History of psychology
The final decades of the 20th
Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the
1870s, when it developed as an independent scientific
discipline in Germany and the United States.
Psychology borders on various other fields including
physiology,neuroscience, artificial intelligence,
sociology, anthropology, as well as philosophy and
other components of the humanities.
Today, psychology is defined as "the scientific study
of behavior and mental processes". Philosophical
interest in the mind and behavior dates back to the
ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, China,
and India. For a condensed overview of the subject
see the Timeline of Psychology article.
Psychology as a self-conscious field of experimental
study began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded
the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to
psychological research in Leipzig. Wundt was also
the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist.
Other important early contributors to the field include
Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in the study of
memory), William James (the American father of
pragmatism), and Ivan Pavlov (who developed the
procedures associated with classical conditioning).
Soon after the development of experimental
psychology, various kinds of applied psychology
appeared. G. Stanley Hall brought scientific
pedagogy to the United States from Germany in the
early 1880s. John Dewey's educational theory of the
1890s was another example. Also in the 1890s, Hugo
Münsterberg began writing about the application of
psychology to industry, law, and other fields.
Lightner Witmer established the first psychological
clinic in the 1890s. James McKeen Cattell adapted
Francis Galton's anthropometric methods to generate
the first program of mental testing in the 1890s. In
Vienna, meanwhile, Sigmund Freuddeveloped an
independent approach to the study of the mind called
psychoanalysis, which has been widely influential.
The 20th century saw a reaction to Edward
Titchener's critique of Wundt's empiricism. This
contributed to the formulation ofbehaviorism by John
B. Watson, which was popularized by B. F. Skinner.
Behaviorism proposed emphasizing the study of overt
behavior, because that could be quantified and easily
measured. Early behaviorists considered study of the
"mind" too vague for productive scientific study.
However, Skinner and his colleagues did study
thinking as a form of covert behavior to which they
could apply the same principles as overt (publicly
observable) behavior.
century saw the rise of cognitive science, an
interdisciplinary approach to studying the human
mind. Cognitive science again considers the "mind"
as a subject for investigation, using the tools of
evolutionary psychology, linguistics, computer
science, philosophy, behaviorism, and neurobiology.
This form of investigation has proposed that a wide
understanding of the human mind is possible, and
that such an understanding may be applied to other
research domains, such as artificial intelligence.
Early psychological thought
Many cultures throughout history have speculated on
the nature of the mind, heart, soul, spirit, brain, etc.
For instance, in Ancient Egypt, the Edwin Smith
Papyrus contains an early description of the brain,
and some speculations on its functions (though in a
medical/surgical context). Though other medical
documents of ancient times were full of incantations
and applications meant to turn away disease-causing
demons and other superstition, the Edwin Smith
Papyrus gives remedies to almost 50 conditions and
only two contain incantations to ward off evil. It has
been praised as being similar to what is today
considered common knowledge , but must be
recognized as having originated in a very different
context.
Ancient Greek philosophers, from Thales (fl. 550
BC) through even to the Roman period, developed an
elaborate theory of what they termed the psuchẽ
(from which the first half of "psychology" is
derived), as well as other "psychological" terms –
nous, thumos, logistikon, etc. 1 The most influential
of these are the accounts of Plato (especially in
theRepublic), 2 Pythagoras and of Aristotle (esp. Peri
Psyches, better known under its Latin title, De
Anima). 3 Hellenistic philosophers (viz., the Stoics
and Epicurians) diverged from the Classical Greek
tradition in several important ways, especially in their
concern with questions of the physiological basis of
the mind. 4 The Roman physician Galen addressed
these issues most elaborately and influentially of all.
The Greek tradition influenced some Christian and
Islamic thought on the topic.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Manual of
Discipline (from the Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 21 BC–61
AD) notes the division of human nature into two
temperaments .
Walter Freeman proposes that Thomism is the
philosophical system explaining cognition that is
most compatible with neurodynamics, in a 2008
article in the journal Mind and Matter entitled
"Nonlinear Brain Dynamics and Intention According
to Aquinas." 5
In Asia, China had a long history of administering
tests of ability as part of its education system. In the
6th century AD, Lin Xie carried out an early
experiment, in which he asked people to draw a
square with one hand and at the same time draw a
circle with the other (ostensibly to test people's
vulnerability to distraction). Some have claimed that
this is the first psychology experiment, and, therefore,
the beginnings of psychology as an experimental
science. 6
India, too, had an elaborate theory of "the self" in its
Vedanta philosophical writings. 7
Medieval Muslim physicians also developed
practices to treat patients suffering from a variety of
"diseases of the mind". 8
Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi (850–934) was among the
first, in this tradition, to discuss disorders related to
both the body and the mind, arguing that "if the nafs
psyche gets sick, the body may also find no joy in
life and may eventually develop a physical illness." 9
Al-Balkhi recognized that the body and the soul can
be healthy or sick, or "balanced or imbalanced". He
wrote that imbalance of the body can result in fever,
headaches and other bodily illnesses, while
imbalance of the soul can result in anger, anxiety,
sadness and other nafs-related symptoms. He
recognized two types of what we now call
depression: one caused by known reasons such as
loss or failure, which can be treated psychologically;
and the other caused by unknown reasons possibly
caused by physiological reasons, which can be treated
through physical medicine. 9
The scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) carried out
experiments in visual perception and the other senses,
including variations in sensitivity, sensation of touch,
perception of colors, perception of darkness, the
psychological explanation of the moon illusion, and
binocular vision. 10 Al-Biruni also employed such
experimental methods in examiningreaction time. 11
Avicenna, similarly, did early work in the treatment
of nafs-related illnesses, and developed a system for
associating changes in the pulse rate with inner
feelings. Avicenna also described phenomena we now
recognize as neuropsychiatric conditions, including
hallucination, insomnia, mania, nightmare,
melancholia, dementia, epilepsy, paralysis,
stroke,vertigo and tremor. 12
Other medieval thinkers who discussed issues related
to psychology included:

