Throughout this course, you may have gravitated to certain stages of development and certain research topics. Perhaps you found cognitive development during early childhood particularly appealing. Perhaps you are interested in the process of identity development during adolescence and the influence of culture. Maybe you want to learn more about how older adults cope with Alzheimer’s disease. There are endless questions and endless opportunities to affect change, improve human development, and positively impact the overall quality of life.

Take your curiosities and interests a step further and generate some ideas for positive social change in those areas. Do not limit yourself to what your current resources or capacities are; if you had ample resources at your disposal, what would you want to do to affect positive social change?

To prepare for this Discussion: Review the Walden University Social Change website and explore the possibilities for positive social change. Think about a research topic that involves lifespan development and how it could contribute to positive social change. By Day 4

Post about a description of a research topic that involves lifespan development and explain how it could contribute to positive social change. Then, explain the actions you could take to bring about social change for that research topic possibility. Be specific.

READINGS FOR THIS WEEK SHOULD BE USED IN ANSWER:

Cole, M. (2013). Differences and deficits in psychological research in historical perspective: A commentary on the special section. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 84–91. doi:10.1037/a0029623

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Russell, S. T. (2015). Human developmental science for social justice. Research in Human Development, 12(3–4), 274–279. doi:10.1080/15427609.2015.1068049

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Serpell, R., & Marfo, K. (2014). Some long-standing and emerging research lines in Africa. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2014(146), 1–22. doi:10.1002/cad.20070

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Stein, G. L., Cupito, A. M., Mendez, J. L., Prandoni, J., Huq, N., & Westerberg, D. (2014). Familism through a developmental lens. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 2(4), 224–250. doi:10.1037/lat0000025

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Sternberg, R. J. (2014). The development of adaptive competence: Why cultural psychology is necessary and not just nice. Developmental Review, 34(3), 2087–224. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2014.05.004

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Walden University. (2016). Social change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change

WORLD Policy Analysis Center. (2015). Retrieved from http://worldpolicycenter.org/

Required Media

Evans, H. (Producer). (2016). What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? [Video file]. Retrieved August 26, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/hugh_evans_what_does_it_mean_to_be_a_citizen_of_the_world