Microsoft Word Lifespan Seminar Pack 2020 1 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Lifespan Development Seminar Pack (you need this pack and need to attend the seminars in order to make your life.
Lifespan Development Seminar Pack (you need this pack and need to attend the seminars in order to make your lifespan diagrams and write your seminar reflection piece) “Behaviour is a person’s way of changing their circumstances not proof they have submitted to them” (George Kelly, 1969) "It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities” (Albus Dumbledore) J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Contents Lifespan Seminars—Making a lifespan diagram Who can I analyse? – (anybody1) Seminar 1: Practice analysis Lifespan Theories Erikson’s Theory Attachment Theory Biopsychosocial Theory 14 Kohlberg’s Theory 18 Vaillant’s Theory 21 Blair’s Theory of Psychopathy 23 Baltes’s Theory 25 Lifespan Diagrams (Examples) 26 Erikson Diagram—Table format example 28 Attachment diagram Table Format Example 29 Attachment diagram – Flow Chart Format Example 30 Biopsychosocial Diagram (mixed table and flow chart example) 31 Kohlberg Diagram Example 32 Vaillant Diagram Example 33 Blair Diagrams 34 Blair Psychopath Diagram Example 35 Seminar work you must complete to get extra marks 36 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Lifespan Seminars—Making a lifespan diagram You will be making a Lifespan Diagram in your seminars You need to show your diagram and explain it to one of your fellow students, and get feedback from them about how to improve it You also need to give feedback on someone else’s diagram (so this can be done in pairs, or in a group of 3) You then write a brief reflection on the feedback you received and what you did to improve your diagram You include this reflection in your coursework as an appendix, and including it will give you bonus marks Here is the content of the seminars Seminar 1: Introduction to the seminar pack and practice analysis of John Lennon Seminar 2: Bring a case to the seminar – the life story of any real person (information must be in the public domain) Start analysing your case and start making a diagram Seminar 3: Continue making your diagram and show it to a fellow student for feedback Tell your fellow student about the life of your case and explain the diagram to them Make sure you write down the feedback they give you Seminar 4: Finish your diagram based on your fellow student feedback The tutor can also give feedback on diagrams, but you need to get peer feedback first If you completely finished your diagram in week 3, start work on your second diagram (the second diagram is not needed for the reflection piece, but is needed for the written coursework) Seminar 5: Bring a draft of your coursework to the session and the tutor will give some brief individual feedback Prepare one specific question about the coursework for the tutor (e.g one small paragraph can be read) J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Who can I analyse? – (anybody1) You can analyse anyone about whom there is information in the public domain (basically this means a “famous” person but they don’t have to be very famous – there just has to be material about their life in the public domain) The person must be real – you can’t analyse a fictional character You can’t analyse someone you know personally (this is for ethical reasons) You can use books or internet sources, youtube interviews, etc All information should be referenced and from a reliable source—quotes from the person themselves or people who knew them well are good sources J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Seminar 1: Practice analysis For today’s seminar, we just want to get you thinking about the different factors that might affect someone’s psychological development Your task is to read this short biography of John Lennon, and then answer the questions about it Discuss these questions in pairs John Lennon (1940-1980) Personality: in his early Lennon seemed quite impulsive—he would often get into fights; he would also seek out new experiences—he seemed to have low anxiety about trying out new things Early life Lennon was born in war-time England, on October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital to Julia (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman who was away at the time of his son's birth His father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother, but the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944 When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, but Julia—by then pregnant with another man's child—rejected the idea After her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpool's Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her In July 1946 Lennon's father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him Julia followed them—with her partner at the time, 'Bobby' Dykins—and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again Sadly, young John’s choice did not bear fruit, for on returning to Liverpool, he did not