Ibn Sirin, who wrote a book on dreams and
dream interpretation; 13

Al-Kindi (Alkindus), who developed forms of
music therapy

Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, who developed
al-‘ilaj al-nafs (sometimes translated as
"psychotherapy"), 14

Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), who discussed
subjects related to social psychology and
consciousness studies; 15

Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi (Haly Abbas),
described neuroanatomy and neurophysiology; 15

Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis),
described neurosurgery; 16

Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, who described
reaction time; 17

Ibn Tufail, who anticipated the tabula rasa
argument and nature versus nurture debate. 18
Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) described disorders similar to
meningitis, intracranial thrombophlebitis, and
mediastinal germ cell tumors; Averroes attributed
photoreceptor properties to theretina; and
Maimonides described rabies and belladonna
intoxication. 16
Witelo is considered a precursor of perception
psychology. His Perspectiva contains much material
in psychology, outlining views that are close to
modern notions on theassociation of ideas and on the
subconscious.`
Etymology and early usage of word
The first use of the term "psychology" is often
attributed to the German scholastic philosopher
Rudolf Göckel (1547–1628, often known under the
Latin form Rudolph Goclenius), who published the
Psychologia hoc est de hominis perfectione, anima,
ortu in Marburg in 1590. However, the term seems to
have been used more than six decades earlier by the
Croatian humanist Marko Marulić (1450–1524) in
the title of his Latin treatise, Psichiologia de ratione
animae humanae. Although the treatise itself has not
been preserved, its title appears in a list of Marulic's
works compiled by his younger contemporary, Franjo
Bozicevic-Natalis in his "Vita Marci Maruli
Spalatensis" (Krstić, 1964). This, of course, may well
not have been the very first usage, but it is the earliest
documented use at present.
The term did not come into popular usage until the
German idealist philosopher, Christian Wolff (1679–
1754) used it in his Psychologia empirica and
Psychologia rationalis(1732–1734). This distinction
between empirical and rational psychology was
picked up in Denis Diderot's (1713–1780)
Encyclopédie (1751–1784) and was popularized in
France by Maine de Biran (1766–1824). In England,
the term "psychology" overtook "mental philosophy"
in the middle of the 19th century, especially in the
work of William Hamilton (1788–1856). 20
Enlightenment psychological thought
Early psychology was regarded as the study of the
soul (in the Christian sense of the term). 21 The
modern philosophical form of psychology was
heavily influenced by the works of René Descartes
(1596–1650), and the debates that he generated, of
which the most relevant were the objections to his M
ations on First Philosophy (1641), published with the
text. Also important to the later development of
psychology were his Passions of the Soul (1649) and
Treatise on Man (completed in 1632 but, along with
the rest of The World, withheld from publication after
Descartes heard of the Catholic Church's
condemnation of Galileo; it was eventually published
posthumously, in 1664).
Although not educated as a physician, Descartes did
extensive anatomical studies of bulls' hearts and was
considered important enough that William Harvey
responded to him. Descartes was one of the first to
endorse Harvey's model of the circulation of the
blood, but disagreed with his metaphysical
framework to explain it. Descartes dissected animals
and human cadavers and as a result was familiar with
the research on the flow of blood leading to the
conclusion that the body is a complex device that is
capable of moving without the soul, thus
contradicting the "Doctrine of the Soul". The
emergence of psychology as a medical discipline was
given a major boost by Thomas Willis, not only in his
reference to psychology (the "Doctrine of the Soul")
in terms of brain function, but through his detailed
1672 anatomical work, and his treatise "De Anima
Brutorum" ("Two Discourses on the Souls of
Brutes"). However, Willis acknowledged the
influence of Descartes's rival, Pierre Gassendi, as an
inspiration for his work.
The philosophers of the British Empiricist and
Associationist schools had a profound impact on the
later course of experimental psychology. John
Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(1689), George Berkeley's Treatise Concerning the
Principles of Human Knowledge (1710), and David
Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740)
were particularly influential, as were David Hartley's
Observations on Man (1749) and John Stuart Mill's A
System of Logic. (1843). Also notable was the work
of some ContinentalRationalist philosophers,
especially Baruch Spinoza's (1632–1677) On the
Improvement of the Understanding (1662) and
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's (1646–1716) New
Essays on Human Understanding (completed 1705,
published 1765). Rauch, Frederick A. (1806–1841)
Psychology, or a view of the human soul, including
anthropology (1840).
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard also
influenced the humanistic, existential, and modern
psychological schools with his works The Concept of
Anxiety (1844) and The Sickness Unto Death (1849).
Transition to contemporary psychology
Also influential on the emerging discipline of
psychology were debates surrounding the efficacy of
