Psychology Development Behavior & Implications for Practice Essay

Connection paper

This assignment consist of a paper connecting developmentally normative behavior observed in the real world to developmental theory and research. 

Prenatal, Infancy or Toddlerhood 

Requirements:

   First, describe in detail a developmentally normative / appropriate behavior observed in the world. These behaviors can focus on developmental behavior observable at any stage of life after birth. These observations can be made of kids on the street, family members at a holiday celebration, a movie or tv show. For example, you might observe a conversation on the tv show “Modern Family” that relates to the stresses and pressures of parenting teens. The description of these behaviors should be complete enough to be able to identify the developmentally normative nature of the behavior and should include a description of the social and cultural context in which the behavior occurred. (1-2 paragraphs)

    Next, connect the observed behavior(s) to developmental theory. What developmental theory have we touched on in class that relates to the behavior? Following our example of “Modern Family”, you might relate the stresses and pressures of parenting teens to the role transitions that parents and teens are going through as described in Erikson’s psychosocial stages (1 paragraph).

   Next, connect the observed behavior(s) to scholarly research on development. What is some related research that touches on this topic of development or otherwise influences how we might interpret this behavior? Again, with our example of stresses related to parenting teens, you could do a quick search through the library website or Google scholar for “parent”, “adolescent”, and “stress”. A quick search using these terms found Laursen, Coy, & Collins’ 1998 meta-analysis on parent-child conflict in adolescence. In a couple sentences describe what the research found and how it relates to what you observed for part 1. Any research you reference must be from the last 15 years. (1 paragraph)

   Lastly, discuss implications for practice. How might this particular stage or developmental phenomenon influence the best approach to treatment of a similar aged client? Might this aspect of a person’s developmental stage require particular adaptations of a course of treatment? Given that the observed behavior was / is normative (this is a requirement of the assignment) how might it be related to non-normative or pathological behavior? At what ages / stages might this behavior be worrisome? Why? (1 paragraph)