stay with his mother, but was again taken to live with his Aunt Mimi There, John was offered the comfortable, and relatively safe setting of “Mendips,” the Smith’s semi-detached home at 251 Menlove Avenue, located in the middle-class suburb of Woolton (http://absoluteelsewhere.net/) By the time he was seven, John had compiled his own series of jokes, drawings, and cartoons, influenced by ‘Alice in Wonderland’ It was clear that John Lennon was an intelligent, artistic-minded child, but his talents were lost on the straight-laced, practical Aunt Mimi At primary school (6-11 years) John was very rebellious and fought with a lot with other boys (http://absoluteelsewhere.net/) Despite Lennon’s rebelliousness, his intelligence combined with a minimum of study saw him through the "11-plus" test which earned him a place at Grammar School Passing the 11-plus in the 1950s equates to having an IQ above about 115 In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature: “Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician But I cannot be what I am not I was the one who all the other boys' parents— including Paul's father—would say, 'Keep away from him' The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did I did my best to disrupt every friend's home Partly out of envy that I didn't have this so-called home but I did There were five women that were my family Five strong, intelligent, beautiful women, five sisters One happened to be my mother [She] just couldn't deal with life She was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn't cope with me, and I ended up living with her elder sister Now those women were fantastic And that was my first J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module feminist education I would infiltrate the other boys minds I could say, "Parents are not gods because I don't live with mine and, therefore, I know.” His mother bought him his first guitar in 1956, an inexpensive Gallotone Champion acoustic for which she "lent" her son five pounds and ten shillings on the condition that the guitar be delivered to her own house, and not Mimi's, knowing well that her sister was not supportive of her son's musical aspirations As Mimi was sceptical of his claim that he would be famous one day, she hoped he would grow bored with music, often telling him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it" On 15 July 1958, when Lennon was 17 years old, his mother, walking home after visiting the Smiths' house, was struck by a car and killed Later life Lennon was a witty, creative, and at times angry young man, who was desperate for success Lennon’s band, The Beatles (1962-1970), became the most successful pop group of all time, and John was acknowledged as a highly talented singer and song-writer; his songs with McCartney had a massive cultural impact He was addicted to heroin in 1969, saying he took it because he was “in so much pain” at the way people around him were treating him and his second wife Yoko (Wenner; Lennon Remembers) Some say the heroin made him withdraw creatively from the Beatles in 1969 during the Let it Be sessions (In the short term, heroin increases dopamine release and leads to a rush of pleasure It also reduces pain by acting on the CNS Long term it affects sleep and appetite, and can lead to addiction, depression, and social isolation (Abadinsky & Abadinksy, 2014.) In 1970 he wrote a song called “Mother” in which he sang “Mother you had me but I never had you/ Father you left me but I never left you” Lennon didn’t always treat his first wife Cynthia very well, and wrote the song “Jealous Guy” (1971) seemingly to apologise to the women he had hurt in his life (“I was feeling insecure/You might not love me anymore/ I was shivering inside/ Oh I didn't mean to hurt you/ I'm sorry that I made you cry/ Oh my I didn't want to hurt you/ I'm just a jealous guy”) See also, “Woman” (1980) He was a devoted father to his second son Sean (b 1975), but was not very involved with his first son, Julian (b 1963) Julian said that after John left his mother in 1968, “I probably saw him, after he disappeared when I was five…a total of ten times before he was murdered I didn’t really know him” (BBC Radio 4, 2011) Lennon was murdered in 1980 Turn to next page for the questions J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module QUESTIONS: What significant life events did he undergo, and what might their psychological effects be? Are there any examples of the influence of early social relationships on later relationships and later ways of behaving? What are some of Lennon’s psychological attitudes and beliefs? How does he view himself? How does he view other people? What biological factors might be affecting Lennon’s development? (e.g think of IQ, abilities, personality factors – insofar as those may have a genetic component; you could also think of the biological effects of drugs and alcohol) J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Lifespan Theories Erikson’s Theory Key source references: Erikson, E (1963) Childhood and society (2nd ed.) London: Vintage Chapter 