Mesmerism (a precursor to hypnosis) and the value
of phrenology. The former was developed in the
1770s by Austrian physician Franz Mesmer (1734–
1815) who claimed to use the power of gravity, and
later of "animal magnetism", to cure various physical
and mental ills. As Mesmer and his treatment became
increasingly fashionable in both Vienna and Paris, it
also began to come under the scrutiny of suspicious
officials. In 1784, an investigation was commissioned
in Paris by King Louis XVI which included
American ambassador Benjamin Franklin, chemist
Antoine Lavoisier and physician Joseph-Ignace
Guillotin (later the popularizer of the guillotine).
They concluded that Mesmer's method was useless.
Abbé Faria, an Indo-Portuguese priest, revived public
attention in animal magnetism. Unlike Mesmer, Faria
claimed that the effect was 'generated from within the
mind’ by the power of expectancy and cooperation of
the patient. Although disputed, the "magnetic"
tradition continued among Mesmer's students and
others, resurfacing in England in the 19th century in
the work of the physician John Elliotson (1791–
1868), and the surgeons James Esdaile (1808–1859),
and James Braid (1795–1860) (who reconceptualized
it as property of the subject's mind rather than a
"power" of the Mesmerist's, and relabeled it
"hypnotism"). Mesmerism also continued to have a
strong social (if not medical) following in England
through the 19th century (see Winter, 1998). Faria's
approach was significantly extended by the clinical
and theoretical work of Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault
and Hippolyte Bernheim of the Nancy School. Faria's
theoretical position, and the subsequent experiences
of those in the Nancy School made significant
contributions to the later autosuggestion techniques
of Émile Coué. It was adopted for the treatment
ofhysteria by the director of Paris's Salpêtrière
Hospital, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893).
Phrenology began as "organology", a theory of brain
structure developed by the German physician, Franz
Joseph Gall (1758–1828). Gall argued that the brain
is divided into a large number of functional "organs",
each responsible for particular human mental abilities
and dispositions – hope, love, spirituality, greed,
language, the abilities to detect the size, form, and
color of objects, etc. He argued that the larger each of
these organs are, the greater the power of the
corresponding mental trait. Further, he argued that
one could detect the sizes of the organs in a given
individual by feeling the surface of that person's
skull. Gall's ultra-localizationist position with respect
to the brain was soon attacked, most notably by
French anatomist Pierre Flourens (1794–1867), who
conducted ablation studies (on chickens) which
purported to demonstrate little or no cerebral
localization of function. Although Gall had been a
serious (if misguided) researcher, his theory was
taken by his assistant, Johann Gaspar Spurzheim
(1776–1832), and developed into the profitable,
popular enterprise of phrenology, which soon
spawned, especially in Britain, a thriving industry of
independent practitioners. In the hands of Scottish
religious leader George Combe (1788–1858) (whose
book The Constitution of Man was one of the best-
sellers of the century), phrenology became strongly
associated with political reform movements and
egalitarian principles. Phrenology soon spread to
America as well, where itinerant practical
phrenologists assessed the mental well-being of
willing customers
Cognitivism
Noam Chomsky's (1957) review of Skinner's book
Verbal Behavior (that aimed to explain language
acquisition in a behaviorist framework) is considered
one of the major theoretical challenges to the type of
radical (as in 'root') behaviorism that Skinner taught.
Chomsky claimed that language could not be learned
solely from the sort of operant conditioning that
Skinner postulated. Chomsky's argument was that
people could produce an infinite variety of sentences
unique in structure and meaning and that these could
not possibly be generated solely through experience
of natural language. As an alternative, he concluded
that there must be internal mental structures – states
of mind of the sort that behaviorism rejected as
illusory. The issue is not whether mental activities
exist; it is whether they can be shown to be the causes
of behavior. Similarly, work by Albert Bandura
showed that children could learn by social
observation, without any change in overt behaviour,
and so must (according to him) be accounted for by
internal representations.
The rise of computer technology also promoted the
metaphor of mental function as information
processing. This, combined with a scientific approach
to studying the mind, as well as a belief in internal
mental states, led to the rise of cognitivism as the
dominant model of the mind.
Links between brain and nervous system function
were also becoming common, partly due to the
experimental work of people like Charles Sherrington
and Donald Hebb, and partly due to studies of people
with brain injury. With the development of
technologies for accurately measuring brain function,
neuropsychologyand cognitive neuroscience have
become some of the most active areas in
contemporary psychology.
With the increasing involvement of other disciplines
(such as philosophy, computer science, and
neuroscience) in the quest to understand the mind, the
umbrella discipline ofcognitive science has been
created as a means of focusing such efforts in a
constructive way.
