Developmental Psychology Stages of the Development

concerned in exploring development; Infancy (0-2months)

change in thoughts, feelings, behavior. Babyhood (2 months-2 years)

Psychology Childhood

about people’s thoughts, feelings, Adolescence/Puberty

and behavior. Early Adulthood

Development Middle Adulthood

is a series of progressive changes that occur Old Age

over a period of time; both refer to quantitative Charles Darwin- one of the first to keep a

and qualitative changes. detailed baby biography.

Growth G. Stanley Hall (Father of Developmental Psychology)

increase in physical dimensions as size, height, published his “Notes on the study of infants”

weight, etc. STUDY OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. enables us to find out what’s nomal

FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENT - show the range of behaviors, thoughts,

Heredity- passing on of physical and mental and feelings.

characteristics from a generation to other. 2. establish norms for development

Environment- the natural world as a whole in within a particular time

a particular area affected by human activity. 3. enables us to assess the truth about

Nature vs. Nurture- involves whether human a range of common assertions

behavior is determined by the environment. about people.

Nature is what we think as a pre-wiring influenced

by biological factors, while Nurture is influenced of

external factors.

Life Span Approach- deals with the study of individual

development.

Core Assumption- is not completed at adulthood.

Further Premise- can be used to organize about the

evidence of a lifelong processes.

METHODS IN THE STUDY OF DEVELOPMENT

LONGITUDINAL and CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES

Longitudinal- individual are tested or assessed in some way at regular intervals over a period of their
lives.

Cross-sectional studies- is to investigate how learning ability changes with age.

EXPERIMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologists can investigate how some aspect of behaviour is changed by a given factor; allows us to
infer a cause and effect relationship.

DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES

present systematic ways of thinking about how human beings grow from baby to elderly people.

Developmental stage theories are theories that divide child development into distinct stages which
characterized by qualitative differences in behaviour.

Psychosexual Theories- SIGMUND FREUD – each stages represents the fixation of libido on the different
area of the body.

Psychosocial Stages- ERIK ERIKSON – developed the psychosocial theory of development; believed that
freud misjudged some of the important dimensions.

Mental Life is primarily unconscious beyond awareness; heavily colred by emotion. (psychoanalytic
theories)

FREUD’S STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

• ID
• EGO
• SUPEREGO

Psychosexual Development- each stage focuses on a part of the body for experiencing pleasure.

THE FIVE STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

• The Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months)- around the mouth (chewing, sucking, biting)
• The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)
• The Phallic Stage (3-6 years)- focuses on genitals
• The Latent Stage (6 years to puberty)
• The Genital Stage ( Puberty on)

OEDIPUS COMPLEX- “freud’s term” for the young child’s development of an intense desire to
replace the same-sex parent and enjoy opposite-sex parent.
 FIXATION- occurs when the individual remains locked in an earlier developmental stage.

EXAMPLES:
• ORAL- due to a parent weaning too early ( smoking, drinking, gum chewing)
• ANAL- due to a parent being too strict with potty training.
• PHALLIC- due to a parent punishing a child for masturbating.
• GENITAL- due to a parent smothering a child with too much attention.

CRISES- are not catastrophes but rather turning points of increased vulnerability.

PIAGET’S 4 STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs)

• Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs)
• Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
• Formal Operational Stage (11 and up)

Internalized Mental Actions- allow children to do mentally what they previously did physically.

The Formal Operational Stage- move beyond concrete experiences and think in abstract, more logical
terms.

Shares Piaget’s view that children actively construct their knowledge.

Fixed time period- very early in development during which certain behaviors optimally emerge.

Imprinting- innate learning within a limited critical period of time.

Ethological Theory- it has an increased focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of development.

Experimental Research- allows researchers to determine the causes of behavior.