In teaching life span development courses, instructors must help students understand how general principles guide development in adulthood as well as in childhood. In this article, we describe two exercises that convey the ways in which social biases influence adult development and aging. The first exercise, involving sorting pictures of people of different ages, illustrates the diversity of opinions about how to divide the life span. The second exercise demonstrates how physical and social factors shape individual well-being in old age just as they do in childhood.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaltesP. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span develop-mental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.
2.
ButlerR. N. (1994). Dispelling ageism: The cross-cutting intervention. In ShenkD.AchenbaumW. A. (Eds.), Changing perceptions of aging and the aged (pp. 127–143). New York: Springer.
3.
DeutschF. M.ZalenskiC. M.ClarkM. E. (1986). Is there a double standard of aging?Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16, 771–785.
4.
ElderG. H.CaspiA. (1988). Human development and social change: An emerging perspective on the life course. In BolgerN.CaspiA.DowneyG.MoorehouseM. (Eds.), Persons in context: Developmental processes. Human development in cultural and historical contexts (pp. 77–113). New York: Cambridge University Press.
5.
EriksonE. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
6.
FriedS. B. (1988). Learning activities for understanding aging. Teaching of Psychology, 15, 160–161.
7.
GoldsteinS. B. (1997). The power of stereotypes: A labeling exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 257–259.
8.
PiagetJ.InhelderB. (1969). Psychology of the child. (WeaverH., Trans.). New York: Basic Books.
9.
RosenthalR. (1995). Critiquing Pygmalion: A 25–year perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 6, 171–172.
10.
StollerE. P.GibsonR. C. (1994). Different worlds in aging: Gender, race, and class. In StollerE. P.GibsonR. C. (Eds.), Worlds of difference: Inequality in the aging experience (pp. xvii–xxviii). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
11.
UttalD. H.PerlmutterM. A. (1989). Toward a broader conceptualization of development: The role of gains and losses across the life span. Developmental Review, 9, 101–132.
12.
WhitbourneS. K.CassidyE. L. (1994). Psychological implications of infantilization: A class exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 167–168.
13.
WightR. D. (1989). Fostering insight into personal conceptions of the elderly: A simulation exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 16, 216–218.