7: Eight Ages of Man Crain, W (2005) Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications New Jersey: Pearson (5th Edition) Chapter 12: Erikson and the Eight Stages of Life Source: https://theoriesinpsychologyf10.wikispaces.com J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Attachment Theory Key papers in the development of the theory: Bowlby (1969; 1973) came up with the original attachment theory and the concept of the internal working model Ainsworth et al (1978) came up with the three infant attachment types of secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure ambivalent, and the “strange situation” measure of attachment Main and Solomon (1986) came up with the fourth infant attachment type: disorganized George, Kaplan & Main (1985): Adult attachment interview measured four types of attachment in adulthood: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved (fearful) Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991) used the same four attachment types as Mary Main but organized them in terms of two dimensions based on whether the model of self or other was positive or negative: These can be viewed as different internal working models Brennan, Clark and Shaver (1998) reconceptualised this as two dimensions of anxiety and avoidance in relation to attachment: J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Here is another version of the model which I drew with Friends characters: Low fear of intimacy PREOCCUPIED SECURE Low fear of abandonment High fear of abandonment DISMISSING FEARFUL High fear of intimacy Adult Attachment Interview (see next page) George, Kaplan & Main (1985) See Hesse (2008) for how to analyse someone using this This is a way to classify people based on the way they talk about their own parents (Adult Attachment Interview) Note, that this is not based on whether people say their parents were nice or not! It is based on how coherently people describe their parents and their experiences of being parented, whether or not these experiences were positive or negative You can use this technique if you have some discourse from your person where they talk or write about their parents and their childhood This might come from an autobiography or from an interview 10 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Vaillant’s levels of maturing defence mechanisms Level Age Description Example Psychotic Young children (or in psychosis or dreams) Denial You refuse to believe a loved one has died You convince yourself you won a game when actually you lost You smash up your room when you are angry You threaten to harm yourself if your girlfriend leaves you You try to separate yourself from your feelings – e.g using drugs, alcohol, splitting your personality You feel cowardly so you accuse other people of being cowards Your boss tells you off and you go home and shout at your children You feel no emotion when you kill a mouse; You get dumped and tell yourself it’s all for the best as you can now get on with your work You feel anxious around older men but you have forgotten an incident in which such a man abused you You find your neighbour really annoying so you are excessively nice to them Immature Adolescent Distortion Acting out Passive aggression Dissociation Projection Intermediate (neurotic) Young adult Displacement Isolation Repression Reaction formation Mature Mature Adult Altruism Suppression Sublimation Humour You channel your own anxieties into helping other people You choose to consciously not think about a worrying event while at work (but can choose to process it later) You channel your aggression, anxiety, or sexual frustration into playing football, or writing a song, or dancing, etc You find the funny side of negative events 22 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Blair’s Theory of Psychopathy This theory is specific to psychopathy or conduct disorders You can use it if your person seems to meet the criteria for either of these conditions (even if they haven’t been formally “diagnosed”) but you will need to show that they meet the criteria Reading: Blair, R J R (2013) The neurobiology of psychopathic traits in youths Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(11), 786-799 Available electronically via Reading Lists @Anglia for this module Diagram: Psychopathy (low anxiety; low empathy) Conduct disorder with high anxiety & anger Explanation (Blair, 2013): “This model shows the aetiological (genetic and environmental), neural, cognitive and behavioural aspects of conduct disorder Genetic factors reduce amygdala activation, specifically in response to distress cues, and consequently reduce emotional empathy Genetic factors may also influence striatal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) responsiveness to prediction error and expected value information and thereby lead to impaired decision making, but this has yet to be empirically demonstrated Owing to the extensive interconnections between the amygdala, striatum and vmPFC, early dysfunction in one area is likely to be associated with dysfunction in the others Perinatal