Developmental Psychology Notebook

Contents
Developmental Psychology Notebook....................................................................................................................................1

1. Introduction to Developmental Psychology....................................................................................................................2

a. Definition.....................................................................................................................................................................2

b. History.........................................................................................................................................................................2

c. Nature Vs. Nurture......................................................................................................................................................2

2. Theories of Development................................................................................................................................................2

a. Psychoanalytical Theory..............................................................................................................................................2

b. Psychosocial Development Theory.............................................................................................................................2

3. Methods of Research.......................................................................................................................................................2

a. Longitudinal Research.................................................................................................................................................2

b. Cross-sectional Research.............................................................................................................................................2

4. Prerequisites of conception..............................................................................................................................................2

a. Maturation...................................................................................................................................................................2

b. Ovulation.....................................................................................................................................................................2

c. Fertilization..................................................................................................................................................................2

5. Multiple Births.................................................................................................................................................................2

a. Causes..........................................................................................................................................................................2

b. Types............................................................................................................................................................................2

6. Prenatal Development......................................................................................................................................................2

7. Birth................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

8. Infancy............................................................................................................................................................................. 2

9. Childhood........................................................................................................................................................................2

10. Adolescence.................................................................................................................................................................2

11. Adulthood....................................................................................................................................................................3

12. Cognitive Development...............................................................................................................................................3

a. Jean Piaget’s Developmental Stage Theory.................................................................................................................3

b. Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development.................................................................................3

13. Language Development...............................................................................................................................................3

14. Emotional Development..............................................................................................................................................3

15. Moral Development: Perspective of Kohlberg............................................................................................................3

16. Personality Development.............................................................................................................................................3

17. Sociocultural contexts for Human Development.........................................................................................................3

a. Family..........................................................................................................................................................................3

b. Peers.............................................................................................................................................................................3

c. Media...........................................................................................................................................................................3

d. Schooling.....................................................................................................................................................................3

18. Human Development in the Indian Context................................................................................................................3

1. Introduction to Developmental Psychology

a. Definition
 b. History

c. Nature Vs. Nurture

2. Theories of Development

a. Psychoanalytical Theory

b. Psychosocial Development Theory

3. Methods of Research

a. Longitudinal Research

b. Cross-sectional Research

4. Prerequisites of conception

a. Maturation

b. Ovulation

c. Fertilization

5. Multiple Births

a. Causes

b. Types
6. Prenatal Development

 The ovum or the female egg cell is only 1/175 inch in diameter, but the sperm is even smaller i.e., 1/500 inch.
They both unite at fertilization to form the zygote and development of the zygote inside the mother’s womb is
known as prenatal development.

 Conception
 Female:
o About once every 28 days, in the middle of a woman’s menstrual cycle, an ovum bursts out of one of her
two ovaries (two walnut-sized organs located deep in her abdomen) and is drawn into one of two
fallopian tubes (long thing structures that lead to the low, softly lined uterus).
o While the ovum is travelling, the spot on the ovary from where the ovum was released, now called corpus
luteum, secretes hormones that prepare the lining of the uterus to receive a fertilized ovum.
o If pregnancy does not occur, the corpus luteum shrinks and lining of the uterus is discarded two weeks
later with menstruation.
o The ovum lives for only one day after its release from the ovary.
 Male:
o The male produces sperm in vast numbers – an average of 300 million a day – in the testes, which are just
two glands located in the scrotum (sacs that lie just behind the penis).
o When maturation occurs, each sperm develops a long flagellum (tail) that allows it to swim long
distances upstream in the female reproductive tract, through the cervix (opening of the uterus) and into
the fallopian tube, where fertilization usually takes place.
o Only 300 to 500 sperms are able to reach the ovum, if any ovum happens to be present at all.
o Sperm can live inside the fallopian tube for up to 6 days.
 Conception:
 o Fertilization and conception refer to two distinct processes that occur both in the natural process of
human reproduction.
 Fertilization is the process of the fusion of two haploid cells (sperm and egg) to form a diploid
cell (zygote) containing all the genetic material of the two parents.
 Conception, on the other hand, is the point in time when the fertilized egg implants in the uterus
and begins to grow and develop. It is the process by which the conceptus or the early stages of
pregnancy are formed.
 Most conceptions result from intercourse occurring during a three-day period – on the day of ovulation or during
the two days preceding it.
 The vast changes taking place during the 38 weeks of pregnancy are divided into three periods:
o The period of zygote or the germinal period
o The period of the embryo
o The period of the fetus

 The Period of Zygote/ Germinal Period

o Lasts from fertilization till about two weeks
o Zygote’s first cell duplication is long and drawn out and takes about 30 hours to complete.
o Gradually, new cells are added at a faster rate.
o By day 4, 60 to 70 cells exist that form a hollow, fluid-filled ball called a blastocyst.
o The cells on the inside of the blastocyst, called the embryonic disk, will become the new organism.
o The outer ring of cells, termed the trophoblast, will become the structures that provide protective
covering and nourishment.
o Write about implantation
o At the end of the two weeks the tiny mass of cells (blastocyst) drifts down and out of the fallopian tube
and attaches itself to the wall of the uterus.
 The Period of the Embryo
o Lasts from implantation through the eighth week of pregnancy.
o During these brief six weeks, the most rapid prenatal changes take place as the groundwork is laid for all
body structures and internal organs.
o

7. Birth

8. Infancy

9. Childhood

10. Adolescence

11. Adulthood
12. Cognitive Development

a. Jean Piaget’s Developmental Stage Theory

b. Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development

13. Language Development

14. Emotional Development

15. Moral Development: Perspective of Kohlberg

16. Personality Development

17. Sociocultural contexts for Human Development

a. Family

b. Peers

c. Media

d. Schooling

18. Human Development in the Indian Context