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of
how and why human beings change over the course
of their life. Originally concerned with infants and
children, the field has expanded to include
adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire
lifespan. This field examines change across a broad
range of topics including: motor skills, cognitive
development, executive functions, moral
understanding, language acquisition, social change,
personality, emotional development, self-concept and
identity formation.
Developmental psychology examines the influences
of nature and nurture on the process of human
development, and processes of change in context and
across time. Many researchers are interested in the
interaction between personal characteristics, the
individual's behavior and environmental factors,
including social context and the built environment.
Ongoing debates include biological essentialism vs.
neuroplasticity and stages of development vs.
dynamic systems of development. 1
Developmental psychology involves a range of fields,
such as, educational psychology, child
psychopathology, forensic developmental
psychology, child development, cognitive
psychology, ecological psychology, and cultural
psychology. Several influential developmental
psychologists from the 20th century include Urie
Bronfenbrenner, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Jean
Piaget, Barbara Rogoff, Esther Thelen, and Lev
Vygotsky.
Life stages of psychological development
Pre-natal development
Pre-natal development is of interest to psychologists
investigating the context of early psychological
development. The whole prenatal development
involves three main stages: germinal stage,
embryonic stage and fetal stage. Germinal stage
begins at conception until 2 weeks; embryonic stage
means the development from 2 weeks to 8 weeks;
fetal stage represents 9 weeks until birth of the baby.
40
The senses develop in the womb itself: a fetus can
both see and hear by the second trimester (13 to 24
weeks of age). Sense of touch develops in the
embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks). 34 :97 Most of the
brain's billions of neurons also are developed by the
second trimester. 34 :100 Babies are hence born with
some odor, taste and sound preferences, largely
related to the mother's environment. 34 :101
Some primitive reflexes too arise before birth and are
still present in newborns. One hypothesis is that these
reflexes are vestigial and have limited use in early
human life.Piaget's theory of cognitive development
suggested that some early reflexes are building
blocks for infant sensorimotor development. For
example the tonic neck reflex may help development
by bringing objects into the infant's field of view. 41
Other reflexes, such as the walking reflex appear to
be replaced by more sophisticated voluntary control
later in infancy. This may be because the infant gains
too much weight after birth to be strong enough to
use the reflex, or because the reflex and subsequent
development are functionally different. 42 It has also
been suggested that some reflexes (for example the
moro and walking reflexes) are predominantly
adaptations to life in the womb with little connection
to early infant development. 41 Primitive reflexes
reappear in adults under certain conditions, such as
neurological conditions like dementia or traumatic
lesions.
Ultrasound has shown that infants are capable of a
range of movements in the womb, many of which
appear to be more than simple reflexes. 42 By the time
they are born, infants can recognize and have a
preference for their mother's voice suggesting some
pre-natal development of auditory perception. 42 Pre-
natal development and birth complications may also
be connected to neurodevelopmental disorders, for
example in schizophrenia. With the advent of
cognitive neuroscience, embryology and the
neuroscience of pre-natal development is of
increasing interest to developmental psychology
research.
Several environmental agents—teratogens—can
cause damage during the prenatal period. These
include prescription and nonprescription drugs,
illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, environmental
pollutants, infectious disease agents such as the
rubella virus and the toxoplasmosis bacterium,
maternal malnutrition, maternal emotional stress, and
Rh factor blood incompatibility between mother and
child. 34 :102–115
Infancy
From birth until the first year, the child is referred to
as an infant. 34 Developmental psychologists vary
widely in their assessment of infant psychology, and
the influence the outside world has upon it, but
certain aspects are relatively clear.
The majority of a newborn infant's time is spent in
sleep. At first this sleep is evenly spread throughout
the day and night, but after a couple of months,
infants generally becomediurnal.
Infants can be seen to have six states, grouped into
pairs:
~quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REM
sleep occurs)
~quiet waking, and active waking
~fussing and crying
Infant Perception: Infant perception is what a
newborn can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. These
five features are better known as one's “five senses”.
43
Infants respond to stimuli differently in these
different states. 42
~Vision is significantly worse in infants than in
older children. Infant sight tends to be blurry in
early stages but improves over time. Color
perception similar to that seen in adults has been
demonstrated in infants as young as four months,
using habituation methods. Infants get to adult-
like vision in about six months.