factors, such as maternal substance abuse during pregnancy, can affect the functional integrity of these regions All of these factors may lead to similar dysfunction at 23 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module the cognitive level and may result in callous–unemotional traits and in increased antisocial behaviour and instrumental aggression Impairments in decision making increase the risk that these individuals fail to achieve their goals, become frustrated and demonstrate frustration-based reactive aggression Specific genetic polymorphisms as well as exposure to trauma, violence and neglect can result in increased amygdala responsiveness, specifically to threat cues Such increased responsiveness increases threat sensitivity and the likelihood that a threat triggers reactive aggression (as opposed to freezing or escape behaviour) Increased amygdala responsiveness is also associated with an increased risk for anxiety disorders Thus, patients meeting criteria for conduct disorder can have callous–unemotional traits or high levels of anxiety: callous–unemotional traits are associated with reduced amygdala responses to threat, whereas anxiety is associated with increased amygdala responses to threat This suggests that there are at least two forms of conduct disorder The first is referred to here as 'conduct disorder with psychopathic traits' and includes behaviours marked in red The second is known as 'conduct disorder associated with anxiety and emotional lability' and includes the behaviours marked in blue (also see Box 1) Both forms are likely to show under-regulated responses to social provocation (marked in green).” (Blair, 2013) Note: The colours are for the boxes in the last column labelled “behavioural” Reading from top to bottom down this column, the first are red, the next one green, and the last blue Tips for Applying Blair’s Theory Start by focussing on the cognitive and behavioural factors from the diagram above Does your person have “reduced empathy” and “callous, unemotional traits”, etc? Give examples of these Remember to use quotes from the person (or about the person) or specific examples of their behaviour to illustrate reduced empathy You won’t know the neural factors in your person (unless they have had a brain scan), but you can infer them from the cognitive profile Likewise, you won’t know the genetic factors for your specific person, but you can infer them from the theory You may have some evidence you can find for “perinatal factors” and “trauma, violence and neglect” Although notice that in Blair’s theory having violence in your childhood is not a feature of the psychopath (callously aggressive), but of “anxiously aggressive” conduct disorders (see lecture for more details) See the example diagram later in this pack 24 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Baltes’s Theory Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger (1998) Life-span theory in developmental psychology In Lerner, R.M (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (5th ed., pp 1028-1143) New York Wiley Paul and Margaret Baltes are famous for a theory of aging, but they also have a general theory of development across the whole lifespan, called the selection, optimization, and compensation theory (SOC) Basically, at all times of your life, you are trying to deal with gains and losses due to both biology and culture 25 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Lifespan Diagrams (Examples) There are two main types: tables or flow charts You can use either (you don’t need to both—e.g if doing an attachment diagram, either a table or a flow chart) Whichever type you choose, you need to show change across the time of someone’s life—i.e the diagram must be longitudinal Before you start on your diagram, you may want to practice making either a table or a flow chart in Word or Powerpoint Both Word and Powerpoint have “insert table” or “insert shapes” functions For flow charts use text boxes (or shapes) and arrows Finished flow charts or tables can be cut and pasted into other documents, so you can cut and paste it into your final coursework Table Format Age Life Data Application of theory Flow chart format 26 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module On the next few pages you can see examples of Lifespan Diagrams You need to make at least one diagram in the seminars (and get feedback on it) You need to make two diagrams for the coursework – one for each theory The diagrams below are based on the life of Joe Bloggs This is Joe I made up Joe’s life Of course, you need to analyse a REAL PERSON ooooweeeee Joe Bloggs (any resemblance to Mr Poopybutthole is pure coincidence) 27 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Erikson Diagram—Table format example Stage Life Data Application of theory Trust vs mistrust His mother was described as “neglectful”; Joe expressed views later in life that “you can’t trust people” (Bloggs, 1995, p 34) Joe’s neighbour found him asleep in their coal shed as a toddler, and his Mum didn’t know he was there (Bloggs, 1995, p 12) Sense