Summarize the following, add detail :

 

CHRONOSYSTEM
 

Any attempt to explain development requires that we attend to the passage of time. Change can be defined only with reference to time. Many of Bronfenbrenner's definitions, propositions, and hypotheses refer to change. Yet his initial framework did not incorporate time as a specific element. Later, he added a specific reference to time in the notion of a "chronosystem."

 

A Chronosystem encompasses change or consistency over time not only in the characteristics of the person but also of the environment in which that person lives (e.g., changes over the life course in family structure, socioeconomic status, employment, place of residence, or the degree of hecticness and ability in everyday life).

(1994, p. 1646)

 

In general, the chronosystem represents the passage of time, as time affects the person, relationships, settings, mesosystems, the macrosystem, and all the other aspects of both the person and the ecosystem. All are moving through time. Ecosystems and their elements change for many reasons: time passes, history happens, the world changes. Change may occur quickly or slowly. Over time, the person adapts to changes that occur in herself, her settings, and all other components of the ecosystem. How rapidly changes happen may determine how easily the person adapts. In Figure 19.1, the chronosystem is added to complete the graphic model.

 

The chronosystem reflects technological and other changes in society that demand we develop new and different ways of understanding the environment and acting in it. A pertinent example can be found in Bronfenbrenner's discussion and hypotheses about intersetting communication in the section about links between settings. He was writing before the appearance of the multiple forms of digital communication and information that characterize life in the twenty-first century. So his hypotheses about communication didn't consider the possibilities of instant messaging, Skype, and the many forms of social media people use to communicate between settings now.

 

Consider what the internet has done to the possibilities for creating intersetting knowledge. How much more quickly and easily do we access information about exosystem settings and incorporate information to compose a more valid and differentiated view of our world?

 

Given the potentials of modern digital technology, we might even have to consider rethinking what constitutes participation in a setting. If we appear on Skype or video in a setting, and engage in two-way conversation electronically with others in the setting, are we participating in it, or do we have to physically be in it to participate? If the setting is a power setting, it may still be in our exosystem, but the chain of links may be very short if we can express our needs directly to the significant actors in the power setting by way of electronic media. We might argue that the digital revolution has increased the potential of every person to develop a more valid and differentiated view of the ecosystem. Does it also increase skills and motivation? Or change motivation and skills?

 

Rapid change in an ecosystem may strain our abilities to learn new ways of thinking, new ways of acting, of communicating. Failure to keep up with the changes in one's ecosystem may have a variety of consequences for the person. For instance, a person may adopt conservative rigidity, attempting to hang on to old ways and rejecting new. That strategy may be a source of conflict with other people in the system who embrace or perhaps embody the new. Examples may be found in intergenerational conflict in immigrant families or conflict among immigrants who embrace their new culture and blend in and those who do not.

 

Another possibility is that a person may experience anxiety and stress resulting from lack of understanding of events. Stress and incomprehension make a person vulnerable to physical stress disorders or emotional or mental illness. On the other hand, a person may come to love change and embrace whatever is new, without managing to understand the consequences of the changes or to appreciate the validity or value of previous states or systems.

The notion of chronosystem also applies to developmental research. In reading research, it is necessary to be aware of differences across historic time. For example, changes in the technology of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit over the last 30 years have had major impact on the outcomes of premature birth. Studies of the development of babies who weighed 1,000 grams at birth in the 1970s don't compare to studies of 1,000-gram babies in the twenty-first century. The differences found between studies are not because premature babies have changed, but because their contexts are different. In studying developmental research, it may be very helpful to organize results according to the years when studies were conducted to begin to explain differences among them in results.

 

Another way the chronosystem may be involved in develecology is that people are aware of the passage of time, and may premise their behavior on assumptions about the future. An example of this was provided by a student who experienced interpersonal difficulty with a staff person in an internship setting. Analyzing the situation, the student determined how she could address the situation, and understood that if she were a co-worker, it would be necessary for her to take action. Since her internship was due to end in two weeks, however, she decided to put up with the other person's behavior. Developing a valid view of one's ecosystem and skills to manage in it may include understanding the implications of the passage of time.

 

In what sense is the chronosystem a system? What are its components and how are they related? How does change in one part of the chronosystem affect other parts?

 

Consider as one possibility that time passes differently in different settings. For example, technological change may have little impact on the roles and activities or on the mesosystem connections in an isolated small rural village. During the same period, roles, activities, and connections in an urban area may change drastically as technology becomes widely available. As differences between the two settings increase, they may represent progressively different macrosystems. Over the long term, the differences may affect the developmental trajectories likely for children growing up in each setting.

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