Hearing is well-developed prior to birth,
unlike vision. Newborns prefer complex sounds
to pure tones, human speech to other sounds,
mother's voice to other voices, and the native
language to other languages. Scientist believe
these features are probably learned in the womb.
34 :151
Infants are fairly good at detecting the
direction a sound comes from, and by 18 months
their hearing ability is approximately equal an
adult's.

Smell and taste are present, with infants
showing different expressions of disgust or
pleasure when presented with pleasant odors
(honey, milk, etc.) or unpleasant odors (rotten
egg) and tastes (e.g. sour taste). Newborns are
born with odor and taste preferences acquired in
the womb from the smell and taste of amniotic
fluid, in turn influenced by what the mother eats.
Both breast- and bottle-fed babies around 3 days
old prefer the smell of human milk to that of
formula, indicating an innate preference.There is
good evidence for older infants preferring the
smell of their mother to that of others.

Touch and feel is one of the better-developed
senses at birth considering it's one of the first
senses to develop inside the womb. 44 This is
evidenced by the primitive reflexesdescribed
above, and the relatively advanced development
of the somatosensory cortex.

Pain: Infants feel pain similarly, if not more
strongly than older children but pain-relief in
infants has not received so much attention as an
area of research.
Language: Babies are born with the ability to
discriminate virtually all sounds of all human
languages. Infants of around six months can
differentiate between phonemes in their own
language, but not between similar phonemes in
another language. At this stage infants also start to
babble, producing phonemes.
Infant Cognition: The Piagetian Era An early
theory of infant development was the Sensorimotor
stage of Piaget's Theory of cognitive development.
Piaget suggested that an infant's perception and
understanding of the world depended on their motor
development, which was required for the infant to
link visual, tactile and motor representations of
objects. According to this view, it is through touching
and handling objects that infants develop object
permanence, the understanding that objects are solid,
permanent, and continue to exist when out of sight. 42
Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage comprised six sub-stages
(see sensorimotor stages for more detail). In the early
stages, development arises out of movements caused
by primitive reflexes.Discovery of new behaviors
results from classical and operant conditioning, and
the formation of habits.From eight months the infant
is able to uncover a hidden object but will persevere
when the object is moved.
Piaget came to his conclusion that infants lacked a
complete understanding of object permanence before
18 months after observing infants' failure before this
age to look for an object where it was last seen.
Instead infants continue to look for an object where it
was first seen, committing the "A-not-B error." Some
researchers have suggested that before the age of
eight to nine months, infants' inability to understand
object permanence extends to people, which explains
why infants at this age do not cry when their mothers
are gone ("Out of sight, out of mind").
Recent Finding in Infant Cognition In the 1980s
and 1990s, researchers have developed many new
methods of assessing infants' understanding of the
world with far more precision and subtlety than
Piaget was able to do in his time. Since then, many
studies based on these methods suggest that young
infants understand far more about the world than first
thought.
Based on recent findings, some researchers (such as
Elizabeth Spelke and Renee Baillargeon) have
proposed that an understanding of object permanence
is not learned at all, but rather comprises part of the
innate cognitive capacities of our species.
Other research has suggested that young infants in
their first six months of life may possess an
understanding of numerous aspects of the world
around them, including:
- an early numerical cognition, that is, an ability to
represent number and even compute the outcomes of
addition and subtraction operations;
- an ability to infer the goals of people in their
environment;
- an ability to engage in simple causal reasoning.
Critical periods of development
There are critical periods in infancy and childhood
during which development of certain perceptual,
sensorimotor, social and language systems depends
crucially on environmental stimulation. Feral children
such as Genie, deprived of adequate stimulation, fail
to acquire important skills and are unable to learn in
later childhood. The concept of critical periods is also
well-established in neurophysiology, from the work
of Hubel and Wiesel among others.
Developmental Delays
