This assignment sets the stage for connecting personal experiences to psychological literature on human development. The best way to approach this paper is to write 1-2 sections a week throughout the first 6 weeks of the course and tie it together at week 7 for submission at the end of week 7. For the most part, the sections will align with the book chapters and discussion board questions. For example, while we are talking about infancy, write this part of your paper. It will be fresh in your mind and take the pressure off the end of term.
In your Developmental Autobiography, you will write a self-assessment of your biological, cognitive, and psycho-social/personality development across the lifespan. You will also speculate about the future. For the developmental periods that have passed, you will provide an introspective analysis of the events that have been important in your development. To do this, talk with people who knew you such as your parents/guardians, siblings, early teachers, friends, and significant others. For the periods that havent yet arrived, you will weave together what you might expect for these times such as life successes and potential disappointments.
It is expected that you will include a variety of developmental concepts and theories in your analysis. For example, recall a childhood event that illustrates Piagets Cognitive Perspective.
I do not intend for this assignment to be intrusive or for you feel uncomfortable. I do hope that the assignment will provoke an analysis and help you to see the relevance of academic concepts for yourself to then help build insight that will be useful in their future professional and personal lives.
If you prefer not to examine your own life, you may choose to write about another person or report on a published biography or autobiography. If you choose to write about another person you know, make sure that you give the person a pseudonym. If you choose to use a published biography, provide a full reference citation. You will need to do research outside of your text and use peer reviewed resources.
This paper should be written as a term paper in narrative fashion and using APA format. It is NOT a question/answer paper. To help guide your thinking, your paper may follow this outline:
1. Cover Page
2. Introduction
3. Infancy and toddlerhood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
4. Early childhood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
5. Middle and late childhood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
6. Adolescence
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
7. Early adulthood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
8. Middle adulthood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
d.
9. Late adulthood
a. Physical
b. Cognitive
c. Social and personality
10. Conclusion / Summary
11. References There should be at least 7 references (one for each section- not including the textbook)
These should be academic resources NOT Wikipedia or blog sites. You may use one or two web resources as long as it is a legitimate site such as a .gov or .edu site. The rest should be academic articles/journal articles. Check with the learning center for how to go online to find academic articles.
12. If you include pictures attach them as an appendix. They are not counted toward the total number of expected pages for this assignment.
Here is a brief example that would be included in the infancy section:
My mother often recounts a cute little story to me about my [intellectual] development as a young infanta story that relates to applying one of Piagets stages of sensorimotor intelligence. As a six-month- old, one of my favorite toys was a glowworm. When my parents first gave it to me, they would squeeze it in front of me it, causing it to light up in the dark. I quickly learned to give it some love (a hug) on my own in making it glow. [social and personality] And I repeated this action over and over again, each time squealing with delight. Making the toy glow in the dark was a procedure for making interesting sights last, which is the third stage of [cognitive] development in sensorimotor intelligence (Freedman, 1997).
May, Joseph A. (2001) Life Analysis: Using life-story narratives in teaching life-span developmental psychology. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 14:2541.
