Lifespan Development Perspective Essay

Define Lifespan Development Perspective
What is lifespan development psychology? Boyd and Bee (2009) explain that psychologists who study human development have recently adopted the lifespan perspective which “maintains that important changes occur during every period of development and that these changes must be interpreted in terms of the culture and context in which they occur” (p. 4). Before this the subject of development was often limited to childhood. This new perspective gives the same level of importance to changes in adulthood which had previously been focused exclusively on changes in childhood (Boyd & Bee, 2009). In order to define lifespan development psychology we must understand the different context by which it is characterised. Lifespan perspective is characterized by an emphasis on plasticity, interdisciplinary research and a multi-contextual view of the nature of development (Boyd & Bee, 2009).These are the main points of life span development.
Plasticity
Plasticity means that the ability to change is not restricted to any period of life but that people of all ages are able to react and adapt to their environment (Boyd & Bee, 2009). People of any age are able to learn. They can develop new habits or shed old ones.
Multi-Contextual Development

As an adult I have a vast network of friends. A greater amount of racial diversity can be seen among the friendships in my adult life than there had been in my childhood and there is more of a balance between male and female relationships. Changes in the kinds of relationships we build, our ability to establish relationships, the way we interact with others and the way we think about ourselves are all considered to be part of the social domain (Boyd & Bee, 2009). The three domains are divided to simplify discussion but are not in reality separated (Boyd & Bee, 2009). A change in one domain has consequences in each of the other two (Boyd & Bee,