of mistrust rather than trust There is no evidence of good quality interactions with his mother in early life Autonomy vs shame and doubt Initiative vs guilt Industry vs inferiority Joe’s father told him he was a “very bad boy” when he drew with pens on the kitchen wall and smacked him with a ruler Bloggs recalls several incidents like this as a young child (Bloggs, 1995; pp 17-18) Joe did badly in academic subjects as school but was very good at music and was in the school football team Identity vs role confusion Joe was confused about his social identity and changed from being a punk to a mod in his teens; he had a crisis of religious belief at age 15 and decided he didn’t believe in God anymore and became a committed atheist; his sexual identity was quite stable throughout his teen years Intimacy vs Joe married Martha at age 22 and isolation they got divorced when he was 27 Martha described him as “difficult to get close to” (Green, 2006, p 172) Generativity Joe had a daughter with Martha, but vs after the divorce he hardly saw her stagnation (Green, 2006, p 180) In his 40s his did get involved in charity work Ego integrity vs despair At age 70 Joe said “I’ve had a good life, but I’m not ready to die, there’s too many things I need to sort out…” (youtube interview; Jones, 2014) Joe’s mother sounds under-controlling rather than over-controlling—although a sense of autonomy is good, a total lack of boundaries is not a “favourable ratio of autonomous will over shame and doubt” (Erikson, 1963, p 244), and so Joe may feel some anxiety exerting his will (doubt) Joe may have internalized a sense of guilt and had a strict superego (see Erikson, 1963, p 231) There is a mixed picture: academically, Joe felt inferior, but with regard to music and sport Joe developed a strong work ethic and a sense of self-esteem Overall, there is a favourable ratio of industry over inferiority Some role confusion (social identity) and crisis (religious identity), but also some “identity achievement” (Marcia, 1966) after crisis (i.e new religious identity) Although being married for years, it is not clear that Joe achieved a real sense of intimacy in his marriage; he seems emotionally isolated at this stage Despite the charity work, there is not much evidence that Joe really focuses on other people and his neglect of his daughter suggests stagnation rather than generativity Conflictual points here—“good life” suggests integration, but “too many things I need to sort out” suggests despair Overall, despite some positives there is not a full sense of integrity 28 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Attachment diagram Table Format Example Age 0-2 years 3-5 6-10 12-20 20-30 30-40 Life data Not a lot known about Joe’s infancy, but mother described as “neglectful” by a neighbour (Jones, 2014, youtube) Joe said he was “left alone in my room” and “my mother never played with me” (Bloggs, 1995, p 26; p 28) At primary school: “I loved football and had a lot of friends, but I never had a best friend” (Bloggs, 1995, p 40) Application of theory Possible insecure attachment, as this comment may reflect low parental sensitivity Low parental engagement may lead to insecure-avoidant attachment type (Ainsworth et al, 1978), and dismissing IWM Sociability may indicate a secure attachment, but lack of best friend also consistent with insecure-avoidant style, as fear of intimacy is part of this style (Fraley et al, 2000), also called dismissing Jealousy is associated with a fear of abandonment attachment dimension, which may place Bloggs as insecure-ambivalent On Fraley et al’s (2000) model this would place him as preoccupied Here there is both fear of intimacy (“difficult to get close to”) and fear of abandonment (“got jealous”) Having both of these together which would put him in the fearful category of Fraley et al (2000) Pete Smith (Joe’s best friend at school) said: “He was very popular with the girls, but he was angry and jealous and never seemed to stay with any girl for long” (Smith, 2015, youtube interview) Bloggs got married to Martha at age 22 –“she completes me”; “she was amazing at first—I couldn’t believe she wanted me” (Bloggs, 1995; p 56) But Martha said he was “difficult to get close to—he couldn’t be vulnerable and had a nasty temper when he got (some debate about best attachment jealous” (Green, 2006; p 172) classification for Bloggs – fearful, preoccupied or dismissing?) In his autobiography, written when he Using the Adult Attachment Interview was 35, Bloggs wrote that his mother classification (Hesse, 2010), there is evidence was “the most amazing person: she of idealization of his mother and statements taught me how to be strong and how that indicate a lack of trust of others Both of you should never rely on people as they these would place Bloggs in the dismissing will always let you down in the end” category (Bloggs, 1995, p 80) SUMMARY Overall, Blogg’s life story is mainly consistent with an insecure-avoidant (aka dismissing) attachment category The consistency could be explained by him developing an internal working model (Bowlby, 1973) in early childhood that others are not available and not to be trusted, and that he himself should not rely on others This is known as a “dismissing” internal working model (Main, Kaplan & Cassidy, 1985; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) 29 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Attachment diagram – Flow Chart Format Example Time Mother neglectful – shows low sensitivity Joe develops Internal Working Model that: others not to be trusted; self needs to be strong DISMISSING ATTACHMENT STYLE Doesn’t have a best friend Doesn’t stay long with any girlfriend, as vigilant for cues they can’t be trusted, leading to jealousy Mother is regarded as “amazing” as a defence against admitting she neglected him This would lead him to be “weak” whereas his IWM represents himself as “strong” Notes: See documentary on youtube (Jones, 2014): “his mother was a bit…neglectful” Inferred from Joe’s statements (see Bloggs, 1995; pp 7, 32, 111): “you should never rely on people as they always let you down in the end” Bloggs (1995, p 40): “At school I never had a best friend” “he couldn’t be vulnerable and had a nasty temper when he got jealous” (Green, 2006; p 172) “the most amazing person: she taught me how to be strong and how you should never rely on people” (Bloggs, 1995, p 80) 30 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Biopsychosocial Diagram (mixed table and flow chart example) Age 0-3 Bio Psycho Social Joe’s temperament was high impulsiveness and low anxiety This could be based on genetics (Caspi et al , 2005) and underlain by the brain systems of BAS and BIS (Gray, 1982) High levels of activity and curiosity and impulsiveness Joe’s mother did not having loving parents herself (Green, 2006; p 20) 5-10 Lack of attention from mother means impulsiveness unchecked; also mental schemas of lack of trust develop Joe being a difficult toddler to control made her attend to him even less Likes groups but not oneone relationships—doesn’t have a best friend (Smith, 2014) Seeks groups—joins football team 13-18 His natural low anxiety means he didn’t worry about fights Joe selects an environment in which being aggressive was cool The “hard boys” at school were an influence on Joe 20-30 Cocaine increases dopamine across neurotransmitters; also increases cortisol levels (Heesh et al, 1995) Joe becomes addicted to cocaine After success in the music industry, Joe is surrounded by easy supply of drugs Joe’s chronic anxiety levels increase (Bloggs, 1995;, p 213) I haven’t done his whole life – you can just pick out some examples of bio-psycho-social interaction across your person’s life Remember to include ALL THREE LEVELS IN INTERACTION Use arrows to show this Notes: Gray (1982): behavioural inhibition system (BIS): said to be based on the septohippocampal system and its monoaminergic afferents from the brainstem; behavioural activation system (BAS): said to be related to catecholaminergic and dopaminergic pathways in the brain Joe described as “impulsive” by teachers (Smith, 2014, p 4); he was always getting into fights as a boy (Bloggs, 1995, p 65) 31 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Kohlberg Diagram Example Age Life Data Kohlberg Stage Joe recalled that “We stole from McGregor’s but knew it was wrong to steal from Forsythe’s sweet shop as he would set his dog on you” (Bloggs, 1995, p 76) This shows an idea of right and wrong based on punishment, so would be at Kohlberg’s stage (Kohlberg, 1975)— preconventional level 14 “It wasn’t fair—I lent him my records This statement reflects the stage but he never lent me his So I never lent morality of instrumental exchange – them after that” (Bloggs, 1995; p 194) “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” (Kohlberg, 1975, p 671) 17 “I was never a “good boy” as teenager But I would anything for my mates— you should never let your mates down” (Bloggs, 1995, p 132) Although he says he wasn’t a “good boy” this still shows stage morality (at the conventional level) of wanting to earn approval from others 25 “All my life I’ve never believed in the law or authority” (youtube documentary, Smith, 2014) [spoken when Bloggs was 25) This statement reflects an absence of conventional morality (a lack of stage reasoning) 35 “everyone deserves love – we’re all human beings, you know? I try to treat everyone the same Treat people as you’d like to be treated” (youtube documentary, Smith, 2014) [spoken when Bloggs was 35) This statement reflects a universal principle that could logically be accepted by everyone, so therefore is at Kohlberg’s stage (Kohlberg, 1975) – postconventional level Overview Joe seems to go through Kohlberg’s stages in the correct order although he seems to miss out stage 32 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Vaillant Diagram Example Age Life Data Vaillant defence mechanism When Joe’s Dad left to go to America, Joe said as a small boy he used to think his Dad lived in the next town and was trying to find him (Bloggs, 1995, p 34) Vaillant (1993) would class this as a defence of denial or distortion, which