Children with developmental delays (DD) are at
heightened risk for developing clinically significant
behavioral and emotional difficulties as compared to
children with typical development (TD). However,
nearly all studies comparing psychopathology in
youth with DD employ TD control groups of the
same chronological age (CA).This comorbidity of
DD and a mental disorder is often referred to as dual
diagnosis. Epidemiological studies indicate that 30–
50% of youth with DD meet the clinical cutoff for
behavioral and emotional problems and/or
diagnosable mental disorder. Studies that include
comparison samples of children with typical
development (TD) highlight the considerable
difference in risk for psychopathology, with the
relative risk for youth with DD (to youth with TD)
ranging from 2.8–4.1 to 1.
Toddlerhood
Infants shift between ages of one and two to a
developmental stage known as toddlerhood. In this
stage, an infant’s transition into toddlerhood is
highlighted through self-awareness, developing
maturity in language use, and presence of memory
and imagination.
During toddlerhood, babies begin learning how to
walk, talk, and make decisions for themselves. An
important characteristic of this age period is the
development of language, where children are learning
how to communicate and express their emotions and
desires through the use of vocal sounds, babbling,
and eventually words.Self-control also begins to
develop. At this age, children take initiative to
explore, experiment, and learn from making
mistakes. Caretakers who encourage toddlers to try
new things and test their limits, help the child become
autonomous, self-reliant, and confident.If the
caretaker is overprotective or disapproving of
independent actions, the toddler may begin to doubt
their abilities and feel ashamed of the desire for
independence. The child's autonomic development is
inhibited, leaving them less prepared to deal with the
world in the future. Toddlers also begin to identify
themselves in gender roles, acting according to their
perception of what a man or woman should do.
Socially, the period of toddlerhood is commonly
called the "terrible twos".Toddlers often use their
new-found language abilities to voice their desires,
but are often misunderstood by parents due to their
language skills just beginning to develop. A person at
this stage testing their independence is another reason
behind the stage’s infamous label. Tantrums in a fit of
frustration are also common.
Early childhood
Also called "pre-school age," "exploratory age" and
"toy age."
When children attend preschool, they broaden their
social horizons and become more engaged with those
around them. Impulses are channeled into fantasies,
which leaves the task of the caretaker to balance
eagerness for pursuing adventure, creativity and self-
expression with the development of responsibility. If
caretakers are properly encouraging and consistently
disciplinary, children are more likely to develop
positive self-esteem while becoming more
responsible, and will follow through on assigned
activities.
As children grow their past experiences will shape
who they are, allow them to perceive the world in
their own way. It helps a person go through everyday
life.If not allowed to decide which activities to
perform, children may begin to feel guilt upon
contemplating taking initiative. This negative
association with independence will lead them to let
others make decisions in place of them.
During a child's preschool and beginning school
years, intelligence is demonstrated through logical
and systematic manipulation of symbols related to
concrete objects.Operational thinking develops,
which means actions are reversible, and egocentric
thought diminishes.
Children go through the transition from the world at
home to that of school and peers. Children learn to
make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a
worker and a potential provider. Children can now
receive feedback from outsiders about their
accomplishments.
If children can discover pleasure in their activities,
including their intellectual stimulation, most
importantly in learning reading, writing, and basic
math, they will develop a sense of competence. If
they are not successful or cannot discover pleasure in
the process, they may develop a sense of inferiority
and feelings of inadequacy that may haunt them
throughout life. This is when children think of
themselves as industrious or as inferior.
Adolescence
Adolescence is the period of life between the onset of
puberty and the full commitment to an adult social
role, such as worker, parent, and/or citizen. It is the
period known for the formation of personal and social
identity (see Erik Erikson) and the discovery of moral
purpose (see William Damon). Intelligence is
demonstrated through the logical use of symbols
related to abstract concepts and formal reasoning. A
