Lumagda, Jaymie V.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
 Branch of psychology devoted to identifying and explaining the continuities and changes that individuals display
over time.

 It 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.

DEVELOPMENT
 The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan. Most development involves
growth, although it also declines brought on by aging and dying.

 Systematic continuities and changes in the individual over the course of life.

 Process that produces a progressive series of changes that are orderly and coherent which leads to an end with
maturity.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
 An interdisciplinary study of the heredity and environmental factors involves in the individual growth from
conception to death.

 Human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the
lifespan.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST
 They are usually concerned with the changes in the behavior over the life span.

ASPECTS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

- Physical
- Cognitive
- Psychosocial

LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
1. Development is lifelong.
Lifelong development means that development is not completed in infancy or childhood or at any specific
age; it encompasses the entire lifespan, from conception to death. The study of development traditionally
focused almost exclusively on the changes occurring from conception to adolescence and the gradual
decline in old age.

2. Development is multidimensional.
Development has may dimensions. Even within a dimension, there are many components.

3. Development is multidirectional.
It states that the development of a particular domain does not occur in a strictly linear fashion but that
development of certain traits can be characterized as having the capacity for both an increase and decrease
in efficacy over the course of an individual's life. Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a
dimension expand and others shrink

4. Development is plastic
 Plasticity means the capacity for change

5. Development is multidisciplinary.
Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers all share an
interest in unlocking the mysteries of development through the life span. How do your heredity and health
limit your intelligence? Do intelligence and social relationships change with age in the same ways around the
world?

6. Development is contextual. 
All development occurs within a context, or setting. Contexts include families, schools, peer groups,
churches, cities, neighborhoods, university laboratories, countries, and so on. Each of these settings is
influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors

NORMATIVE-AGE GRADED INFLUENCE

are those biological and environmental factors that have a strong correlation with chronological age,
such as puberty or menopause, or age-based social practices such as beginning school or entering
retirement

NORMATIVE-HISTORY GRADED INFLUENCE

are associated with a specific time period that defines the broader environmental and cultural context in
which an individual develops.

NON-NORMATIVE INFLUENCES
are unpredictable and not tied to a certain developmental time in a person’s development or to a
historical period. They are the unique experiences of an individual, whether biological or environmental,
that shape the development process. These could include milestones like earning a master’s degree or
getting a certain job offer or other events like going through a divorce or coping with the death of a child.

7. Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss

it asserts that the mastery of life often involves conflicts and competition among three goals of human
development: growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.

CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS
1. Health and Well-being

2. Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity

Culture
Cross-cultural studies
Ethnicity
Socio-economic status
Gender

3. Parenting and Education

4. Social Policy
5. Technology
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES

METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA

 Observation

 Survey and interview

 Standardized test

 Case study

 Physiological measures

 Validity - The instrument measures that it intends to measure.

 Reliability - Refers to how consistently a method measure something. If the same result can be consistently

achieved by using the same methods under the same circumstances, the measurement is considered
reliable.

RESEARCH DESIGNS
 QUANTITATIVE- Relies on numbers

 Descriptive

 Correlational

 Comparative

 QUALITATIVE- Relies on words.

 Phenomenological

 Narrative-analysis

 Ethnographical

 Grounded theory
 EXPERIMENTAL- There is manipulation

 Between groups

 Within groups

TIME SPAN OF RESEARCH

 CROSS SECTIONAL

– It is a research strategy that simultaneously compares individuals of different ages

 LONGITUDINAL

– The longitudinal approach is a research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of
time, usually several years or more.