is the lowest level of defence (or psychotic) 13 “At school I smashed up the art room because I wasn’t allowed on the school trip” (Bloggs, 1995, p 65) This would count as the defence of acting out—at Vaillant’s immature level (the level typical of adolescence) 15 “When his girlfriend left him he told her he was going to kill himself” (Green, 2006, p 87) This would be an example of passive aggression, another immature level of defence 23 When the band split up, Joe blamed all the other members but refused to admit that he played any role in it himself (Bloggs, 1995, p 137) This would be an example of displacement, an intermediate defence mechanism, according to Vaillant 25 Joe got addicted to heroin at age 27 and said that “it took the pain away” because he felt “out of his own body” (Bloggs, 1995, p 56) In terms of defence mechanisms, this would count as dissociation, at Vaillant’s immature level 35 Joe’s 1990 album “Wildfire” was full of autobiographical songs expressing the pain of his childhood Turning painful emotions into art would be an example of sublimation, a mature defence mechanism Comment: Joe seems, on the whole, to follow Vaillant’s (1993) progression of increasingly mature defence mechanisms, but note that the heroin addiction seems to lead him to regress to an earlier stage and go back to a more immature defence in his mid 20s 33 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Blair Diagrams Blair (2013) distinguishes two types of conduct disorder: Conduct disorder with psychopathic traits—(low anxious aggression) Conduct disorder associated with anxiety and emotional lability (high anxious aggression) Choose ONE of these diagrams if you are using Blair’s theory, but only use them if you have good reason to suspect your person has psychopathic or violent traits 34 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Blair Psychopath Diagram Example Details: Steve showed no remorse when he killed Stephanie In court he “showed no emotion” when her relatives cried giving testimony (White, 2013, p 15) Steve showed instrumental aggression on a number of occasions: if he ever needed money he would calmly mug people in the street, always punching them first for surprise and shock (White, 2013, p 32) There are few examples of frustration based aggression in Steve – his aggression always seemed calm and premeditated But when Malcolm blocked his plans for the Brown robbery, he seemed to act in anger when he got revenge (White, 2013, p 201) Impaired decision making on Blair’s model means problems with learning through reinforcement and punishment Steve often received the cane at school for stealing from other boys (Hilliers, 2001, p 98), but this didn’t seem to stop him; suggesting he had problems with reinforcement learning There are many examples of lack of empathy in Steve’s life: his grandfather said he didn’t seem upset when the family dog got caught in the deer trap (Roberts, 2014, p 77); and two of his girlfriends described him as “cold” and “unemotional” (youtube documentary; Smith, 2003) Blair hypothesises that low empathy responses to other’s distress is caused by low amygdala sensitivity, so we can hypothesise this for Steve Blair hypothesises that poor reinforcement learning is caused by decreased ventromedial prefrontal cortex responses, so we can hypothesise this is the case for Steve A football injury to the front of his head when he was 11 may have made this worse Steve’s mother was described as an “alcoholic” (Hilliers, 2001, p 44) We don’t know for sure if this applied when she was pregnant with Steve but it is possible If so, perinatal factors may have affected Steve’s brain development in the womb in a way that contributed to the amygdala and PFC issues Following, Blair’s model, we can hypothesise that there were genetic factors that contributed to the low sensitivity of amygdala and PFC in brain development 35 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Seminar work you must complete to get extra marks You will be making a Lifespan Diagram in your seminars You need to show your diagram and explain it to one of your fellow students, and get feedback from them about how to improve it You also need to give feedback on someone else’s diagram (so this can be done in pairs, or in a group of 3) You then write a brief reflection on the feedback you received and what you did to improve your diagram You include this reflection in your coursework as an appendix, and including it will give you bonus marks ooooweeeee 36 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module ... 35 Seminar work you must complete to get extra marks 36 J Lambie (2020) Lifespan Development Module Lifespan Seminars—Making a lifespan diagram You will be making a Lifespan Diagram... bonus marks Here is the content of the seminars Seminar 1: Introduction to the seminar pack and practice analysis of John Lennon Seminar 2: Bring a case to the seminar – the life story of any real...Contents Lifespan Seminars—Making a lifespan diagram Who can I analyse? – (anybody1) Seminar 1: Practice analysis Lifespan Theories