return to egocentric thought often occurs early in the
period. Only 35% develop the capacity to reason
formally during adolescence or adulthood. (Huitt, W.
and Hummel, J. January 1998)
It is divided into three parts namely:
-Early Adolescence: 9 to 13 years (preteen),
-Mid Adolescence: 13 to 15 years and
-Late Adolescence: 15 to 18 years
The adolescent unconsciously explores questions
such as "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Like
toddlers, adolescents must explore, test limits,
become autonomous, and commit to an identity, or
sense of self. Different roles, behaviors and
ideologies must be tried out to select an identity. Role
confusion and inability to choose vocation can result
from a failure to achieve a sense of identity through,
for example, friends.
Early adulthood
Early adulthood, according to theorists such as Erik
Erikson, is a stage where development is mainly
focused on maintaining relationships.Examples
include creating bond of intimacy, sustaining
friendships, and ultimately making a family. Some
theorists state that development of intimacy skills
rely on the resolution of previous developmental
stages. A sense of identity gained in the previous
stages is also necessary for intimacy to develop. If
this skill is not learned the alternative is alienation,
isolation, a fear of commitment, and the inability to
depend on others.
A related framework for studying this part of the life
span is that of emerging adulthood. Scholars of
emerging adulthood, such as Jeffrey Arnett, are not
necessarily interested in relationship development.
Instead, this concept suggests that people transition
after their teenage years into a period not
characterized as relationship building and an overall
sense of constancy with life, but with years of living
with parents, phases of self-discovery, and
experimentation.
Middle adulthood
Middle adulthood generally refers to the period
between ages 25 to 69. During this period, middle-
aged adults experience a conflict between
generativity and stagnation. They may either feel a
sense of contributing to society, the next generation
or their immediate community or a sense of
purposelessness.
Physically, the middle-aged experience a decline in
muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness,
and cardiac output. Also, women experience
menopause and a sharp drop in the hormone estrogen.
Men experience an equivalent endocrine system
event to menopause. Andropause in males is a
hormone fluctuation with physical and psychological
effects that can be similar to those seen in
menopausal females. As men age, lowered
testosterone levels can contribute to mood swings and
a decline in spermcount. Sexual responsiveness can
also be affected, including delays in erection and
longer periods of penile stimulation required to
achieve ejaculation.
Old age
This stage generally refers to those aged over 70 .
According to Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial
Development, old age is the stage in which
individuals assess the quality of their lives. In
reflecting on their lives, people in this age group
develop a feeling of integrity if deciding that their
lives were successful or a feeling of despair if
evaluation of one's life indicates a failure to achieve
goals.
Physically, older people experience a decline in
muscular strength, reaction time, stamina, hearing,
distance perception, and the sense of smell.They also
are more susceptible to diseases such as cancer and
pneumonia due to a weakened immune system.
Programs aimed at balance, muscle strength, and
mobility have been shown to reduce disability among
mildly (but not more severely) disabled elderly.
Sexual expression depends in large part upon the
emotional and physical health of the individual.
Many older adults continue to be sexually active and
satisfied with their sexual activity.
Mental disintegration may also occur, leading to
dementia or ailments such as Alzheimer's disease. It
is generally believed that crystallized intelligence
increases up to old age, while fluid intelligence
decreases with age.Whether or not normal
intelligence increases or decreases with age depends
on the measure and study. Longitudinal studies show
that speed declines. Some cross-sectional studies
suggest that intellect is stable .
Parenting
Parenting variables alone have typically accounted
for 20 to 50 percent of the variance in child
outcomes. 66
All parents have their own parenting styles. Parenting
styles, according to Kimberly Kopoko, are "based
upon two aspects of parenting behavior; control and
warmth. Parental control refers to the degree to which
parents manage their children's behavior. Parental
warmth refers to the degree to which parents are
accepting and responsive of their children's
behavior."
Parenting styles
The following parenting styles have been described
in the child development literature:

