
d. Agreeableness the degree to which a person is compassionate, good-natured,
cooperative, and motivated to avoid conflict
e. Conscientiousness self-discipline, organization, ambition, and achievement
C. Research suggests that some aspects of self and personality are stable while others are more
susceptible to change.
1. Core aspects of self are less likely to change than less central aspects.
2. Change is more likely to occur during transitional periods.
3. Sociocultural and historical context impact change.