The Impact of Life Experiences on Development
Complete a 7- to 9-page (not including title page and references) paper with the following criteria:
Choose four events from your life which you believe had a significant impact on your development. There must be at least one event from childhood, one from adolescence, and one from adulthood; the fourth event may be in any one of those three stages. The events should be specific and have occurred at a single point in time – do NOT use broad stages or longer periods of time. If you are unsure whether your identified events meet criteria, please reach out to your faculty and ask!
For each of the four life events selected, do the following:
Describe the life event as age-graded, history-graded, or non-normative.
Explain how the event was significant to your development and why, including how it impacted or changed you cognitively, psychologically, and/or socially.
Explain how the event and its associated changes influenced your identity development through your lifespan.
Support your statements with developmental theory and integration of knowledge you gained throughout the course. This should include the course textbook (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020) and at least one additional peer-reviewed article for each event.
Remember this is not a narrative of your life, but rather an analysis of developmental influences using yourself as the case study. Your introduction should include an overview of the significance of life experiences on development; your conclusions should include a brief recap of key points in your paper, and any new perspectives gained from your analyses.
The Final Project will be evaluated according to the Final Project Rubric located in the Course Information area. Be sure that the Final Project is written using APA format and the final project template (found in Week 1 of the course).
The Final Project is due Day 7 of Week 9. Please refer to the Final Project area in Week 9 for submission details.
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Note to students: This template is provided to support the development of your project. Please remove this note and all other instructions from your paper before submitting. Note places where information is highlighted – these indicate points where your personal information should be entered. Remove highlighting and parentheses before entering your information. Use standard capitalization.
The Impact of Life Experiences on Development
Walden University
(STUDENT NAME) The Impact of Life Experiences on Development
This section is the introduction to the paper, including a thesis statement. Provide an overview of the significance of life experiences on development, using resources to support key statements. Adhere to APA format. This section is generally ½ – ¾ of one page.
Event I: (EVENT NAME)
For this event, provide a brief description of life event, including an identification of whether the event was age-graded, history-graded, or non-normative. Provide an analysis of the influence of life event on your identity development, including theoretical support. Be sure to demonstrate critical thinking and analysis in describing cognitive, psychological, and/or social impact. Use resources to support statements, including the course text and at least one additional peer-reviewed resource.
Remember to separate key points into paragraphs. Make sure your writing meets graduate-level standards, including being free from errors in spelling and grammar; please also adhere to APA format guidelines. Resources used in this section should be included in References. This section is generally about 1 ½-2 pages in length.
Event II: (EVENT NAME)
For this event, provide a brief description of life event, including an identification of whether the event was age-graded, history-graded, or non-normative. Provide an analysis of the influence of life event on your identity development, including theoretical support. Be sure to demonstrate critical thinking and analysis in describing cognitive, psychological, and/or social impact. Use resources to support statements, including the course text and at least one additional peer-reviewed resource.
Remember to separate key points into paragraphs. Make sure your writing meets graduate-level standards, including being free from errors in spelling and grammar; please also adhere to APA format guidelines. Resources used in this section should be included in References. This section is generally about 1 ½-2 pages in length.
Event III: (EVENT NAME)
For this event, provide a brief description of life event, including an identification of whether the event was age-graded, history-graded, or non-normative. Provide an analysis of the influence of life event on your identity development, including theoretical support. Be sure to demonstrate critical thinking and analysis in describing cognitive, psychological, and/or social impact. Use resources to support statements, including the course text and at least one additional peer-reviewed resource.
Remember to separate key points into paragraphs. Make sure your writing meets graduate-level standards, including being free from errors in spelling and grammar; please also adhere to APA format guidelines. Resources used in this section should be included in References. This section is generally about 1 ½-2 pages in length.
Event IV: (EVENT NAME)
For this event, provide a brief description of life event, including an identification of whether the event was age-graded, history-graded, or non-normative. Provide an analysis of the influence of life event on your identity development, including theoretical support. Be sure to demonstrate critical thinking and analysis in describing cognitive, psychological, and/or social impact. Use resources to support statements, including the course text and at least one additional peer-reviewed resource.
Remember to separate key points into paragraphs. Make sure your writing meets graduate-level standards, including being free from errors in spelling and grammar; please also adhere to APA format guidelines. Resources used in this section should be included in References. This section is generally about 1 ½-2 pages in length.
Conclusion
This section includes a paraphrased restatement of the thesis from the introduction, followed by key points from the body of the paper which support the thesis statement. Share new thoughts or perspectives gained from analysis and their impact. Be sure work adheres to APA format. This section is generally ½ – ¾ of one page.
References
All resources used in the assignment should appear here. For an assignment of this length, 6-9 resources are a good target; these should include the assigned course textbook and a selection of peer-reviewed resources from the past 5 years that support your key points. DO NOT USE WEBSITES such as Wikipedia or About.com, nor any other resources which are not peer-reviewed.