Authoritative Parenting is characterized as
parents who have high parental warmth,
responsiveness, and demandingness, but rate low
in negativity and conflict.These parents are
assertive but not intrusive or overly
restrictive.This method of parenting is associated
with more positive social and academic
outcomes. Interestingly, the beneficial outcomes
of authoritative parenting are not necessarily
universal. Among African American adolescents,
authoritative parenting is not associated with
academic achievement without peer support for
achievement. 68
Children who are raised by authoritative parents are
"more likely to become independent, self-reliant,
socially accepted, academically successful, and well-
behaved. They are less likely to report depression and
anxiety, and less likely to engage in antisocial
behavior like delinquency and drug use."
Children raised by authoritative parents are self-
sufficient, academically successful, and well-behaved
and are unlikely to have depression and anxiety and
are unlikely to engage in antisocial behavior.

Authoritarian parenting is characterized by
low levels of warmth and responsiveness with
high levels of demandingness and firm
control.These parents focus on obedience and
they monitor their children regularly.In general,
this style of parenting is associated with
maladaptive outcomes. Interestingly, the
outcomes are more harmful for middle class boys
than girls, preschool white girls than preschool
black girls, and for white boys than Hispanic
boys.Furthermore, the negative effects of
authoritarian parenting among Asian Americans
can be offset by positive peer support.Finally,
among African Americans, some elements of
authoritarian parenting such as firm control and
physical discipline do not serve as predictive
factors for negative outcomes.

Permissive parenting is characterized by high
levels of responsiveness combined with low
levels of demandingness. These parents are
lenient and do not necessarily require mature
behavior.They allow for a high degree of self-
regulation and typically avoid
confrontation.Compared to children raised using
the authoritative style, preschool girls raised in
permissive families are less assertive.
Additionally, preschool children of both sexes are
less cognitively competent than those children
raised under authoritative parenting styles.

Rejecting or neglectful parenting is the final
category. This is characterized by low levels of
demandingness and responsiveness. These
parents are typically disengaged in their child’s
lives, lacking structure in their parenting styles
and are unsupportive.Children in this category are
 typically the least competent of all the categories.

Mother and father factors

Parenting roles in child development have typically
focused on the role of the mother. Recent literature,
however, has looked toward the father as having an
important role in child development. Affirming a role
for fathers, studies have shown that children as young
as 15 months benefit significantly from substantial
engagement with their father.In particular, a study in
the U.S. and New Zealand found the presence of the
natural father was the most significant factor in
reducing rates of early sexual activity and rates of
teenage pregnancy in girls.Furthermore, another
argument is that neither a mother nor a father is
actually essential in successful parenting, and that
single parents as well as homosexual couples can
support positive child outcomes. According to this set
of research, children need at least one consistently
responsible adult with whom the child can have a
positive emotional connection. Having more than one
of these figures contributes to a higher likelihood of
positive child outcomes.
Divorce
Another parental factor often debated in terms of its
effects on child development is divorce. Divorce in
itself is not a determining factor of negative child
outcomes. In fact, the majority of children from
divorcing families fall into the normal range on
measures of psychological and cognitive functioning.
A number of mediating factors play a role in
determining the effects divorce has on a child, for
example, divorcing families with young children
often face harsher consequences in terms of
demographic, social, and economic changes than do
families with older children. Positive coparenting
after divorce is part of a pattern associated with
positive child coping, while hostile parenting
behaviors lead to a destructive pattern leaving
children at risk. Additionally, direct parental
relationship with the child also affects the
development of a child after a divorce. Overall,
protective factors facilitating positive child
development after a divorce are maternal warmth,
positive father-child relationship, and cooperation
between parents